Practice Techniques: It is all in the routine!

1Keep a written assignment book: Ask your instructor to write down your assignment each week or you write down your assignment before leaving your lesson/class. Writing down the assignment with details is very important … a few days later things become fuzzy as to the details of what you are supposed to practice.

2 Practice right after your lesson/class or at least the next day: You will take advantage fully of what you have been taught if you practice right away. You will be more apt to practice more during the week if you have gotten the “first” day of practice accomplished and your assignment will not seem so overwhelming. Practicing early in the week allows for unexpected happenings in your schedule so you are not “cramming” at the last minute.

3 Try to pick a day/time that is the same for each day: Finding the same time daily helps with keeping a steady practice routine. For students in school – practice right after getting home from school. It is tiring to practice after homework gets done. For busy homework days, practice at least 15 minutes before starting homework.

4 Keep a written practice record: Make a weekly calendar and mark the days you have practiced. Children: use stars to mark the days you have practiced. Reward yourself/your child after 25 practice days.

5 Warmup : Warm up with scales, chords, and arpeggios. If you know all your scales, chords, and arpeggios – pick 5-10 to practice each day. Beginners: warm up with flashcards to work on sightreading.

6 Repertoire/Performance: Play each piece and find the problem sections. Work on the problem sections slowly. To see if you have mastered the problem section, start a measure or two before problem section to find whether you have actually mastered the problem section. Once problem areas have been mastered, focus on other details such as dynamics, phrasing, articulation and technique. Follow the above for the other pieces you have been assigned to practice.

7 Use a metronome: Slow down your playing when practicing so details can be followed. Pick up the speed in increments of 5-10 as you improve with the piece. Metronomes help to keep a steady pace of playing to avoid pauses and slowing down. Better to play slow without many mistakes than fast with lots of mistakes.

8 Reward yourself: Pick a song of your choice to play for fun whether it is a song you have already learned or a song you have picked out yourself to learn.

9 Create a memorized list: Work on memory skills by memorizing your favorite pieces you have learned. Write these songs down on a list and review them daily (pick one or two at random to review.) Remember, it is very self rewarding to be able to play pieces without your book. Perform these pieces for friends, family etc.

10 Intermediate to advanced students should add the following to their practice: Theory, sightreading, advanced chord and scale training, improvisation, etc.