Whether you’re learning how to play the piano or trying to master a Chopin composition, practice is key. Here are eight great tips to help you out:
- Schedule at least 20 minutes of practice time each day. It’s at least 20 minutes. If time permits, he should exercise every 20 minutes throughout the day.
- Don’t forget to warm up. Have you ever tried to send a text message when your fingers were frozen? Typing quickly and accurately is nearly impossible because your fingers are stiff. It’s the same with playing the piano. It is important to warm your hands and fingers so that you can play the keyboard fluently. This is especially important when learning. Because you stumble on enough mistakes without your clumsy, stiff fingers.
- Don’t overdo it. Unless you’re a virtuoso pianist, you’re unlikely to master an arrangement for the first time. Instead of dealing with the whole thing, break it up into manageable chunks. Depending on your skill level, this can range from one bar to one page. Whatever you or your teacher decides is within your reach, so set a practice goal and stick to it.
- Avoid the tendency to always start from scratch. Beginnings are not always good beginnings. If you start from the beginning every time you sit down and practice, you’re just going to finish it from the beginning before the allotted practice time is over…you won’t have time to work on that difficult section.
- Practice slowly. If you read the work in haste, you may make mistakes, and you run the risk of learning those mistakes. Instead, play each note carefully until you are sure of your fingering. Most digital keyboards also let you record at a practice tempo and play it back at a faster tempo to see how the song sounds once you’ve mastered it.
- You don’t need a piano to practice. This advice may seem strange, but you can actually practice the piano keyboard anywhere. Practicing your fingerings in difficult sections away from the piano can help with muscle memory when you practice sitting down.
- Listen to songs when you’re not playing. Knowing the melody of a song often helps me move my fingers along the key. Download the song you’re trying to master to your smartphone or tablet and listen to it over and over, even when you’re not at the piano. If you have a song in your head, you can sit down at the piano and practice it yourself.