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Ask the Piano Teacher by Georgia Schohl

Here's some tips about piano practice scheduling for the month of March 2010.

Find the Time to Practice

If you are a busy adult student who recently began lessons after a long break, you know that practice time is very limited. Most people today lead very busy lives with family and household obligations---it is difficult to set aside some quality time on the piano. If you are taking lessons, you may suspect that your teacher will be wondering if you have the time at all to spend on your assignments.

Most adult piano students know that they cannot practice every day—there’s just too much going on. If you want to get some practice in during the week, try to set up a specific time frame and schedule that is convenient for you. Some people make the time before breakfast, after work, before or after dinner time, or before retiring at night.   The same applies to children and practicing schedule.

You do not have to practice every day, as some days are busier than others. Also, set aside the time as where you cannot be interrupted so that you can get it done.   Make sure that you have your assignments organized and know what they are. If you have questions for your teacher, set aside a notepad for problems that you do not understand or need help with. Whether you are a beginner or someone who has taken piano for several years realize that using you practice time wisely is the key to becoming a good pianist.

How long should you practice? Time yourself and find out by playing your assignments. For some people it might be 20 minutes, and for others who are more advanced a good practice could be an hour or more. If you can get at least four to five days in practicing, you should be fairly well prepared for your lesson. If you have to divide your lesson time in increments (20 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes after dinner), then that’s find too.

What about children and piano practice? This can be more tricky to set up as children are extremely busy with activities that may include swim practice, soccer, baseball, and so on which are very time consuming. After a long day at school, children are often tired and hungry---some may even want to take a nap!   Piano practice may be way down on the list of priorities for parents and students, as other activities may be more important.

As I said earlier, try to set aside four to five days a week (at least) in a time frame where the student is more alert and not as tired.   For some people, weekends are a good relaxing time to get the practice time scheduled as people are more rested and not as pressured to get things done. For others this may a very busy time with baseball games, swim meets and so on. It just depends on the student's activities and how you can set aside some time for the piano too.

An effective way is to split up the time with playing several pieces before leaving for school—and make sure they have enough time to do it without being rushed. After school is a good time if the student is not too tired—they can play the rest of their assignments and go on to the rest of the day if they have any more activities scheduled.

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