To Learn Piano You Need To Be Taught How To Practice.

By Andy Penbram


Trying to learn piano could be a bit depressing if you focus on your playing for weeks on end only to discover that you don't appear to be getting anywhere. A lack of improvement is the single most common reason that people quit learning to play the piano, this is above all true in kids. In order to improve at playing the piano here are a few ideas for your practice sessions.

Structure your practice sessions - Make a little routine for your practice sessions. This may be a bit different for every person based totally on the type of music they are learning and the style they are planning to play in.

The first action to take when you sit down to practice is to warm up. This is often done really effectively by practising scales and arpeggios which aside from warming up the fingers also serves in becoming comfortable at playing in all keys.

Once you have done the warmup you may then go on to playing your pieces. You'll know where the tricky passages are in the pieces that you're learning. Go to these sections at the start of your practice sessions. Separate the hands and spend a few moments playing each hand by itself. First the right hand and then the other but do keep swapping over in order not to allow the other hand get cold. As soon as you have done that for some time you must then attempt to play the section with both hands together. Now you can go onto playing the entire piece and feel more comfortble when it comes to that difficult part you have just practiced.

Attempt to employ a metronome whenever you can, both for your scales and for any pieces you're learning how to play too if they permit it. Initially set the metronome at a slower speed so that you can practice the piece more correctly. When you've the piece more or less in order then you can over a period of one or two days begin to slowly notch up the speed until you are practicing the piece at its proper speed. You might even try setting the metronome at a faster tempo than needed just to get your fingers really accustomed to the piece.

You want to learn how to relax at the same time as you are playing. Relax your fingers, your back and in fact your full posture. If you are tense while you play then you will find it much trickier to control your fingers and for your playing to flow. Doing this is a bit like learning how to ride a bike. In the beginning there are such a lot of things to remember and coordinate but at some specific point it all of a sudden clicks and it all slides into place.




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