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How can I tell if i'm doing it right?


In our lessons we always model good practice habits, and we also talk about what we are doing so that they understand how to practice when they are sat alone at their piano at home. However, if they are not able to spot the mistakes it is difficult for them to fix the problem. They have to listen to themselves and analyse what is going on so they can isolate the problem, which is no mean feat. I have come up with a list of questions they can ask themselves, to work out what the problem is, which will help them get the most out of their practice:

First of all, work out which of the above questions you can happily answer yes to, and then pick out the questions that you need to answer no/not quite, to. Then the hard work begins and you can set about practicing that section many times over.

* If it is the rhythm that is wrong, clap the rhythm before you play it

* If the notes are wrong read each note carefully and check you have got it right.

* If the coordination of the 2 hands is wrong practice right hand, left hand, hands together, SLOWLY until you have got it.

* If you are having trouble playing fluently, without stopping try and pin point where the pauses are and practice each 'pause' as many times as you need until it has disappeared.

One final question to ask yourself, to decide if you need to work on that bar/section again, is how easy difficult was it to play? If it is correct in all the above categories but it is still hard work to play, you need to keep practicing. Once the passage is easy to play and easy to get right, then you know you are ready to move on.

For those students that are in the habit of regular practice, the challenge is getting the most out of their precious practice time and this is a skill in itself. Once they have mastered the art of efficient practice we will see them begin to fly!


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