Survey Results: Motivating Ourselves to Practice

Thank you to all who participated in our survey! We had some wonderful feedback and I really loved reading your comments. I think there is so much we can all learn from each other, so thanks for participating!

Question #1: Are you able to practice consistently?

Question #2: What inspires or motivates you to practice?

  • Performance assignments
  • Leaving a piece I really want to learn or love on the piano where I can see it. It somehow makes me feel guilty that it’s just sitting there.
  • When I imagine myself with my goal completed. (I am working on my ARCT in piano pedagogy).
  • When I see myself making progress through practicing. -It’s kind of a good cycle if I can just keep it going!!
  • When I hear other pianists, or even my students, how can I tell them to have meaningful practice time if I don’t do it myself?
  • I am a graduate student in music performance. Also, it’s my favorite part of the day!
  • I just started taking lessons again as an adult. I am enjoying it but find it can hard to practice as much as I would like.
  • Singing or playing songs for my children
  • Needing to know a piece by a certain time; Feeling like I’ve actually improved or learned something better
  • A piece I enjoy
  • Setting “Performance Dates” for Church, talent shows, and also playing for the elderly in the Assisted Living Homes around town.
  • I love the effect it has on my children.. when I practice they seem to want to follow my example. Its also fun to watch my little ones move rhythmically or dance to the music I’m playing. But having deadlines – like performing for a group lesson helps too.
Question #3: Do you use any specific tools to help you practice –
like a practice chart, a list, an iPod app, a planner, etc.?
  • Sometimes a list
  • Stickers, pencils and pens, jotting down practice time
  • Nope! But I probably should!
  • Nope. Just rely on the guilt & the over whelming feeling that time is running out before the “date” is here!

Question #4: What have you learned in your own practicing that has made you a better
teacher, or that has helped teach your own students how to practice?

  • how to listen and evaluate
  • It finally occurred to me that I should be taking notes about how I practice. I haven’t yet shared it but it has just made me more conscious of WHAT I am doing and the rationale behind it.
  • Practicing again makes me realize how much discipline it takes. Just because I’m playing advanced repertoire doesn’t mean it gets any easier to practice. It helps remind me to keep motivating my students and to help them realize that it is not always fun, but it is so worth the work. I love seeing the same pleasure in their eyes that I have when I learn a piece well.
  • that practicing takes effort and attention, it is more productive to identify the areas of concern and break the song into smaller sections than to mindlessly play the whole thing from beginning to end over and over.
  • I find that half the time what gets told to me by my teacher when I get frustrated, is usually something I’VE said to one of MY students! :o)
  • Fingering is so important – do that first and the memorization will be much easier.
  • Don’t practice the entire piece every time; don’t practice mistakes over and over – isolate and fix them; don’t “over-practice” a song and become bored with it – let it rest a few days
  • Practice makes perfect. It affirms how much practice is essential to progress.
  • To teach my students how to do everything that I DON’T! I’m definitely a work in progress:)
  • Practicing small sections slowly and plenty of repetition are imperative… even though I still find it tempting to just want to play through a song w/ the stumbles some times. I still love that feeling of accomplishment that comes after putting in the time and patience to conquer a challenge spot. Its always nice to reward yourself when you reach your goal………….. for me that might mean some chocolate or a bowl of ice cream!

Principles of Efficient Practicing

In light of our current topic, today I’d like to talk about principles of efficient practicing. This topic will especially apply to busy moms with clambering children, working adults with limited time, teenagers pulled in all directions by extra-curricular activities, young piano students just learning how to practice…ok, so basically, this is for EVERYONE!!

When practicing time is limited, how can we accomplish more in a short amount of time? Even if practicing time is not as limited, what are some ways we can get much more out of our practicing? Here are some ideas:

  • Have a goal – if you don’t have a specific goal in mind during a practice session, you won’t accomplish as much! A great goal is to learn a specific, short section of a piece.
  • Pick your fingering – Decide on a fingering from the get-go and stick with it! I like to write in a lot of my fingerings to make sure I play it the same way each time, which helps me to learn a piece much faster.
  • Make it musical as you go – Learn articulations, phrasing, and dynamics as you learn the notes. Don’t learn notes and rhythms for the entire piece and THEN add in musical elements. Why not learn it right the first time? 
  • Small sections – Learn a piece in SMALL sections, right hand alone, left hand alone, together
  • Memorize from day 1 – Ideally, if you are learning a piece that you love and you really want to learn it well, it is much easier to memorize it as you learn it! When I do this it helps me to learn the notes much better and more efficiently. 
  • Analyze as you learn the piece! Notice and write down chord progressions, scales used in melodic material, bass notes, etc. This is also a great memory tool. It also ensures you are not learning it purely by muscle memory
  • Work on a different section at each practice session. Don’t always just start at the beginning.
  • Stay focused! You will be surprised how much you can accomplished in just 10 or 15 minutes.
What are some principles of efficient practicing that you have learned and that work well for you?

Squeezing In Piano Practicing

guest post by Heather Husted Wilson

The Seasons come and go… 
We see the flowers bud – we know it is Spring. 
We feel the sun shine fiercely on our backs – we know it is Summer. 
We see the leaves turn shades of yellow, orange and red- we know it is Fall. 
We see the clean white snow fall from the heavens and coat the Earth – we know it is Winter.
Then the snow melts and the rotation begins again.
The Seasons of our lives are the same…
There are seasons of learning and growth, pain and joy, stress and relaxation, work and play.
They come and go…and then come and go all over again.
How does this relate to Practicing?
I’m sure if you look back on your life you can see that with each season of YOUR life…
your practicing habits and schedule has changed right along with each change in life’s seasons.
So where are you now? 
Are you a student? Are you married? Do you work full time? Do you have one or more children?
Are you in a season of 4-8 hours, 1-4 hours, 30 minutes, or 15 minutes of practicing? 
How does your practicing correlate with the specific season of life YOU are experiencing right now?
Each one of us have different schedules and responsibilities, but one thing remains the same…
we ALL wish we could squeeze in a few more hours in each day to accomplish more!
Please tell me you are nodding your head right now…
So is it possible to create more time in your day to accomplish all the things you desire?
I believe it is.
It isn’t easy. It won’t be perfect. It will require YOU to make some decisions and work out the kinks.
But it’s possible…and YOU CAN DO IT!
First let’s figure out the things your heart most desires.
Go grab a piece of paper and a pen.
Yes, I mean right now…I’ll wait.
You back already? Wow…you’re fast! Okay, here we go…
What do you love to do? What do you do that makes you feel alive…makes you feel like YOU?
Now make a list answering these questions.
You have your list? Okay…good.
 I’m assuming since you are reading this blog you love creating, performing and/or teaching music.
Is that on your list? That MUST be on your list!
Well, we all know that those three things require practice.
So how can you find time to squeeze in practicing?
You must MAKE time.
1. Break out your calendar. 
If your schedule doesn’t permit practicing everyday…figure out which days you CAN practice and write them down. 
I have one or two specific things each day of the week that MUST be done that day!
i.e. Monday is “cleaning house” and “laundry” day, Tuesday is a “teaching” day, etc.  
I then, work my schedule from there. That way, the BIG things get done each day and I feel accomplished even if some of the smaller things get left for another day.
So go make some of those days in your week “practicing” days.
Decide what is going to work for you and write it down! 
Seriously…go grab your calendar – NOW!
2. Set a specific time aside.
Don’t just wait for the perfect moment to smack you in the forehead. It isn’t going to happen. I haven’t ever found my life to work out that way…I always seem to find something else to use up my time. 
Go back to that calendar and write down what TIME you are going to sit down with your music. Treat it like a doctor’s appointment – if you don’t show you will have to pay a $25 ‘no show’ fee and you are NOT going to throw away $25!!!
 Don’t allow anything else to get in the way of your appointment with your instrument.
For example, a while ago I really wanted to try a new workout routine. With my schedule I just couldn’t figure out how to squeeze in an extra hour each day so I woke up early to get my work out done before my boys woke up. 
Now, if you know me well, you know that waking up…especially early…is NOT something I do especially well. It’s a HUGE sacrifice! 
But my desire to try the new routine overrode my inability to wake up and I did it…every single day at 6am for several months in a row! 
Squeezing in something you LOVE to do will make you feel like a million bucks and it will change the way you live the rest of that day… for the better!
3. Make sure your conditions promote concentration (for YOU)
Some people can concentrate in any situation by ‘simply’ blocking out all that is going on around them. Personally, I have a hard time concentrating when there is much noise at all so I have to juggle people and responsibilities around to create an atmosphere where my time and work will be productive. That seems next to impossible with two small boys, but it is doable. 
I usually plan my practicing around nap time, bedtime or when my babes are with a babysitter  to create an atmosphere that will work for me. The last thing I need is to spend time at the piano only to feel it was wasted by lack of concentration.
4. Start small and use your time wisely
Don’t plan too much for yourself…it will only result in frustration. Choose a piece you are going to work on and then start with the most difficult sections during your practice session. You probably don’t have time for anything else until you master those technical obstacles…then you can think bigger.
There are days when my practice session consists only of tiny sections of continuous repetitions. Then after 10-15 minutes of concentration I have a little one tugging at my leg. At this moment I have a choice…do I get frustrated and send my babes away? Or do I stop my practice session and feel I accomplished something by mastering that one particular section, even if it only lasted a short while?
What do you do?
Feeling accomplishment and hearing the beauty of the pieces as you slowly gain control make practicing motivating. 
With the kind of busy schedules we have these days the accomplishment and beauty come in small moments…small sections…so start small and you will feel BIG!
5. What KIND of practicing works for YOU?
“It’s not necessarily the amount of time you spend at practice that counts; it’s what you put into the practice.”
-Eric Lindros, Canadian ice hockey player
Do you work best with a timer at your practice session?
Do you use an ipod application similar to the one Jenny mentioned this week?
What kind of practice works for YOU? 
I’m a goal oriented teacher and that’s how I practice as well.
I set small goals for myself…knowing that if I master each individual goal it will not only help me learn quickly and more efficiently, it will all add up to mastering the whole…which is the ultimate goal.
If sitting with your instrument and practicing will make you feel fulfilled, successful, accomplished and motivated to do even more…then you NEED to DO IT!
 No matter how long or short that time may be.
REMEMEBER: seasons come and go…
There once was a season in my life when I practiced 4-8 hours every day, but that season has gone for now…I know it will return one day.
For now, I know what season I am in and that is alright with me.
Figure out what season YOU are in and set up your practicing accordingly.
You CAN continue to practice…
it will just be different than it once was.
Accept that. Move on. 
BE MOTIVATED. BE INSPIRED. 
Think small to accomplish BIG things.
You CAN DO IT…don’t let anything get in the way of what your soul was made to do. Your students, your loved ones and all who hear you perform will thank you for taking the time to nurture yourself from the inside out.
Thank you, Heather, for your motivating and inspiring words! 
Be sure to check out Heather’s wonderful blog, Squeezing It All In

Getting Motivated

This week I would like to revisit a topic we have discussed before, because it is something that I, personally, (and I am guessing a lot of you, as well, particularly if you are a parent with young children at home!) need constant work on, and is something that is so important to our success as teachers. I’d like to talk about Motivating OURSELVES to Practice.

This is something I struggle with a lot. I really do miss those days of long, uninterrupted practice hours. My current priority as a stay-at-home mom prevents me from achieving anywhere near that much practice time. In fact, there are so many days when my head hits the pillow at night that I haven’t even touched the piano.

Ahh, the college days of practicing ALL THE TIME – I do admit that I miss it!
Lately I have been really wanting to change this! I love the piano, I love to practice, and I wanted to find some way to motivate myself and practice consistently (even if that meant only 30 minutes a day!). So, I am kind of a nerd but I ended up finding just the motivation needed for a dollar – I bought a new box of colored pencils, and downloaded a free iPod app, and apparently that was all that I needed! Let me explain:

1 – the colored pencils: In order to really sit down and practice and make some progress and find the joy in playing, for me at least, I really have to practice well. As I am learning a new piece, I write in all the fingerings, mark phrases and important voices, circle dynamic markings, etc. Hence the colored pencils 🙂 This approach works great for me and I love it because I see so much progress, and I am truly able to make some measurable progress in a short amount of time (even if a small child is yelling for Mommy in the background!).

2 – the iPod app: I am so grateful to Anne Crosby Gaudet’s post about this amazing free iPod app called Just Practice! It really helped me to organize my practicing and motivate myself to get it done daily. Granted, I am still not perfect and do miss some days, but there is just something about a calendar that says “Today’s progress: 0%” that really makes me want to sit down and get it done. I try to practice at night after my son goes to bed, or I find him a fun activity he can do in the room with me for half an hour or so. If I was really good with technology I would share a sound clip with you (which I recorded on Just Practice! – there is a place where you can record yourself playing different pieces and then listen back to them later) of me practicing Chopin’s Scherzo No. 2, with my son’s little voice in the background, begging me to “turn around and LOOK!!” at something. It kind of makes me smile, and realize the difference between my practicing now and back in college 🙂

Now tell me…..What inspires you to practice? What tools help you? Are you motivated by a practice chart? By a list? By a timer? By a desire to instill the value of hard work in your students? In your children? In your unborn child (who, in my case, is listening to me practice every day!)? What can you take from your own practicing to use in the lessons you teach your students? What do you learn about practicing that helps teach your students to practice?


Stay tuned for more on this topic this week…including a wonderful guest contributor!


Feel free to take this short survey, or leave a comment below. I’d love to hear your input!

Pedagogy Books: The Well-Tempered Keyboard Teacher

The Well-Tempered Keyboard Teacher
The Well-Tempered Keyboard Teacher by Marienne Uszler, Stewart Gordon and Scott McBride Smith is a great book about piano pedagogy. This was one text used in my college pedagogy class. There are so many great ideas and suggestions in this book, that I really need to read it again! 🙂 

Teaching Advanced Students

One chapter that I really enjoyed is the one about Teaching Advanced Students. Teaching advanced students is really an entirely different world than teaching beginners, isn’t it? I would guess that the majority of students that many of us have are beginners or intermediate students (at least that has been my experience!). Many students drop out of lessons before reaching the advanced level. This chapter, written by Scott McBride Smith, is a great one to read if you are a teacher of advanced students.
Practicing What We Teach
Smith says, “It is not possible to teach something that you have not mastered thoroughly through your own training and investigation.”

As piano teachers, and particularly as piano teachers of advanced students learning advanced repertoire, it is imperative that we are able to play the repertoire as well. How can we teach the techniques and musical expression needed to play an advanced piece of repertoire if we have not mastered it ourselves?

This topic came up on our Facebook Page recently, and one of our readers had a great suggestion. Here is what she said:

One thing you mentioned is to ‘learn advanced music’ to be more aware of what’s needed in students’ pieces and to teach more effectively. I agree with your statement completely but take it to the maximum and usually don’t teach a piece that I haven’t pre-tested for my student first. I actually do written analysis of complex pieces and prepare written lesson plans. This was a new habit when I began 39 years ago and it has really helped me be secure in my teaching. Going the extra mile on all pieces just exercises your brain so much that you could eventually teach a new piece in your sleep just from observation…”

Skills of Advanced Piano Study

Scott McBride Smith talks about the different skills needed for intermediate study vs. advanced study. I thought this was a great list to get us thinking about what we need to teach our advanced students.

Intermediate Skills:

  • accurate note learning and rhythm
  • wide-ranging dynamics
  • good tone
  • appropriate balance between the hands and between voices
  • basic projection of form and harmony

Advanced Skills: (“…a higher level of artistry is needed for these challenging works.”)

  • phrasing
  • rubato
  • accent
  • tone color
  • pedal
  • sophisticated practice techniques (lots of slow, super-accurate repetitions, work at different tempos, practice in rhythms and shifting accents, etc.)
  • public performances

So many great books out there, so much to learn! What are some of your favorite pedagogy or music books?

Improving Your Own Sight Reading

As we are discussing sight reading this week, I have been doing some thinking about my own sight reading.
Now, I have been sight reading for many years now, and feel pretty confident in my sight reading abilities. Because of this, I haven’t been sitting down and formally sight reading regularly. Of course I play a lot and sight read things here and there, but maybe I should be doing more.
I had a great Keyboard Foundations class in college, taught by Scott Holden. Each week we had a sight reading quiz. Dr. Holden would give us a piece of music (usually pretty advanced in some way or another), and we would have to record our sight read of the piece and turn it in. It was a bit stressful because if we stopped, missed a beat or skipped a beat we would automatically fail the quiz. I loved it though, it was such a wonderful learning tool. Thinking back on it it is such a great reminder of the need to sight read regularly, to always be improving our skills and to regularly become familiar with new repertoire.

As teachers, it is so important that we are able to sight read well. I once read an article in a music journal (I will have to go in my files and find it so I can quote it exactly!) that basically said that a good pianist should have sight read through all of the major piano works of the great composers. Now that is a lot of sight reading, but just imagine how a project like that could improve your playing (and your teaching as well)!

One of my favorite assignments in my piano literature class in college was to sight read through the entire Well-Tempered Clavier (both books). Now of course this took a bit of time, but what a rewarding thing! As teachers we need to be familiar with the great literature for piano.
One of these days (probably after going through all of my belongings, packing up our entire house, finding a new place to live and driving all the way to Texas with my little family and getting settled – ya know, after I have a little more free time :)) I would love to make a goal to sight read through a new piece each day, with the end goal being to sight read through a lot of the major piano works – Bach Well-Tempered Clavier (again), Beethoven Sonatas, Mozart Sonatas, Chopin Preludes, Nocturnes, Ballades, etc.
But for now, I just wanted to share some of those thoughts. Do any of you sight read regularly? Do you have anything to share regarding this topic? Also, I just stumbled upon this neat blog, check it out!

we’re in the same boat.

Who else enjoyed this week’s poll? I surely did, because it made me feel a little better knowing I am not alone in the fact that I struggle finding the time to practice as much as I’d like. I do, however, feel inspired to do better in that department – hopefully some of you feel the same as well! Here are the poll results:

How often do you practice the piano?

Are you currently taking piano lessons?

This week we’d like to discuss Sight Reading – why is it important, how important is it really, how do you teach it, how do you motivate your students to do it….well you get the idea. 🙂 Have a great week!

oh and psst, don’t forget to take our two new polls, found on the sidebar or here and here! If you have ideas or suggestions for topics you’d like us to cover, let us know here or head on over and take our reader survey.

Performing at our recitals

I have really enjoyed Jenny’s posts this week about performing for your students and about fitting in practice time for yourself. This is something I’ve thought about a lot. It is a bit of a downer when I am reminded of how much better I was when I was doing my piano degree than I am now. Depressing! There is no way I can continue to practice 4-5 hours a day now that I am the primary caregiver for two small children, in addition to teaching and other adult responsibilities. BUT, that doesn’t mean that I have to stop practicing altogether! Without a performance to prepare for, it is easy for me to put off practicing, because there is always something else that needs to be done. That is one of the (admittedly more selfish) reasons that I perform at all of my studio recitals. An upcoming performance in front of all of my students and their parents is more than enough motivation for me to make sure that my practicing gets done. And really, anyone can practice, no matter how busy they are, if they make it a priority. (Isn’t this what we are preaching to our students?) My favorite time to practice is at night after my girls are in bed, but I try to get little snatches done during the day – often just 10 minutes at a time. I remember once I was babysitting a friend’s kids along with my own and I got 45 minutes of practicing in because the kids were having such a great time dancing and running around to the music. (It was Prokofiev’s Suggestion Diabolique, and its frantic sound and pace made those kids pretty wild!) Anyway, we musicians are pretty good at time management – a vital skill we had to acquire to fit in all the practicing we did in college – and with enough creativity and motivation, we can continue to develop our musicianship in adulthood.

As far as what to play at my studio recitals, I like to learn something new each time. There are plenty of pieces that I’ve always wanted to play, and it has been a fun challenge to choose a piece, listen to a variety of recordings, decide how I want it to sound, and teach it to myself. (I would, however, like to take piano lessons again someday.)

There are so many reasons to perform for our students! One is to expose them to a variety of classical repertoire that is fun to listen to, thereby (hopefully) generating more interest in different types of classical music. We can show them that it can be exciting to listen to and fun to perform! Another reason for performing is to give ourselves a little more authority when we tell our students what they need to do. 🙂 Students have a lot more respect for a teacher who clearly knows what they’re talking about, and what better way to demonstrate that than by showing them good piano habits in action? Performing is a good way to advertise our “product” not only to our students, but to the parents as well, who are paying us and should know what kind of a pianist their child’s teacher is.

One concern that may keep some teachers from performing at their recitals is that they will seem like they are trying to upstage their students. I have worried about this a little, but I don’t think it has to be an issue. You do not have to make yourself the focal point of the recital – make it clear that the recital is about the students. I’ve found that my students and their parents look forward to and appreciate hearing me play, which is encouraging, but I make an effort to focus on their child’s performance when talking to them after the recital. After all, that is what they really want to hear about anyway. When I was a piano student, hearing my teachers play was a real treat, and I had much more respect for the teachers who performed than for those who didn’t. My piano professor in college is a prolific performer – search for “Scott Holden, piano” on YouTube – and he encouraged us to perform at every opportunity when we became teachers. I am trying to follow his advice, and only good things have come from it.

ten ways to use your continued piano study to influence your studio

Play at your students’ recitals – not only is it a great excuse for you to perform, but it’s a wonderful way to show your students and their parents that you know what you’re doing and that you practice just like they do, and to introduce them to some great repertoire.

Perform at a group class or performance/master class – a fun, informal opportunity to play for your students, giving them an opportunity to hear you play

Give new students a recording of your playing – I like to do this at interviews; I give them a copy of my resume and a CD recording. Of course you could also just perform for them!

Perform in some local ensembles or as an accompanist – I believe that participation in ensemble/accompanying work is extremely important in becoming a good, well-rounded musician. I have found that through accompanying I have learned so much about music-making, teaching, learning, listening, and performance, and I think that has helped in my own teaching. Plus, when you are involved in performances, you can always invite your students to attend!

Accompany your students in duets, concertos, etc. – Fun fun. Another great excuse to perform! Someday I will have two pianos and cannot wait for all the fun two-piano pieces that can be played….

Sight read through (or do a more in-depth study of) intermediate/teaching repertoire – then, of course, you will be much more familiar with it, be better able to choose good repertoire for each student, and will be able to teach it more effectively!

Be involved in studio practicing competitions! – ever think of this? I have never done this but think it could be super fun! You could even do something fun like students getting a prize if they practice more than the teacher – holy motivation! If that doesn’t get you practicing, I don’t know what would. And it might just motivate your students quite a bit, as well.

Learn or re-learn more advanced repertoire being studied by your students – that way you will be able to be so much more aware of the techniques needed and the difficult passages coming up, and will be able to teach the piece so much more effectively. You will also be able to demonstrate passages and techniques much more easily 🙂

Perform a solo recital for students or prospective students – could be a great way to get new students, and something wonderful to work towards in your own practicing!

Take piano lessons again! – I would love to do this sometime. What a wonderful way to improve not only your performance skills, but your teaching skills! Each teacher I have had has taught me so many things that I have been able to incorporate into my own teaching – what a great way to get some fresh ideas and perspective.

making time for practicing

As a mommy, I find it so hard to practice at times. It really is depressing when I think about it – I used to practice at least four hours per day, and I loved it. I so miss that (not that I would trade being a mom…I’m just sayin’!). And while of course I don’t expect to be able to practice that much, it can be so doable to practice every day! I think as a mom you just need to be creative.
practicing + being with this
little man 24/7 = tricky!
Luckily my little guy adores music. It’s gotta be in his genes or something, because he just loves it. I turn on my ipod and he immediately starts dancing around (and oh man he’s got the cutest, funkiest little dance moves around). He bobs his head to the beat, he sings. He dances around the room when we play the piano (my husband is a really talented pianist…he plays the third movement of Moonlight Sonata and my little boy LOVES it). 
So recently I made a fantastic discovery…when I play the piano, my son loves to listen to the piece and then tell me what he thinks it sounds like. The other day while he ate a snack, I was able to practice a bunch of tricky sections from some old repertoire. After each little section he would tell me what it sounded like – “Mommy, that sounds like a frog!”
If my son is playing with his trains, I’ll say, “do we need some train music?” and thankfully he gets all excited and says, “Yeah!!” Awesome. I am then free to practice anything that slightly resembles the sound of a train. Car music is also a favorite. Scales are good car music. Haha. (I am gonna milk this for all it’s worth, because who knows how long it will actually work!)
In fact, he now does it all by himself. The other day he walked up to the piano, played a little ditty, then said to me, “That sounds like a lion climbing through a forest!” 
How do you find time in your busy schedules to practice? How do those with kids make it work? Even if you don’t have kids, it can be hard to be diligent and to fit it in. What are your secrets?? 🙂
1 2
Verified by ExactMetrics