Ten Tips for making your practice time really count!

1. Practice a little Every day, this is far more beneficial than one or two long practice sessions a week.
2. Have a certain time each day that is set aside specifically for your practice. It will then become part of your daily routine.
3. Split your daily practice into even smaller time chunks i.e. technical work in the morning and pieces in the afternoon/ evening.
4. Learn each piece a phrase at a time. Practice each phrase SLOWLY until you have it.  And then go to the next phrase.
5. Starting at the beginning of the piece and playing through to the end each time you practice is not an effective use of your time. You are merely practicing mistakes.
6. Don’t practice mistakes or you will become very good at playing them.
7. Sometimes start in the middle of your piece and work to the end.
8. Regularly record yourself and listen carefully to it.
9. Practice the hard bits not just the bits you like.
10. Listen to your pieces being played by the great players.