Ten Tips for making your practice time really count!
- Practice a little Every day, this is far more beneficial than one or two long practice sessions a week.
- Have a certain time each day that is set aside specifically for your practice. It will then become part of your daily routine.
- Split your daily practice into even smaller time chunks i.e. technical work in the morning and pieces in the afternoon/ evening.
- Learn each piece a phrase at a time. Practice each phrase SLOWLY until you have it. And then go to the next phrase.
- 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.
- Don’t practice mistakes or you will become very good at playing them.
- Sometimes start in the middle of your piece and work to the end.
- Regularly record yourself and listen carefully to it.
- Practice the hard bits not just the bits you like.
- Listen to your pieces being played by the great players.