Practice Routine

[DoubleBlade]

I'm having my holidays now and so it seems that I have more time to practice on my piano. Thing is , I feel that my level of concentration is dropping.

To me 30 minutes of daily practice is too little for me and yet that's where I feel my concentration level is capped for now. Is there any way in which one can practice "smart" or any recommendations on how to increase one's own level of concentration.

I usually do all my practising at night from 8pm onwards and if I were to take a 1 hour break in between , it will be too late to resume practice so as not to disturb the claimity of the night as I live in a very "close" neighbourhood and my friend can hear me play from the 12 floor (I live on the 3rd floor).

So basically , any recommendations on how to improve one's level of concentration? Or is 30 mins of daily practice sufficient?

I feel guilty when I can spend 4 hours on world of warcraft (computer game) when I only spend 30 mins practising!

 

[nkubi87]

actually, it depends alot on how motivated u are, like the passion for music. for me i have the passion for guitar so i can go on & play for quite long arnd 1 hr plus? & the time passes very fast when u enjoy something, haha.

anw, i learnt piano also, & i tink u shld play the whole piece, & concentrate on e parts that u stumble upon, keep playing the particular part till u get it played smoothly, dats wad i tink. gd luck!!

 

[DoubleBlade]

Yup that's what I do but I limit myself to say 8 bars of notes for each practice session. Is that too little?

Within that practice session no matter how long I'm at it , I must at least be able to play the 8 bars worth of notes correctly. That's my daily objectives for each practice session

 

[Guest]

i guess the first question to ask yourself is: what exactly do you want to achieve? From there, your practice routine will have a meaning.

 

[DoubleBlade]

My objectives are just basically to at least play a given number bar of notes from a piece. The refining part can come perhaps the next day?

But somehow with all these objectives to achieve in hand , somehow I have this weird tenancy to think that 30 minutes is too short even though I have achieved my objectives....

 

[Phanto]

i play random solos on the piano by delving into different keys at a time. can play for 1 hour straight. its all about feeling the song, but also getting the chord progressions right.

 

[Mr_KeyboardMan]

For music, practise doesnt make perfectl, PERFECT practise makes Perfect.

Myself i only practise for like 20 min and 30 min tops at 9 30 pm Daily. But without fail.

but the difference is, I only practise a routine that's challenging and plan my practise schedule carefully as if I am teaching a student.

As for finger exercises, I just do hanon in my clavinova while watching DVD or TV. Cant really call that a practise, it have already become a habit .. Good habit I mean.

Been doing this for a year plus already, and I have improved 4x more than the years that i ve been practising 2 hours daily.

It's more fun and less stressful this way too.

 

[Cheez]

As for finger exercises, I just do hanon in my clavinova while watching DVD or TV. Cant really call that a practise, it have already become a habit .. Good habit I mean.

Wow! You can really multitask. Don't know how you can concentrate - on the TV and DVD, I mean!!!

Besides Hanon, remember those Czerny exercises? They are quite good too!

 

[Mr_KeyboardMan]

Its easy actually, just play the same exercise over and over. Soon you ll get used to it and u can even do that while watching tv and dvd. Then after 2 months change exercise.

Got this excellent tips from a guitarist fren who practise while watching tv and movies

It DOES WORKS .. trust me .. and u dont even feel like it was practising

Just position your piano and the tv to a comfortable position. And then, there you go.

But of course, I learnt some finger exercises that i can do while I m not at the piano. Eg: while travelling, in the workplace and waiting.

By doing this often, It has become a habit which constantly improve my finger dexterity, agility and strength over time.

For these exercises, i recommend this book

http://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Piano-Technique-Teachers-Performers/dp/0931340462

For piano resources, i recommend this site:

http://www.pianosheets.org/

They have a lot of excellent resources on piano there.

 

[Indigo_blues]

Besides Hanon, remember those Czerny exercises? They are quite good too!

omg.. i can't stand those crazy Czerny exercises.. hahaha!

 

[casanova]

hey dude..

Hey blade,

Practice makes perfect..
Trust me it works..
Try this..
Dont eat,dont smoke,dont drink dont sleep..until you get what you want on the keyboard or piano..
And trust me,you will get it..haha
i try it out dude!
Its fun if you are a music freak!!!hehe!!

[han_dammit]
[Korg Tr Music
Workstation]