Practising is the only way to get better, but students might be confused about how often they should practise. Every instrument has its own requirements. You should also consider your goals, what you are working on, and how your overall schedule is structured. Keep reading if you are wondering exactly how much you need to practise every day to get better.
After you sign up for piano lessons in London, practising can become a part of your daily schedule – you may need to give yourself or your child reminders at times, but it’s always worth it.
Do You Have To Practise Piano Every Day?
You don’t absolutely have to practise the piano every day, but it helps to be consistent. Consistent practise helps you improve quickly. Anyone who is working on fundamentals, scales, exercises, or repertoire will lose some progress if they take days off. No, you don’t forget everything you learned, but daily practise helps you reinforce what you have learned.
For How Long Should You Practise Piano?
Start with 30 minutes of practise. When you are a new student of any age, you can structure your schedule to practise for 30 minutes. You have 30 minutes of material to work on, and you can increase your practise time as you improve, have more material to work on, or simply enjoy playing that much more.
Can You practise Too Much?
Yes. There are three things that you might do if you practise too much:
- Cause soreness in your hands and wrists
- Oversaturate your brain with information
- Frustrate yourself
When you set aside time to practise, you need to be aware of when your body starts to ache, if your hands are sore, or if you are frustrated. Even if you have not practised too much that day, you might have practised a certain thing too much.
Some people oversaturate their brains with information. Yes, you might learn a lot of new things in one day, but it will be next to impossible to retain all that information. Let yourself get good at something, review that something, move on to something else, and review that information the next day. When you feel you’ve done enough for the day, you can stop.
In the worst cases, your hands are sore, you’re frustrated, and you cannot remember anything you practised. Stop well before you reach this point.
This is a problem with younger kids when they get frustrated and do not know how to regulate their emotions. It is ok to let them stop, take a break, or change to something they are more familiar with. Forcing yourself to play something that is causing you emotional distress is not healthy.
To combat burnout and frustration, consider structuring your practise into 2-3 smaller chunks every day. You won’t get tense, your brain can absorb more, and you’ll be more focused.
It Depends On Your Goals
When you have specific goals in mind, the amount of time you dedicate to practise will change. Amateur musicians can happily practise for a half-hour every day without any trouble. Some people will maintain this practise time for many years to come. This is a good schedule to keep if you enjoy playing—perhaps you accompany the choir at church, or your child has many other commitments. You do not want to feel burnt out.
Older students could practise for an hour because they have more material to work on. Someone who is very busy might need two hours to deal with their lesson material, accompaniments for other musicians, and maybe even a side job they have playing at a church.
Conservatory-level students will practise even more because they have so much to work on. This is not a practise-seven-hours-a-day-to-fulfill-your-dreams proposition. In essence, your practise time increases as you have more responsibility. You learn through the years how to manage your time and how much time you need to get everything done.
(Yes, someone who is very serious and very busy might need four or five hours a day to get the results they want.)
Some Tips For Effective, Engaged Piano practise
Everyone who is practising a musical instrument needs a few tips that will help them practise well, remain effective, and avoid frustration. Try these tips one at a time until you have created a practise routine that is right for you.
- Use a metronome at all times (unless you are using a unique practise technique that does not require a metronome)
- Start with scales and fundamentals every day
- Start slow (60 bpm is a common and effective tempo to start with)
- practise slowly every day to teach your muscles where to go
- If something needs to go faster, you must progress slowly from one tempo to another
- Write down the tempo you have achieved when learning faster passages so you can see your progress
When you sign up for piano lessons in Kensington, you can use these tips to practise effectively. Please feel free to get in touch if you’d like more information.