How much do Pianists REALLY practice?

[@UgniusPianist]

How much do you think one should practice? How much do you practice? Isit going to be #lingling40hours 😂

[@pianoplaynight]

I think it's important to establish the goal of practice. Learning new rep? Refining rep for a competition or performance? Technical etudes? Sight reading? Or just refreshing well-established repertoire as seasoned pros often do? Daily practice time is heavily influenced by the goal, apart from the constraints you mentioned. I personally spent years studying 2-5 hours a day, these days it's more like 3 hours, in two 90 min sessions. I'm not too far from the famous 10000 hours, but feel sooo far from mastering this stuff 😂what does "mastering" mean anyway? We know that once a peak is reached, another higher up can be seen on the horizon...

[@UgniusPianist]

Really appreciate you points! Thanks for watching my videos! ☺️

[@tia904]

2-3 hours sounds practical and effective. Some may play more just for the pleasure of it and time availability. 90 minutes each session sounds right but for me if the piece and passage are more challenging, I may break it up in smaller chunks, 5-10 minutes and come back to it several times that day and that week. I find that each time I get away to do a call, get coffee/tea, etc i see more clearly and also may find the solution to the puzzle. It seems that even more than other disciplines, the time away is as important as the time at the piano for memorization and problem solving. Unrelated, but it is very possible that G. Gould used to hum the 'tune' in his head etc. even when he was not at the piano. If I practice too much or too late, it will disrupt sleep, I will wake up feeling like I was playing or singing in my sleep. It is definitely possible to practice too much with deteriorating returns.

[@UgniusPianist]

Superb points @tia904 !

[@noR3M0RSE]

Making short pauses during practice does indeed help your Brain learn a thing faster. There is a Name for that which i do Not recall but its true

[@UgniusPianist]

@@noR3M0RSE try to remember it and come back when you do - I would love to know the right term for it 🙏🏻

[@noR3M0RSE]

@@UgniusPianist cant remember. Its gone for sure. :( but if it helps, there is an article online explaining this effect. „The importance of pauses whilst learning“ on dyndevice

[@BookwormtoBookworm]

I use to play every other day but i would suggest 2 hours a day.