How to Practice Smarter | Pianist Academy

[@PianistAcademy1]

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[@sarwatbakhsh7954]

Hi Charles Thank you so much for the great tutorials you have created on your channel 😊 So I initially signed up for your newsletter three weeks ago, but I haven't received a copy of your practice guide template yet. I have received five newsletters - but none have any links to any pdfs. Take care Sarwat

[@PianistAcademy1]

@@sarwatbakhsh7954 Thanks for letting me know! The email with the PDFs should have come within seconds of signing up!

[@sarwatbakhsh7954]

@@PianistAcademy1 thank you so much. I have now downloaded the two files. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@PianistAcademy1]

@@sarwatbakhsh7954 Awesome, I hope you find the guide helpful and enjoy the sheet music!

[@Craig67Twitty]

This was great and exactly what I needed. Last year, I started taking piano lessons (after over 40 years of not playing). I never learned how to read music, so, I used this as a tool to be able to do that. My teacher was great, as I learned a lot about reading music. The only downside was, my teacher never really gave me a guide as to what to practice on a weekly basis (scales, chords, arpeggios, etc.). I basically practiced those on my own, as, we only focused on what the lessons were in our book. After nine (9) months, I decided to stop with the lessons, and, go on it alone. This practice tool will definitely help me out. A couple of weeks ago, I bought two (2) journals to jot down my practice sessions, but, this will be an extra added bonus. Once again, THANK YOU!!!!

[@PianistAcademy1]

Awesome, I'm glad to hear, Craig! With my in-person students I always take notes during the lesson of how things went, mark down what the assignments are, and then do a recap during the last few minutes, sometimes asking questions for the student to fill in the blanks from their memory. Many of my students have 3 groups of 'tasks' to accomplish during the week: technique practice, repertoire practice/progress, and composition/songwriting of some kind which also ties into music theory.

[@derinderruheliegt]

This is awesome. It’s too easy to forget so many details and I need to be writing down more... so I will use this guide for sure! About 3 or 4 weeks ago I started setting a 25 minute timer for practice “sub-sessions” ... followed by a 5 minute break. Those 5 minute breaks have been hugely important so my brain can reorganize and complete the learning process. I tend to obsessively force my way through learning difficult passages, which eventually leads to worse performance, in addition to being a massive waste of time. Using your method, along with taking the breaks, seems like the next logical step.

[@PianistAcademy1]

Awesome! The breaks I didn't cover in this video, but that is also absolutely true. I've heard Veda Kaplinsky from Juilliard go even further and sometimes say to only practice 20 minutes at a time, then take a 5 minute break, then continue. I always try to never go more than 45 minutes without a stretch session and brief walk away from the piano, maybe for a fresh cup of coffee. If I'm working on an especially large piece like a Sonata or Concerto, I might go that long without a break. Otherwise I really try to stick to around 25 or 30 minutes and then 5 minutes off. At a certain point, you just need to step away and trust you made enough progress for the day! By the way, since you are one of the first to sign up, did the email with the PDFs come through OK?

[@derinderruheliegt]

The email and downloads came through great! Thank you! I’ll experiment with 20 - 25 minutes and see how it works out, all great tips.

[@JoeLinux2000]

Good motivational video.

[@PianistAcademy1]

Thanks!

[@angeles3527]

Hi George, I came across your channel a couple of days ago, looking to complement my teacher's advice on a piece I'm working on (the Chopin Waltz in A minor). Your tutorial is fantastic. I am truly impressed by the quality of your material, both the actual content and the production. I learnt a lot about practice efficiency from Graham Fitch, whom you quote in one of your videos, but I needed a refresher and this (and the other videos I've watched on your channel) has been really useful. I have subscribed and will be recommending your channel to other fellow pianists - thank you very much.

[@PianistAcademy1]

Thanks so much, Angeles! I'm so glad the videos here have been a great supplement for you. And yes, I'm a big fan of Graham's teaching, he's wonderful! Thank you for the sub and any sharing of the channel you do, and please say hello again in the comments sometime!

[@aBachwardsfellow]

Excellent! Thanks Charles! For self-taught students this is a superb approach! You may see in the sample I sent you that I'm "prescribing" a similar approach for my students (rather than having them put it together) in order to have them accomplish the goals that *I* have in mind for them. But I can see value in identifying the goals and discussing them with the student (even "negotiating" -- what would *you* like to accomplish this month ... ) and writing them out. That would give an added level of understanding, focus, and ownership on the part of the student -- more than merely just having done everything on the practice sheet -- and a clearer sense of movement and progress. Having a monthly review ("how did we do, what should we change ... ") would give even more focus/ownership and serve as a guide for revising/setting the next months' goals. Note - I realize your scope here was not meant to get into particular practice technics, but for increasing the tempo of scales and arpeggios I find it works to use a range of tempi (and rhythms) in a given practice session, starting a bit slower than the target tempo, and going through several tempi to reach the target tempo rather than simply starting at the goal tempo each day ... just my 2-cents ... :-)

[@PianistAcademy1]

Thanks and I agree with your points here! I'd also even go as far as saying teachers that don't already have a template like this could use it with all of their students. The earlier the student, the more guidance they will need when thinking about and setting their goals. The older and more advanced the student, the more it should be their responsibility with some intermittent coaching. About the range of tempi when working on technique, I like mixing tempi that are slightly challenging with tempi that are slow and controlled, adding in some other musical work when the tempo is middle of the road. I definitely wouldn't try to, or advise to, start with the "final" goal tempo right at the beginning of the day... that'll never work!

[@aBachwardsfellow]

@@PianistAcademy1 - I fully agree with both! I'll be sending you a few more template examples I've used in case you're interested. Regarding using varying tempi I think we're mostly on the same page -- it's fairly standard to mix more relaxing tempi with more challenging ones :-)

[@aBachwardsfellow]

@@PianistAcademy1 I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on the "grid-format" practice template I sent you ... reply to my email if you'd like -- thanks!

[@PianistAcademy1]

@@aBachwardsfellow I will get to it, I promise! I'm just very deep/behind on a whole bunch of stuff!

[@aBachwardsfellow]

@@PianistAcademy1 - thanks SO much! NO HURRY ! You obviously have a lot of great stuff going on! :-)

[@Gyaux_]

This was exactly what i needed! thank u and well done

[@PianistAcademy1]

Awesome! So glad it will help you out! Since you are one of the first to sign up, did the email with the PDFs come through OK?

[@Gyaux_]

@@PianistAcademy1 yep I got the email came instantly 😊

[@PianistAcademy1]

@@Gyaux_ Yay, thanks!

[@rebanelson607]

This was very helpful. I've been learning on my own for over 5 years and it is easy to get lost in the vast landscapes of theory and technique. Taking the time to THINK about goals is like marking a trail. I know what I want: to play fluently/improvise in all keys- and what I don't want: classical repertoire. Your channel is great!

[@PianistAcademy1]

Thank you for watching, Reba! I'll be launching into some less classical topics very soon on the channel, so I hope you'll check them out! And yes, that idea of having a trail or marking a path to follow is such a good analogy!

[@ami2846]

This is awesome. I know it works. Lately I’ve been getting carried away and sitting at the piano for too long every day, which is unhelpful and bordering on obsessive. Need to keep it short and focused again.

[@PianistAcademy1]

Thanks for watching Ami! It's great to realize what we are doing wrong, especially when we know a course of action that can correct it... pretty easily!

[@owencalder5235]

Fantastic video! I really love how you present the topic of structuring your practice. But does anyone know where to find the practice sheet pdf download?? I can’t find it anywhere on the website

[@PianistAcademy1]

Thanks for watching, Owen! If you sign up to the email list via the link in the pinned comment or in the description, you’ll get an email immediately with the PDFs. If it doesn’t come within 5 minutes feel free to let me know here!

[@serwoolsley]

nha i'll pass on this one, personally i play because i like it, i don't want it to become like i'm studying for an exam, it takes the fun out of it

[@PianistAcademy1]

No worries! I understand! Thanks for still watching and commenting :-)