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Interesting take, especially the take on harmonic analysis at moments of fatigue (I waste my time when I get tired). In my case, I do the scales and arpeggios first, but there's a catch : I don't do them in my limit. If, say, my limit of playing three octaves well for quarters is at 100 bpm, I do at 60-80 bpm, to ensure I don't fatigue and keep good form. I'll devote 15-30 min per week to attempt increasing speed of certain scales and arpeggios to get a new record (not much practice time for a father of two), and I can do this straight after the slow warm up. I can do that in 5-10 min chunks, so I don't get too tired for the repertoire. It works well for me.
And I follow this philosophy for the repertoire I study as well : always working slow and build up to a fraction of my personal best time (like 80% of my best time). Then I attempt to increase the speed like 30 min a week per song (maybe more if I nailed down other songs speed, and am working on interpretation). The numbers are a personal choice, but the idea of playing slower than your limit was an advice from my teacher. This advice helped me a lot.
I don't like jumping so much during training. I feel my muscle memory needs a sort of build-up. But I do change occasionally if I'm too tired of certain songs (say, short songs with long tremolos, and I feel my hand gets tired of it). Personal choice.-
Christopher Macy I like what he says about sight reading. I have had an intuition that it is bad for me for many years, and I don’t do it at all now.
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I use "Play 'n' Practice to log my time. I start with 20-30 minutes of site reading using "Piano Marvel". My restored Mason and Hamlin AA is equipped with ProRecord by PianoDisc so it has a bluetooth connection to the app as a digital piano does. Then I work my way through the 4-6 pieces I am currently working on as app sorts last played piece to the top of its list. I try to use the Pomodoro Technique to cycle through sections in 20-25 minutes at a stretch. I have 4 mics on my piano and they are connected to Digital Performer DAW as well as the midi data. In the breaks I can listen to recording either with headphones or have the piano play it back. When I have a piece pretty well in hand I play along with whatever artists recording of the piece I admire. I find that lets me really see where they are moving the tempo and breaths around as well as dynamics. And can feel how different artists take different approaches. Not trying to emulate, but a way to gather fine tuned direction. Its a pretty geeky approach but I like this setup very much. I also watch/listen to Tonebase lessons while doing dishes or something and then work through them in detail at the piano. I usually spend 2-3 hours a day at the piano. I try to get a decent recording before moving on to new piece. That fells like performance pressure and really highlights the weak spots. When traveling I have a Kawaii ES110 that I have setup to same height keyboard and bench as my grand and triple pedal so can keep up while away. Some of this process is compensation or work around to not having a teacher. I know that too would add another dimension and am considering that option.
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Jack vreeland I never thought of "playing along" to a recording. Excellent idea! I also never record myself until I'm pretty comfortable with a piece.
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Gail Starr It is most likely a remnant of my youth. Grew up playing Hammond B3, Rhodes, & Moog in rock and horn bands in the 60s-80s. From Beatles to Yes, Earth Wind and Fire, etc. Played by ear and learned songs by playing along with the albums.
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Dominic, great advice, as always. I too start with goals for the day’s practice session. Then work on pieces that I will be performing first. Recently, I found that playing “cold” what I’m soon to perform improves my confidence and memory.
Then I get to my routine: a few Hanon exercises, some scales and arpeggios, all in medium tempo, which helps limber up my fingers. I usually have a Bach piece in the repertoire, so I tend to go there next, because Bach is a great way for me to really warm up.
As with you and others, memorization is next, and then I work on “fractures” in the current repertoire. Plus a little sight reading of something enjoyable.
I generally practice an hour at a time with longer re-set breaks (Josef Hofmann’s advice), which works well for me physically and my daily routine.
FYI: The concept of “fractures” comes from an invaluable how-to-practice book for amateurs “Playing the Piano for Pleasure” by Charles Cooke.
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Tanya I am enjoying reading Charles Cooke and about the notion of fractures; I had no idea that they are the most solid once they heal. How encouraging!
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Adena I have heard of that book. Now I need to just get it!
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Though I’m not very methodical, I usually start by playing a piece of music to warm up (and check how well I can play something cold!); then if I have time, a scale and arpeggios, then a few exercises; then I’ll work on current repertoire, trying to vary the order from day to day. I try to have specific goals for each thing (memory, technical trouble spots, solidifying rhythm, clarifying interpretation).
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I "try" to practice at least 2 hours a day. However, I break up my practice and walk away from the piano every 30-50 minutes. This was something that I got from one of Dominc's Tonebase sessions on practicing last year. I'm going to add the practice log - I like that.
First Session 30-40 minutes
1: Scales (4 Octave scales - I usually play a few major and minor scales)
2: 1-4-5 major chord progressions in all keys
3: Sight reading practice: Easy-read piano music
Second Session: Next 30 to 40 minutes
1: Memorization of Music
2: Accompanient practice
Third Session: Last 30 minutes - to an hour
1: Working on my "wish list" of difficult music
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I always begin by turning the heater up in the piano room! (there are only a couple months of the year when this isn't necessary) I have the luxury of being able to play in small to medium chunks throughout the day, as I work from home.
Chunk 1 is usually some sight-reading of something easy (15 minutes or so)
Chunk 2 is usually technique type practice: Hanon, scales, other exercises given me by my teacher (20 - 30 minutes)
Chunk 3 is repertoire work - which I sometimes break into sub-chunks (30-45 minutes); right now this includes transposing an easy piece into all major keys.
Chunk 4 is ear training/theory work, which I don't get to every day, but includes singing solfege (around 20 minutes)
I do keep a practice journal, and make remarks each day that remind me of what I need to work on the next day (I highlight them so I can find them easily the next day). I memorize as I learn because it's good for my brain!
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I usually practise in blocks of 20-30 minutes, 3-4 times throughout the day. I try to think first what I want to work on in that block of time.
With the warm up, I was using Bach Inventions as warm up pieces before but nowadays I just do a brief runs of chromatic scale in a mirrored contrary motion to wake my fingers up and to observe how both hands move and feel.
Then onto the repertoire piece first at slow tempo, then whatever I need to work on. I have recently started keeping a practise log (I use 'Andante' app) and at the end of the practice block I jot down the things that needs more work (e.g. HT not quite together at x bpm, LH needs more clarity, RH lighter, ...) which feed into the future practices ... though I don't usually go back to read them as a pause to think and writing them down is usually enough but it's there if I need a reminder.
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Priya Viseskul I'm going to check out that App!
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I start with a warm up of scales & arpeggios (contrary to Dominic's advice, so I may rethink that) for about ten to fifteen minutes. Then I go to my "play list" and begin working - find & fix problematic passages, drilling solutions until they start to stick (fingering, arm movement, in/out of the keys, etc.) I try to avoid doing run-throughs until I've done the work. I re-order my play list (am using forScore) weekly making sure I get time on all the pieces I want to work on.
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I so agree with not starting practice with scales and arpeggios. I often practice after a morning walk or exercise when my brain is fully awake. I review challenges spots slowly before I go to bed.
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You lost me at "Establish my goal for the day". Seems like I need another 10 years to get good at the one
The better I get, the more learning piano seems to go better when what I'm doing slightly "hurts" my brain
Whether I have 30 minutes or 3 hours I need a small goal for like the next 30 seconds or I start wasting time.
My teacher and my "past" self come up with all sorts of good ideas on what goals I should have and how I should practice to get them, but the brain of my "now" self hates to work and can turn ANY big goal into "that sounds great! Now let's do a runthrough of the entire piece and see how that goal works out as we're trying to apply it all the way through!"...
To try to do more of what my teacher and "past" self suggest up with I record goals/ways-achieve-the-goal items on a list (that quickly becomes huge, one lesson might add 30 items. I use Excel on a PC next to my Piano to manage the list) and I use all sorts of habit-forming tricks (Atomic Habits style...) to work to get myself to constantly re-refer to "the list" to decide exactly what I should work on over the next 30 seconds and how I should work on it. Deliberate practice of SMALL goals... Deliberate practice of SMALL goals... Deliberate practice of SMALL goals...
I still do way more runthroughs than I should....
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I am retired, an early riser, and approaching 70 in a couple of months. All of which factors into my practice routine!
I do 2 practice sessions every day, with the first one at about 6AM and the second one in early evening, both about an hour long.
In the mornings I warm up and wake up by playing through a couple of Bach Chorales. I'm sure you have one of those big books with several hundred harmonized chorales, right? Sometimes I will try to sing one of the lines as I play, but usually I am just listening to the harmony, trying to guess what comes next, and sorting out which hand plays the alto/tenor (not written to be played at the keyboard, but to be sung). It is a nice warmup for the mind and the ear.
Then I sightread, usually about 15 minutes. There are thousands of pieces to use: Haydn/Mozart/Beethoven Sonatas, Mendelssohn Songs Without Words, Grieg Lyric Pieces, the "Classics to Modern" collections, Scarlatti Sonatas, and so on and so forth. When you run across something, save it for later. I can also get a digital version of "Pianist" magazine through my local library - new stuff to sightread in every issue.
Then I do scales/arpeggios. Scales on odd calendar days, arpeggios on even calendar days. Because I am old and arthritis is a problem, I need to keep the fingers moving. Use it or lose it. If you haven't learned all the major/minor scales and arpeggios - what are you waiting for? Now is the time. I vary the routine by playing them in interesting ways. It usually only takes 5-6 minutes to play through every key.
By now I am at about 30 minutes - time for the first break. Then I start working on pieces. If it is a piece full of problems yet to be "mastered" then I just pick one small thing and try to fix that one - small goals. Then move on to another small thing.
For the second practice of the day I skip all the warmup/technique/sightreading and go straight to pieces.
I use a time tracking app on my phone to keep track of the time. I have used various ones over the years - currently using "Toggl Track". And I have a pomodoro kitchen timer (mechanical) that I use when working on pieces - set it for 25 minutes, then a 5 minute break.
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Sam Smith Super schedule!
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I just go onto the piano & start playing
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Patrick Bentolila
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NANCY M Enthusiasm is my muse
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For anyone looking for a list along with mapped out arpeggios in each key of the 11 Russian chords Dominique discussed, I found this website: pianounlocked.com: https://pianounlocked.com/how-to-practice-arpeggios/
Scrolling down on this site's page will offer a great gift: to download, for free, a PDF of all the triads on all the starting notes of the keys. https://www.dropbox.com/s/9msjkkp6agfin0z/The%20Only%20Arpeggio%20Exercise%20You'll%20Ever%20Need.pdf?dl=0
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Adena You somehow answer any question I have BEFORE I even ask it!
Merci bien, ma chère! -
Gail Starr Bienvenue, Gail. On closer examination, the chords on the sheet Dominique showed us don’t correspond Exactly to those on the pianounlocked.com website. They are, however, close. I’m learning Musescore in order to personalize arp exercises.
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Adena I love MuseScore! It’s where I get all my pop tune arrangements. I need to learn the other features now.
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This December I will have completed a full year of tracking my piano practice using a helpful practice journal that I found on Amazon.com by Olivia Ellis and Davis Dorrough. I thought I would share the link here just in case anyone else might find it useful: https://a.co/d/3X0vFaX
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