What is your daily practice routine?

Sure I will post the whole sheet... in response to an example of my practice goals - as you see on my sheet when I'm done practicing each day - I think what needs to be fixed next time - I keep it small though 1-2 measures, 1 passage, on spot giving me trouble - I never make it really big things... as an example those types of goals are never 'play it start to finish without stopping' those types of goals I look at differently as those can be the ones that are demotivating and I call those 'performance goals' and while I do have them each day they are generally after I've done my practice for the day - usually an hour or two later I will do full play throughs without stopping as best as I can at whatever speed allow the most accuracy.

The key for the small successes every day are the most important to me because they help me make the most progress... some examples - 

* play this one descending scale with the turnaround until it is smooth and in my muscle memory

* fix that one note I keep playing wrong - play it 20 times right in that measure

* stop being lazy and fix this fingering

* really look at those notes I'm not sure of work through the very slowly

* decide on the fingering for that measure today and stop changing it - this IS what I'm going to do going forward.

* I'm shaking on the timing there - play this one or two measures over and over with the metronome so I understand and am sure of the timing.

I really resist just playing even a whole line in these focused practice sessions I work on very specific and very very small sections... generally I never have to fix them again - on or two focus events and they are fixed.

Hope that helps...

I'm posting the spreadsheet - be sure before you type in a cell you see if it has a formula in it! If it has a formula in it - see the cell it is referring to and fill it in there.

I am on two platforms: flute and piano.  My aim is to prioritise each instrument on alternate days, based on thirds because of the musical significance of thirds.  It's also a really significant number for me personally.  A flute day is 2/3rds on flute and 1/3rd on piano, and a piano day is 2/3rds on piano and 1/3rd on flute.  It doesn't always go according to plan!

I have been laid low for about two months now with a respiratory virus. I have just finished the second week of antibiotics.  I am feeling much better but sceptical that the virus has gone.  The weather in the UK is improving so hopeful that the rising temperature will kill off this virus.

My approach, when I am fit, is the same for each instrument, which is to start with improvisation, which combines with memory effectively, as I try to remember where I have decided to travel.  I then move to practising phrases that I know have their challenges.  I then like to 'prelude' which is to play some Bach, followed by going through the diatonic chords on piano and jazz scales on flute.

I then turn to scales, which I rotate.  I use Taffanel and Gaubert on flute on the 2/3rds basis - e.g. 10 mins = 1/3rd and 20 minutes = 2/3rds.  I was planning (before I became ill) to revisit Moyse's 'Exercise Journaliers' and start to use this as my technical daily flute practice, so that starts tomorrow!

I just joined the Piano TWI on Scales and am so pleased that this is happening as I am at the point where I need to go back to Dominic's Scales and Trills lessons and take them forward to the 'Grand Form', with a little good fortune. 

I played the chromatic several times yesterday.  It's always interesting to me that a 'rest' allows the brain to absorb one's current experience.  I was so pleased with how my chromatic has stabilised. 

It is noticeable that there are no pieces mentioned above.  However, I do need to re-establish my flute repertoire, which was again rotated to maintain it. 

My piano repertoire is less advanced than the flute, of course, but, again, I need to re-establish it.  I did have one many years ago.  My 'go to' piece currently is the 2nd Fugue for the WTK, well the first 9 bars presently.      

I start with the Chopin opus 10 then opus 25 as a warm up. Then I move to Alkan études once I am warmed up. 

Hi all,

Intermediate pianist here...playing 2.5 years.

45 mins or so - scales, arpeggi, and technical exercises...whatever my teacher has me on at the time.

30 mins or so - working through Czerny 599 - I'm on #21 right now. Only 79 more to go...

1-2 hours - repertoire - whatever I am working on. Right now Tchaikovsky Opus 39 various pieces, other short pieces, for example these days working on some pieces in the Anna Magdalena notebook, sonatinas, etc.

Fun!

Mike

It is the first thing I do in the day. I like to go with what suits my mood. That may be playing through my current active repertoire once in “performance mode” or it might be revisiting old repertoire occasionally or sightreading for the whole session or doing a deep dive on one or two pieces just working on the details. I don’t practice scales and so forth. I do have a few core works that I spend most of my overall practice time on but other than that I just approach it with freedom. And I stop when either I am mentally tired or have something else I need to do, normally an hour to an hour and a half in. Within that period I find I can get a lot done, and really don’t feel like playing again the rest of the day. I do write down what I played and a critique of what was good and bad.

It depends largely on how well I slept the previous night.

My goal is to practice 2-3 hours per day 5-6 days per week. The days when I get in 3 hours are the ones where I have two practice sessions.

You may be surprised to know that I don't have a piano. I drive 6.7 miles to church to practice on their K. Kawai grand. The drive takes less than 20 minutes. On Tuesday afternoon/evening, I usually teach a couple of piano lessons close to it, and that usually enables me to practice for another hour or so.

A practice session now begins with a Bach prelude and fugue. Most of them are pretty rough now, though there was a time when I could play most of the 48. If I'm accompany the church congregation on Sunday, then I'll run through the hymns on the organ instead.

Then I try to start off with something I'm working on, but that's "easier." So for instance, I'm working on a piece by Debussy. It is much easier than Rachmaninov op 23 no 5, or Chopin Ballade 3. So my practice period gradually warms me up to do the more demanding work later.

I must admit that I have a lot of pieces on the go at once; probably too many. But the thing is that many of them are at a stage where they could be memorized - a task in itself - and I don't want to lose the facility that I have with them.

Any suggestions you have would be much appreciated.

I work in a school, and I get to work early each day and practice Monday through Friday in one of the practice rooms. About 60 to 90 minutes per morning. It usually breaks down something like.:

10 minutes of sight reading

10 minutes of some sort of technical exercise, like Hanon

10 to 15 minutes of scales

10 minutes of reviewing repertoire

Rest of the time on whatever new piece I’m working on.

Hi everyone 

I'm a beginner taking baby steps. 

I have a random routine depending on need of learning curve require to achieve playing the piece.

I practice and work on a piece every day  - 7 days a week - chip away till its done.

I'm just a beginner so a 4 phrase piece might take a week up to two to learn and I select one piece to perform a month to an audience of about 12 people.

I normally do a relaxation 😌 before to relax tension and centre mind and relax after to absorb information. 

While I practice I take pauses of about 10 - 20 seconds in-between repetition of a chunk say a bar or two of phrase.

I don't journal... I have prompts - that I will attach in this post - that nudge me forward and I do little experiments to achieve a goal.  ( I video my self and save as progress)

I build up in layers so information is going in brain.

With each piece I play and any practice video I come across I update my practice method... below is my current.... I seem to be more of a planner then doer ... but I'm getting better.

... love seeing what members have shared... thank you 😊