Parker’s Practice Tips

Practice is time spent making music

Any intentional time at your instrument is worthwhile.

Practice doesn’t have to mean sitting down for an hour to play everything on your assignment list. Five focused minutes count. So does playing a favorite song, figuring out a melody by ear, improvising, trying strange sounds, or coming back later for another ten minutes.

The goal is to develop a musical language that becomes increasingly your own.

A good practice routine

For longer practice, try 25 minutes of playing followed by a 5-minute break.

During the break, actually leave the instrument. Stand up, move around, stretch, drink something, have a snack, or do something else for a few minutes.

You can also divide practice throughout the day:

10 minutes before school + 15 minutes in the afternoon + 20 minutes in the evening

may be more useful than trying to force yourself through 45 minutes all at once.

Practice does not have to happen in one sitting.

Make the problem smaller

When something is difficult, resist the temptation to play the whole piece over and over.

Instead:

• Find the exact place where the problem begins.

• Make it smaller, perhaps one measure, one hand, or even two notes.

• Slow it down enough to notice what is happening.

• Decide what you are trying to change.

• Try it a few times.

• Put it back into a slightly larger section.

• Come back to it later rather than drilling it endlessly.

Sometimes the most productive practice happens on only a few seconds of music.

Listen while you practice

Practice is not simply teaching your fingers where to go. Listen to what you are making.

Ask yourself:

What am I trying to say here?

What kind of sound do I want?

Where is this phrase going?

What changed when I played it differently?

Do I like that?

You are developing both judgment and technique.

Explore

Please play things that were never assigned.

Find a melody you like. Learn something from a video. Make up a chord progression. Improvise. Play by ear. Change the ending of a piece. Try the pedal. Transpose something. Make an enormous sound. Make the quietest sound you can. Figure out what happens when you combine sounds you have never combined before.

Exploration develops musical vocabulary, curiosity, independence, and a sense of ownership. It is part of learning music, not a distraction from it.

Know when to stop

If your fingers suddenly seem unable to do something they could do yesterday, repeatedly forcing the passage may not help.

Get up.

Move around. Get some water. Eat something. Rest your hands. Try again later.

If something hurts, stop.

Learning is not perfectly linear. Some weeks bring obvious breakthroughs. Other weeks feel unchanged. Sometimes something that seemed impossible suddenly works after you have left it alone.

A difficult practice day does not mean you are becoming a worse musician.

Practice with someone sometimes

A caregiver, parent, friend, sibling, partner, or other person is welcome to join you occasionally.

Their job is not to become the teacher at home.

Instead of correcting notes, rhythms, posture, or technique, they can listen and ask questions:

• What are you trying to make this sound like?

• Which version do you prefer?

• Where does the music seem to be going?

• Can you show me what you changed?

• What part are you proud of?

• Is there something you want me to listen for?

• What are you trying to figure out?

They can also simply enjoy the music with you.

For younger students especially, supportive involvement at home can be valuable. The goal is to help the student become an increasingly independent musician, not to reproduce the lesson at the piano.

What should I practice?

A balanced week might include some combination of:

• Lesson music: pieces and exercises we are currently developing

• Technique: scales, chords, patterns, coordination, touch, rhythm, or other physical skills

• Problem solving: small sections that need focused attention

• Reading: music you have not played before

• Review: older music you enjoy and want to keep

• Exploration: improvising, composing, playing by ear, experimenting, or learning something simply because you want to

You do not need to do all of these every time you sit down.

Why practice between lessons?

Good home practice changes what lessons can be.

When the basic work of learning notes and rhythms happens primarily between lessons, our time together does not have to become supervised practice. We can work on the things that benefit most from having a teacher in the room: musical interpretation, technique, movement, sound, phrasing, listening, theory, problem solving, performance skills, and developing your own musical ideas.

The purpose of practice is not to arrive at your lesson having made no mistakes.

It is to arrive having spent time with music.

That gives us something to build on.