4 Easy Piano Practice Routines to Start Today
Our winter term of piano lessons have begun, and we are beyond excited to be helping provide piano lessons to adults and to kids! One common trend is what tips and tricks for practicing and setting up helpful routines for piano practice time do we suggest. Today we're here to bring you some creative ideas on how to help either yourself or your child begin building practicing piano routines to help with music education!
We provide at-home in-person lessons for children, and we often get asked by parents how to best prepare their child for piano lessons, the benefits of at-home lessons and how to help make piano practice easier. Today we’re diving into the latter – lets talk about how to make the practice session a bit easier and hopefully with fewer headaches for all!
Pick a time of day when you’re energized
If you’re a morning person then this might be first thing in the morning before school, work, or other commitments. Whereas, if you feel more focused later in the day then be sure to set up your schedule to include learning piano during this time. It’s important before you begin practicing that you eat a nutritious snack to help fuel your focus and energy during your practice piano time. When learning it’s helpful to have your focus on piano playing, so ensuring there are minimal distractions during this time to maintain focus while playing is also helpful.
Set a timer
Depending on the age of the learner set an appropriate timer, something between 5-30 minutes a day. A timer helps children, and adults, understand how much time is left in their practice schedule for that day as well as hold them accountable for doing their practice sessions to the fullest. Having a physical timer nearby the piano where they can see the remaining time can be helpful with understanding the time left that day, or you can set it aside if it’s too much of a distraction to the child. Ensure that before the timer starts all the equipment needed for that practice session is prepared such as sheet music, timer, clean/distraction-free area, and anything else the child might need to do their practice.
Create a Calendar/Schedule
Creating a physical space on a calendar, or another scheduling system where the learner can see their practice schedule can be very helpful with keeping up with playing piano practices. For an effective piano practice, it’s helpful to know ahead of time your practice time is coming up to help you get into the right mindset and be prepared to learn. Having a preplanned schedule helps with providing this for learners. For children, one of the most common piano practice techniques we hear of is creating a rewards system, so after a certain number of days of practice, the child can gain a reward for their work. Creating a physical calendar is a great tip for piano practice as it allows the child to physically cross out the days, they’ve complete, increasing their sense of confidence and satisfaction.
Be kind with yourself/your child
Some days you might just not be feeling piano practice, we get that! When it comes to how to practice for piano and make routines, it’s about consistency. So, if you’re unable to commit to your full practice time one day, then lower the amount for that day so you’re still doing your piano practice. Even something as simple as 5 minutes is helpful with how to learn piano! Playing a song or melody that is something you enjoy can also help increase your motivation, and desire to maintain consistent piano practicing.
When it comes to how to be good at piano, consistency is key! Finding routines, strategies, and habits that work for you, or your child is the most important element. Being motivated and bringing a focused mindset to your practice piano and using tips for practicing piano will help a lot! We hope this blog has provided a couple of helpful ideas on how to create piano practice routines to help with piano learning!