Tips and Techniques for Practicing Piano

In preparation for going to college, one must be prepared for the intense lessons and practices it takes to complete a piano degree. There are rigorous scales and different types of musical styles to practice. It is good if the student has had lessons before, that are similar to the college experience. I never would have made it without the guidance of my teacher in high school.

Besides the amount of practice, you have to fit time in for your other study. If at all possible, it is best to not work during a music school career. If you must, keep it at a minimal.

Some steps are taken into consideration here, for what's needed for a successful practice time.

1.) Set practice times: I was not always perfect at this, but I did know when I had the time available, that it was when I was supposed to practice. Sometimes during school, you'll have breaks. Even a half an hour would be good to practice those scales in.

2.) Warm up with scales. This can take 5-10min, or more, depending on your scale routine.

3.) Play through your pieces as much as possible a few times. (This may require a metronome time!)

4.) Memorize 4 measures of the left hand alone, and 4 measures of the right hand alone. Keep adding on, and you'll eventually have the piece memorized! This is a method that was used in high school. It very good, but regrettably was not used much in college.

5.) Put both hands together, and see what you have for memory. Play it several times that way, and see how much better your memory is later.

6.) Go back and fix any measures that are hard to play. Play them several times so that you can play them correctly. Make sure you look at your dynamics. Make sure you're pedaling is right.

Now, I'm terrible at not doing these six steps all the time. But, it does sound like pretty good advice, even to me!

There is a funny video on youtube about getting started practicing the piano. You'll find it by typing "Getting Started" in the search box. Also, I think that another article here at http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/73746/top_10_tips_on_how_to_practice_the.html?page=3, and on http://www.ehow.com/how_7140_practice-piano.html, can verify my six steps. Also, remember to get up for breaks occasionally by getting a drink of water, or whatever else you need to do to refresh yourself.

I hope you enjoy it, and happy practicing!