Effective Piano Practice Routine

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Developing an effective piano practice routine saves time and helps you have more fun and enjoy your practice.

The interleaved practice seems (and is) random, and random is not efficient, or is it?

Recently I've noticed a trend where pianists share their piano practice routine with online videos.

This can be very helpful indeed, but what hit me was that so much of the practicing I saw was done in a quick, sloppy, unmusical, and almost "hateful" way. 

It reminded me of my own harmful and time-wasting piano practice routine during my music high school years.

The "competition" with peers about who practiced most hours, usually wasting most of that time with inefficient and mindless repetition of the same again and again.

No wonder many developed repetitive-stress injuries. Asking anyone if they liked to practice- most would usually answer not.

Almost 40 years later, I was shocked to realize how some young pianists practice in the same self-punishing way, without pleasure, musical intent, or effective ways. 

As if practicing is a necessary evil to be able to…what? Play?

Interleaved Piano Practice

Practicing the piano should be enjoyable!

Seeing that practicing the piano and learning new material is done 99% of the time, and considering that musicians spend an enormous amount of time and life practicing, it becomes a bit scary...

Playing the piano, practicing, and performing should be with a sense of joy, curiosity, and an ever-exploring mind. Never with boredom and/or pain. Always with musical intent. 

This mindset is also the ultimate foundation for learning.

Our brains simply do not learn well under negative pressure or boredom. 

• To learn as effectively as possible, we need to have a positive and curious mindset. And loving, loving the music we’re about to learn and play!
• To save time, we need to learn both effective and healthy piano practice routines to avoid injury from wasting long hours of bad practice habits.

Why a random practice routine makes sense

What is positive is that there is so much research and ideas readily available today, compared to 40 years ago.

You can learn how the body works, avoid injury, practice effectively, etc.

And thanks to new research on how to improve skills in practice, especially regarding sports, we can get plenty of ideas that can also be used for musicians.

One "new" strategy that works very well is random practice or interleaved practice. 

Interleaved piano practice routine

In my own twist of this piano practice routine, you'll work in random, interleaved blocks, use varied repetition, and involve the musical aspect in every step. Here's how:

Preparation

Start by dividing your piece with a pencil in larger sections for example A, B and C. Then divide each section in small parts, 1-2 measures each. 

Practice

Practice each of the small parts like this:

1. Hands separate: Learn to play with perfect tone and expression as you correctly learn the notes and the rhythm.

• Repeat at least 4 times without mistakes, but you should play better and more beautiful each time than the previous- this is key! 

2. Hands together: Now it’s essential to play at only half the speed you could play hands separately comfortably before. This is crucial! You want to avoid making any mistakes at all. 

• Repeat as before 4 times without mistakes and keep improving for each repeat. Never repeat precisely the same- always make it better. This will force you to constantly listen and evaluate.

Here Comes the Random Magic!

==> Always practice the parts and sections in random order! <==

For example, don't start at the beginning. Start with Section B, part 3. Then Section B part 1, or whatever in that section- but not in order!

• After all the small parts have been learned randomly, it’s time to link these small parts to form larger parts. For example, if you had 1 measure per part, combine 2 measures for medium parts.

• Repeat the piano practice routine with the medium parts, but always in random order until you have completed them all in that section of the piece. The only difference is that this time (after combining the hands together in half tempo), you can increase speed a little for each repeat.

• Use the metronome to set a goal, and make sure you get all medium parts to the same tempo. 

• Now, depending on the length of the section (or piece), you may need to do this more times by doubling the measure groups each time.

• Use the same piano practice routine again, but you can gradually increase the speed now.

• Finally, play the whole section in the same way; hands separate; repeat and improve, hands together; half tempo, repeat, improve and increase speed and musical expression.

• Then continue with the rest of the piece in the same way until all parts from small to large have been learned and combined.

This simple procedure ticks a lot of boxes

• By dividing the piece into small sections then linking these together with larger and larger units, you will learn very effectively.

• By constantly working to improve for each repetition, you'll never get bored.

• By not allowing yourself to practice a section twice, you'll keep all the sections and parts at the same level and avoid mindless repetition.

• With random practice, you'll always stay curious because each section or part will have to be approached "from the blue" without any prior expectations. This keeps your brain happy!

Using this method myself, I have always approached all "bits and pieces" of a composition with the same interest. Each time I start a new "bit" of the piece- it's like the beginning of a new composition!

There are no more "dark and obscure corners" in the piece that I have skipped or thought unnecessary to practice. 

I also notice that I can keep going forever since it's so much fun!

So, a caution here, make sure to take short, frequent breaks every 20-30 minutes to stretch. This helps not just your body but your brain too. All learning gets easier with breaks! ☕

Recommended Resources

• Fundamentals of Piano Practice
• Practice Revolution
• The Practice of Practice: How to Boost Your Music Skills

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