5 Keys To Effective Practice Routines
“Many of us lead busy lives, and although it’s important to make time for practice, the fact is there are often other things that take priority; especially if you are a parent, or busy with study. So, to avoid unnecessary disappointment, it’s good for us to be realistic.”
How can you get the most out of your practice time, so that the practice actually helps you improve?
As we consider how to cultivate effective practice routines, we will be looking at 5 keys to achieving this. The first one is as follows:
First - Be realistic about the time you have.
Many of us lead busy lives, and although it’s important to make time for practice, the fact is there are often other things that take priority; especially if you are a parent, or busy with study. So, to avoid unnecessary disappointment, it’s good for us to be realistic.
If you are an “all or nothing” personality - which I know I can be at times - I often have to remind myself that a little bit of time working on one thing (even 10 minutes 3 times a week over a month) produces more results than if I said it’s not worth doing if I can’t do 1 hour every day. And that’s not just applicable to piano practice, but to many other areas of our lives.
Second - Have a plan.
As it has been said many times before, “if you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll be sure to get there!”
When you recognize an area in your playing you need to work on or improve, develop a plan that helps you to do what needs to be done. Think back to the points I made in my last post on evaluation, modification and repetition, and work that into your plan.
What’s also important about this part - is that you don’t try to cover more than you can manage - it’s better to do more than you expected, than to constantly feel like you didn’t get enough done.
Third - Lock it in.
This is about setting the time on your schedule, calendar, using your phone alarms, or whatever you need, to make an appointment with your piano to get that practice done.
Try as best as you can to stick to these times, because once you hit snooze on that alarm or put it off while you check Facebook one more time, before you know it you're out of time, and you end up skipping it altogether. So lock in the time, and keep that commitment if you can.
Fourth - Take the long view.
This is important because it helps us to remember we’re not always going to see instant results, and while the practice itself may not be that much fun (though it can be!), we need to remember that we should be focusing on enjoyable results over enjoyable activity.
So when the practice seems mundane, with no tangible reward, take the long view and know that in time it will pay off.
Fifth - Document your achievements.
Now you may not be a journaling kind of person, and this isn’t meaning writing loads of notes about your practice as that will only leave you with less time to practice anyway. However, you just might find it super helpful, and motivating, if you note briefly when you have achieved a certain goal or managed to master a particular embellishment or technique. As you look back at this, it can inspire and encourage you to keep putting in the practice on the areas you are currently working on, even when you don’t see any light at the end of the tunnel.
If you are consistent with practice, implementing these 5 keys, you might be surprised with how quickly you gain competency (not perfection) in those areas.
So there you have it then - 5 keys to effective practice routines, that can work for you.
Let’s go over them one more time…
Be realistic about the time you have.
Have a plan.
Lock it in.
Take the long view.
Document your achievements.
And next week, we'll be looking at faithfulness versus virtuosity, and how that plays into our role as church piano players.
[Return to The Church Piano Player Website]
This blog post was written by pastor and pianist Kris Baines, from The Church Piano Player. Kris lives in the UK with his family, having recently moved back from New Zealand where he worked as a pastor for the past 26 years (also leading worship/worship teams). Kris has also spent over 35 years writing, recording, and performing music and is now bringing all that combined experience together to help equip church piano/keyboard players.
Check out the church piano player website for more information on online courses by Kris Baines.
📧WANT TO RECEIVE NEW BLOG POSTS DIRECT TO YOUR INBOX?📧
SIGN UP BELOW
