Why You'll Never Be Perfect, But You Do Need To Practice
“I’m sure you’ve all heard the phrase - 'practice makes perfect'. Whilst that sounds good, and we know the point it’s trying to make, it’s not actually true is it? No one ever really reaches absolute perfection - well, apart from a handful of rare prodigies or geniuses. And often those people aren’t the ones who need to do all the practice anyway!”
In the next couple of posts, we'll be looking at why practice is necessary, and how we can make our own practice as effective and efficient as possible.
I’m sure you’ve all heard the phrase - “practice makes perfect”. Whilst that sounds good, and we know the point it’s trying to make, it’s not actually true is it? No one ever really reaches absolute perfection - well, apart from a handful of rare prodigies or geniuses. And often those people aren’t the ones who need to do all the practice anyway!
But, having said this, practice is important, because it does help to make us better, more proficient, and more competent in our playing ability.
The essence of good practice revolves around 3 key things:
Evaluation
Modification
Repetition
Evaluation - this means that we analyze what we are getting wrong, or need to change, learn, correct or improve upon - so that we have something to work with.
Modification - this means that we make the necessary changes, either to our technique or style of playing, to improve where we need to.
Repetition - this speaks of the consistency required, both to go over and over the same thing that we need to work on, and to do that regularly with a consistent pattern, rather than sporadically. Repetition involves mental effort, energy, and a commitment of time, which for many of us, is often a challenge when we have busy lives.
So yes practice is important, and we do need to do it. However, in the role we have as a church piano player, the level of practice required will vary according to a number of factors, such as…
...How well we know the songs our church uses.
...How much experience we’ve had playing in church.
...How much we want to improve the way we currently play.
So in a practical sense, although our ideal might be to have regular practice, it’s not absolutely necessary, apart from what is required to be competent in our role, and prepared enough to play in a way that doesn’t cause distraction.
In my course, The 20 Day Church Piano Player, there are many tips and concepts you can learn that if put into practice (pun intended), you won’t need to practice quite as much. I don’t say this because I want you to have a low view of practice, but more so because I want you to be as efficient and realistic as possible with your available time, and the job you have to do, as a church piano player.
As we think about how we can use these tips to make our practice more effective, let's remember the 3 keys to achieving this:
...Evaluation (identifying what we're doing wrong)
...Modification (making changes to improve our practice)
...Repetition (having a consistent pattern for our practice)
And next week, we'll be looking at 5 keys to effective practice routines, considering how to get the most out of your practice time.
[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
