In “The Different Types of Practice,” I presented several practice types, which teachers must understand in order to help their students develop effective practice habits.
In “The Different Types of Practice,” I presented several practice types, which teachers must understand in order to help their students develop effective practice habits.
We have looked at “The Different Types of Practice” and “The Teacher’s Role in Developing Good Practice Habits.” Now, I would like to share some practical guidelines that have benefitted my students in their development as performing pianists.
In order to make progress on any musical instrument, or frankly to improve at any skill, a combination of discipline, hours of concentrated work and an effective set of practice strategies is required. All too often, students fail to make progress in their music studies due to a lack of utilizing productive practice habits.
Rhythm is the bedrock of music. Without it, we would have a random set of pitches aimlessly poking through our sonic world.
Piano students often say, “My technique isn’t good enough” or “I really want to play this piece, but it’s too hard, and I feel really tight and tense.” These insecurities are often the result of not establishing healthy habits at the piano. These issues should be addressed from their very first lessons so that students can achieve their playing potential.
Major and minor scales and arpeggios are some of the simplest and most useful music patterns and exercises available to pianists to build and maintain their technique.
Autism (or autism spectrum disorder) is a pervasive developmental disorder that affects 1 in 54 children in the United States, according to a 2020 report from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Mirian Conti is part of the faculty of the Evening Division of The Juilliard School in New York City.
Frederic Chiu is an Assistant Professor of Piano at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Andrea McAlister is an Associate Professor of Piano Pedagogy at Oberlin College and Conservatory in Ohio, the Director of Digital Content for the Frances Clark Center and the Senior Editor of Piano Magazine.
World-renowned composer and pianist Phillip Keveren is the co-author of the Hal Leonard Student Piano Library.
Pamela Pike is the Herndon Spillman Professor of Piano Pedagogy at Louisiana State University and the editor-in-chief and chief content director for Piano Magazine.