How to Optimize Practice

Nobody has an infinite time to spend at the piano.   How do we make sure we are using our time effectively?

• Goals
• Tactics
• Verification

Goals

Goals are essential to practicing effectively.   Nobody would go to the airport without a destination in mind.   And so we shouldn’t sit down to practice unless we have a musical destination;   a goal to reach for.

Here are three sample goals:

• Goal 1: Get tempo of d minor scale HT to 120 bpm
• Goal 2: Make diminuendo’s more even, in first movement of sonata in c# minor
• Goal 3: Be able to hear the difference between major and minor thirds at 90% accuracy

Notice how these goals are very specific.   Before sitting down to practice you know exactly what you are hoping to achieve.   Some goals will be more subjective than others.   It can be hard to measure how even a diminuendo is.  That’s ok to include subjective goals like that.

So at the end of a practice session,   it’s good to establish goals to reach for at our next practice session.   That way when we sit down at the piano the next day,   we know exactly what we hope to accomplish

Tactics

Tactics are the tools we use to reach our goal.   They vary widely depending on the difficulty and nature of our goal.   If our destination is New York City,  whether we get there by boat,   plane,   car or bus depends on our current location and circumstances.   So with musical goals,   we vary them greatly depending on the nature of the goal and our current musical abilities.

Here are samples of tactics we may apply to the above mentioned goals:

• Goal 1: Practice with metronome 9x.   In cycles of 3.   1- 80bpm,  2-90bpm, 3-100bpm,  4-90bpm 5- 100bpm,  6-110bpm,   7-100bpm,  8-110bpm,  9-120bpm
• Goal 2: Practice an exaggerated diminuendo,   and gradually soften it on repetitions
• Goal 3: Assign each interval ascending and descending a portion of a familiar melody,   use a ear training app to test

If your teacher or practice coach doesn't assign you specific tactics,   ask her how you should practice.

Verification

Verification is like seeing familiar landmarks in a new city.  We know we’re in Paris if we see the Eiffel Tower.   If we achieve our musical goal,   it should be apparent.

Here are samples of verifications that show we have achieved our goals

• Goal 1:  I will be able to keep pace with the metronome at 120
• Goal 2:  I will receive 3 comments from listeners telling me the diminuendo was noticeably more even
• Goal 3:  I will be able to correctly identify 20 intervals consecutively

Notice that with the subjective goal of evenness on a diminuendo we enlisted the help of others to listen to our playing and confirm our progress

The cycle of Goal  - Tactics  - Verification will ensure we are getting the most out of our practice sessions.  It will give practice sessions meaning.  It will help our self confidence and wow your teacher.