Some Common Piano Practicing Pitfalls - and Their Solutions

Not Having Short-Term Goals

I think this is perhaps the most common practice mistake. It is obvious that the ultimate goal is to play the piece you are learning well, and communicate your musical ideas. There are however a number of smaller goals that need to be addressed along the way. When you practice with only the ultimate end-product in mind the task becomes overwhelming and frequently leads to a sense of inadequacy and frustration. If you give yourself a precise and realistic goal as a part of learning an entire piece, there is a greater chance of success since you will have a clear and manageable idea of what the practice is trying to accomplish.

Small section with RH and LH clearly marked - leaves less to chance.

Solutions:

Say or write down exactly what you intend to do and stick with it. Perhaps something along the lines of:

I am going to play mm.1-3 slowly and steadily with the RH focusing on the fingering. 
I am going to play those same measures again focusing on maintaining the pulse - listening carefully, and trying to count out loud. 
I am going to see if I can hear mm.1-3 in my head yet.
I am going to decide and write in my fingering for the LH E-F-E.

You get the idea. 

The great thing about this kind of practice is that it can be done in really short spurts. 

Correcting Individual Notes

This is a very common habit, and very difficult to break for many players. Correcting one note and then continuing on sets up a pattern of mistake and correct that becomes almost automatic. I have heard students play with mistakes and corrections that have become so habitual that they don't even realize that the errors are happening. It is not until I record them that they can hear the problems. 

How does this happen? It happens because the ability to quickly correct helps the player think that they really know the music - because they can correct it so quickly. The truth is that most often when you hit a wrong note it isn't that you can't play from it - it is that you can't get to it.

Solutions:

Go back to the beginning of the phrase where the error is and stop on the note that is the problem. Do this until you can consistently stop on the right note and then gradually move beyond it. Pay close attention prior to the autopilot miss hit and make sure you go to the correctly learned section and not to the old habit. I use a broken train track analogy - make sure you switch onto the new track.

Having Unrealistic Expectations of Effort and Results

This is an unfortunate by-product of our desire for instant gratification, and an ever growing lack of ability to accept being wrong. It can take several attempts to get the correct notes and rhythms slowly under our fingers and sometimes students just can't deal with that much "wrong." I have students who claim that a piece is "tricky" if they can't get the notes right on the first play, and if it is still not to their liking on the second and third play it becomes "hard" or "confusing."  This is before students have even looked at tempo or dynamics.

RH/LH marked at the beginning, finger numbers circled, intervallic information marked with colours - forethought.

Solutions:

Do as much mental work before playing as possible. This type of forethought is invaluable when learning music. Some examples for younger players would be have them figure out which fingers they will be using, have them circle LH notes in a different colour to RH notes, have them tap the rhythm, or play the proper fingers on the fallboard. Call the first play a "look-through" call the second play the first try. At all levels, encourage self-assessment - not just of the notes, but also character and sound quality. Make each play count for something and aim for different results. Consider starting on different notes, or in different registers - this makes the effort more of a game, and can really be "tricky."

Piano Lessons Following a Stroke

I just read an article on how piano players have different brains than other people. Now before you say to yourself - that's because they are all crazy - please read on. One of the main differences is that there is almost no discernable difference in their brains in the areas that govern left or right-handedness. I guess this is one of the reasons that piano lessons are a great form of rehabilitation post stroke. Here is the article:
http://m.mic.com/articles/91329/science-shows-how-piano-players-brains-are-actually-different-from-everybody-elses.

Several years ago I taught a delightful lady in her late fifties who had recently suffered a stroke. She described the incident and it really terrified me since stroke runs in my family.

As a result of her stroke, her right side - which was previously her dominant side, was weakened considerably. I was uncertain at first as to whether piano lessons would be ideal for her considering her injury. She told me that she had always wanted to play and loved the piano - so how could I refuse.

We started off slowly, getting used to the keyboard and getting comfortable with the finger numbers. One hand at a time went quite well, though her weakened right hand was not as adept. I decided to have her use both hands together to have the now stronger left hand "teach" the right hand. After a while this started to work very well.

Over the months that we worked together, my student gained a lot of ability in her weakened hand and arm. She also got to learn some great tunes.

Here are some great articles on piano lessons and stroke recovery.
http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00662/full

http://www.hindawi.com/journals/srt/2013/159105/

Are You Looking for Volunteer Hours? Consider Being a Piano Coach.

According to the Ontario curriculum, all high school students need to have 40 volunteer hours in order to graduate. Sometimes this gets left to the last minute and kids end up scrambling around to fulfill this obligation.

If you are a music student, consider volunteering as a practice coach to a younger player. If you tutored a few kids 3-5 times a week for a half an hour your volunteering requirement would be achieved by the end of the year. 
Perhaps your own teacher could steer you in the direction of some reluctant practicers who live nearby.

In addition to fulfilling the requirement, I can guarantee that not only will the students you coach be better players - you will be a better player. You will also gain valuable teaching experience that can be put on a resumé at some point. Parents and students will see how regular practice can really improve playing dramatically, and this will make even the most reluctant practicer more keen. There are benefits all around.

Feel free to contact me if you are interested in being a practice coach. I have some reluctant practicers in the studio, and some parents who would appreciate some help at the end of their ropes.

When Should You Practice the Piano with Your Child?

You should practice with your child if he or she cannot read and follow the instructions of the teacher.

Your child may be a reader, but perhaps not a reader of piano instructions. This is often the case in children 8 and under. Kids this young do well with parent monitoring. A good example: The teacher says to play 3 times counting out loud and the student plays once without counting. You as a parent can say something like: "Can you show me how to count out loud with you while you play a second time?." Then perhaps: "I bet you will sound even better on the third play." 

Some of my neater instructions.

You should practice with you child if they cannot tell whether they are playing accurately or not.

Now this doesn't mean that you need to read the music. You already have musical skills from years of listening...

...you can tell if there isn't a steady beat because you won't be able to tap your foot to it, many kids can't hear that yet.

...you can hear that the same notes aren't being played each time, many kids can't hear that they are playing different notes in subsequent plays.

...you can hear if the music sounds tuneful and melodic, some kids are so busy thinking about what they are trying to do that they don't really hear the music.

...you understand that a Lullaby should be gentle....your child may not. 

In the early levels - the music has a regular pulse and is almost always tuneful. If this is not what you hear when your child is playing, then there is a good chance that you need to help with the practice so that you can point out (tactfully) where these inconsistencies are by asking questions about the music. If you can - encourage slower practice. If your child doesn't respond well to that - consider picking up a CD to go with the method book, or record the teacher playing the pieces using your phone. This way the student has a sound template of what the finished piece will sound like.


You should practice with your child if pieces are taking more than 2 weeks to learn and they are from a Beginner method book. By learn, I mean the notes and rhythms are accurate.

This piece should not take more than 2 weeks to learn.

If you are unsure how to go about practicing with your child then ask the teacher. Sometimes what a teacher writes is very clear for one student and less clear for another. 

Some children do not like parental input. In that case consider using incentive pads for practice sessions. For more information on these please see my Student Supplies page.

Try to keep practice sessions positive and performance oriented. Perhaps have a recital halfway through the week. Try to use the word "play" more than "practice" and explore the piano with your child. Perhaps he or she could teach you a piece.

I just found this great list of ideas for creating calmer home practice at Teach Piano Today. Here is the link: http://www.teachpianotoday.com/2012/09/18/how-to-create-peaceful-practice-and-end-practice-wars-for-good/

Group Piano Ideas: It's in the Bag

This past group week I decided to throw in a new activity. I have many students who are not quick to learn from a score. They are often reluctant to work on new music since the reading is a chore and as a result the progress - except by rote/ear - is quite slow.

I encourage students to learn music in sections, look for patterns, play several times listening for notes and rhythm, consider tapping tricky rhythms etc - and don't go on to a new section until one is learned.  What usually happens however, is the opposite. I get a plough through from start to wherever the student can read to. The opening 2 bars - or whatever we covered in detail in the class - is quite secure, but the rest often falls apart.

The playing is either prefaced with or followed by: "it was really hard" or "it was so confusing." Then when I ask whether my instruction were followed the response is: "kind of", or "I tried", or occasionally "No."

So - back to the group!

I took some pieces of music and copied them.
 Here is a Gigue by Samuel Arnold. Grade 1 level

I then decided the size of each section and marked the fingering for each hand at the beginning of the sections.

And I then cut them up with scissors into these sections.

Then I put them into a brown paper bag.

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During the class each student took out a piece of the music from the bag. They had to think about how they were going to play it; and when they felt they had it ready they came up to play it on the piano. There was no trying out first.

At first the activity was met with a lot of resistance since it involved really reading the music. During the course of the class though something really neat happened - they began to really read and learn much faster than usual. They were all very surprised.

At the beginner levels this worked even better when they did in in teams and one learned the RH and the other the LH and then they switched and then they played Hands Together. Next group week I am going to have the Intermediate players work in teams as well.

Great playing Eva! Bed on a Boat sounds fabulous.

My student Eva playing Bed on a Boat with me. I love how she sings along while she plays. A real treat.