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."

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/

The Trials of Triads

As students progress from a single 5-finger position at the piano to extended hand positions, shifts, and jumps, they can grow confused by the number of elements they need to juggle in their minds. This is especially true around the time that triad shapes outside of the root position are introduced. Triads in root position and inversions involve both an expansion of the hand and hand position shifts and these can result in a fair bit of frustration for the young player.

I often teach an abbreviated triad pattern like the one in the Prep B of the RCM syllabus, but there can still be challenges when the full series of inversions up and down are added. I have found some helpful tools for these over the years. For the white key triads I use pom-poms to mark the keys - using a different colour pom-pom for the key played by finger 2. These guides allow students to focus solely on the fingering before they tackle the notes

When there are black keys involved I use sticky flags on the keys instead of pom-poms since those don't roll off onto the floor..

For home practice I have a template. It is not the most elegant, but quite practical:

The student plays the first box, then the first an second, then the first, second and third etc. I have them put check marks above the boxes that they play successfully. This helps isolate the problems so that they are more easily addressed.