How you practice your instrument WILL make the difference between learning a song swiftly and struggling with it at a painstakingly slow speed. Having been a professional TV and film composer, keyboardist, piano teacher and music producer, I’ve garnered much knowledge in methods of practice throughout my career. I also have a music school in sunny California which offers Orange County piano lessons, guitar lessons, voice lessons, drum lessons and a multitude of other music lessons. I have collected a list of crucial tips to help any student maximize their practice time.
1. Slow your playing!! One of the most crucial things you can do to learn your song faster is to SLOW DOWN. We’re all eager to rock out with our new songs but trying to play a song at full speed or even half speed is like running before learning how to walk. Have some patience with your song and you’ll find that this is the quickest route to mastering it. Playing your piece slowly will allow you to take everything in from your hand positioning and flow to recognizing notes and rhythm as well as transitions from part to part.
2. Play just the parts you don’t know!! Many students will play their entire song over and over again only to struggle through certain parts of the piece every time. Instead, pick out the parts you are struggling with and work on those exclusively. When you get tired of working on the parts over and over again, you can take a break and play the whole song. Many times you will be surprised how much better the other parts sound after doing this. Break down your song into single lines, measures and transitions if necessary. This will save you a heap of time.
3. Start with the hardest parts first. Like the last tip with playing just the parts you don’t know, learning the most difficult parts of song first can be of benefit to you. This is especially the case if you are facing time constraints and need to learn the song by a certain time. Sometimes the intro may be the most difficult but often times the middle part or latter parts of a song are harder than the other sections. Whatever the case if you start with the hardest part first, you’ll have a better grasp on it sooner.
4. Voice your count!! You should always count aloud when you encounter songs with difficult rhythmic patterns and complex syncopation. Hearing yourself count while playing will force you to pay attention and learn these complex rhythms and once you’ve internalized it you won’t have to count anymore.
5. Know how to play your piece slow even after you think you’ve mastered it. Usually by the time you’ve mastered a piece, you will have memorized it which is great, however because the song is now in your subconscious, you rely on it more than you should. Playing the song slowly each time you sit down to practice will force you to pay attention with your conscious mind. Many times you’ll find that you’ve internalized some bad habits or wrong notes which you can correct and become aware of when playing the piece slow.
Keep up your practice routine using these tips, and you will master your songs in a short time!
His expertise on beginning piano improvisation will help those who wish to learn the basics of this craft in just a few hours.
