Setting practice goals

Everyone knows that practice is the key to improvement. However, it can be difficult to know what's best when it comes to practising the piano, especially if your child has just started going to piano lessons. Of course, every piano teacher has their own recommendation about how often (and for how long) students should practise, and this will also depend on both the age of the student and their level of ability. I would recommend that beginners should practise for about fifteen minutes at least every other day. However, it’s not simply the quantity or frequency of piano practice that is important; it is the quality. Playing a piece from start to finish, a couple of times – or even a lot of times – is not an example of good quality practice. Good quality, effective practice requires one to ignore the passages of music one can already play, as difficult as that may seem (and it is difficult) and focus on any parts of the music that are causing problems. Another name for good quality practice is focused practice. So, how do you make sure your child engages in focused practice between their piano lessons? Quite simply, they need to set a goal. Sit down with your child, look through their piano teacher’s notes and decide upon a goal for the week. Your child must then aim to achieve their goal before their next piano lesson. So, if your child’s teacher wrote ‘Try not to slow down in bar 3. Play this bar confidently’, the goal could be to play bar 3 confidently without slowing down. Each time your child sits down at the piano, they should practise bar 3, rather than just playing through their music. Having a goal will ensure that your child stays focused and makes progress between lessons. It’s a simple as that! More practising tips

• If your child’s piano teacher makes lots of notes, and there is simply not enough time to address them all, don’t worry. Just choose one point to use as the basis for a goal.

• Encourage your child to practise everything slowly. They should not rush to play their pieces up-to-speed, but should make sure they can play the music slowly before they attempt to increase the tempo.

• Remind your child to make a note of anything they don’t understand so they remember to tell their teacher.

• It is good to balance focused practice with non-focused playing, such as improvisation and playing through some favourite pieces.