The Importance of Daily Rehersal
When the subject of piano practice comes up it is usually greeted with a groan, like some disease that needs to be avoided at all cost. That is probably because practice has traditionally been equated with boring drills and scales and endless exercises.
It doesn’t have to be that way. Instead of viewing practice as a chore that needs to be done, view it as an opportunity to have fun rehearsing songs and pieces you enjoy playing just for the joy of it, or to entertain family or friends. Start by playing your very favorite piece and getting yourself in a positive mood, then gradually work in the rehearsals of chords, scale fragments, theory, and so on. And make sure you UNDERSTAND what you are playing in terms of chord progressions and form. Otherwise you are just playing from rote, and nothing can be more boring than that. If you DON’T understand, take a course in music theory or chords so that you will understand — it makes all the difference in the world!
Don’t do it all in one sitting, either. Break it up in bite-sized segments so you don’t get tired or bored. It is far better to practice 4 sessions of 15 minutes than only one session of an hour. Why? Because the mind can only concentrate for so long at a time without wandering, and the seat gets restless too.
Turn your short practice sessions into fun, and you’ll progress just that much faster.