Lots of people, both kids and adults, wonder how long they should practice to get the most out of their piano playing. While there is no cut-and-dried answer to that question, here are a couple things you might consider:

1. What are your goals in piano playing? For most people piano playing is one of several things in their life they want to do. They may also want to play basketball, learn some craft, get advanced degrees, and so on. For the average person to practice long periods of time is unrealistic. Those who want to make piano playing their primary goal may want to practice several hours each day — many of the famous composers and pianists down through history did. But for the average adult, if you can get in an hour a day, you can certainly accomplish something worthwhile in that time period. For the youg child 20 minutes might be realistic, while older kids might practice 45 or 60 minutes per day.

2. Whatever time period you decide on, consider breaking it up into two or more practice sessions. If you practice an hour a day, how about breaking that up into 3 sessions of 20 minutes each? It is much easier to concentrate on something for 20 minutes than it is for an hour. If you can get in 20 minutes in the morning, 20 minutes in the afternoon, and 20 minutes in the evening, your results should be better because your concentration will be better. Besides that, it’s hard to sit in one spot for an hour without getting fidgity.