i may be a genius
i finally. finally. figured out a way to force myself to actually practice my piano music and i'm just saying i may be a genius because holy shit maybe my senior recital won't crash and burn now????
what i've started doing is making timelapse recordings of myself practicing. this helps me
stay on task because i want to see the cool video of myself playing piano at lightspeed at the end
practice for longer spans of time, because timelapse videos are no fun if they're only like 3 seconds, and
stay off my phone, because are you crazy, you can't check your phone right now, you'll ruin the video!!!
i don't know if anyone else needs this but i just thought i'd share because goddamn i feel like i've cracked the code!!!!!!!
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Tips for practice consistency
Next time you sit down to practice, set a timer for 5 minutes and start a small project, such as..
Learning a blues scale (I'm a classical player learning jazz and it's intimidating as a whole, but 5 min of practicing a blues scale is fun)
Practicing a difficult passage
Sight reading new rep for school, work etc
Write a few phrases of your own music if you're an aspiring composer
Improvise on three chords and see if you can make up a little tune
When the timer goes off you have to STOP! No matter how much fun you're having or progress you're making! Then:
Write down somewhere (day planner, notebook) what you did and what the next step is, such as: "Chopin Cm etude: played LH all the way throughwith metronome at quarter note = 52"
Move on to another piece or project with another 5 minute timer.
For big projects, I allow 10 or 15 minutes.
The next day, sit down with your instrument and pick up the *same* first project. Doodle around with it for another 5 minute session with the timer. Same rule! STOP immediately when the timer goes off (ok sometimes I cheat and finish a phrase just to hear the cadence resolve) and make another quick journal note.
For professionals or those with huge amounts of rep to cover, here's how to stack up 5-min bursts for a larger project:
Have an AM practice session of 45-75 min (divided into a 5 min warmup and a few 10-15 min blocks; you can cover 2-5 separate projects)
Take a 10-25 min nap or meditation. NO LONGER. This is to allow your brain to move the info into longer-term storage and freshen your mind for the afternoon.
After lunch, have a 30-45 min session (3-5 projects.) I usually *don't* repeat any material from my AM session; I treat this as another "first" session after sleeping.
After dinner, run through everything you practiced already that day, but in a more "big-picture" way. (I don't set timers for this session.) Run all the way through repq if you only worked on sections earlier. If I'm tired mentally, I improvise for fun or play my favorite rep..or, if I'm on a deadline, whatever is coming up soonest. If I still have some mental energy I do a bit more detail work in addition to run throughs.
After a few days of practicing in 5/10/15 min bursts, not finishing the project will feel like a cliffhanger. You'll have continuity and purpose in your work. Imagine you're a sculptor and each day you carve out a bit more progress; each day's work is small on its own but before long you have a finished piece of artwork.
And why the 5-15 min limitation? We humans have short attention span. My favorite teacher once told me the first 15 min of any practice session are the most productive. So use that to your advantage!
What do you guys think? Anybody else out there use timers and journaling to stay on track? I want to hear your ideas ..xoR
[ image : steinway model o via the pianoshopbathuk ]
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Y’all don’t know how much I wish to be a pianist in college and insult a violinist, just to have them challenge me to a music duel. Then, we play a duet of Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy in an empty theatre. The music teacher walks in with a few students during the duel and we don’t notice as we play on, the music getting louder and more intense as it goes on. It all ends with the teacher applauding at the end, and putting us together for a project despite how much we don’t like each other, and we’re forced to work together and find out that we’re actually a great music duo.
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Ubu for solo Piano by Langston Karabani
Aha helloooo! I know this isnt language related but it is something very close to my heart and i’d like you to have a listen! I wrote a piece for solo piano and i think its pretty nice. Let me know what you think!
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I'm decided.
I'm learning piano! I got the keyboard in 2014 and never learned to play.
Please can you tell me the easiest, more beautiful songs to start learning? Any pianoblr or musicblr I should follow?
Help me in this magical journey, through complexion of a dream!
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