Practice Tips
Here are some tips on how to practice a new piece:
Faster = Disaster
Don’t perform at the full “performance” tempo right away. Start slowly.
Don’t Stress Out
It takes time to learn a new piece. Enjoy to learning process. Focus on what new skills you are learning for the week.
Single Handed
Students often don’t spend enough time playing hands separately before trying to combine them together. Think you are ready? Try the right hand as written while the left hand plays silently on top of the keys.
Memory Markers
Play through the piece a couple times. Identify a few “memory markers”, or spots in the piece which are good starting spots. Practice playing the piece starting at these random markers. You don’t have to play the piece from start to finish every time you practice.