Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum How long do you practice daily?

That would depend on how long it takes my daughter to realize I am playing, run over,and start pounding on the keys ( she doesnt pound, but she tries to copy my playing). At that point I go do something else till she is occupied and then I resume my practice. So usually about 15 min here and there throughout the day. Probably adds up to maybe 45 min a day if im lucky. ON the weekends I get more because my husband takes the kids outside.

Its all good!!!!! AspenX

Two hours usually

I haven't timed myself but it's almost obsessive. If I'm watching a program on TV, I'll even play during commercials! There are days, however, that my work will take up most of my time and end up playing for just a few minutes.

It takes about an hour to do technical exercises and two to three hours to work on my three pieces in progress: La Caroline (C.P.E. Bach), Tarantella (Prokofiev), and Sonatina in G Op. 20 No. 2 (Kuhlau).

So I spend about three to four hours each day.

On the days that I actually CAN make time to practice, I try to put in 2-3 hours. On the days that I cannot practice, I usually get about 20 minutes (enough to run through the memorized pieces w/ the metronome just to make sure I keep them memorized, and maybe work through one or two Dohnanyi exercises). So all in all this probably averages out to a little over an hour a day, but it's really uneven!

During the summer I need to keep my daughter occupied so I usually don't get as much time in. I usually practice about 30 min to an hour.

Normally when I'm working about 1 - 2 hours per day.

In weekend and freetime, holidays.....more....various.....

4 hours a day, when i get home from work i usually go straight to the piano and play from 5:30pm to 10:00pm and the only reason i stop then is because i go to the gym to work out. i guess it depends on how bad you want to get better or if you get caught up in the music and do not watch the time. right now i am studiyng 2 pieces and i am learning my harmonic minor scale and every day i read a piece of sheet music i have never saw before just for sight reading practice.

Sometimes I get into "marathon" practice sessions that can go 8-12 hours, with lunch/dinner breaks of course and go through a variety of stuff. this could include technical exercises, Dohnanyi, Bach WTC, transcribing off CD's, sight reading, reharmonization standard tunes, etc. Sometimes I only get in 30 minutes. Sometimes not much practice for a month. But this week, I played 4 continuos nights in a bar with a jazz group, so no real time to practice

katt

I dedicate two hours before I go to bed at 11:00 pm. I'm told practice before sleep helps retention.

I also take every opportunity I have to snatch 5-10 minutes during the day. I'm fortunate to work from my home office where I have my new Roland 207 next to my drafting table, which makes this possible.

While watching TV I'll have my 61-key midi-controller keyboard set up so I can work fingerings into muscle memory. I understand List recommended practicing while reading. TV watching is the modern equivalent.

All this seems to be working. I'm concentrating on Bach's Invention No. 1, a piece I never thought I'd be able to play, and -- to my amazement -- I can. Slowly, hesitantly, but with hands together. Speed and smoothness will come. What a joy!

To paraphrase Archimedes: as with geometry, there is no Royal Road to piano playing. Practice, practice, practice.

daily?

Cathy

i try to practice where I work ( church) to get away from my office. I usually grab a bite to eat and then practice for about 45-an hour and the staff knows that's where I am. (I've only had one person interupt me during this time). But mostly when I get home, I practice for two hours on week nights after dinner, when I'm not doing grad work ( I'm free until Sept.19:-))) then as much as I can during the weekend.

I'm working on Serenade from String Quartet,Op3 from Haydn and scales/trills so I stay pretty busy and it's my relaxation!

I practice only 1 hour, simply because my bed is right next to my digital piano. so when i get tired of practicing, I say to myself: well, lets hear some liebestraume, I press the play button and I wake up some hours later...

seriously, 19th century music makes me sleep with an overwhelming efectiveness

and srry for my english :p

I'm pretty similar, even though I'm only a beginner on piano. Mr Super-Hunky's description of "snacking" fits me too.

I have no organised practice schedule, plan or strict curriculum, and I never have had, for any instrument. This probably sounds like a recipe for disastrous dabbling, but it has worked for me. I suspect that it has worked for many others too.

I have a number of instruments that I'm trying to make progress on, so it's quite random. I might pick up a guitar and play for a few minutes - or even just a few seconds (in fact I did just that between paragraphs above). I might have a half hour session at the drums, or a good long go at the keyboard. But then one or the other might get ignored for days, or weeks (months with clarinet). I hardly ever stick to 'exercises' as such, but turn everything into a little piece of music. So, for instance, I'd never just play scales straight just for the sake of it, I'd always run up and down them whilst varying the rhythm and dynamics to see what I can find, maybe add a chord or two to see how they fit in various combinations and then start dodging about and making up tunes for a while, and so on. Finding out what doesn't work is as useful as discovering what does. What's even better is taking what doesn't work and twisting it around until it does.

I find this all rather like riding a bicycle - I don't forget all the techique in between. Rusty of course, but that doesn't take all that long to oil up again. Of course, I'm not a virtuoso at anything - but I don't aim to be either. My goal is all round enjoyment of music as a hobby, the knowledge required to write songs, and the ability to play at least some of the parts.

I didn't start at all until I was 58 either. Also often thought to be a big handicap. But after 2 years I was a good enough guitarist to be invited to join a local group, and we played in public. Nothing fancy, but it sure was fun, and still is (I'm 61 now and we play every week).

I don't think that it matters what your style, schedule or curriculum is just as long as it suits you and it stays motivating. Keep your motivation and enjoyment up and you'll usually succeed in progressing to your goals. Lose your interest and motivation and you're out of the race.

Cheers,

Chris

Well said!