Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum How much practicing is enough?

I've heard of five-year-olds who practice six hours a day (from GRAND OBSESSION) and of professionals who only practice while watching a ball game on TV.

Is one hour a day the magic number? Is it enough to really see some progress?

I would really like to hear from some of you on this. Thanks! Jan

When I was a child one hour a day was considered the standard of a good student that does it for the pleasure of playing piano (eg has not decided it will be his career), but is serious at what he does.

If you look a bit around, you will see that there are many preople here who practice far longer than that.
An adult can have a focus and motivation which a child often lacks (I could not sit more than 15 minutes without feeling chained at the piano, the energy a child has is unbelievable if seen with the eyes of an adult).

One serious (concentrated, attentive) hour of practice a day puts you in my book in the field of the people who take piano seriously and are certainly going to steadily progress.

Honestly, I don't think there is a magic number.

When people say, "I recommend practicing for ___ hours per day," I ask them "Why?" So far, I have yet to receive a logical, sensible answer.

I've often asked myself the same questions. How much should I practice? How can I make the most effective use of the time I do practice. What practice methods will give me the greatest progression? What is the point of diminishing returns? Will two hours a day advance me twice as fast as one hour a day?

Unfortunately, I think they're all unanswerable questions.

I think the problem is learning and the acquisition of skills cannot be measured. If it could, we would be able to arrive at the magic number.

The issue is further complicated by the fact that everyone will progress at a different rate. One person may have the practice only 30 minutes a day, while another practices an hour, only to achieve the same development rate. Everybody will have different time constraints. One person may have a demanding schedule, trying to balance career, family, other responsibilities, while the next maybe unemployed/retired/student with nother better to do all day than to practice.

About the best guideline I could offer you, in my limited experience, is practice as much as you can, without sacrificing other things in your life that you deem important to you. Stop when your body tells you stop. Stop when you feel your concentration level is low and little is sinking in.

The progress you'll make is going to be excruciatingly slow, like trying to watch hair grow. Be patient and just give it your best.

My two cents.

I think practicing longer than you can concentrate is a mistake. Professionals can get their busy work done without that much concentration. My horn teacher in high school told me he practiced while watching TV, reading the paper, having lunch, and smoking a pipe, all at the same time. But, at my level, I have to think about what I'm doing to make sure I'm doing it correctly. I practice a lot but take breaks. I stop if I lose focus, even if I haven't finished what I planned for that day.

Quality vs Quantity?

That is definitely part of the equation.

Practicing is accumulative from now into the future - knowing exacting time is like always taking the milage on your car and figuring out the cost per mile - out of habit. It doesn't change anything, it just gives a number, right?
So you know how much time you are putting into practice, but that doesn't qualify what was done with the time, nor how well it was done.

Progress comes when it is ready - you can't avoid noticing the differences.

Why not get well acquainted with lots of practicing tips and see if you can't max out the learning going on by having a practice plan and many choices of how to practice.

wwwPracticeSpot.com

Practicopedia?

Plan for practice and for progress make enough room for the pursuit of it in your musical life.

Plan/practice/progress/pursuit - P's.

Akira, how sane and worthy are your postings, your experience is NOT limited by any means.

Betty

Ah.., those were the days! I used to smoke during rehearsals, as did the conductor and half the orchestra.

Welcome to the forums Jan.

I understand there are different points of view on the subject. One important thing is to listen to your body. If you cannot focus, stop. Same goes for if you feel pain in your hands as well.

- Mark

In "Playing the Piano for Pleasure", author Charles Cooke recommends practicing for an hour a day, every day, no more, no less. Not skipping a day and practicing longer later.

I take most of what he has to say to heart. I practice as long as I can remain productive and focused.

Like Cooke recommends, it helps me to structure the practice session. I start with about 10-20 minutes on drills, scales, arpeggios, etc. as both warm ups and to hone technique. Then I spend about 15-60 minutes on each piece I'm working on. I try and work on all of them, every practice. Finally, I spend a few minutes playing pieces I've memorized and play well.

Currently, I'm working on about 4 or 5 pieces, so practice lasts anywhere between one to about 4 hours. So far, I haven't had any mechanical issues, maybe a back ache or sore wrist, but nothing nasty.

My advice, keep practicing as long as it's still fun.

l's dad

I'd like to ask a companion question - is it possible to practice too much, to overtrain? I practice as long as I am enjoying it, and I never feel physically tired or have a back ache or anything. When I look at the clock, usually a couple of hours have elapsed. So, I've maintained concentration and accomplished what I wanted to do musically, but is it possible to overstudy a piece such that it becomes too familiar, you're really not following the music enough, or you've become so familiar with your mistakes that you don't hear them anymore? Just interested in people's opinions.
Thanks

carpediem

Hi All,

For me it's what I'm wanting to accomplish, daily schedules etc. For instance this past weekend, I really dumped some hours into Beethoven's Moonlight, however, I memorized the 3rd page and got the timing and dynamics pretty well started.

But... I neglected all my lessons, I know, my bad, couldn't help myself. Getting the 3rd page of a semi-serious classical piece memorized and getting it down is seriously exciting!

Dave