Daily frequency really is crucial. For instance, doing just 10-15 minutes of sight-reading practice per day at the end of my approximately hour long sessions took reading from my worst skill to my best skill in a matter of about 6 months. Learning new pieces is so much faster when you can read well!
Every day is good. But actually the hardest thing to know is when to take a break. Over longer periods of time (2-3 weeks), your mind can become exhausted and in those cases, when you get that feeling it might be wise to take a day off piano. Very carefully selected off-days can also help your mind refresh.
Absolutely! I'm feeling that very same sentiment today actually. I practiced every day last week and this past weekend. I've seen this time and again - I absolutely must take at least one day off per week in order to recharge mentally. However, sometimes I forget that only to pay the price for it later.
I find that so true. Sometimes I have to just let it go , skip a day, and my brain grasps something I was having trouble with. Sort of like this: My brain - “Slow down, now your pushing me too hard! Let me process this .........ok, now I got it....let’s go! “. Seems to work for me.
The little light bulb went off in my head. I am retired and I want to get better. Recently I have been practicing a little each day and I see improvement. That is powerful, thank you.
I began posting some vídeos on Facebook. I get a lot of compliments. This motivates me to improve. I am 70 years old and I can play about 50 easy pieces and a few harder ones.
As a senior citizen I try to practice every day for about 30 minutes, give or take. It's easy to do that since I'm retired and have a lot of time to do it.
I know ! except sometimes the day is insane and you can't practice. So I try not to feel guilty about it. I try to do a little every day sometimes I manage a little in the morning and a little in the afternoon, but life happens some days the schedule makes it a little harder.
I also think that one day off a week can be beneficial. Not more. Mon-Sat practicing, Sunday off. Or at least Sunday playing for fun not practicing anything :D
@@yasmilady Life happens, can't agree more! But sometimes it's beneficial to put a piece "on a shelf". It can sink in your brain and it will actually sound better, at least in my experience :)
I take one to two days off a month at most. For the most part, though, even on days when I don’t feel like playing/practicing, or even when I’m not feeling well generally, I try to force myself to do something. Play a couple of pieces, work on a difficult passage, even just improvise a little. It doesn’t have to be more than 20 minutes, just enough to effectively keep it consistent. That being said, don’t have days like that too often, either.
I've been playing on and off, (mostly off) for decades, but because I don't have time for lessons and the assignments that come with them. I got frustrated with my reading ability and decided to read melody lines for at least 10 minutes a day. I couldn't always do it, and some days I did half an hour or more, but I made audible progress over just a period of a month. Then life got in the way and I couldn't do it any more. It became less frequent , but my reading ability did not diminish during the months I could not play due to illness (I could not use the sustain pedal ). But every day, is definitely the way to go.
Piano for me is a hobby. I'm 37 and picked it up about four months ago. I try to do 15 mins before going to the gym in the morning and maybe an hour when I get home. I'm lucky as I'm married but we do not have children yet. For busy days I miss days, as most adults do. Also, playing piano made me realize how much I need to go back on conserta lol
Rather than practicing two hours per day all in one sitting I’ll experiment with two shorter sessions per day. Likely I’ll be able to practice for a total of 1.5 hours but still get the same results. You got me thinking, Robert! Thank you!
A couple of things that help me with practice are that I have a plan as to what I'm going to work on, I also try to be honest with myself as to what my weaknesses are and work on them.
I agree , as an adult self teaching beginner, I agree with daily. I am a floral manager in an extremely high volume situation and got very busy over valentine day, and missed several days , and as a very beginner I lost ground, even though I don’t know a lot and basically just practice simple songs 2x a day , morning where in feel fresh and a second time after work to unwind really , the morning is more focused for sure . I only get in 30 or so minutes on a work day , more on weekends
I am currently practicing one hour daily. I practice 30 minutes in the morning and 30 min. In the evening. I focus on those hard parts of the music. Left hand or right hand separate. Then I put them together slowly very slowly. I take a couple of breaks when I start getting tired or unfocused. Eating a fruit helps.
oh my.... please be careful!!! Maybe you could start with like 5 mins a day and really focus on what gives you and try to fix it. It's hard to do it without a teacher though....
To stay safe, for vigorous practicing session, keep the continuous practice session up to maximum only 4 hours. Set a timer for that. I always feel the 'sprain' when I'm practicing more than 4 hours timeline. If you feel you are still having insufficient practice yet, always take breaks like at least 30 minutes to 1 hour rest between 4 hours practice per session. Because, playing piano for too long is like running on fast pace marathon for 10 hours as your 10 hours practice case.
What do you think about my practice: - Arpeggios and scales (all major/minor triads, major/natural+harmonic minor - been doing these for a few weeks to a month, still can’t do them all first try) - sight reading (really simple one position in C - this is hard for me) - improvising (bad counterpoint then maybe melody/harmony) - practicing or learning pieces (this takes me a really long time, so everything else comes before this so I’m building up my foundations at least, even if I take forever to learn pieces).
This helps a lot!!!! Now I know that I was doing the right thing when I cued up 31 of your videos ( yeah that's right 31 ). I'm glad that I did. I made up my daily schedule in Excel. And there's a daily time blocked off for practice; not much I usually just try to go 15 minutes. But if I'm really focused I can go for an hour. The only issue that I have at the moment is that I've been slack about building up a repertoire. But I I think I know how to fix that. Like everything else I'll have to find time to do it.
I practice 2-2.5 hours a day. I wish I could do more, but since I'm playing harder pieces I get really mentally fatigued if I practice more than that usually. If I spread it out I could practice more, but sadly my school schedule gets in the way of that.
Excellent video. And a sophisticated point also made by this video: you may have an answer to a question, but what if you’re asking the wrong question?
this is so so good. Subscribed after 2:37 I was that piano loving kid who got a large electric keyboard and headphones so the neighbors wouldn't complain on my practice almost all day lol (no question it was everyday). My parents never had to ask me if I practiced. But your response to this question is legit! . . My question is on hand, elbow and shoulder ingury if I pratice too long. The last time I experience some pain I praticed for 6, studying and figuring out fingering and of course much repetition (Debussy) with a 3 hour break in the middle. Did I experience pain from "over" praticing? Or probably incorrect posture and playing? Thanks for the video btw!
Thanks for the thought! =D It's really helpful =D I'm glad that Mr. Estrin says 'Just simply hit your piano daily! Regardless time duration!' Okay, I think I can do it! It's simple, isn't it? =D
Aside from the 40 hrs a day ahahah, truly a big thank you for this video ! It is the most sensible thing and funnily enough my teacher of English told me it didn't matter how much I read, as long as I read daily, but when you're young and driven that just seems like it's not good enough and by the time you get to appreciate this kind of advice it's already so much harder to follow it haha. I suppose it you tell kids just practice have some fun with it, play it backwards whatever you feel like which is super engaging and helpful it doesn't feel like practicing at all... but because the same fun for us adults would be quite a lot of work, even if indeed fun haha, we're giving the very wrong impression that practicing should be a torture !
I practice every day because I enjoy it so much and I do see progress like every week. For example, I couldn't play a single part of Debussy's Arabesque 1 but now, a month later I am playing the first minute no problem. The only problem though, is that I can't read sheet music and I am trying to find a piano teacher because I don't really want to go to a school to the learn the piano because I feel like it might take out the emotion and fun of piano for me. If you read this comment or anyone who did read this comment knows a good piano teacher or where to look for one, please reply.
I have some questions in regards to sight reading: In my research, i learned that best way to divide practice time is by doing exercises, sight reading, then repertoire practice. I already know how to read notes on the music sheet, and I was wondering if practicing your repertoire (reading the notes first and figure out finger placement) is considered as 'practicing' the sight reading part of the daily piano practice? Or is really necessary to devote separate time just practice sight reading? Thanks
It is only sight reading if you look at a piece and within one 30 seconds, you play it without stopping, despite mistakes. As soon as you start reading it though, your brain is memorizing the notes and movements and it's no longer fresh
Many times I practice while watching TV. Commercial breaks are often 4 - 5 minutes duration, which gives me plenty of time to work on a measure or phrase. By the end of an hour long show, I've got a little bit more practice time in without a lot of effort.
I wish I had the opportunity to practice every day but as I work away from home 2 weeks out of five, it’s all but impossible. I’ve used the time away from home to train my ear and sight reading which has been great, but even ten minutes a day at the piano would be great. It takes about a week to get back to the stage I was at before going away!
I am a ten year old girl on my mum’s account. I practice between 1-2 hours each week, and learnt that practicing 1 hour each day is much better than 2 hours three days a week.
For adults there are simply too many distractions, too many excuses. It is very often just a matter of commitment. Practice everyday is the best way to keep going, even if it is just a few minutes. I remember bringing the scores to business trips so that I could play air piano in the hotel room after I finish my work. Nowadays there are small, foldable pianos that one can easily being along. Dont accept your own excuses
@robertestrin. Robert great to see your channel growing! You have wonderful channel Including content personality video production. So much to recommend about your channel! A thought for a future video would be to describe your set up why did you choose your set up how does your sound for your set up sound so great? 😊👍🏻❤️
Daily frequency really is crucial. For instance, doing just 10-15 minutes of sight-reading practice per day at the end of my approximately hour long sessions took reading from my worst skill to my best skill in a matter of about 6 months. Learning new pieces is so much faster when you can read well!
Every day is good. But actually the hardest thing to know is when to take a break. Over longer periods of time (2-3 weeks), your mind can become exhausted and in those cases, when you get that feeling it might be wise to take a day off piano. Very carefully selected off-days can also help your mind refresh.
Absolutely! I'm feeling that very same sentiment today actually. I practiced every day last week and this past weekend. I've seen this time and again - I absolutely must take at least one day off per week in order to recharge mentally. However, sometimes I forget that only to pay the price for it later.
I find that so true. Sometimes I have to just let it go , skip a day, and my brain grasps something I was having trouble with. Sort of like this: My brain - “Slow down, now your pushing me too hard! Let me process this .........ok, now I got it....let’s go! “. Seems to work for me.
The little light bulb went off in my head. I am retired and I want to get better. Recently I have been practicing a little each day and I see improvement. That is powerful, thank you.
I began posting some vídeos on Facebook. I get a lot of compliments. This motivates me to improve. I am 70 years old and I can play about 50 easy pieces and a few harder ones.
As a senior citizen I try to practice every day for about 30 minutes, give or take. It's easy to do that since I'm retired and have a lot of time to do it.
I’m also a senior and try to practice 1-2 hours every day. I could easily do four if I didn’t have to clean, cook, garden and exercise. Hmmmmm
When you said skipping days is like 1 step forward and 2 step backwards
I felt that😨! It hit me hard, so now I will stop skipping days😐😕
I know ! except sometimes the day is insane and you can't practice. So I try not to feel guilty about it. I try to do a little every day sometimes I manage a little in the morning and a little in the afternoon, but life happens some days the schedule makes it a little harder.
I also think that one day off a week can be beneficial. Not more. Mon-Sat practicing, Sunday off. Or at least Sunday playing for fun not practicing anything :D
@@yasmilady Life happens, can't agree more! But sometimes it's beneficial to put a piece "on a shelf". It can sink in your brain and it will actually sound better, at least in my experience :)
I take one to two days off a month at most. For the most part, though, even on days when I don’t feel like playing/practicing, or even when I’m not feeling well generally, I try to force myself to do something. Play a couple of pieces, work on a difficult passage, even just improvise a little. It doesn’t have to be more than 20 minutes, just enough to effectively keep it consistent. That being said, don’t have days like that too often, either.
@@thereyougoagain1280 That's the best way to practice! What are you working on now?
The best piece of advice!
Great content as always!!
I've been playing on and off, (mostly off) for decades, but because I don't have time for lessons and the assignments that come with them. I got frustrated with my reading ability and decided to read melody lines for at least 10 minutes a day. I couldn't always do it, and some days I did half an hour or more, but I made audible progress over just a period of a month. Then life got in the way and I couldn't do it any more. It became less frequent , but my reading ability did not diminish during the months I could not play due to illness (I could not use the sustain pedal ). But every day, is definitely the way to go.
What works for me is practicing 3-4 hours daily with one day off a week.
Having that one day off makes me really excited to get back to the piano.
Do you not have school/ work
Platypus: Yes I do work but have learned to manage my time well.
what do you do in your day off? i only watch yt or practice all day besides my school work
I do the exact same thing👍
Piano for me is a hobby. I'm 37 and picked it up about four months ago. I try to do 15 mins before going to the gym in the morning and maybe an hour when I get home. I'm lucky as I'm married but we do not have children yet. For busy days I miss days, as most adults do.
Also, playing piano made me realize how much I need to go back on conserta lol
Rather than practicing two hours per day all in one sitting I’ll experiment with two shorter sessions per day. Likely I’ll be able to practice for a total of 1.5 hours but still get the same results. You got me thinking, Robert! Thank you!
A couple of things that help me with practice are that I have a plan as to what I'm going to work on, I also try to be honest with myself as to what my weaknesses are and work on them.
Thanks for doing these videos now. Been following living pianos for years.
Glad you like them. There are more in the works!
thank you for this videos, they are very helpful!
You should practice 40 hours a day
Ha ha ha!
I wanted to make that joke
I accept my defeat
YOu shoul practice "Eight days a week" by the Beatles.
ayyyyy twoset gang REPRESENT
At 24 months per year times 365 days per week that amounts to a lot practice.
I agree , as an adult self teaching beginner, I agree with daily. I am a floral manager in an extremely high volume situation and got very busy over valentine day, and missed several days , and as a very beginner I lost ground, even though I don’t know a lot and basically just practice simple songs 2x a day , morning where in feel fresh and a second time after work to unwind really , the morning is more focused for sure . I only get in 30 or so minutes on a work day , more on weekends
I have a practice plan. Sometimes I loose my concentration, then I make a break.
I am currently practicing one hour daily. I practice 30 minutes in the morning and 30 min. In the evening. I focus on those hard parts of the music. Left hand or right hand separate. Then I put them together slowly very slowly. I take a couple of breaks when I start getting tired or unfocused. Eating a fruit helps.
Yeah i do the same one hand at the time but its time consuming
You explained it so well! Great video!
I practiced for 10 hours straight and I ended up getting injured wrists for 4 months, and haven't played piano since.
bruh
oh my.... please be careful!!! Maybe you could start with like 5 mins a day and really focus on what gives you and try to fix it. It's hard to do it without a teacher though....
Wow!
I practised more than 6 hours vigorously and luckily my teacher noticed about it during lessons. She pointed out I'm over-practicing.
To stay safe, for vigorous practicing session, keep the continuous practice session up to maximum only 4 hours.
Set a timer for that.
I always feel the 'sprain' when I'm practicing more than 4 hours timeline.
If you feel you are still having insufficient practice yet, always take breaks like at least 30 minutes to 1 hour rest between 4 hours practice per session.
Because, playing piano for too long is like running on fast pace marathon for 10 hours as your 10 hours practice case.
I guess now you've learned how unnecessary that was
Thanks Robert 🎉
Exactly what I'm doing now, thanks. Good to know I'm on the right path.
Great video lesson!!!🙏🙏🙏
What do you think about my practice:
- Arpeggios and scales (all major/minor triads, major/natural+harmonic minor - been doing these for a few weeks to a month, still can’t do them all first try)
- sight reading (really simple one position in C - this is hard for me)
- improvising (bad counterpoint then maybe melody/harmony)
- practicing or learning pieces (this takes me a really long time, so everything else comes before this so I’m building up my foundations at least, even if I take forever to learn pieces).
How'd the practice and piano skill go, a year later?
This helps a lot!!!! Now I know that I was doing the right thing when I cued up 31 of your videos ( yeah that's right 31 ). I'm glad that I did. I made up my daily schedule in Excel. And there's a daily time blocked off for practice; not much I usually just try to go 15 minutes. But if I'm really focused I can go for an hour. The only issue that I have at the moment is that I've been slack about building up a repertoire. But I I think I know how to fix that. Like everything else I'll have to find time to do it.
I practice 2-2.5 hours a day. I wish I could do more, but since I'm playing harder pieces I get really mentally fatigued if I practice more than that usually. If I spread it out I could practice more, but sadly my school schedule gets in the way of that.
One and a half hour in the morning and then one in a half hour every afternoon everyday is quite working for me
Excellent video. And a sophisticated point also made by this video: you may have an answer to a question, but what if you’re asking the wrong question?
this is so so good. Subscribed after 2:37
I was that piano loving kid who got a large electric keyboard and headphones so the neighbors wouldn't complain on my practice almost all day lol (no question it was everyday). My parents never had to ask me if I practiced. But your response to this question is legit!
.
.
My question is on hand, elbow and shoulder ingury if I pratice too long. The last time I experience some pain I praticed for 6, studying and figuring out fingering and of course much repetition (Debussy) with a 3 hour break in the middle. Did I experience pain from "over" praticing? Or probably incorrect posture and playing?
Thanks for the video btw!
Thanks for the thought! =D
It's really helpful =D
I'm glad that Mr. Estrin says 'Just simply hit your piano daily! Regardless time duration!'
Okay, I think I can do it!
It's simple, isn't it? =D
Aside from the 40 hrs a day ahahah, truly a big thank you for this video ! It is the most sensible thing and funnily enough my teacher of English told me it didn't matter how much I read, as long as I read daily, but when you're young and driven that just seems like it's not good enough and by the time you get to appreciate this kind of advice it's already so much harder to follow it haha. I suppose it you tell kids just practice have some fun with it, play it backwards whatever you feel like which is super engaging and helpful it doesn't feel like practicing at all... but because the same fun for us adults would be quite a lot of work, even if indeed fun haha, we're giving the very wrong impression that practicing should be a torture !
I practice every day in the morning before work. And if I have time in the afternoon or evening.
I practice every day because I enjoy it so much and I do see progress like every week. For example, I couldn't play a single part of Debussy's Arabesque 1 but now, a month later I am playing the first minute no problem. The only problem though, is that I can't read sheet music and I am trying to find a piano teacher because I don't really want to go to a school to the learn the piano because I feel like it might take out the emotion and fun of piano for me. If you read this comment or anyone who did read this comment knows a good piano teacher or where to look for one, please reply.
I teach via video chat. You are welcome to contact me! Robert@LivingPianos.com
I have some questions in regards to sight reading:
In my research, i learned that best way to divide practice time is by doing exercises, sight reading, then repertoire practice. I already know how to read notes on the music sheet, and I was wondering if practicing your repertoire (reading the notes first and figure out finger placement) is considered as 'practicing' the sight reading part of the daily piano practice? Or is really necessary to devote separate time just practice sight reading? Thanks
It is only sight reading if you look at a piece and within one 30 seconds, you play it without stopping, despite mistakes. As soon as you start reading it though, your brain is memorizing the notes and movements and it's no longer fresh
Thanx, Maestro 🌹🌹🎁🌲🌹🌹
Many times I practice while watching TV. Commercial breaks are often 4 - 5 minutes duration, which gives me plenty of time to work on a measure or phrase. By the end of an hour long show, I've got a little bit more practice time in without a lot of effort.
I take one day off a week. Is that legal??
I wish I had the opportunity to practice every day but as I work away from home 2 weeks out of five, it’s all but impossible. I’ve used the time away from home to train my ear and sight reading which has been great, but even ten minutes a day at the piano would be great. It takes about a week to get back to the stage I was at before going away!
Awesomeness
I am a ten year old girl on my mum’s account. I practice between 1-2 hours each week, and learnt that practicing 1 hour each day is much better than 2 hours three days a week.
For adults there are simply too many distractions, too many excuses. It is very often just a matter of commitment. Practice everyday is the best way to keep going, even if it is just a few minutes. I remember bringing the scores to business trips so that I could play air piano in the hotel room after I finish my work. Nowadays there are small, foldable pianos that one can easily being along. Dont accept your own excuses
I feel i am getting better and sharper.
Along with instruction there must be indoctrination as well. So thank you very much for this -- from Will in the struggle, in Virginia
You need to practice as much as Brett and Eddy do.
I’m not gonna say it cuz y’all know.
...Fine
*LING LING FORTY HOURS!!!*
Oof, that’s racist
And it's better to practice 30 minutes every day than two hours here and there...And another thing: when you study keep your total focus.
I have found it useful to "rest" one day a week.
The bottom line is that you have to enjoy it! If you see it more as a task, rather than a skill with almost infinite possibilities, it's not for you.
🙏
Now. I just practice enough to what I need
Robert kinda sounds like Mark Hamill
dont wast your time with hanon folks
@robertestrin. Robert great to see your channel growing! You have wonderful channel Including content personality video production. So much to recommend about your channel! A thought for a future video would be to describe your set up why did you choose your set up how does your sound for your set up sound so great? 😊👍🏻❤️