As the old joke goes, how do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice. Learning to play piano is partly a mental exercise, but also physical exercise as well. Practice helps you develop muscle memory, improving the agility and flexibility of your fingers and hands through scales and exercises. Regular practice also helps you memorize the tunes you love, making your playing more accurate. If you want to learn piano well, regular practice is absolutely essential.
When you start to play piano, you’ll begin with a warm-up. Your teacher, book, or online lessons should recommend at least one good warm-up exercise. A common one is playing scales. You will play ascending and descending scales with both hands simultaneously. This is easier than it sounds, but remember to play them in the way indicated in your lessons- the method is designed so that you don’t “run out” of fingers when you play. You’ll also have exercises to teach you how to play certain intervals of notes simultaneously or one at a time, how to play different lines of music with each hand, and special techniques or effects. You can use all the warm-up exercises that you are taught, use a few and change them around for some variety, or even make up some of your own.
When you have progressed a little in learning to play piano, you’ll have learned some songs, and will look forward to playing new and more complex works. When learning new tunes, try to play the piece from beginning to end, then focus on challenging parts, then the parts that you are comfortable with, then play again from the beginning. Your warm-up, songs learned previously, and songs you’re currently learning will form the bulk of your practice time, but an excellent way to improve your ear during practice is to attempt to play familiar songs by ear- attempting to imitate the notes being played. You may not get it on the first try, but it will improve your playing and overall musicianship.
How much time should you devote to practice? Your teacher or lessons will indicate how much time you should devote to practice, but a half-hour of practice daily for the beginner is a good place to start. Don’t think you can practice for four hours right before your lesson, either. It will show in your playing. It’s better to take even ten minutes daily to practice than to try to “cram” right before a lesson. Learning to play piano takes a regular commitment- but a commitment you’ll enjoy.
