How To Practice Piano – Use Your Time Tips

Do you want to learn more about how to practice piano? Today I want to talk about one of the biggest piano practice mistakes that I see jazz piano students make.

Many people desperately want to sound better and have more fun at the piano.

Yet, when it comes to piano practice, they don’t use their time wisely. 

They may play for several hours at a time but they skip days regularly.

And they only sit down to practice for 1 or 2 days a week.

They figure, well if I get in a 7 hours a week total it’s still cool even though they’re cramming all their practice into 2 days and skipping a bunch of days in between.

This is a huge mistake!

You see, the brain actually learns best when you do multiple short practice sessions and repeat them closer together.

Science has proven this over and over.

In fact, it’s a concept that scientists call “spaced repetition”.

How To Practice Piano Using Spaced Repetition

The reason that most people forget things at the piano is because they don’t consistently review after they first learn something.

Spaced repetition shortcuts the learning process.

So, you’ll get more out of short, regular, & daily practice sessions than very long sessions only 2 days a week.

And, if you can do a 2nd review session on the same day the spaced repetition technique works even better!

How Do You Apply The Spaced Repetition Concept?

So, let me give you a few examples of things good jazz piano player regularly practice and how you should adjust.

• If you learn a new song this week review it everyday for 2 weeks.
• If you learn a new lick play it multiple times a day. Use them in tunes. Do it everyday for 2 weeks.
• Did you learn some new chords? Awesome! Play them everyday till they’re 100% automatic.
• Did you learn a new improv technique? Phenomenal! Now, play them on a new tune. Use it everyday and then use it some more!

Frequent repitition is your secret sauce for building long term musical memory.

I don’t want you to always feel like you’re not sure of what comes next.

Spaced repetition takes care of that anxiety and helps you express yourself faster at the piano!

I promise you’ll see a dramatic difference when you use spaced repetition starting today. Adjust your practice strategy starting this week and reap the rewards. Now, go make it happen!

 

More How To Practice Piano Resources

Over the last few years I’ve created several additional practice articles on this site.

1. My “how to practice piano trick” article is probably the most popular article on this site.

It’s actually been commented on over 165 times. If you’re a fan of Seinfeld and little learning hacks I think you’ll really enjoy my “Seinfeld practice trick.”

2. Here’s another fun one. In this article I teach you 13 jazz practice tips that I’ve used over the years to save myself time at the keyboard.

3. This article shows you how I use jazz tunes to organize my practice time at the piano. It’s a big picture article for sure!

4. Need help with your rhythm? Then, check out my video and article on shortcuts for jazz rhythm practice.

5. And perhaps my favorite technique is using recordings of myself to improve my playing. If you want to learn how to do that check out this learning from recordings article.

6. Speaking of tools I use to practice. I’ve collected a list of some of my favorite technology tools I  use for practicing. Check out my tools right here.

Have fun learning and make a commitment to yourself to practice everyday for the next week.

Sincerely,

Steve “Spaced Repetition” Nixon

P.S. There are actually 5 jazz tunes that every jazz piano player MUST know. And once you learn those you’ll be able to unlock hundreds of other tunes.  And yes, I teach you how to play them and sound exciting inside the program. Click here to learn more about the program.