Too busy to practise?

In my 24 years of teaching piano I hear this a lot particularly from adult students and I can understand this can be a problem. I tell my students there is always another 5 or 10 minutes in the day you can use for piano practise by making time although challenging to find at first.

Myself? I like to practise and stay sharp as I can even though I work 11 hour days and manage multiple businesses and have a family.

I practise 45 minutes 4 days a week each broken into 30 minute and 15 minute segments because I find the intensity too much to go beyond 30 minutes at a time. For 3 months I will learn a piece until it’s at a performance level in which I then perform it a student concert. I work as the Director of  Home Piano Teacher and head of the piano department at Browning Street Studios so I sometimes perform twice a term. This is great for that extra challenge.

Even though my schedule looks full I always block out practise time because I think a piano teacher or any one paid to teach something should be able to “demonstrate at a master level” to quote the great Krs One or “walk the talk” so to speak.

The more you play, the more validated you feel. You will come across to your students as genuine and real in your craft. I will often pick a high level piece from one of my higher grade students let’s say an AMUS A piece and aim to learn it better than my student rather than just give advice from the sidelines as a non participant. The knock on confidence boost from this is big for both the teacher and student and shouldn’t be underestimated if you believe in what you do. Other times I will choose a piece if a student is having a particular struggle with it on some level. By me learning the piece I can gain a first hand perspective as well as inspire the student on a true level.

For both students and teachers, see what you can do to find that little bit of time and make some profound changes to the way you play and inspire.

 

Comments are closed.