Practicing piano?

Question

How long should one practice piano per day?

Answer 1

I practice at least 2 hours a day :)

Answer 2

You should practice for as long as you can with full concentration. Sometimes the session(s) will be short; sometimes they will be longer. The really important thing to remember is that your concentration should never dip. If you make a mistake, you have practiced a mistake and it will take you a minimum of 35 correct repetitions to fix it. Initially if you repeat the passage at least 7 times perfectly, the perfection will enter your long term memory. That perfection is pure gold in learning a piece and retaining it correctly.
To be sure, you will have to work consistently to maintain peak physical condition. Just like an athlete, your motor skills have to be honed. Now the difficult question of optimal coordination has to be addressed.
It will be of no value to drill technical exercises or even scales if you are tense and/or working too hard at the piano. Just as with practicing mistakes, practicing uncoordinated movements will only impede any real progress.
Find the best teacher you can afford. A good teacher will show you how to approach the piano physically and show you how easy it is to play without tension. And ultimately how much fun it is to play when you have developed a physical rapport with the instrument.
As you work for perfection, you will find that the time flies. Once you are on the right track physically, discovery will replace drudgery. You will start to discover the joy of practicing. And the joys of learning new repertoire and physical movements that easily solve any technical problems.
Good luck on your journey. May you have many fulfilling accomplishments.

Answer 3

I think it depends on how long you are playing and what you are playing. Practice for as long as you can stay focused and interested, otherwise you might start playing unattentively and sloppy, which won't help you develop good habits.

It is good to practice developing your technique and scales as close to daily as possible. So try to find a routine that you can do each time you sit down at the piano. Next, instead of choosing a certain amount of time you want to practice for the day, maybe think of what you want to accomplish for a week and then divide your piece accordingly into measures or pages (so lets say you work on the first two lines for the first day of practice, the second two lines the second day, etc.). I find when I do that I am more focused on reaching goals to finish songs, rather than meeting a certain amount of practice time, which can be annoying. So some days you might practice 30 minutes and on other days you might practice for two hours. And maybe one day you decide you need a break and don't practice at all.

Answer 4

Obviously everyone has a different opinion of this topic. It depends on your age, level of experience and your goals. The 5 and 6 yr olds I teach I tell to practice about 15 minutes a day at least. It is better to find a little bit of time each day to practice instead of 2 hours every 3 or 4 days. When I was preparing for my Masters Recital I was practicing between 3 and 5 hours a day. So it all depends on your level, your goals and your age. Ask your teachers opinion. I'm sure they can offer you some advice as well. I hope this helps.

Answer 5

At least one hour. Practice scales first, then any exercises you may have. Play one piece you don't know for sight reading practice. Make sure it isn't too hard, but just a little challenging. Then practice the songs you are working on, going through each song once all the way through. Then practice the parts that are giving you trouble. Then go all the way through it again. Sometimes, if a part is particularly troublesome I will practice each hand seperately then together. Always end with something you play well just for the fun of it. Isn't that what music is for anyway? Have fun and keep practicing!

Answer 6

I play the piano, but when I first took it up I practiced about four hours a day, and now I am great. No I am not boasting, but I am saying to succeed you need to assert yourself. Go for the 2 hours like one person said. If you feel overwhelmed then do it like 30 minutes at a time. But if you are not interested in making this a profession, just a hobby then I would say about 45 minutes a day. Peace out!

Answer 7

It really depends on your attention span and level of advancement, but here's what I tell my students...
Elementary level students (most 1st and 2nd years) 20 minutes 5 days per week.
Late Elem. level students: 3rd yrs., 30-40 min 5 days.
Intermeidate level: 4th-5th yrs. 45 min per day (at least!) 5 days
Late Interm. and Early Advanced: 45min to 1 hour per day, 5 days per week.

No matter what your level, be sure you are 100% focused while practicing. Some students can play at a highly focused level for a long time. Others need to break up that practice time into 2 or 3 smaller sessions.

Remember to always warm up first...starting with your scales, chords, arpeggios or whatever your teacher has you doing.
Then move onto your repertoire pieces...focusing on the trouble spots first.
Don't forget to play some of your favorite pieces before you end your practice session. After all, that's what it's all about. Enjoying it!

Answer 8

It depends on how good you want to get at it.

I'm old and just got the piano that I've wanted since I was eight years old. I took five lessons before hurricane Katrina hit, and never got the chance to take more. Soooooo, I bought lots of books, and each day I practice what I learned from my teacher, then I play some things from the many books I bought. I'm playing an average of an hour a day. It varies.

Answer 9

My instructor used to say at least 30 minutes for warm up and 2 hours for working on the pieces. However, I think there are no shoulds for playing the piano. It's supposed to be a pleasure. So, you may not work at all one day and cannot quit playing for hours the next. Playing the piano is an art and artists are guided /directed by their work.

Best of luck!

Answer 10

I try to practice an hour. The first 30 minutes is the "boring" stuff like scales and chords and learning difficult parts of new pieces. The second 30 minutes is for ME - whatever I want to play.

If you only do the hard or repetitive practices and don't reward yourself, practice will become unpleasant and you'll slack off. Always end it on a pleasant note whether it be playing for yourself or having a banana split!

Answer 11

How long have you been playing?Do you enjoy practicing?
I have health issues which sometimes limit my practice time.
Some days I practice 30 minutes - sometimes I get so involved I practice for hours (with breaks of course).
My opinion, is that if you are not given a minimum time by an instructor, and you are just doing this for yourself, minimum 30 minutes...maximum - whatever makes you happy at the time! I was self taught many many years ago, but now study at a local university.