I read a topic where people said how long they play per day. They had a minimum of around 3 hours. Does anyone have any tips on how I can stay on the piano for around at least an hour. Latley I have gone tops for 15 min. and thats about it. Although, I have only played for 4 months now, and maybe the easier pieces dont need nearly as much work as the ones most of you guys do?

I think how you spend your time (and how long you practice) depends on what you're working on. If you've only started a few months ago, it's also probably best not to push yourself too hard because you don't want to put too much stress on your hands/arms/wrists/back etc.

What are you working on, what do you practice? People who practice for a long time are working on several things. I usually can't practice as long as I'd like, but if I could 3 hours would be great. (Being on summer vacation, I practiced about 3 hours today actually, what fun!)

I start out with Bach, and spend 30-40 minutes on that. Then I have 3 pieces that I'm working on, and I try to do between 20-30 on each of those. At the end, I play through two or three pieces in my repertoire. I usually get up and walk around, take a break, get something drink etc, between each piece (so several very short breaks and one longer break.)

If you're working on easier pieces, I think you could still spend 20 minutes on one. Then take a break and work on another one. Work on three pieces, and that's an hour. Which IMO is a good length for where you're at. Also, a "piece" could be scale practice, or it could be a song etc.

You don't necessarily have to go from 15 minutes to 3 hours in one day, but just try to increase your practice time (and the material that you're practicing) little by little.

Another thhing you might try is to set some goals (for ex, memorize a piece, or work up to a certain point in your book etc, by a certain date.) Then when you practice, you can work towards those goals and it might change your focus a little.

BTW do you have a teacher?

I do have a teacher that I go to once a week. It helps a lot. The problem I think I may have is that I am doing music that doesnt intrest me. I have a adult beginner book that my teacher and i go through. I rather be learning other stuff but I know I have to do whats in the book. I got clair de lune off the internet, (which is way too advanced for me. ) but then I found a very simple verison I am working on.

As you progress, you will find time to play is too short. I have a warm-up routine that takes 45", then 1 hour on Alfred and Piano Handbook, then 1-2 hours on pieces in progress, and once a week playing from my list of pieces to remember (because I do not have time/energy during the week). This usaually takes 2-4 hours depending on how much I have to look up, and playing each piece 3-4 times to get smooth. Listen to Shiro's advise and I promise you will look back in a few months time, missing the days you could finish in 15 minutes and still feel good about it.

Not now in summer, but I usually practice 3-4 hours/day.
I use to work on 2 pieces at a time, but from different styles, romantic and barroque, for example.

1 hour: First piece.
Break.
1 hour: Second piece.
Break.
1-2 hours: Playing the repertoire, sight-reading from loaaads of books. And right now, practicing pieces to play with a friend: piano and saxophone.

--- During one month, I used to play 8 hours per day, please... just don't... you know... that's just so f...... crazy. Ok, yes, I learned my pieces VERY quicly, but I have to realize there's more than piano in this life.

Wow--I wish I had the time to practice that some of you have!

I have a practice blog where I give details about what I practice, and for how long. Lately I've been spending about 60-80 minutes a day on piano. Usually I'll spend one day focused mainly on my Bach piece, and then the next day on my Liszt piece. Back and forth. On days that I have time, I'll have two separate practice sessions of about an hour each--one for each piece.

Every waking moment that I'm not at work, I'm seated at the keys. I'm constantly experimenting, practicing, playing...

As some have pointed out, less is sometimes better, more focused, and better rentention. I think it was Frank W who said we peak at 15 minutes and then go downhill from there. Sounds like you have a very good routine Waterfall, and I sometimes wonder if I am at the point of diminishing returns.....

Hrmm... No, it wasn't me that said that. I work on something until I see that I'm getting nowhere with it, and then I'll move on to something else. I'm also trying to build a repertoire, so I have other things to work on. I also take frequent breaks.

It was Bob Muir who said the 15 minute thing. And that's supported by all the educational research I've read. (Which kind of makes my 75 minute lectures a waste of time for the last hour...)

Fatlock, I think you're seeing a pattern here. The longer you're at the piano and the more pieces you have in your repertoire, the longer your practice time will grow. I used to be able to play every single thing I knew and work on new pieces in 30-45 minutes a day. Now I am playing 1-2 hours a day, yet weeks can go by without me playing a certain piece in my repertoire.

I'm less worried by how much you're playing than by your statement "I would rather be playing other stuff." That's a recipe for disillusionment, so I would urge you to address the issue, either by telling your teacher you want to supplement or replace the adult method book you're using, or by going out and finding stuff on your own that you want to play. I guarantee that once you find material that excites you to play, you'll be on the bench for more than 15 minutes a day.

To echo Monica, if you're being told to play stuff that doesn't interest you, then you're setting yourself up for failure. Here's another option:

Pick a fairly easy "dream piece" that you really want to play. Claire might work. Present that to your teacher and tell her that you want to be able to play that in a year. Challenge her to come up with easier original pieces that will prepare you to play that work.

If she balks, it's possible that the only way she knows how to teach is via method book. If that's true, then perhaps you'll be better off with a different teacher. Plowing through method piece after method piece that you don't enjoy will make your lessons a chore.

Yes, that would be me. 75 minutes! Ack! I hope your students are recording it so they can review it in 15 minute snatches later.

Thanks, Monica - now I remember it was Bob (I know, I didn't "remember", you told me - please allow me the illusion of intellengence.....)

I don't think time is wasted, btw, but the maximum result is 15", and slower improvement as time goes on - I also take a lot of breaks (just look at my posts and you will see what I do on breaks). I am going on the hope that the first 15" AFTER a break counts almost as much as the first time, allowing for fatigue.

Boy, that sounds like what I went through with my instructor... I would tell her that I despised a certain piece and found it to be a huge irritation, and she would either allow me to skip it, or else she'd tell me, "You're learning tools, here. Get busy with it." :p

Yeah Frank, and if it were my teacher, knowing what I know now, I would reply that if the tools are so important, she shouldn't have trouble finding an original classical piece that will teach those tools.

By the way, the 15 minute rule probably doesn't apply much to what you're doing. You're basically playing piano and learning from experimenting.

HOWEVER. Let's say you're learning a new left hand style, say a shuffle or stride pattern. Then the 15-20 minute rule is going to apply. After 15 or 20 minutes, your mind can start to wander and you're going to start getting sloppy. You want to learn the pattern cold and solidly. You don't want to learn it sloppily.

True, you'll learn it either way; it's just that sloppily will require you to play it much, much longer before it sounds the way you want it to sound.

Right on, Bob. Thanks for the 15-minute rule, too. This explains why I've had so much frustration in the past, basically beating my brains out for hours on end, and seemingly getting nowhere except tired.

My left hand is definitely one thing that I need/want to improve!

I would like to add my impression to the 15 minute concept, but without real data to back it up...

I think that a 15 minute time limit applies primarily to the mental aspect of the the learning process. I think the body needs to put much more time in to be able to play what the brain comprehends. After that 15 minutes of learning I then like to immediately spend the necessary time to effectively apply it. For me, that is how I can end up sitting at the piano for long periods of time.

Regarding the 15 minutes. It's actually 20. The British army studied enemy aircraft spotters in WWII. They found that what they called "the zone of vigilance" declined after 20 minutes. What this meant was that the mind tended to wander after spending 20 minutes on a task requiring high mental and visual concentration. A brief break tended to put this right. How this actually applies to learning to play the piano, a task involving a very different set of skills, is anybody's guess.

As for myself, It often takes fifteen minutes or more working on a section of a piece before I feel like I'm getting anywhere and I often find myself extending my practice time beyond the amount I've alloted while I'm still "in the zone." I tend to take breaks when I find myself getting sloppy, not after any set period of time.

You're right Frycek. I tend to say 15-20 minutes. That allows some flexibility.

While learning to play the piano is a different set of skills, it still requires high mental and visual (not to mention aural) concentration. So the results would be similar.

dk - I like that thought (not only because that is exactly what I do....) and it makes sense if you think about mental vs muscle memory...

Frycek - Well, I also find myself doing the same thing, although sometimes after "studying" and feeling the peak pass, I will then work on mechanical stuff, not musically interptreting, but just repeating a section over and over to "lock it in". I, for one, have no idea why something works one day and something else the next, I'm just glad that when I finish practicing if I feel that I have improved.

I thank everyone for telling me their way of practicing. It helped me a lot to know what was wrong.

I didn't realize there was something wrong. Other than the part where you aren't playing music that interests you. Did you determine a way to add another 45 minutes to your daily practice?

Yes, I've only been playing one piece. So instead of playing the four that I have, I have have only been practicing one. The others I haven't even really looked at. Now I will do 15 min. for each of the four pieces, which gets me to an hour.

I'm also thinking about buying a book of easy classical so That can keep me entertained while I still Learn the basics.

The 15-20 minute guideline is useful if applied with some judgement (there are very few absolute rules with practicing).

For me, the total hours of practice is not as important as how I practice. My most productive practice happens when I have a list (yes, I often write it down) of very specific things I want to do each day. I don't just say "Work on Piece A"; my list says things like "Work out fingerings in RH for first section of new Piece A", or "Practice final cadence measures of Piece B until reliable", or "Increase tempo of middle section of Piece C from 66 to 72". Some of my tasks are as specific as a single measure or two.

I tend to break down my task list into things so specific that I really do only spend 15-20 minutes (or even less) on each one, but I often have several different problems with pieces that I'm working on and limiting myself to just a few minutes per problem doesn't mean I can't profitably spend an hour or two working on different sections of the same piece. I also find it helps to take several small breaks during longer practice sessions to walk around or pet the cat.

Sometimes I do sit down and just play through stuff I know (or am getting close to knowing) to see how it goes. But I don't consider that part of my hardcore practice time.

That's excellent advice. I just started making a list of things to work on for the next day, but it has been very general, and I like your idea of being very specific. I'll try that.

My biggest challenge is being organized about practicing. I usually just sit down and start playing whatever appeals to me at the moment. Sometimes I get so carried away just playing through my repertoire, that I wind up not having sufficient time (let alone energy/inclination) to really work effectively on stuff that needs work.

Now I'm using my "Next Day..." lists, and that's helpful. It keeps me focussed. If there's time, when I've completed the list, I play stuff I already know. One day a week, I devote all my practice time to playing my entire repertoire. I only know about 18 songs, but it's a challenge to keep them all in good, ready-to-perform condition!

I try to do at least 60 mins/day, but with a full-time job, a part-time job, a husband, and two wonderful daughters, that's easier said than done!