i started taking piano and guitar lessons at the beginning of this summer, so i've just completed my 10th week. i've been practicing piano for an hour and guitar for an hour every day of the week, but i have missed about 5 hours (spread between the two instruments) so far. i can't help but continually stressing out about missing those days, even though i haven't missed a session in a couple weeks. i know that it is not significant, and that even if it were, it's not like we would move ahead regardless and forget about what was missed; i know if i didn't have something down, we would continue to practice it. and even though i have been successful in every piece we've played so far, without need for remediation, i can't help but feel as though i'm somehow behind and have lost something i can't ever make up or get back. does anyone else get stressed out like this over a missed day here and there and have a way to get past it?

We of the MOYD list have never experienced this missing a day...:)

I stress out about missing a day of practice but it is inevitable. In May, my mother passed away and when I flew home there was no piano, on which, to practice. When I returned home, my sister became ill and she was in the hospital for a week or so and the last 3 days we did not leave the hospital. No practice then. Her funeral is scheduled for September, again, in another state so I will not practice then.

I guess, what I am saying is, that, life, whether we like it or not, happens and sometimes there are practice sessions missed. Sometimes for days.

Having been an avid distance runner, I can tell you that my times would often improve after missing a few days. In the piano, I notice that sometimes a few days missed, results in improvement. Why? A rest? I don't know but it sounds like you have plenty musical ability and do not worry about the missed practices but YES we all stress about it!!

Unfortunately I am right now away because of work, and there is no chance at all for me to practise for over a week. I feel I can make up for missing one day if really needed, but missing more then a week is so sad.

I'm only a senior in high school, but taking five college AP courses (and the 6th class being advanced piano). Some days I am just too flushed with homework that I can't practice at all. This is bad, not only because I don't get to practice, but also because it hurts my grade in class recitals too!

Not to mention in the summer I missed several weeks of practice just by being lazy. I don't get stressed over missing a day or two - but I do notice. It is important not to lose track of days of missing practice, because it may become a habit and you may eventually give up on the instrument. So I think stressing out on this a bit is a good thing! It keeps you comin' back to the piano.

I sometimes take a few days off practicing, and sometimes when I come back to it it's better than it was before. However, I know that a day or two off of practicing per week is actually beneficial, allowing your mind and body to settle in the new skills.

Meri

If you continue playing in the long run you will miss any number of practice sessions - no problem - sometimes you need this break - as long as you are consistently practicing well over the long haul you will progress - this is what is really important: consistency and dedication in the long run - you will eventually see this clearly, and a missed practice session here and there will cease to be a cause for concern.

Regards, JF

P.S. You might want to be a little more concerned about the missing capital "I" on your computer keyboard!

It happens. I once managed over three years without missing a day. And then there was a patch where I missed several over the course of a couple of weeks. I survived. I'm still playing. Sometimes I think we really need to miss a day or so and give our brains a chance to process what we've learned. (My skipped days usually follow a real "push" where I've been practicing 4-5 hours a day for several days.)

not to worry. you can do finger exercises if you are deprived of a piano.. stretching (intelligently) or expand your hand (splay) and touch with great precision each of the four fingers singularly to the thumb.. trying to make perfect contact - no sloppiness. doing this slowly gives your finger muscles an excellent workout - teaches them to do what YOU command.

I applaud your commitment. I adore practicing and hate to miss. due to a recent health issue i essentially missed a year of practice.. it really didn't hurt (altho i did not advance).

Everyone on this post speaks the truth. Adult life has responsibilities that are not always within our control. It pays to try to be diciplined but not overly rigid. On a day when I have no time to "practice", I try to take two minutes and just play through one of my favorite, easy little songs. It makes me happy and reminds me that I like piano, and it's there waiting for me. I think this keeps one or two missed days of practice from stretching into one or two weeks.

I think I should try the same strategy with exercise!

jagshrink

I have found that not practicing for a day (or even longer) can actually be beneficial.

Several years ago I had an adult student who struggled with learning a new piece. She worked on it for several months, and the progress was very slow.

Then, there was a death in her family, and she had to leave for 3 weeks. When she came back, she threw her books on the floor next to the piano, and said "I'll never learn this now".

I asked her right then to play it, and we were both very surprised to find that she could play it much better than before, despite not seeing a piano for 3 weeks.

Since then, I suggest to my students that they give it a rest now and then for a day or so. I have to be careful here, because some will take it as a license to not practice.

Since then, I have done some amateur research, and so far have found that these resting periods are very important, because learning to play the piano is a very complex thing, and thus the brain has a lot of processing to do. Recent research has shown that sufficient resting (sleeping at night) between practice sessions is an important component to the learning process, as it allows the brain to process the information learned during the practice session).

In any case, don't feel like you are losing something by resting from the piano for a day or two. Practicing is not like putting money in the bank every day...if you miss a day of that, you are behind in your saving plan. I know it is counter-intuitive, but if you miss a day of practice, you might actually be ahead of the game.

So far I've been practicing almost every day and I don't worry if I miss a day or two. We went for a 5 days trip and missing 5 days was not a problem at all. If anything I played better and had more fun. But next year we are thinking of going to Europe for a month. I'm still a beginner so I am worried about missing the whole month of lessons and practice. I thought I might do some sight reading excerisizes. Any suggestions for long vacations like this?

Two things I have done:

1. Find a piano store, and either play the pianos there, or ask them if they have a practice room (some stores give lessons), and you can rent a room for a few dollars for a half hour or so.

2. Go to a music store, the type that sells guitars, and they usually have some keyboards there you can play for a bit. Again, if they give lessons, you can usually rent a room with a keyboard for a half hour or so.

It was by *not* having access to my piano for a year that really solidified my love for it. It is true how they say "absence makes the heart grow fonder". I was tepid towards my piano playing until I could not play it at all for over a year.

Now I play everyday and am thankful my piano is such a constant companion.

You are being very hard on yourself and I wonder where your inner voice tape is coming from that it would fail to see that you have already in 10 lessons established good intentions for your practicing of 2 instruments. Then the success you are feeling of accomplishment at your lesson by playing well is an indication that things are off to a good start. Your stress is being self inflicted by your thought process. I don't recommend that you do this to yourself when you could be positively affirming the excellent use of your time and efforts that you are producing. To me, time is an artificial measurement of success of practicing: Beginners are not usually ready for one solid hour of practice for many reasons. One is stamina and energy and attention span, another is that the human body tenses up when we force a time limit on sitting at the piano, or holding a guitar, the back and arm support of your body may over tire from demanding too long of a time. With children it's particularly important that they do "just enough" in preparation as they are building their entire body support for the future and it is gradual and progressive. So, I think preparing the lesson might not require one exact hour of your time. Some music is more difficult than others, one piece will take 30 minutes to explore and play well, another may take 5 minutes, and then there's the piece that takes weeks.

Please enjoy your time in music making. Complements are as important as any criticisms and learning to do "enough" in preparation is far more important than clocking hours. Duration works against you at piano practice if you have any errors in your playing - you have cemented that error by practicing it over and over. It is important to keep error out, yes. A few more lessons under your belt should help you define what the assignment for the week requires of you.

The intention of my post is to balance and contribute toward your overall success by focusing on the positive of what you have told us about yourself.

If you worry this way about missing practice, I would bet that you will soon stop enjoying playing the piano at all. Playing should make you happy! If it is a subject of stress at the level of your post, it cannot be making you happy to do it.

Failing to practice every day should not be a subject for such self-flagellation. It is just not a big deal.

Unless, of course, missing a day makes the world end.

When I travel I put a book of short easy pieces in the bottom of the suitcase. Almost always there is some place where there is a piano (sometimes in rough condition though!) and I can spend 15 - 30 mins playing through a few familiar pieces. Also, I carry a book with me on days when I have choral rehearsals after work so I can grab a few minutes at the piano before rehearsal starts. That way when I get home late after rehearsal, too tired and hungry to play, I know I've had some time at the piano already.
K

I don't miss many days but I do find that if I alternate pieces, when I have left one for a day, it seems to have 'jelled' a little better following practice session ... and I usually leave my books packed in my bag during the evening and any practice time at home is spent playing from memory, sightreading, or on technical exercises. I think it's a great break from working on 'in progress' pieces.

Rest is likely a benefit for the hand to rebuild muscle strength and its mechanical durability, likely best for those who are not able to play consistently (such as every day).

I must first admit that I do not maintain a regular routine of daily practice - as I should! My life is broken into segments of time for family, career and music and as much as I would love to play every day, it just is not possible. And so I must work around this in creative ways. I start my practice session with my technique exercises (on a good day at least an hour of technique). This consists of Dohnanyi, Hannon and maybe some Clementi. I am not professional but I love the piano and any opportunity to play. I found Dohnanyi after realizing I required a technique system with the maximum benefit in the least amount of time. Be very careful with these Dohnanyi exercises - they are potent - don't overdo it all at once or you can strain your hand. You don't have to learn the entire book - although it would help. (I think #10, 11 and #12 have been beneficial for me (I can list others but I am running out of time - they are all important). With this book you really have to "listen" to your hand and be in tune with the mechanics of your hand, feeling for any signs of fatigue and then resting and working another muscle with another exercise. Start with the easy ones and work your way up to the higher level ones - its taken me more than 20 years! My point of replying to this post is because I find after not playing for a week or even a month, I must gradually and carefully get my hand back in shape with these various techniques (Dohnanyi as mentioned above, and some Hannon and Clement). After a week of playing once again (after not having played for a few weeks) I have to take a few days off for rest or my hand will feel strained. But after coming back to the piano my hand feels nimble and powerful and I feel I can fly on the piano. Eventually, after working back into regular average daily routine I am back in shape. I believe this few days of rest was actually beneficial.

Mike

thank for all of the replies. and yes, it all makes sense. the only time i miss a session is because i'm working all day (i'm a college student, and i'm holding down two jobs right now), or i go out of town for the day; but this, like i said, doesn't happen often at all. most weeks i am able to practice every day.

and it's not like i'm trying to be hard on myself. it's just the way i think, i don't know, maybe it's a bit ocd-ish. its the same thought process with everything else; i find comfort and ease is rigidity. once there is a break in it however, i feel almost as though i need to just switch teachers and start at the beginning again. ludicrous, i know, and i would never do that. but that's the way i think, so i suppose i just need to learn to deal with it. again, thanks!

Give yourself a day off each week. You only fall behind if you stop all together. One day each week is a nice break, let you go somewhere far like a day trip without worrying about needing to get home early to practice. Spend time with family and friends for the whole day or in your case just work.

Somehow I feel the Horowitz practice quote coming up.

I often miss periods of practice, but I'm not paying for lessons now so I don't feel guilty. A day every week or two is not a problem, but if you're paying for lessons and have to miss more than a day a week frequently then It might be better to pick one of piano or guitar (piano) to focus on. It's a better investment of your money to focus on one if your time is limited. You would still get a lot of great background information that will pay off later with both sets of lessons, but your progress will seem better for the investment with more focus. The other instrument isn't going anywhere and you can pick it up again later when yout time is a bit better structured.

@Rocket88. I find leaving things for a bit to be beneficial as well. I still practice, but I'll leave some pieces for a few weeks every now and then to switch things up and give my brain a boost in the novelty department. Even with the half step or two backward sometimes, the progress forward is quicker and more fun after a break.