Getting the Most From Your Practice

Wow, I have had quite an adventure lately to say the least. I am so happy to be back to my blog now I can’t decide where to begin. I will be adding another lesson on music theory this week, so come back and have fun learning the basics of playing music.

Practicing for Results

Many musicians make the mistake of thinking that practice has to be a boring and tedious task. That is not so, and if you feel that way you won’t accomplish much but frustration. Today I a going to give you a practice routine that will keep you interested and progressing. You only need at least one hour per day to do this particular routine. I recommend practicing at the very least one hour per day.

Do not make the mistake of only practicing what is familiar! If you normally play in C, make sure you play in Db or B. Learn a new chord and play it in all keys. When you learn a new progression, play it in your most unfamiliar keys. If you only play by ear then spend some time learning to read music. Likewise if you only read music make sure you spend some time learning to play by ear. Doing these things everyday will yield awe inspiring results in the months to come. So on to the routine. Remember that this is just a sample, you may need to adapt it to fit where you are in your learning. If you are unsure how to apply this to you, then just drop me a line, and I will help you with a routine that will work for you.

What to practice:
Technique: 25 min. total

• scales: Play all 12 (or the ones you know) everyday for 5min.
• Hanon exercises: These are exercises that you do to strengthen your hands and fingers. You can find them here for free. 20 min.

The goal here is to develop finger dexterity and strengthen your hands. Don’t over do it practicing technique exercises. Keep to around 25-30 min.

Chords: 10 min total

• practice basic diatonic chords in at least 3-4 keys in both hands: Maj,min,dim,aug for 5 min. You may either practice triads or sevenths. (more on these later)
• Pick one new chord type from a good chord book or here and play it in all of its inversions in 2 keys 5 min. Link to diatonic chords and more

Style: 15 min.

• If you own any books or teaching dvd’s on gospel, jazz, blues etc. Practice one concept from your book or go here and find one concept to print and practice. 5 min.
• Pick a different style and practice one concept from that source 5 min.
• Try to transpose those concepts to at least one other key
• play one progression through your 2 most unfamiliar keys 5min.

Reading:10 min.

• Pick one hymn to learn to read and play it as written. If you already read then pick a hymn you do not know and sight read it. If you know nothing at all about reading music then go here for help with that. Reading is not essential, but it makes your learning much more productive when you can take a song written out and analyze it for the chords to play.

Then just play! I mean just play what ever you want to play and pretend you are playing for others when you do this. You need this step in order to really benefit from your practice. Experiment or just worship during this time.

Remember this is just an example, and you may not be able to do any of those things yet. That is ok make sure that you at least play your scales everyday and any song you are working on. You will begin to see real progress as you approach your practice this way. Happy learning!