Accomplishing More in Less Time

Practice is an absolute must if you are to improve your piano skill. However, it is difficult to find time to actually practice. In this section, we will share some tips that will help you get the most out of your practice session. This will save you time as well as increase what you achieve in your practice.

Tip #1: Set realistic expectations. If you know you have thirty minutes of down time, then simply choose to practice for only ten or fifteen of those minutes. Ministry life is busy, and rest is necessary! It is better to practice for just a few minutes than none at all.

If you are trying to learn an entire song, don’t try to learn it all at once. Select a few measures or a phrase and just work on that. If you learn it, wonderful! Move on. But if not, then at least you made progress on that selection.

Tip #2: Stay focused. This is difficult, but if you can, choose to practice during a time when you will have minimal distractions. For parents, this could be while children are asleep, at school, or doing homework. For children, this could be just after dinner (instead of playing). For those who are involved in ministry, this could be after church in a tucked away area. Regardless of your situation, there are times when distractions are at a minimum. In some situations, you may even be able to create a distraction-free area. In any case, you will accomplish much more when you have fewer distractions.

Tip #3: Set clear goals. Define what you are actually practicing. Are you developing an offertory? Are you learning the chords to a new song? Are you trying to strengthen your music expression? Whatever you are working on, make sure you know it very clearly.

Tip #4: Practice in fifteen or thirty minute periods. If you are blessed with much practice time, make sure you take breaks to avoid wearing out your mind and hands.

Tip #5: Follow a plan. Everyone’s plan differs, but it is generally beneficial to begin a practice session with scales and a familiar song. Then move to whatever it is that you are trying to accomplish. Once you have achieved your goal (or made progress towards it), it is a good idea to end practice with another familiar song or piece as well as scales or exercises. This plan of warm-up, work, cool-down is an extremely helpful method to maximize practice efficiency.

Tip #6: Pay attention to progress. Track your progress closely. Perhaps you could write in a practice log, or maybe even simply mark with a pencil on your music what you have accomplished. This is helpful for several reasons. One is that tracking progress encourages you to achieve more. Another is that it gives you a realistic way to judge how quickly you can learn a new song or piece.

Tip #7: Have an ultimate goal. Are you trying to just learn to play for church? Are you trying to become the best you can be? Are you trying to reach a certain skill level so that you can teach others? Whatever it is, determine and articulate your ultimate goal. Maybe it will change, but it is important to have a goal.

Tip #8: Ask God to bless your practice. God cares about you, and God cares about music. It is not a far-fetched idea to ask for His blessing on you as you try to serve Him better with music. Try it out! You will not be disappointed.

We hope that this has been helpful to you! If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to reach out!

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Thank you for reading!

Aaron Dempsey

I Corinthians 15:58