Successful practice will mean different things on different days.

1. Having fun messing around.
   • There is joy in fooling around without focus or intent. Furthermore, fooling around helps to mitigate associating our instruments with drudgery and guilt. Afterall, chances are good that you started this instrument or returned to it to add joy to your life, not create another reluctant obligation.
2. Fixing a passage.       
   • There is satisfaction in fixing trouble spots. Trouble spots often cause us to engage in avoidance behaviours which impedes progress and fosters guilt. As adults, we understand that guilt is the enemy of fun.
3. Mastering a scale.
   • Mastering technique, appropriate to your level, will help set you free. As you know, I started drum set at age 50 in response to a challenge from an adult student. Over the past 15 years I’ve learned that technical facility is the key. I now play at the level I played piano after college. (It took 7 years from the time I started playing piano and graduating from Berklee College of Music, this time it took 15 years of drum lessons, and I don’t believe I’d pass the audition today because standards have risen.) When my percussion practice is limited, I practice technique and leave the playing to band practice.
4. Preparing the lesson from the teacher’s notes.          
   • When preparing for the lesson, practice one thing at a time and check it off as completed and move on. At the next practice session review what you did previously and proceed to the next activity.
   • The first step is being clear on what you will practice because no one can do everything in a single practice session. Priorities must be set. Professional tip: I start the week with the most difficult things 1st. That way I’ve six days of review ahead of me.
5. Maintaining your repertoire.
   • Students should keep a visible list of completed pieces at the piano. Systematically rotate through the list, one piece per practice. Keep in mind that over time you will add and drop pieces.
6. Improvising.
   • Aka noodling
   • For jazz musicians this encompasses numerous activities.
7. Sight reading.
   • Strong sight readers learn pieces quicker.
   • As a teenager I learned to sight read early in my development which led to the following outcomes.
     1. I could learn pieces on my own without the teacher. Good
     2. I could avoid learning how to practice! Or even practice itself. Not so good. Teachers used to fire me!
     3. For half a century I’ve made a career and a good living as a professional sight-reader. As a teacher I still do. Good. (However, since then I’ve learned to practice with positive results, please see my biography.)
8. Singing intervals.
   • All students need to practice this. See this blog for more information.
9. Transcribing a passage of jazz or classical music.
   • Transcribing leads to deep listening. Deep listening leads to an intuitive understanding of musical interpretation. Understanding musical interpretation leads to playing beautifully. See this blog for more information.
10. Exploring new repertoire.
    • Dream of playing Chopin when you are a jazz student or vice versa? Tell me. I play both, so can you.
      
      

Please share your comments below.
 
David
Revised 2025

One of my adult students was asking tonight for some help planning his practice time. He is preparing for his Grade 8 piano exam. He is an engineer, a spreadsheet kind of guy. I'm sympathetic. Here is what we discussed. 
 
Warmup with sight reading. Use a metronome! Get into the zone.
 
Now start practicing
 
Technique with a 2-minute timer. Switch activities every 2 minutes = 15 minutes

• 1 scale
• 1 tonic chord played solid and broken
• V7 chord solid and broken
• I and V7 arpeggio

Practice one short section to perfection =15 minutes

Theory =10 minutes

Ear Training = 10 minutes

Review completed piece or pieces 10 minutes 

BOOM! one hour of accomplishment

This may work for you. 
​
David

Revised August 2022

I practice piano and drums daily, except Sundays when I rest. Recently my student Barb asked me, "how do you practice?" Here is my answer. 

1. I prepare to practice. My music and instruments are at hand and ready to go. As is my metronome, recordings, audio recorder, and pencils.
2. If the piece is new, I listen to the reference recording before commencing.
3. I plan out how I will play the piece. I consider fingering, dynamics, articulations, and the appropriate motions required to realize my artistic vision.
4. I warm up and stretch. (Students should warm up with scales and chords played gently and rhythmically with a metronome.)
5. I usually work with a metronome when playing jazz, but only occasionally if I'm working on my classical piano skills. However, I use it all the time if I’m on the drum kit.
6. I record myself as I practice. First, it helps keep me honest. Second, it helps me decide what and why I'm repeating the passage in question.
7. I practice piano technique and drum rudiments because technique is like muscles; it must be maintained.
8. When I listen to music, I ask myself, “what’s going on here?” I often write out what I hear going on. To date I have transcribed 100+ drum pieces alone. And over a four decade plus career, I transcribed countless jazz, and pop piano excerpts. 
9. When learning a new piece, I practice slowly with dynamics and articulations in place. I don’t add these later after "I've got the notes".
10. I’m patient because I trust the process. 

Have Fun. 
​
David Story
Revised October 2022

At some point in your musical development, you may have the opportunity to practice four or more hours a day. If you do, please don’t spend the four hours doing scales and other repetitive tasks. You will injure yourself.
Here is a list of activities you can pursue when you are not playing with recordings on YouTube or transcribing recordings on YouTube or creating roadmaps of tunes you are listening to on YouTube.

Repertoire

• Learn new tunes.
• Polish current tunes.
• Review old tunes.

Musical maxim #1. Those that know the most tunes, wins.

Listening and analysis aka road mapping.

• Form analysis: what is the structure of this piece?
• Instrumentation: Who, what, when questions
• “What’s going on here?” See my lesson on road mapping.
• Watch YouTube videos of Jazz Transcriptions and try playing along with them.
• Read a book on how to listen to music like, How to Listen to Jazz by Ted Gioia

Musical maxim #2. Folk music is played by ear.

Ear training

• Transcribing licks. A lick a day transposed into different keys is a good place to begin.
• Transposing tunes into different keys like C jam blues or Autumn leaves.

History

• Reading about the history of jazz, blues, pop, folk musics and checking out the recordings on YouTube. Each month study a different decade of your preferred style. Research a musical history outline online and then listen to the historical recordings.
• Watch YouTube videos of Jazz Transcriptions from a historical perspective.

How to practice?

• Read a book on it. Better yet read all my blogs on the subject. My two favourite books are Benny Greb’s book and The Musicians Way. The point is to become a student of practice techniques.

Formal and Informal learning.

• Pop, Jazz, Blues, and Folk music cannot be learned in a classroom. The classroom simply augments the informal learning that takes place when you jam with other musicians. Nobody, but nobody learns to play these styles by playing from scores or reading books and ignoring the recordings or passing up opportunities to play with others.

General and Jazz Specific Theory

• Key signatures, intervals, transposition, scale/chord construction.
• Suggested materials: Music Theory Pro for drills, Alfred’s essential music theory is good as are the RCM theory books. But it all depends on where you are starting. You can ask me for a recommendation based on my assessment.

Jazz Sight reading

• General piano music: play simple stuff using a slow metronome or play along app.
• Lead sheets.
• Chords
• Suggested materials: Open your fake book and play. Or use RCM sight reading books. Again, it all depends on where you are starting. You can ask me for a recommendation based on my assessment.

 Piano Technique

• Memorize your jazz chord voicings.
• Major scales
• Bebop scales and other jazz scales.
• Broken 7th chords: Major 7, dominant 7, minor 7, minor 7b5, diminished 7th in 12 keys. Play a maximum of 2 keys a day. SLOW IS FINE.
• I play classical piano music to keep my hands in some kind of shape. Occasionally I will play written jazz arrangements. Written music keeps the hands alive, as jazz piano study is brutal on piano techniques because we spend so much time play single note lines and left-hand chords. 

If you would like help, call me. 

​David
revised 2024
 

Classical piano Grades 1-2

Is it possible to make progress in 10 minutes? Of course. At some point longer practice sessions will be required, but with planning and focus you can accomplish a lot in a shorter time. Remember playing an instrument is fun when we succeed at it. And can clearly see our progress over time.

What practice is:

Learning through thoughtful repetition how to play our instrument so that over time we progress towards our goal however modest or lofty that may be. The goal is to accomplish a micro step forward each time we sit to practice. The size of this micro step varies on the time available.

What practice is not:

Messing around playing stuff we know is not practicing, it is playing. This is not a negative, but the reason we practice in the first place. In conclusion don’t feel guilty messing around, just don’t confuse it with practicing. Fool around without guilt. Have fun.

Session 1

• Turn audio recorder on
• One scale and chord set, metronome at a slow tempo you can comfortably manage, playing one note per click, listen back
• One short section of a piece
  • Listen first to the professional recording that comes with your book
  • One hand, then the other counting aloud, listen back
• Play a bit from a favourite piece if time permits

Session 2

• Turn audio recorder on
• One scale and chord set, metronome at a slow tempo you can comfortably manage, playing one note be click, listen back
• One short section of a piece
  • Listen first to the professional recording that comes with your book
  • One hand, then the other counting aloud, listen back
• Do all or part of a section from the sight-reading book.

Session 3

• Turn audio recorder on
• One scale and chord set, metronome at a slow tempo you can comfortably manage, playing one note be click, listen back
• One section of a piece
  • Listen first
  • One hand, then the other counting aloud, listen back
• Sing your assigned intervals

 
Have fun. 


David

The "breakfast piano minutes" are usually created in about 10 minutes 1st thing in the morning. 

1. Try to finish level 6 theory, it will really help us to communicate as musicians and build your understanding of the music you play.  
2. Summer is a good time to explore music history. A good introduction for classical piano students is found on Audible.ca https://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/the-23-greatest-solo-piano-works.html check www.audible.com I found it there for a really fair price.  
3. YouTube score watching; paying attention to one element at a time: articulations , dynamics, tempo
4. General piano skills

• Technique
• Etudes
• Repertoire
• Sight reading

Have fun, see you in September. 

David

1. Put your phone on airplane mode. Concentration during “me time” is crucial.
2. Watch a renowned professional pianist perform on YouTube. This will direct your attention to the beauty of the music you play. Be grateful you have the privilege to play and study such music.
3. Plan your practice and how much time to direct to each area.
   1. Theory, knowing what you are doing makes everything easier.
   2. Scales, chords, arpeggios, a chance to practice playing beautifully.
   3. Etudes focus developing specific technical challenges in piano playing.
   4. Repertoire, the music you are currently learning.
   5. Repertoire maintenance, which is review of your favourite pieces.
   6. Ear training really helps us to memorise music, internally hear it, and expand our capacity to hear nuance in our performances and the performances of others.
   7. Sight reading. Good sight readers just enjoy playing music. And, learn music much quicker.
   8. Score study is the activity of marking up a score to record the nuances we hear in a professional performance. Remember the given notation is just a start.
4. Prepare to practice
   1. Get a sharp pencil to make notes in the scores.
   2. Your audio recorder to get feedback on your playing.
   3. Your books all in order and ready at hand.
   4. Metronome is ready at hand.
5. Time to start
   1. Warmup the muscles with technique or sight reading. If you start with technique, start slowly the muscles are cold. Breathe. Use a metronome for some of your technique to maintain the slow tempi.
   2. Now to the rest of it.
6. Take a 5-minute break every 20-30 minutes.
7. Three, thirty minutes sessions spaced in a day, counts too. 
   

​If I can help you, please call and reserve a future spot. I am now taking reservations of summer 2020 and fall 2020.
 
David

“How good do you want to be?” Start with this question followed with: “how should I spend my time?” 

Success will depend on the depth and breathe of your practice. My most successful students have made peace with time and possibility. Yes, time counts, but patience and realistic expectations count for more.

Learning has piano follows a well trodden path. You just must follow it to succeed. There is no secret. Just time and hard work. We must be realistic with the fact that course correction will be needed regularly. Life is messy.

So:

1. Make some time
2. Find a teacher
3. Allocate your resources of time and money
4. Organize your practice space
5. Attend some concerts
6. Become a music student

Call me, I can help.
 
David

I've got happy students who practice more than an hour a day, others who practice an hour a week. Because their time matches their realistic expectations, they are happy. Could they all practice more? Of course. I could too. 

A quick coffee video on practicing from pianist magazine. 

Expert musicians know what they are doing. Their experience comes from working on, maintaining, and mastering the skills in the following four quadrants of piano study. 

1. They've built a repertoire of music they can play. (Wise students review their repertoire on a regular basis. This builds their confidence to perform.) Bassist Lynn Seaton ends his practice by playing a 45 minute "jazz set" of tunes from his memorized list. He uses playing along tracks and software with the bass removed. 
2. They've learned to sight read. I've made a living as a professional sight reader for over four decades. First as a professional stage musician, now as a piano teacher.  
3. They understand theory and music history relevant to their area of concern.
4. They have developed exceptional aural skills which allow them to play what they hear. 
5. They have learned to enjoy practicing. As Wayne Gretzky remarked about his practicing. "I loved practicing every aspect of the game." Pavarotti talked about his "devotion" to practice. 

​If I can help you, call me. 

Best,

David Story 
revised 2023

Who has all the time in the world? 

• Organization is the way 
  
• Patience is the key 
  

1. Warm up with some sight reading and technical practice. For piano that is easy. Fire up your tablet, go on line and head over to musicnotes.com. First pages are view-able for free. For technique consult your teacher's directions and get busy. Use about 25% of your time on these two activities. 
   
2. Now to the main pieces assigned. Three suggestions. First, listen to a professional recording of the piece while reading the score. An artistic impression of what the notation should sound like is very important; it will save you a lot of time and bother. You want to be able to answer the question: "how do I get that sound out of these notes?" Not, "what the heck should this sound like?" Second, follow the fingering. Many a wise student writes the fingering in on every note. Thirdly, practice in chunks, small bits, starting with the most difficult bit first. Remember the next lesson is coming soon ready or not. Be as ready as you can. Use about 50% of your time on this activity. 
   
3. Review old pieces favorites or not. This ends the session with some positive feedback. 25% of the time spent. 
   
   

Other effective practice routines can be created for different needs. Finally, listen regularly to the music you want to learn. Classical piano students listen to classical piano, Jazz piano students to jazz. 

Cheers, 


David Story

Getting ready for a new year of practicing? Me too. 

·         The key to musical happiness is regular practice and having clear easily articulated goals.  As business and time management Guru Brian Tracy says, “Clarity is the key”. To which I’d add: plan your life around your practice schedule.
·         Write down your goals. Do they align with time available? Are the people you live with onside?
·         Motivation problems can often be assuaged with a concert trip to hear a world class musician perform.
·         Get the piano tuned.
·         Try a good cardio workout to inspire, think clearer, and focus well.
·         Have a written practice plan for each session.

Books I’ve found helpful in the last year

·         “Time Power” by Brian Tracy, I read and reread this book at least twice a year. The ideas really work, if you implement them.
·         “The 4-Hour Chef: The Simple Path to Cooking like a Pro, Learning Anything, and Living the Good Life” by Timothy Ferris, an inspiring book on adult learning, hilarious too.
·         “International Piano” magazine, a monthly magazine from the UK on learning the piano.

Books I plan to read shortly

·         “Practice Perfect” by Doug Lemov
·         “Famous Pianists and Their Technique” by Reginald R. Gerig

All books available on-line from your favourite reseller.

Cheers,

David Story

www.davidstory.ca

​Techniques for Effective Practice

1. Employ a metronome to maintain rhythm.
2. Break down your practice into manageable segments.
3. Engage in focused musical exercises such as scales, chords, and arpeggios, by altering rhythm, dynamics, articulations, and balance between hands. These exercises should be practiced with the metronome. 
4. Maximize your “Bench Time” - the ultimate shortcut to improvement is simply more practice. Block out times in your schedule. In my own practice regime, I block out the time at the same time each week and then book my students around these spots.
5. Prioritize proper fingering - it should never be overlooked. Without consistent fingering it is difficult to play securely under pressure. 
6. Maintain good posture and hand position - this is crucial for effective playing because it minimises strain on the muscles. 
7. Stay conscious of your breathing - it can affect your performance if you are holding your breath. 
8. Listen to music away from the piano - try to discern the form, dynamics, and articulations in professional performances. This will enhance your musicality.
9. Record your practice sessions - it’s a great way to track your progress. (I have hundreds of giga bytes on my hard drive.)
10. Relish the process - remember to enjoy the journey of learning and improving.

Commonly Neglected Aspects by Students

1. Proper Fingering
2. Dynamics
3. Segmenting or “Chunking” the music into small areas for concentrated attention. 
4. Linking music theory with Music
5. Slow and Steady Practice

My Top Four Practice Recommendations for Students

1. Train your Ears
2. Slow and Steady Practice wins the race.
3. Maximizing Bench Time. There is no substitute or work around to this basic fact. 
4. Technical Exercises make everything easier and more musical. 

If I can help you learn to practice, call me. 

www.davidstory.ca

Revised 2024

Dorothy Delay asked parents of prospective students, "who is going to be your child's practice partner?" A teacher of prodigies, she knew a thing or two.

With that in mind, I encourage parents to attend lessons and take notes. This communicates to your child the importance of this activity. And you will be able to help your child complete their assignments.  Prepared students are happy students because they play well and are praised for their effort. Playing well and earning praise works in sports, and it in music lessons too.   If I can help your child, please call me. 
David Story
Revised November 2023

An ideal student knows exactly what they want and why they want it. They have set time and resources aside to accomplish it.

An ideal student has read and respects studio policies.

Happy Student + Happy Teacher = Success

1. Communicate with your teacher your goals and aspirations.
2. Do your homework, consider that the so called boring bits are the important bits. I know, I take drum lessons. The new teacher is trying to get me to play quarter notes properly with the good tone and arm motion. This is requiring hours of concentrated effort. But, the musicians I play with can hear the difference already.
3. Participate in recitals. Everyone needs positive, self esteem building events.
4. Explore music outside of lessons: Sight read, attend concerts, listen to music, buy a music magazine, watch Youtube videos, attend a summer camp. (I'm going to Louisville Kentucky and Oxford England this summer for music training in both drumming and classical music).
5. Read Time Power by Brian Tracy. The best book on time management I know. Amy Chua's books are an interesting read for both parents and mature music students.
6. Remember musicians live to practice, performance is just the icing on the cake. 

Cheers,

David Story
Piano Teacher and drumming enthusiast.

On Sunday January 18 we had a lovely student recital at Port Nelson United Church. The kids played well, the piano was in tune, and the concert lasted just the right amount of time. A success.

Our next concert will be the annual duet concert. A heap of family fun. Parents and kids performing together!

I was reflecting on the joy that was on display. The students who played wanted to play; they were a happy group of keeners.

A good part of their success is a result of their preparations. They had practiced, they were ready, and they knew it. 

I was told, "piano is fun if you practice, drudgery if you don't?' So protect your practice time, it is the source of your musical joy.

Cheers,

David  

Setting realistic goals for music study? Great idea. Not thought about it? Why not? One of the best reasons is that it gives you a track to run on. One of the best warnings on goal setting? "You can't ride more than one horse at a time" 

Here are a few additional thoughts. 

For Parents 

1. Whatever goals you set for your children consider the time and personal effort you will have to give to the project? Remember hockey clubs have coaches, kids don't practice on their own. Even Tiger Woods has Sean Foley present when he practices for feedback and instruction. 
   

For Adults 

1. What are you going to give up to make room for music study? 
   

Project Planning 

Here is a personal example. I study jazz drumming. I'm planning on attending a jazz camp for adults next summer. When I arrive there I will have to audition for placement. I want to place as high as possible. :-) 
so, 

1. Each day I practice on the pads for a few minutes, with my metronome, my rudiments and other sticking patterns. I listen carefully for steadiness of rhythm and evenness of tone. 
2. I've engaged drum teachers in January. One for kit, another just for snare work in the concert band. 
3. I listen to jazz drumming daily in the car.
4. I practice on the kit nearly every day for one to two hours. Either alone or with the jazz quartet on Monday mornings and the Hamilton Concert Band on Wednesday nights.
5. I read drum magazines and watch instructional videos for motivation and inspiration. 
6. I'm focusing on the core competencies of drumming: Time, feel, balance, and endurance. I tape many practices for feedback.
7. Special emphasis on the bass drum in the next while and basic Latin grooves. 

This is a sub goal of my drumming aspirations. My larger goal is to be able to play in the finest amateur groups in the GTA and work each summer at the finest audition only jazz camps for adults in the world. My next sub goal after the summer is to bring up my snare work in concert band and to start working on the other percussion  instruments: melodic and pitched. A little OCD perhaps? But, this is how musicians approach their work. 

For yourself 

Goal: Recreational player 
Strategy: Two hours of playing and practice a week 
Tactics: Ditch the TV and web surfing by 2 hours. Tell your kids to go outside and play. Give a list of pieces to your teacher you would like to learn. 

Cheers. 

David

It depends on how good you want to be is the short answer. A thoughtful answer takes a little longer.

1. What are your goals?
2. Are they realistic with the time and resources available to you?
3. How detailed are these goals?
4. Are these goals your own or someone's else?
5. Do you know how to practice?

Let's break it down.

Realistic Goals: Are your goals in tune with the rest of your life? What would you give up to reach them? Piano takes time, lots of it. For example to complete my ARCT in 2007, I started Grade 10 in 2003. Five thousand hours later I graduated! (This 5,000 hours included my theory studies as well as my piano lessons.) I gave up the music business to do this.

If you goals are more modest, aim for 2 hours a week of practice to start. Without practice, piano is no fun! The caveat is this. If you are a recreational piano student with the goals of learning some tunes and having some fun, skipping practice is no big deal. We can do it together at lessons, I will supervise.

Whatever the depth of your ambition, I suggest strongly that you schedule piano practice into your schedule.

On the subject of practice, another blog post for that.

Cheers,

David Story

Weekly lessons are a motivation to practice and stay sharp. With that in mind, l I've resumed my piano coaching sessions with Leon Karan. We are doing splendid work together. 
​
My progress is slow and steady. Too slow. Leon suggested gently that I practice more this week than last. Ouch!

Message received. I will be on the piano early tomorrow for 90 minutes. I've booked practice times on Thursday and Friday too.

Cheers,

David

A tale of two adult students

Part one:

• Both students start at the same time.
  
• Student 1 practices an hour a day, 5 days a week.
  
• Student 2 practices an hour, once a week.
  
• At the end of year one Student 1 is 4 years ahead, year two 8 years ahead.
  

Part two:

• Student 1 has a vague notion of what they want to accomplish. The have a nagging notion that they should practice a lot. They feel guilty that they cannot practice more. They need a lot of hand-holding.
  
• Student 2 wants to play a few tunes and have fun. They do. They take it as it comes. They fiddle around, jamming, improvising, and occasionally getting to the homework. They are having fun.
  

Cheers,

David Story

Awesome advice. Click on the image or here for the full article.

Cheers

David

I ponder the similarities between this advice and the advice parents receive from athletic coaches. 

May 2023

“Surrender to the expert”, great advice. Be teachable. 

With that in mind I came up with these thoughts. The take away: your teacher probably knows best. Complete your lessons, then fool around following your own muse. Why?

• A real expert sees the big picture.
  
• A real expert knows the sequential steps to get you there.
  
• A real expert knows the value of patience.
  
• A real expert has been there, done that, survived and returned to tell about it.
  
• A real expert is ready to share insights gained from their experience.
  
• A real expert will keep you on the straight and narrow.
  
• A real expert cannot hear your whining.
  
• A real expert might not be too humble. Deal with it.
  
• A real expert wants you to succeed.
  
• A real expert can see focus, commitment, and effort. The more you work, the more they will willingly give.
  

Cheers,

David