Hey guys,
Haven't posted in awhile and wanted to catch up. Going to take this time to share a few ideas about practicing.
1) Practice consistently and relentlessly:
If you have a difficult song you're trying to overcome, don't ever let the song win. You may not get it that day or that week, but after sleeping on it and working on it day in and day out, you'll conquer it and be better because of it.
2) Practice fundamentals and not only songs:
It's easy as a musician to just use our practice time to play songs we know or are trying to learn. I'm the world's worst offender. Use at least some of your time to do things like muscle building, scale learning, theory practice, etc.
3) Don't burn out:
Don't overplay to the point that music moves from a passion to an obligation. When music is work, your creativity dwindles. When it's passion, you'll never be contained to a musical "box".
That's all for now, hope this helps someone!
I have pretty much taught myself how to play the piano and have only been playing for a little over a year now and I have no clue as to what exercises I should be doing per your list #2. Are there certain exercises that I can do to build muscle and dexterity, scale learning...well all of the above. Any help you may give will truly be a blessing.
ReplyDeleteTammara
tbceaser@gmail.com
Certainly. I suggest "The Virtuoso Pianist" by Hanon. I've added a link to Amazon to purchase the book: http://www.amazon.com/Hanon-Virtuoso-Pianist-Complete-Masterwork/dp/0739017330/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1343356943&sr=8-2&keywords=virtuoso+pianist
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