Colour Outside the Lines Music Centre

During last  Friday’s blog I wrote about THE PACT…when practicing…patience, awareness, curiosity and tunnel vision.  This week I want you to have a look at THE BIG PICTURE.  Start by writing measure numbers at the beginning of each line of music if the score does not already contain them.   The following tips will help you practice more efficiently

Sections:  Look and discover the music’s overall structure .  Label each section with a capital letter.  If two sections are alike, use the same letter.

Form:  With the help of your teacher, you should be able to name the form of the piece.

Similarities:  Composers often repeat entire measures, phrases or even sections.  These Repetitions could form a large part of your piece.  Find the repetitions in your score and mark them.  You can skip practicing this material until you put the piece together later.

Differences: Compare sections that look the same and mark the exact spots here one differs form the other.

Terms: Buy a music dictionary and look up any terms that you do not understand and write them on your music.

Keep focused and keep practicing.  Use you precious time wisely.

“I played it better at home”.  How often I have heard that from students and said it myself.  Often this statement isn’t exactly true.  Most likely you (and I) didn’t notice what went wrong or didn’t know what to do about it.  However, when performing, what we are not doing well stands out like a bright red nose!

Nancy O’Neill Breth has developed a guide to help you practice more effectively  Today and in the next few weeks i am going to give you some of her practice tips.  Let’s start with PACT.

1. Patience-Learning to play the piano can’t be done in a hurry.  It takes time-every day, week and over the years.  Set aside a portion of each day for practicing and keep the appointment faithfully.

2.  Awareness-LISTEN so carefully that you know exactly how you sound

3.  Curiosity-Ask yourself questions.  How did that sound?  Was it better than before?  If so, how?  If not, why not?  Should i slow it down, change what I am doing?

4. Tunnel Vision-Set a specific goal for each practice session.  focus on one problem at a time.  Work in small sections.  Even within a section, work on one hand (or one musical line) at a time or on one aspect only, such as accuracy, speed, balance, dynamics and tone quality

I hope this helps.  More next week.

To build muscle strength and coordination, piano students “train” every day by practicing.  I ask parents to assist them in these ways:

1. Scheduling: In September of each school year, I talk to each student about how much they realistically feel they can practice and I write it down in their Student Music Organizer.  You also should sit down with your child and make a daily practice schedule together. Write down specific times for each day’s session. Divide the practicing into sections if you like. Morning practice gets the best results, so schedule some practice before school if at all possible. Post this schedule near the piano.
2. Environment: During practice time, keep the room quiet. Do not allow phone calls, friends, siblings, TV or other distractions.
3. Supervision: Parents who do not actually sit with the student during practice time should read the Weekly Lesson Assignment in their Student Music Organizer. If you don’t understand what I expect for a lesson, ask your child to explain it to you. If the student doesn’t understand it, call me. Make sure each item on the assignment sheet is covered.
4. Instrument:  Last but not least, each student needs a good instrument to practice on.  This means an acoustic piano (ideally), an electric piano or a keyboard with a minimum of four octaves, weighted keys (keys that respond to touch and have loud and soft sounds depending on the weight and speed of touch applied), and a pedal.

I hope this helps and I look forward to a successful and fun musical year!!