Ways Pianists Can Get Better Results With Less Effort

Ways Pianists Can Get Better Results With Less Effort

Summary: Steve, a high school student, runs track, plays the sax in the band, takes honors classes, works hours a week and still continues to improve his piano playing. How does he do it? He uses the / principle.

Nancy is married, works full time, goes to the gym days a week and maintains a busy social life. Yet she keeps expanding her repertoire as her piano technique develops. Whats her secret? She uses the / principle.

Isnt it time you followed the example o...

piano, lessons, practice, music

Article Body: Steve, a high school student, runs track, plays the sax in the band, takes honors classes, works hours a week and still continues to improve his piano playing. How does he do it? He uses the / principle.

Nancy is married, works full time, goes to the gym days a week and maintains a busy social life. Yet she keeps expanding her repertoire as her piano technique develops. Whats her secret? She uses the / principle.

Isnt it time you followed the example of these successful piano students?

In his best selling book, The / Principle: The Secret to Success by Achieving More with Less, Richard Koch shows that there is a faster and easier way to get great results in all areas of life.

Koch is one of many authors who use the theory called the Pareto Principle (discovered by Italian economist Vifredo Pareto in ) to demonstrate how % of your results come from % of your effort.

Here are ways you can use the / principle to achieve better results with less effort.

. Practice minutes every day instead of hours once a week.

. Learn measures of a piece very well rather than playing the entire song poorly.

. Plan the music for each of your practice sessions in advance.

. Practice one scale per day using correct technique, fingering and timing instead of racing through all scales daily.

. Learn how to form one chord of each type (major th, th, diminished, etc.) as an alternative to memorizing a catalog of chords.

. Put all of your repertoire pieces into a loose-leaf notebook rather than relying on place marks in your piano books. For help with this see my article:

How to Increase Your Return on Investment By Organizing Your Music

. Listen to recordings of your special selection rather than expecting all of your inspiration to come from your own playing.

. Pick one accompaniment pattern for the verses of a song and one for the bridge as opposed to creating specific left hand parts for each measure.

. Memorize five songs which you can play anywhere at any time instead of using music to play songs. For help with this see my article: How to Memorize a Song the Easy Way

. Create a repeating motive (short melodic figure) and use this to improvise on a bar blues as an alternative to randomly playing the blues scale.

. Arrange a song in advance by setting up patterns of ii-V-I progressions as opposed to simply following the chords as printed in a Fake Book. For help with this see my free lesson: How to Arrange a Song in Easy Steps

. Set up low pressure performance opportunities (play for friends, family, fellow students, etc.) at regular intervals so that you have time-specific goals for bringing your pieces up to performance level.

Action Exercises

Here are three things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.

First, pick one or two of the ways listed above that fits with your personality, style and level. Start using these in your practicing right away.

Second, begin every practice session with your most important piece. Exception: if this selection requires that you warm up with scales or exercises, do these first.

Third, monitor your progress by recording yourself today and then a month from now.

Once you hear the difference in your piano playing, youll see clearly that your results have come from focusing on the most important areas of your practicing.

Start using the / principle today and youll be amazed at how quickly youll get better results from your piano practicing with less effort!

Copyright by Ed Mascari ed@edmascari.com