Practice Routine

To learn a new piece

· Play H.S. (RH and LH alone); Name Notes as you play

· Put H.T. and Count out Loud (slow and steady)

· If you cannot keep steady, slow down and play only 2 bars at a time, then 4, 8 etc.

· Watch for fingering and dynamics

· Keep eyes up on the sheet music

Scales and Triads

· Play each exercise 3x perfect with the metronome

· Sing note names once and the finger numbers once

· Play with strong tone and good hand position

To fix a mistake

· Play only the bar with the mistake, H.S. 3x perfect and then H.T. (slower) 3x perfect

· Play from the bar before to the bar after the mistake 3x perfect

· Put the metronome on and play the same three bars 3x perfectly with the            metronome, then add 5 to the speed and repeat 3x perfect. Repeat this until you get up to full speed

Review

· Go back and review one old song and one old scale or triad each day

Memorizing Music

· Choose a spot in each line where you could start from memory

· Practice starting from each spot, backwards - from the last spot to the first one

· Play very, very slowly and think of what will come next as you play

· Play one hand and ‘ghost’ the other

· Memorize hands separately

· Look for patterns in the music

· Analyze the chords and the form