Tips and Tricks to Mastering Piano Pieces

By Jade

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Piano’s kind of a funky thing, if I’m going to be honest. It requires a lot of practice, but practicing the wrong way can lead to irreversibly awful habits. Making a fingering error and practicing that same error for even a few days can result in a terrible habit that makes your fingers stumble over each other, time after time. After playing the piano for about 11 ½ years, here are some tips that I’ve found useful. 

1. For beginners, it’s key is to focus on memorizing where the keys are on the piano. When you begin to learn new pieces that get gradually more and more complex, this skill is extremely important since you don’t know the notes that well yet. In certain piano testing assessments, such as the Certificate of Merit (which is organized by the Music Teachers’ Association of California) the sight-reading portion (playing something after looking at it for about thirty seconds) plays an important role in your performance testing result. 
   
   
2. When first starting to learn a piece, play it hands separately. Start out playing one hand at a time, to master the piece in halves, before putting both hands together. Why? You might end up stumbling over note after note if you don’t know what note you’re supposed to play. This has helped me build the building blocks of learning a piece. 
   
   
3. Practice a piece slowly when first learning a piece. Whether a piano piece’s tempo (speed of a piece) is fast or slow, it’s always important to practice the piece slowly in order to learn the notes and understand the rhythm. 
   
   
4. Fingering is key! I’ve discovered that fingering is my biggest weakness when it comes to playing pieces that require speed and accuracy. Not everything is a glissando (sliding your fingers down the keys to create a cascade of notes). Fingering can help you prevent your fingers from tangling up and freezing up. Unfortunately, I’ve never been very good with fixing my finger mistakes. As a result, I’ve learned that as a rule of thumb, within the first week of starting a new piece to try to figure out some sort of fingering that works every time. I also find that consulting my piano teacher has helped me tremendously.
   
   
5. Next, gradually build up your speed. It's tempting to start out playing at the intended tempo of a piece, but playing slowly prevents making mistakes. I find it very tempting to start off quickly, but I end up having to practice parts repeatedly (and failing miserably). Gradually building up speed builds up confidence! For learners who aren’t sure if they’re ready, using a metronome to gradually speed up practice speeds may help. 
   
   
6. Start memorization early. Why memorize a piece when the score (the music notes) can be right in front of you? I’ve discovered that memorization can help people find themselves more immersed in their music. People tend to be so focused on the notes in front of them, to the extent their emotions aren’t reflected in the music they play. Although it might be scary at first, looking at your fingers is a nice way to start. You might already find yourself already doing this. If you have difficulty memorizing a piece, it’s a good idea to try practicing the piece hands separately. Mastering and memorizing one hand at a time may be easier for some. 
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7. Shake off the nerves before a performance. I generally find this quite difficult personally, but I remember a special performance at a small recital at a piano teacher’s house. A few of my friends were at this informal recital and they literally greeted me when it was my turn. It was funny (the audience was mostly composed of younger kids) and humorous. Although I was a bit embarrassed at first, this reminded me my friends were there to support me. Their support suddenly made my nervousness disappear and I felt very relaxed when performing. I don’t recall if I made any mistakes, but I do remember the event as a memorable performance that I really enjoyed. 

Playing the piano is a genuinely enjoyable hobby, but I find that it's a hobby that requires plenty of time and effort. I feel like piano’s often perceived as cumbersome and lame. I disagree with that; piano can help us express our emotions and the success of mastering a piece is always delightful.