See here for principles of left hand technique
What is practice? Practice is the process by which slowly, over time, day after day, increasing and repeating what you know, you develop your ability and enjoyment of playing an instrument.
Here is my definition of a good practice session. At the end of the session, however long it is, whether it’s five minutes or an hour, ask yourself these three simple questions.
What have I learned?
What have I improved?
What have I enjoyed?
If you have three positive answers for these questions, then your practice was a success, and you can feel relaxed that you’ve done all you need for the day.
Every day is a new opportunity to increase your ability and enjoyment of playing – it doesn’t just happen overnight. It is not by great exertion but by the accumulation of many small steps that we all progress – so remember these three things, and you will surprise yourself by how fast your playing moves forward.
A Great Practice Skill – the Sense of ‘Flow’
Perhaps the most useful skill you can develop in practicing music is the ability to sense when the music is not flowing, to isolate the problem area, and fix it. Often it is this skill, rather than ‘talent’ which affects how well someone progresses on an instrument.
Fixing the problem usually involves two strategies: slowing down, and simplifying the problem. Simplifying the problem means observing the specific actions that are the weak link in the flow of the music and focusing solely on those actions, until they are smooth and stress-free.
Most people don’t practice this way, because our natural instinct is to want to play a piece of music as we imagine it should sound, rather than to pay attention to what is really going on and to address the flow problems patiently. A healthy habit you can get into in your own practice is to observe the RULE OF FLOW:
Keep the practice speed of a piece of material to a pace at which can play it easily and in time.
A lot of the time in lessons what we will do is isolate problem areas that are preventing ‘flow’ and address them specifically. Often students are surprised that in 10-15 minutes of supervised practice during a lesson, they make more progress in perfecting their material than in a week or month of practice at home. This is why developing this skill of ‘sensing flow’, observing the weak links in your flow and breaking actions down for yourself is a huge advantage.
The importance of relaxation
It is important to remember that your body will learn any movement or state that you repeatedly make it perform.
If you practice tense, you are teaching your muscles to be tense.
Slow actions down – perform them very relaxed and with the same movements you intend to make at speed. If you cannot eliminate tension and unnecessary movements at a slow pace, you will not be able to eliminate them at speed.
Focus on what is new, it is where your improvements take place
If, when learning a new piece, there are a few bars that are causing trouble for you, then focus on these few bars. Repeat the difficult spots in isolation, rather than repeating the whole piece. Then when you feel confident, put the whole thing together. This will save you time and cause less frustration. Also, it means you’re building new skills rather than being tempted to ignore areas of improvement.
Realistically, there are few occasions when you will be learning a piece of music where every aspect is a new challenge. If you are doing this then you are taking things too quick. One piece should build on the skills learned previously.
Are scales important?
For beginners, I would say that scales are of lesser importance. I would say it is more important to gain confidence in the learning process by making music, developing a solid sense of rhythm, and gaining the basic musical skills to develop a lasting relationship with the instrument, and to be able to play with others.
If you wish to pursue an instrument to a high standard then scales and scale exercises are essential - they have many benefits such as developing your ear and technique, meaning that your mind and body are in a state of readiness to play a very wide range of ideas effortlessly.
Scales are a bit like physical exercise for the body in that at first they are quite boring and a bit of a slog, but after a while of it being part of your daily life, you find it much easier to get around, and are generally more capable. Intermediate players that are stuck in a rut may find that devoting some time to scale knowledge and practice breathes a new lease of life into their playing and opens the instrument.
Tip for chord learning – use the ‘squeeze’ technique
Here is a useful article with a special technique for learning chords.