Recommended Practice Times

0-1 year. 5-15 minutes six days a week, if possible

1-2 years. 15-30 minutes six days a week, if possible

2-4 years. 30-45 minutes six days a week, if possible

4+ years. 45 min-1 hour daily, six days a week, if possible

These are mere guidelines to help you set a practice schedule for your student. The emphasis should be on consistency- piano practice should be a part of the student's daily life. You can adjust the amount of time spent on practice as your student advances. Start with just 5-10 minutes so they get used to doing it every day. Remember: the parents, student, and teacher are a team. Especially in the early years, it's imperative the parents take on a proactive role. It will almost never happen if practice is left up to the student. Consequently, when they come for lessons, they're not prepared and we end up reiterating what we learned the week before. Adult students have a different challenge. Almost all adult students are committed to making piano lessons happen. They want this. They've dreamed of getting back into piano playing or starting brand new. It's really exciting getting your music books and lesson times scheduled. You're making it happen! The problem arises when you realize you don't seem to have any time to practice. You're busy. Things come up which interfere with your practice schedule. You become frustrated when you're not making progress. You start thinking of quitting. Hold on. There's a fix for this. It's important to write down a daily practice time into your schedule and commit to that schedule as much as possible. If you're thrown offtrack because of something that unexpectedly comes up, make sure you have a backup practice time built into your schedule. Don't beat yourself up if you have a day here and there where you just cannot make it to the piano. You will be surprised at how easy this makes practice. Your goal is to have balance. If you have gone a week without touching the piano, the balance is gone and your piano practice is lopsided. Give some thought to what kind of practice schedule works for your daily life. One that you will actually stick to.

For travel, consider purchasing one of the new (and inexpensive) rollup travel keyboards you can take with you on business trips or on holiday. It fits right into your suitcase. They're fun and you can even take them onto the beach!