It can be so easy in lessons to teach and review concepts, that we forget to teach students how to practice. And yet, practicing is where the student will spend most of his or her time working out what we have taught him in the first place! One way we can assist our students in effective practice is by assigning sections of a piece to work on. Often, student repertoire will contain some return of the theme – sometimes even a full repeat of the introductory material – so if we can break down the form of the piece into a few short sections, practice feels much more manageable.
When you are introducing a piece to a student, whether you play it for them or not, take a minute to look at the music together. What is the opening statement? Does it come back again? When it comes back, is it exactly the same or a little bit different? If different, what is different? Where does the next statement begin? You can label sections A, B, C, D, or even A, A1 (for a variation on A) to show more clearly what is happening. This bit of analysis can help the student to think about how the composer develops the theme, and makes sight reading easier! It can also help with practice, as then you can assign the student to work only section A until mastery, and then move on to section B.
Rather than assigning the whole piece to be played the following week, the student is assigned sections to master – which will be more pleasant for both you and the student when you return to the next lesson! This is also a way to help students manage their time. If you assign 3 pieces for the week, you can decide how many sections of each should be brought to mastery. (It is a much better way than hoping the student will practice and that something will have been accomplished by next time!)
Practicing in sections is a great strategy for getting a lot done in a short period of time. Short, focused sessions of practice are much more effective than long, unfocused sessions aimed at filling a certain number of minutes.
This way of practicing has benefitted me as a mom, having limited time to practice and needing to make the few minutes at the piano “count”! It is also wonderful for memory, as the brain benefits from a period of rest before returning to the material. You can alternate sections, or even pieces, for variety, and come back to the same sections and see progress quickly because the brain has been able to synthesize the information in the “break” time.
Teaching students to practice in this manner helps them to focus their practice when they are at home and gives them a way to see progress quickly, providing a motivational feedback loop of “feeling good” about what they are doing at the piano. When they return to lessons, they will feel confident that they have accomplished something during the week, and will be eager to demonstrate what they have learned!
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