Practicing new pieces by yourself may feel a bit overwhelming. Your teacher isn’t there to encourage and correct you. You rely on the sheet music, the scribbles that were made on the page as reminders, and your memory of the lesson. That should be enough to keep you on the right track, but what about rhythm and speed and volume and staccato and all the little details? What if you forget to flat the B and practice wrong during the entire week? What if you forget that there is a second ending or a coda?
Once your piano instructor has assigned a new piece of music, you will want to attempt it by yourself as soon as possible, even continuing to practice as soon after your teacher has left. If you wait a few days, you may forget details about your lesson. If you wait even longer, you will not give yourself enough time to practice the piece to make good progress during the next lesson. Every minute of practice helps to build more confidence in your playing.
Begin your new piece by working on the trouble spots that have been recognized during the lessons. Usually, they will stand out because they have been circled or are in brackets. Play these parts slowly so that you play only the correct notes. Do not worry about speed just yet. If you play the correct notes, you’ll pick up the tempo correctly.
Practice slowly from the beginning so that you have time to think when you arrive to the trouble spots. If you make a mistake or “get lost,” do not start all over. Instead, start at a break in the music, say, at the beginning of the slur where the mistake was made or a few measure before the mistake. If you always start your practice at the beginning of the piece, you will have a perfect beginning, a mediocre middle, and a nonexistent ending.
When you are away from your instrument, try to sing or hum the melody of the new piece. If you can’t sing it, then you aren’t learning it. If you can, then you are on the right track.
