Deliberate Practice
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Let’s Talk About Our Practise Expectations

by Andrew Eales

If students aren't practising, is the teacher to blame?

09/17/2021 Read more

Why do YOU Practise?

by Nick Ambrosino

What is the end goal? How do we know if we've arrived?

04/24/2021 Read more

5 Surprising Ways to Grow Practice Motivation

by Sarah Buckley

5 Surprising Ways to Grow Practice Motivation Have you ever felt like a lone wolf in the practice room? Or like the repertoire you’re playing didn’t really connect with the rest of your daily life? If we have felt it, no doubt our students have too. I think these feelings are 2 big reasons students ... 5 Surprising Ways to Grow Practice Motivation

02/17/2021 Read more

Turning off Autopilot in Piano Practice

by Tim Topham

Thanks for watching my YouTube video about helping students turn off Autopilot when they are practising their scales: Here are well over 20 ideas to keep your teaching (and your students’ practice) fresh. This FREE download has 3 pages of fresh ideas that you can grab and print out today. Keep it on your piano ... Turning off Autopilot in Piano Practice

04/22/2019 Read more

Amplify and Elevate New Student Practice Routines in Your Piano Studio

by Nicola Cantan

For most piano teachers, September brings a whole slew of new piano students through the doors. This is both an exciting and a super busy time in a piano teacher’s calendar. It’s also an opportunity to start fresh – to make practice happen from the get-go. In my experience, students that practise regularly in the ... Amplify and Elevate New Student Practice Routines in Your Piano Studio

09/18/2018 Read more

Making Practice Stick

by Tim Topham

Hello, Practising the Piano readers! A warm welcome to dev.topmusic.co, a place dedicated to teaching piano differently and supporting creativity and innovation in music education. I hope you enjoyed reading my article: Making Practice Stick on Graham’s blog today. I had a lot of fun putting it together and hope it’s been valuable in your thinking about effective practice. I’ve ... Making Practice Stick

10/23/2016 Read more
 

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What The Research Says About Piano Practice and Motivation [Book Review]

by Tim Topham

I’ve learnt a few things about piano practice and motivation in my time as a musician and music teacher. Here are some of them: The most important thing we can teach our students is how to practice effectively Students need to be taught about practice methods including spaced practice, chunking, interleaved practice, etc. We all need to ... What The Research Says About Piano Practice and Motivation [Book Review]

08/15/2016 Read more

The Magic Question: “How Do You Practise?”

by Andrew Ingkavet

  Practising a musical instrument is a process that needs to be learned. It’s just like learning how to study any subject in school. In fact, good instrumental teachers should consider themselves teachers of “practice” just as much as teachers of “piano” or “trumpet”. How often do you teach students how to practise? And have ... The Magic Question: “How Do You Practise?”

02/03/2016 Read more

Bribery should not be used as motivation to practise – The Strad

by Tim Topham

Intrinsic v Extrinsic Motivation in Music Students Building on the ideas of one of my previous articles: Why extrinsic rewards are so bad for motivation, you might have missed this great article from string teaching magazine, The Strad. In it, a parent delves into some research about bribes, motivation and practice to come up with ... Bribery should not be used as motivation to practise – The Strad

01/28/2015 Read more

1000 Hours to Competence « Music Teacher’s Helper Blog

by Tim Topham

Should 10,000 hours really be the benchmark? You’ve no doubt heard rule of thumb that it takes approximately 10,000 hours of practice to become a master of something. The statement originated in Malcolm Gladwell’s book “Outliers” and, even if you haven’t read it, you’ve no doubt heard the statistic. It has since been used by many authors in discussing high-achievement and ... 1000 Hours to Competence « Music Teacher’s Helper Blog

12/22/2014 Read more

Take a track walk: getting students to slow down

by Tim Topham

Slow practice: the importance of precision I was chatting with a colleague at the end of last term regarding teaching students about slow practice. He let me in on a great secret about F1 racing drivers that we should all share with our students...especially the speed demons!   At this time of the year in ... Take a track walk: getting students to slow down

09/22/2014 Read more

Dorothy Taubman, Thomas Mark and practising without injury

by Tim Topham

For anyone who still believes in a high finger technique and isn’t familiar with the Taubman approach to technique: watch the following video (and the next three in the sequence). This will be the best 50 mins of YouTubing you’ll do this year! For more information, check out the Taubman Institute and Golandsky Institute websites. ... Dorothy Taubman, Thomas Mark and practising without injury

05/18/2012 Read more