Deliberate Practice
blog posts

Teach music confidently without the stress

Deliberate Play v. Deliberate Practice

by Tim Topham

Deliberate Practice I’ve talked at length in previous posts about the importance of “Deliberate Practice”, a phrase made popular in Geoff Colvin’s brilliant book, “Talent is Overrated”, in making your limited practice time more effective. But can you actually do too much practice? We’ve all heard that “too much of anything is a bad thing” ... Deliberate Play v. Deliberate Practice

11/13/2011 Read more

The best practice: nothing at all

by Tim Topham

I recently had the opportunity to take a group of my students to watch a master class at Melbourne’s Xavier College where a colleague had arranged for the acclaimed London-based teacher and performer Julian Jacobsen, to work with six of his students and those from local schools. The main thing I got from this experience ... The best practice: nothing at all

09/19/2011 Read more

How to get addicted to practising piano

by Tim Topham

If you want to be really, really good at something, you have to be addicted to it. You need to be in a state where you are thinking about it all the time, even when you’re not doing it. You talk about it, you have friends that do it, you dream about it. Imagine having ... How to get addicted to practising piano

08/27/2011 Read more

The hardest thing about practice is…not playing on!

by Tim Topham

One of the hardest things about effective, deliberate practice is knowing when to stop! Have you ever experienced this situation: You decide to work on a small phrase of your music, perhaps just a bar or hand position change to a tricky chord, only to find a few seconds later, you’ve already gone on and ... The hardest thing about practice is…not playing on!

08/06/2011 Read more

How does your hand work?

by Tim Topham

The more I learn about piano performance, the more I’m becoming fascinated with how on earth my brain and fingers do what I need them to do, and often at lightning fast speed. It’s really quite remarkable to think that even the typing I’m doing now is caused by my brain causing a muscle to ... How does your hand work?

08/05/2011 Read more

Focused Piano Practice: How to improve the value of your practising

by Tim Topham

What is focused piano practice? If you’re not exhausted after practising, you could probably focus harder and achieve more in less time. What do you think? How long do your students practise for? Sure, there are times when just playing through pieces is all you might have the time or energy to do, but if ... Focused Piano Practice: How to improve the value of your practising

07/31/2011 Read more
 

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How to practice away from the piano

by Tim Topham

In an attempt to keep my teaching current and to learn from what the masters did in the past and consider how this affects modern playing and teaching, I am forever reading articles and books by noted pianists and teachers. If there is one thing that they all have in common, right back to the ... How to practice away from the piano

07/26/2011 Read more

Tortoise and Hare Chunking

by Tim Topham

The way in which many of us learnt piano and subsequently now teach our students is based very firmly on the idea that the best way to learn things is to start playing very slowly (and often hands separately) and then, over time, slowly build up the pace until it’s at performance tempo. But is ... Tortoise and Hare Chunking

07/25/2011 Read more

If your practice sounds good, it’s not practice, it’s just playing!

by Tim Topham

Last night at my student’s mid-year recital I reminded all my students and their parents that practice, if effective and done properly, should not sound “nice” all that often. Why? One simple reason. For students to push themselves to learn harder pieces and conquer new technical difficulties, their practice will necessarily sound pretty bad more ... If your practice sounds good, it’s not practice, it’s just playing!

06/24/2011 Read more

Do you make these mistakes in your piano practice?

by Tim Topham

Practising music is something we need to learn how to do and until we do, we will probably make some mistakes. This article highlights some of the most common errors made in music practice and tells you how to amend them. The result will be that you can begin to progress on your instrument with ... Do you make these mistakes in your piano practice?

06/22/2011 Read more

“Google Earth” Practice

by Tim Topham

I’ve recently begun using the analogy of Google Earth when helping my students plan their practice. For those of you who haven’t used Google Earth before, it’s a free satellite imaging program that allows a user to zoom in on any area of the Earth, starting with a view of the Earth as if you were in ... “Google Earth” Practice

06/13/2011 Read more

Deliberate Practice

by Tim Topham

My summer holiday reading this year centered on a book called Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else by Geoff Colvin (highly recommended). The really positive revelation in this book is that the ‘most talented’ people in the world in any pursuit only get there by masses of hard work and ... Deliberate Practice

05/24/2011 Read more