Bravo! Music Studio

PRACTICE & MEMORIZATION TECHNIQUES & TRICKS

  1. HANDS SEPARATE. Learn LH first, alone. Then learn RH alone. 
  2. BITE SIZES. Divide the piece into small sections. Play each section 5-200x 100%.
  3. REPETITION, REPETITION, REPETITION. There's no substitute for playing a section over and over...and over again!
  4. FINGERING. As soon as you start learning a new piece, write in the fingering (even for all the notes!). Use that same fingering every single time you play the piece! Otherwise, it's like learning a whole new piece!
  5. CLAP & COL. Clap/tap and count out loud (COL) first to get the rhythm right! Play a drum, tap both hands on your legs, tap the piano's fall board, tap a tambourine, etc.
  6. PLAY & COUNT OUT LOUD!
  7. "BRAVO BUCKS GAME." Earn 1 Bravo Buck (penny, M&M, bean, Skittle, chocolate chips) for the first time you play a section 100%. Earn 2 more BB's (for a total of 3) for the 2nd time in a row you play a section 100%. Earn 3 more BB's (for a total of 6) for the 3rd time in a row you play a section 100%, etc. If you make a mistake, you keep the BB's you've earned, but start over again earning 1 BB for the first 100%. Push yourself to play a section more & more times in a row 100%. 
  8. CRANK IT UP! Practice with the metronome, and CRANK IT UP! Play it 3-5x at one speed (til it's comfortable) and then move it up a notch.
  9. LOUD STACCATO. Loud staccato works miracles! 
  10. SLOW DOWN! If you're having a hard time playing hands together, the magic secret is to take it slow!!! 
  11. FUN RHYTHMS. Practice different rhythms. This is most effective when you have a long section of the same note value. (Groups of 2 or 4: long-short; short-long; pie-strawberry; strawberry pie) (Groups of 3: I LOVE you; gooseberry; berry goose)
  12. CONTRASTING DYNAMICS. Practice RH loud, LH quiet. THEN practice RH quiet, LH loud.
  13. SWITCH OCTAVES. Play the piece up one octave. Then play the piece down one octave.
  14. ADD-ON. Practice measure (m.) 1 five to 10 times; then m. 2 five-ten times; then mm. 1-2 five to ten times; then m. 3; then mm. 1-3, etc. 
  15. OUTSIDE-IN. Learn/memorize the first section, then the last section, then the 2nd section, then the 2nd-to-last section. 
  16. BACK-TO-FRONT. Learn/memorize the last section first, and then the 2nd-to-last section, then the 3rd-to-last section, etc.
  17. FASTER THAN PERFORMANCE. If your performance speed is 96, practice the piece up to 112, 120, or faster so that 96 feels like a piece of cake!
  18. SIMILAR BUT DIFFERENT. If you have 2 sections that are very similar but slightly different (for example, A & A'), alternate practicing A, A', A, A', A, A', etc. If you just practice A, your brain & fingers get into the "A rut" or if you just practice A', your brain & fingers get into the "A' rut," but if you alternate sections, your brain is wide awake & knows when to play A and when to play A'.
  19. HANDS IN LAP. If you have a big chord that's a challenge to play quickly, play the chord, put your hands in your lap, play the chord, put your hands in your lap, play the chord again (15 - 100x). The goal is for your hands to be able to find the chord instantly!
  20. I LOVE CHOCOLATE CAKE! If you have 2 chords in a row & it's tricky to get to the 2nd one quickly, play the first chord 5x while saying, "I love chocolate cake!" Then play the 2nd chord & say, "I love chocolate cake!" Then the 1st chord again, the 2nd, the 1st, and the 2nd. 
  21. COVER THE KEYS! If you keep looking back & forth between the music & the keys, have a parent, sibling, friend, or whoever hold up a book over your hands so that you can't see the keys.
  22. EYES ON THE MUSIC! If you just can't seem to get it right, try looking at the music! I know it's a pretty crazy idea, but it works! :) 
  23. GHOST FINGERS. Play with "ghost fingers" (just touch the keys with one hand, but don't play them; play the other hand). You can put a "magic glove" on the hand that you want to play quietly. 
  24. LOOK AROUND. Play and look up to the left side of the room. Then play and look up to the right side of the room.
  25. EYES CLOSED. Play with your eyes closed
  26. DRAW LETTERS OUT OF A HAT. Write letters of sections on little slips of paper. "Draw the letters out of a hat." Know how to start at the beginning of any section.
  27. MAKE UP WORDS. Make up words to go along with the melody. 
  28. PERFORM! PERFORM! PERFORM! Perform on as MANY pianos as you can! Perform for your teddy bear, siblings, parents, your aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, neighbors, friends, your church group, at school, at rest homes, in talent shows, in hospitals, etc. Make these performances as "real" as possible. Dress up. Announce your piece(s). Perform as if you really were on stage; keep going, no matter what!!! Bow. Get used to adapting quickly (within 1-2 measures) to different pianos (hard/soft touch; bright or warm sound; sticky keys; some keys louder than others) & varying acoustics in different rooms.
  29. RECORD YOURSELF. Record (audio &/or video) yourself performing. Listen to &/or watch your performance and identify things you want to improve.
  30. COLD TURKEY. Sit down at the piano 5 different times a day and play through your pieces without warming up. For example, play your pieces right when you wake up, right before you go to school, as soon as you get home from school, and hour or two after school, right after dinner, and right before bed. 
  31. CHECK MARKS. Ask someone to listen to you perform your piece a few times. They will put little checkmarks in the music where you make mistakes. If you have a few checkmarks in the same place(s), make that a target spot and practice it extra so you can get it 100%!

LEARNING BEGINNING PIECES

  • Play and say (P&S), "Quarter quarter half note"
  • P&S, "Right Left Right Left"
  • P&S, "1, 1, 1-2"
  • P&S, "ABCDEFG..."
  • P&S, "1234"
  • Play & sing the words
  • Play the piece an octave higher
  • Play the piece an octave lower
  • Play the piece really loud
  • Play the piece really quiet

MASTERING FINGER NUMBERS

  • Hold your fingers together, forming a bubble, with the thumbs touching, index fingers touching, middle fingers touching, etc. Someone says, "Tap your 3's." And you tap your 3's. "Tap your 2's." 
  • Hold your hands with the palms out, thumbs in the center. Someone (a parent? sibling?) "pinches" a finger. You say the finger number.