Practice makes perfect or so they say! Certainly practising helps in lots of ways, but if you are learning a new piece of music, what is the best way to practice it?

Here are some of my methods as a teacher:

1. Without playing, observe the piece for a few minutes, looking at the key and rhythm.

2. Play it through slowly.

3. Tricky bars – practice separately first and then add the bars before and after.

4. If you continually play an incorrect note, then slow the notes down completely until you play them correctly.

5. Practice everyday if time allows- but not for too long, 15 – 20 mins is ideal at first.

Hopefully your teacher will have helped you to break the piece down into sections and gone through or explained the way to play tricky bars e.g position changing or a challenging semiquaver run.

For young children, it can really help them if their parents get involved even if it’s just pointing to each note as it is played. I like to make sure my pupil understands what is needed by asking them to explain to me or show me how to play something, because sure enough it can be quite different when you are standing in from the music stand at home without the teacher at your side.

Practice is definitely the way forward to master a piece but do make sure it is effective.