What are good practice habits?

• "I try to practice at the same time every day. This makes the practice a part of my daily routine."
• "Look at the music before you play your piece. Practice longer on songs you do not know. Sit up straight. Play with rounded fingers."
• "Good practice habits are not practicing your mistakes. Recording yourself is better because you can hear the mistakes that you make."
• "Good practice habits help you and soon from a weird sound a beautiful song will come."

What practice steps do you use to learn your piece?

• "Practice hands separately, then together."
• "Breaking it down into sections."
• "Practice slowly. Concentrate on what you're playing."
• "Play a few lines at a time in sections. A certain measure you're having trouble on could be a good place to start."

What do you like about practicing?

• "The fun of hearing yourself play the piece."
• "I learn neat songs."
• "My favorite part about practicing is that once you do it over and over, you realize that it's easier than you thought."
• "It helps me not get a lecture from my mom for doing a bad job, and it gives me something to do."

What do you dislike about practicing?

• "I don't like it when my mommy and daddy don't listen to me practice. I get lonely."
• "My least favorite thing about practicing is that you have to understand that you can't just be good at what you're playing. You have to work at it."
• "Practicing is NOT something that I would prefer to do (if I had a choice). It does get something done so I guess it's not useless. But I am getting a little sick of doing things over and over and over and over and ......!"
• "When you play the song and you make big mistakes and the song doesn't sound good."

What would you be doing if you did not have to practice?

• "Playing basketball."
• "Watching TV."
• "You could be playing with your friends."
• "Lying in a hot tub."

Copyright © 2005 Wanda Louie