It does not matter what level of training that you have when I comes to playing the piano, it is always important to know how important piano practice is and how you should do it properly in order to play well. When first starting of course the idea of practicing might seem overwhelming but you cannot let that get in the way of the importance of practicing. This is extremely true for those who want to become accomplished at playing.
When you first begin, you cannot allow your own personal busy schedule get in the way of practicing. You need to understand that your lessons are just not going to be a commitment for just a half hour a week. If you really want to be good you will need to set some time aside each day for your practicing.
It is probably a good idea for you to set up a certain time during the day that you want to do your practicing. When you decide on a time you should stick to it so that it will become part of your daily routine and become habit. It is also advisable that you do not put the practicing at the end of your day. It will be far easier for you to find a reason not to practice at the end of the day.
When you are practicing and you find that you have done something wrong, never leave fixing the problem to a later date. You will discover that it will be much harder for you to correct it so it is always advisable that you work on fixing the problem as soon as it happens and do not move onto anything else until you have fixed the mistake. Remember that the more you repeat something the better you are going to be.
It is important that you get use to being your own teacher. Pay close attention to the music that you are playing and if it does not sound right, it more than likely is not right and you should not hesitate to fix it. Your ears more than likely will not lie to you so listen to them and start checking the music to see if you hit the wrong notes or if you are hitting the sharps and flats according to the music. It is also important to make sure that your hands are in the right position on the keys. Remember it is important to correct your mistakes before you have to face your instructor.
Take the music you might be trying to learn and take it a section at a time. It is far easier to learn and master a smaller section of the music at one time than trying to learn the entire song at once. After you have practiced all of the different parts and you feel comfortable with them all you can then go a head and put all the pieces together and then perform the entire piece of music.
Take the warm up exercises that you have been given quite seriously. Just like an athlete someone who plays the piano needs to warm up their fingers before actually playing the real music. Fingers just like the muscles of an athlete need sufficient warm ups in order to be able to make practicing worthwhile. You can simple five finger exercises or more complex styles such as complicated scales. Whatever you do it is always important that you start your warm ups slow and gradually speed up in order to warm up the fingers properly.
One final note about practicing. It is a good idea to learn to count out loud the timing of the music or use a metronome to count it out for you. This way you will be able to keep to the correct beat of the piece that you are playing. As a pianist you need to be able to feel every beat of the music so this is why counting out loud or using a metronome is very important in your training.
If you want to learn more about playing the piano take a look at Piano Practice or read this – Piano Practice