4 Proven Techniques to Instantly Improve Your Piano Playing

I’m Robert Estrin. Welcome to LivingPianos.com. Improving your piano playing doesn’t have to feel mysterious or overwhelming. When you understand the core elements of the process, real progress becomes not only possible but enjoyable. We’re going to break it down into the essential elements: reading music, learning music, refining music, and developing your technique. If you embrace the process in each of these areas, you can make huge strides in your playing in a short amount of time.

The Problem: Wanting It All Now

Here’s the problem. You sit down to practice or play something, and you just want it all now. The temptation is to try to skip the steps, thinking that you’ll get there faster. But in fact, it’s quite the opposite.

Let’s start with reading. You want to develop your reading so you can sit down and enjoy playing music at sight. And what a joy that is! You see people do this and think, “I should be able to do that.” So you take out your favorite Chopin or Debussy or Beethoven, and you struggle. You don’t get to the enjoyment part. It’s deflating. It makes you feel like you just can’t do it, and you put it away feeling dejected. The good news is, while there’s a lot of great and very complex piano music, there’s also great music at a simpler level that you can enjoy right now. If you start playing music on your level, you’ll build up gradually. Play something you can feel the satisfaction of doing well. Do that every day, and your reading will grow. Try reading with other musicians. That’s a great way to improve. Eventually, yes, you’ll be able to read the music you’ve always wanted to play. But start at a realistic level, and don’t feel it’s beneath you to do simpler music. Don’t think you won’t gain anything from it. You absolutely will if you play it well. That’s the key to developing your reading.

Learning Music

Learning music is much the same idea. Choose music that won’t take you six months or a year to learn. You could learn dozens of pieces in that time. That way, you’re incrementally increasing both the difficulty and your command of the music.

When you sit down to practice, you see a whole piece with several pages and think, “Oh my gosh, I better learn as much of this as I can.” So you work through the first page again and again, trying to take it all in. But that’s way too much to absorb at one time. Worse, you start developing bad habits by playing music again and again—not the way you want it to sound—thinking you’ll make it sound better later. That’s a big fallacy. Instead, take tiny chunks of music. If you watched me practice, you’d be astounded at how small the sections are that I work on. I break things down into digestible pieces, work hands separately, then together—methodically. I resist the temptation to just read through the piece again and again when it’s not sounding the way I ultimately want it to. I read through the piece only on the first day. After that, I get right down to work. You should do the same. Don’t feel like you’ve wasted time just because you’ve only learned four measures in a practice session.

Look through your music. You’ll be amazed at how much repetition there is. Repetition and development are the foundations of music composition. So by learning thoroughly, you allow the story of the music to unfold naturally. Like reading a book, one part leads to the next. Learn one small section. Understand the logic of that section. Perfect it. Move to the next section. Connect them. Each day, reinforce what you learned the previous days. Instead of trying to take on more than you can absorb in one sitting, try this method for just one week. Resist the urge to read through everything. Limit yourself to small sections at a time, and you’ll see real growth.

Refining Your Playing

Now, what about refinement? You might think, “I’ve got all this music—I’ve got to get it to a higher level.” So you try to go through everything just to keep it in your fingers. But if you’re not careful, that can work against you. If you’ve already learned the music but it’s not where you want it yet, go slower than you think you need to. Anything you play wrong, you’re going to have to unlearn later. So go very slowly. Better yet, focus on digestible sections of music for refinement. Maybe the first few lines of your piece are fine, but when you get to the fourth or fifth line, there’s a four-measure phrase that just isn’t coming together. With laser focus, practice just those four measures. Use your metronome. Find the speed at which you can play it absolutely perfectly and with confidence. Once you can do that, increase the tempo one notch at a time. You won’t even feel it! You’ll get those four measures up to speed, then connect them with the previous section. Move on to the next part that needs attention. Don’t work scattershot. Focus 90% of your effort on the 10% of music that needs it most. You’ll make far greater progress, and the quality of your playing will soar.

Practicing Technique

Now let’s talk about pure technique. Scales, arpeggios—you might think, “I hate doing that. I don’t want to spend hours on this.” The good news is, you don’t have to! Just spend a few minutes a day. Maybe you’ve worked on scales and arpeggios before, but they’re rusty. Or maybe you’ve never learned all of them, and now it feels overwhelming. After all, there are 12 major keys, 12 minor keys, harmonic and melodic minors, and arpeggios. It’s a lot. But don’t be overwhelmed! Focus on one scale for a whole week. What’s the hurry? You’ve got a lifetime to develop your playing. That’s really the point of all of this: embrace the process. Don’t feel rushed. Don’t feel like you have to accomplish everything every day. Focus on a small amount of music. Bring a high level of playing to just a little bit of music. That mastery will carry over to everything else you play. You’ll gain insights into how to conquer music. You’ll feel the comfort that comes from truly being in control of your reading, your learning, and your technique. Take it one bit at a time. Build day by day. Don’t feel overwhelmed. Focus on what needs the most work. You’ll see your playing rise to a level you never imagined.

I’m Robert Estrin. This is LivingPianos.com, your online piano resource. If you’re interested in a free personal consultation with me, click here!