Most people find that when they learn how to play the piano, one of the most difficult tasks is getting rid of bad habits that they have picked up over time.
The first mistake/bad habit when playing the piano is having a bad posture. Students often ask in the vein how essential really is it to sit properly? Honestly, having a good posture, with relaxed shoulders in an upright position where you are not too far away or too close to the piano will actually make you play better. It is important to get this correct from the beginning.
The second mistake is cramming all your practise on the piano into one long session. You will not learn as much that way, you’d be far better off practising for a shorter session and more frequently. It is recommended to practise about 10-15 minutes per day if you want to improve at a good speed.
The third mistake is not establishing a good schedule. Piano students can sometimes fall into the trap of practising “as and when” - this is not a good idea as you can easily miss days or go to another activity when something else crops up - you’d be far better off setting an exact time and keep it regular in your schedule.
Fourthly, piano students can often practise a piece using the wrong fingering which will harm their progress. This is why it is important to have a professional piano teacher to help your choose the correct fingering.
The fifth way lots of piano students make a mistake is not having their piano accessible - now obviously this does not apply to people who own actual real acoustic pianos, but for those who own smaller keyboards or digital pianos, they can fall into the mistake of packing them away of each practise session. This rarely works, and will make you less enthusiastic about practising if you have to unpack the instrument every time.
If you have recently bought yourself a keyboard or piano, or you have bought for your child, you may wish to consider starting up online piano lessons with Matthew Clayton. These piano lessons now take place over a video call between teacher and student, so the student does not even need to leave their own home. Matthew is a qualified piano teacher from the UK and charges very reasonable rates. If you want to get in touch with Matthew for online piano lessons, please click here.
Click below to watch Matthew play the piano: