Ten-Minute Music Practice: How and Why It Works

It's possible to get more accomplished during 10 minutes of music practice than one hour of practice.

Many people hesitate to return to or begin an instrument because they worry they won’t have enough time in the day to practice. The common misconception about practice is that it takes a long time.

There are even music teachers who reinforce the idea that students need to practice for hours a week. It is simply not the case that hours of practice time leads to better playing or singing.

There are people who are consistently at their offices 10 hours a day and complain about all the overtime they work. But many of these people don’t produce 10 hours worth of work! There are others who do the same job in five hours, and produce better results.

Practicing an instrument correctly is like being the productive worker who puts in five hours, rather than the harried, less productive one who puts in 10.

Practicing music is isolating specific, challenging tasks and using the practice time to master them. It is not playing a song or a piece through over and over until you get it right.

One practice session might consist of your mastering four notes, rather than four pages of material. You may have so much difficulty with those four notes that it disrupts your ability to play or sing the rest of the piece.

If you’re thinking about starting or returning to music, don’t worry about time. You can literally practice for 10 minutes a day and learn or get better on an instrument.

If you’re interested in learning more about how to do this, read our new eBook, Ten-Minute Music Practice: How to Do It and Why It Works. In it, I review the 10 most important principles of music practice, and explain exactly how to do them.

When I worked in an office, I was the person who produced more in five hours than in 10. But when I practiced music, I was the 10-hour-a-day worker! I couldn’t have written this book had I not analyzed and corrected my own practice mistakes. In the book, I share with you what I learned, and what works.