How Much Time Do I Need to Practice?

You can practice music for hours and not get better, or you can practice the right way for 10 minutes a day and make substantial progress.

One person may practice an instrument for an hour a day, another for only 10 minutes a day. And yet the person who practices for 10 minutes may make more progress than the one who practices for an hour. Why?

Because the person who plays for only 10 minutes may spend that time in focused practice, working  on developing new skills. The person who practices for an hour may spend that time playing songs, pieces, or scales that he or she already knows. (See the eBook Ten-Minute Music Practice: How to Do It and Why it Works).

Music practice is tackling something you don’t know; can’t play; or don’t yet understand; or, it’s working on a technique that feels unfamiliar or difficult.

Practicing music correctly is a lot like getting in shape. If you walk on a treadmill an hour a day while reading a magazine,  and you set the speed and incline to the same comfortable level each day, your fitness level will remain largely the same at the end of six months.

If, however, you devote only 20 minutes to the treadmill just three days a week, but put all of your physical and mental energy (no magazines) into the task at hand, you will likely be stronger and better toned at the end of six months than the person who walked for an hour without breaking a sweat.

During that 20 minutes, you may have challenged yourself by slowly increasing the treadmill incline and/or raising your walking speed.

There are many accomplished, professional musicians who never practiced for hours a day! They likely spent countless hours playing music in band or orchestra settings, but practicing may only have been done to review the most challenging or difficult parts of the music.

To learn the 10 most important elements of music practice, as well as how to overcome psychological barriers to practice, download the eBook Ten-Minute Music Practice: How to Do It and Why it Works.