1. Look over the whole piece before beginning to play. Notice any repeated sections. Once you learn that section you may have several spots in the piece already learned. Look at the tempo markings, the key signature and the dynamic markings of the song. Knowing what is coming is helpful.
2. Break the song into smaller sections. Work on a line or two at a time or maybe even just a few measures depending on the difficulty. Tackling small goals will give you a sense of progression on the piece.
3. Learn the left hand and right hand separately before attempting to play them together.
4. Practice at a slow enough tempo to get the notes right. Practicing wrong only imprints it into your brain wrong and then must be un-learned later. When learning to play the piano playing correctly the first time will help you learn faster. So practice slowly even though you want to hear it faster.
5. Practice with a metronome at least some of the time. It will help you to keep the entire piece in tempo. As we play the piano it is easy to play the easy parts or the parts we know faster than those that are more difficult. The end result is not a pleasing song to listen to if the tempo is not steady.
6. Don’t start each practice session in the same spot. Work sections separately before putting the entire piece together. If you always start at the beginning than the beginning gets lots of practice and the rest gets neglected.
7. Practice the same time of day if at all possible. That will help you to be consistent in your practicing. It also makes it more difficult to postpone your practicing when other things come up.
8. Practice every day! 20 to 30 minutes every day will bring faster and better results than cramming your practicing into a few hours a couple of days a week.
9. Don’t burn yourself out on one song. Work on several pieces at a time. One more challenging and a few simpler ones. That will keep your practice time more interesting.
10. Notice your progress. When learning the piano its easy to feel there is so much still to learn. Stop and look at what you have accomplished in the last week or month. It will help to motivate you to keep on working hard.

Playing the piano is a skill to work on over a life time, enjoy the process. It is rewarding and relaxing. Learning to use your practice time wisely will bring greater and more noticeable results.

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