Frequently Asked Questions, Part II

How many hours per day should I practice?
There is no magic number of hours of practice that will make you a great piano player. While you may master technique more quickly if you practice more hours, it is possible to over-practice, so that you are in a situation of diminishing returns.

To decide how many hours per day you should practice, consider:

1. What style of music are you playing? If you are just beginning to learn to improvise, you will, most likely, need to devote 1 to 2 hours per day, each day, at a minimum, to train your ears to hear well enough to improvise well. This would apply to jazz, boogie-woogie, blues, etc. When learning to read music, a 1/2 hour practice session per day is a good start. Of course, you can always practice more if you like, and these are just guidelines. As you become a more advanced player and learn more difficult music, you will want to increase your practice time.

2. Do you feel you are making adequate progress? If you are not happy with your progress, you may want to increase your practice time. However, you should also make sure that you practice efficiently. For example, do you practice by playing the piece from beginning to end, over and over? This is a very inefficient way to practice. You can maximize your practice time by concentrating on the passages that give you trouble. The passages that you know will take care of themselves.

What is the best way to find a good piano teacher?
I believe the best way to find a good piano teacher is by word of mouth.

How much should I spend on a piano ?
If you are a beginning player, or just considering learning to play, you might consider playing on someone else's piano for awhile until you are sure that you want to make the long-term commitment to play. Also, many piano sellers will rent you a piano for a reasonable monthly fee.

When you are ready to purchase a piano, you can purchase an acoustic piano or an electronic piano that imitates an acoustic piano. I believe that the feel and sound of an acoustic piano are superior to an electronic keyboard. Some piano music just lacks a certain quality when played on an electronic keyboard.

Some benefits of purchasing an electronic keyboard are portability, the ability to use headphones, and lower cost.

How do I know what key a piece is in?
This is a theory question, and I try to avoid theory on this site, but I've been asked this question so often that I

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