Learn to play
beautifully

Question: How do you memorize a piece of music without using muscle memory?

Albert’s reply: There are two poles to learning music without playing it. The first is a process of abstraction in which everything about the music is absorbed except for muscle memory. The second is imagining the...

The Thrill of the Challenge

Question: Hi Albert,

For the past year, I’ve been concentrating on trying to develop and memorize the “feel” of the major and minor scales in both hands together, in unison, contrary motion, 3rds, 6ths, and chord scales in all keys.

Although I try to...

Question: What is the law about practicing hours?

Albert’s reply: Noise laws vary by city. In London, there’s a 1996 Noise Act that specifies 11 PM to 7 AM as quiet hours. Violations are penalized with a £ 100 fine.

In Vienna, I need to stop practicing by 10 PM to comply with...

Question: Hello,

I have to learn Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s Fantasia in D minor in one week, so I was wondering if you have any tips on learning a complex piece quickly and how to count 16th triplets most effectively. I have a history of taking a long time to learn complicated pieces and...

Question: Hi Albert,

I’m beginning to work on some quite difficult pieces now, as I’ve finished the 8 grades of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM). How should I go about learning a piece? And how can I make sure I’m building up my memory from the moment...

Question: I just want to say that I love your website. My name is Daniel. I’m Brazilian, 22 years old and I’ve been studying since I was 18, which is little time. I had the luck of being a student of one of most sought-after piano teachers in Brazil for the last 8 months (Joao Carlos...

Question: Dear Albert,

I usually practise for about 3 hours a day, with the odd day on which I do either 4 or – if I am too busy – 2 and a half hours. With all this practice time, which I find is a lot for a 54-year-old adult student who’s not a pianist by profession, I often...

Question: Hi Albert,

I always look forward to your weekly lessons!

My question today is, since piano practice is such a lonely (I just mean that you do it alone) activity, even the weekly lessons with a teacher are one on one, how do we gauge our progress, especially if we are older adult...

Question: How do you go about learning a new piece from scratch? Do you advise memorizing and analyzing the piece away from the piano before actually playing it?

Could you outline the steps involved in mastering a piece, please? Thank you for your help in advance.

– Marcel (Dublin,...

Question: Hi Albert,

First of all, thank you so much for putting all this information up online, there’s so much here and it’s very helpful.

In numerous places you stress the importance of practicing slowly. I completely agree with this from the perspective of not playing so fast...

Question: Having a full time non-musical job, I can only practice on the piano only as much as I can after work. At this point, as the momentum rises and my practice time has increased, I become enthusiastic about practicing multiple piano pieces because I like and get challenged by a lot of...

Question: I was wondering, how long should a beginner practice?

– Alanna (California, USA)

Albert’s reply: How long to practice piano depends on the student’s age. For very young children (around four to six years of age), 15 to 20 minutes of supervised piano practice will...