Not Enough Time to Practise?

I’m sure we all wish we had more time to practise the piano! The ever increasing demands and distractions of modern life made it incredibly challenging to fit everything in. How often does a day whiz by and you find that you’ve run out of time, only to postpone practising to the next day… when the same pattern likely repeats itself?

When it comes to cultivating a skill like playing the piano, the quality of your practising matters far more than the quantity. Therefore even if you, like most people, cannot set aside hours every day, it’s still possible to make excellent progress. The real issue isn’t the length of time you have, but how long you can maintain focused concentration.

Although it may seem counterintuitive, long practice sessions actually have several downsides. After a certain point, most people’s attention begins to drift, leading to unfocused or ineffective practice. Mental fatigue can also make it easier to fall into a repetitive routine rather than challenging yourself, delivering diminishing returns on your efforts. And not to be ignored is the increased risk of injury.

Micro practice sessions

Instead of pushing through long, distracted sessions, it’s far more effective to break your practice into smaller, high-quality segments. By consciously breaking practice into smaller time blocks, you can maintain higher levels of concentration. This method helps ensure that you’re actually working on what you intended, rather than falling into passive or aimless repetition.

Even professional musicians who dedicate significant time to practising, find that shorter sessions spaced throughout the day work better than one long practice block. For example, you could try 2x 10 min, 20 min block or 30 mins divided into a few sub tasks. The key is to align practice time with mental stamina, rather than trying to force productivity through fatigue.

Clear intentions & structure

One of the benefits of being time limited is that it forces you to be much more structured in how you approach your practising. By setting a clear intention for each session, you create structure and purpose – both crucial for motivation and improvement.

Instead of playing your pieces through mindlessly, set mini-goals and identify specific tasks and activities for achieving these goals. For example, you can isolate tricky passages and come up with creative ways to tackle them. Or if you’re maintaining repertoire, you can stay engaged and ensure you really know passages by playing them in different ways.

In this video excerpt, Graham Fitch shows how he has isolated a potential problem spot in Rachmaninoff’s famous C# Minor Prelude and applies different tools to master it:

Boost results with breaks

Don’t underestimate the power of a short break. Even just getting up to stretch, taking a sip of water or walking around briefly between sessions can reset your focus. These mini-breaks prevent mental fatigue and help you return to the instrument with a fresh perspective.

Breaks also allow the brain time to process and consolidate what you’ve worked on, making learning more efficient and lasting.

Consistency over intensity

The ultimate goal of the micro practice session mindset is to create a sustainable, daily habit of mindful practice. You don’t need marathon sessions to make progress. Instead, commit to showing up consistently, with a plan, for small amounts of time. Over weeks and months, the gains compound and you’ll be amazed at how much can be achieved in as little as 10 – 20 minutes per day!