Why You Should Have Regular Piano Lessons
At Sono, we recommend that lessons should be attended on a weekly or twice weekly basis in order to get the most out of them. We do not do “casual” lessons as they simply don’t work! Frequent piano lessons over the long term with a good piano teacher will result in great improvement for your piano playing, whatever your skill level. Regardless of the amount of practice you do, if you commit to your weekly piano lesson, you will keep getting better. Here are a few reasons for having your piano lessons on a regular basis.
1. You Are Committing Yourself
If you stay in the mindset that you should skip your lesson because you haven’t fully ‘caught up’ with the content in your last lesson, then soon you will be missing lesson after lesson, and eventually you’ll find yourself simply not playing anymore. That’s why it’s important to commit yourself to your weekly lesson. If playing is something you enjoy doing, don’t give up on it!
2. Setting Aside The Time
Firstly, and probably most obviously, your lesson is a set time every week to play the instrument. The appointment is booked, you are paying for it, so you’ll be there! Whether you’ve practiced or not, it is a regular time for you to work through anything that you’re struggling with, to learn new content, or to simply work on your practice under the guidance of an expert.
3. Coaching
No matter the amount of practice you’ve done during the week, your coach will ensure that you’re constantly making progress, whether you see it or not. Of course, if you’re practicing regularly, you will probably see faster improvement than if you weren’t playing at all between lessons, but everyone’s lifestyle is different. If it doesn’t suit you to have daily practice sessions, they should not be expected of you. A good teacher will not force you to do more practice than you want or are able to do. A good teacher will see to your individual needs, and take you on the most efficient path to reaching your goals. However, if you’re the type of person who works well to deadlines, your coach can be someone to hold you accountable for the practice you do and help you to set those deadlines to strive towards.
4. Maintaining Good Habits
Another benefit of seeing your coach regularly is making sure you’re not slipping into any bad habits with your piano playing. You’ll notice in lessons, your teacher will give the occasional “keep your wrists up” or “curve your fingers more”, and subtle reminders about technique can go a long way in keeping your playing at a high level. If your lessons are spaced out, it can be very easy, especially for beginners, to unknowingly reinforce poor technique.
5. Building a Routine
Having regular piano lessons really helps to build up a routine with your instrument. Regularity is the first step to efficiency with your improvement, so if you commit yourself to a regular lesson time, it will be much more beneficial to your playing than simply having a lesson ‘every now and then’. You will find that if your lessons are irregularly spaced, your improvement will be nowhere near as consistent as if you have a regular timetable that you stick to.
So there you have a few reasons to keep committed to your regular piano lessons. Much of what was discussed in this article can be applied to any instrument or activity. Whether you’re learning the drums, guitar, or taking singing lessons, your playing will benefit significantly from keeping a consistent schedule.