There are a lot of different ways to learn the piano. Many people begin with the scales and memorizing songs as well as recognizing notes through sight-reading. Learning to play piano has a lot of different methods and if you have a piano teacher, they will tweak their methods to accommodate your abilities and skills.
While piano lessons are the most common way to go for anyone who would want to learn to play the piano, many people still ask what is the fastest way. Being eager to play is nothing to be ashamed of, but you need to be eager for the journey to the destination and not just the destination alone.
There is one technique that will help anyone who is learning piano and wants to speed up the process – and that advice is to practice slowly.
This may seem like completely insane advice and a massive contradiction. How can you learn to play faster by playing slowly? Is that even possible? Once you understand the theory behind this method, which we’ll explain to you below, you’ll see it’s actually quite easy.
Speeding through your lessons for piano and not taking your time to learn how to play pieces right could mean you’re not playing well. Speed doesn’t mean you are mastering anything. It just means that you can move your fingers quickly around the keyboard. Learning to play slowly is actually one of the fastest ways to learn. Let’s get started explaining our theory.
Identify the Problem Areas
If you have a habit of racing through pieces in an effort to learn faster then you may have trouble identifying your problem areas. When you practice at a slower rate you will see your mistakes a lot more clearly. Take your time and smooth out all of those weak spots by being more mindful when you are practicing. If you keep playing your mistakes over and over again to learn quicker than those issues will only become worse and harder to correct later on.
Get a Good Finger Technique
Playing a piece slowly to start with can actually help you play the piece quickly in the future, making it the fastest way to master the piano. Learning how to play a piece with the correct fingering means that whenever you approach a piece in the future, your fingers will automatically know what to do. This can only happen if you are learning at a slower rate and are focusing on what you are playing.
Focus on the Physical Side of Playing
There is a physical aspect when it comes to how to play a piano. If you are taking piano lessons from an online piano teacher or in person then they will encourage you to sit up straight while relaxing your hands and shoulders. You will also be taught in your piano lessons how to curve your hands properly so that you are able to play in a more comfortable position. When you are playing too quickly then how will you know if you are perfecting what you’ve been taught in your piano lessons?
Developing Precise Playing
Playing a piece too quickly means you aren’t learning to be precise about your technique. When you are going too fast you can still fumble through the music and still sound good enough to get by. But is just being half-decent good enough for your goals? Being both accurate and precise when you practice is something that can set you apart from other pianists. The only way to achieve this goal is to practice slowly when you are first starting out.
Not repeating your mistakes over and over again means you will develop much better accuracy. It will also take a shorter amount of time than it would to try and rush through a piece. The more the music is being practiced correctly, the sooner you will be able to play the piece quickly and precisely.
Playing with Emotion
All piano pieces have a suggested tempo for how you should play it during each section. However, speed in these areas isn’t always right either. A piece of music can be completely transformed by inserting the emotions into it that the composer originally intended. Playing too quickly means you’re not putting the right emotions into the piece and though you may play it technically correct, it won’t have any feeling behind it.
Learning a piece slowly and carefully means there is a much better chance you can feel the right emotions throughout the song. Trying to go back and put emotions into the music after you’ve raced through it during practice is a lot more difficult. This will also lengthen the amount of time it takes you to learn something, which isn’t helping you to learn faster.
Understand the Music
A piece of music isn’t just a series of notes that have been strung together haphazardly. There is a method to being able to learn these pieces. As you begin to practice slowly then you can master each of the elements of the piece like the repetitions, motifs and variations. Essentially these are all parts of the how the piece works as a whole and when you’ve got each part right, the unified entity that results will be amazing. Understanding each piece a bit deeper is the mark of a great pianist.
FAQs
How can I get better at piano fast?
You can get better at playing the piano faster by practicing your sight-reading, setting yourself challenges but always making sure that you reaching for realistic goals. Classical music pieces are a great way to get better at piano fast. You can also try practicing in public.
How long should it take to learn piano?
If you already know how to play songs with both hands together it should only take you around 4 months to get good at one particular piece. If you’re completely new to playing piano then it may take you around 6 months because you will need to learn and practice the right skills first.
What is the best method to learn piano?
Learning to play the piano takes a lot of practice. You will need to play along to sheet music to improve your sight-reading and always plan on practicing around three to four times a week for half-hour sessions. Don’t move on to anything new until you can play and master your previous lesson material.
Conclusion
It’s interesting and almost contradictory that the fastest way to learn piano is to slow down and take your time with your practicing. Remember that taking things slowly will help you to learn to play better in the future. Ultimately you will get faster at learning piano but it all takes time to master these skills.
