In my last post, I talked about ways you can support yourself when learning a new song on piano. (If you missed that post, you can read about my 5-step process here.) One of the things I mentioned in that post is knowing when it might be a good idea to step away or hold off on learning a new song if it’s too difficult for you. But I didn’t explain how exactly you can know if a song isn’t right for you, so I thought I’d expand on that today.

Today I want to share something that I wish someone had shared with me back when I was first learning piano, and that is how to bring some structure to the way you approach a new piece of music.

By structure I don’t mean a checklist that you have to get through every time you sit at the piano! I mean seeing your practice time as a series of stages or phases that give you little goals, and little wins, throughout your playing.

A common question I get asked when parents are first starting their child in piano lessons is, how long should my child practice? It’s a great question to help you set your expectations. Aim too low, and your child may not progress quickly enough and lose motivation. Aim too high, and you risk burning them out.