Organizing practice time

[henrik.hank]

I need your expert advice. This is an issue I will discuss with my teachers next time I will have lessons with them but I think you can help me as well.
My organ teacher told me that you could for example divide your keyboard practice time like this: 40% piano and 60% organ. The reason being that organ practice requiers registration and other organ things that one must practice.
I like this idea but...the piano requiers you to practice dynamics with your fingers which is also takes time. This is a piano issue. I would say 50% piano and 50% organ as a person who gives equal importance to both instruments.
What do you think and for how long would you practice?
I also, play the piano accordion. This I do as a pianist who wanted to play accordion as well.
I will no learn to play bridal marches on both organ and accordion. One learns a lot about accordion when playing organ and vice versa.
Then I practice singing and this is my most personal instrument. I give most importance to singing. My organ teacher said he bassically only needed 30 min sinnging practice. This sounds too little. How much singing do you practice and why?
You could sing along to the melodies you play on the organ and learn a lot from that but I am not sure if this is good as you would be focusing on two instruments at once.
I have difficulties organizing my practice time.
I guess this is the issue none will ever tell you about. Also, you often have different teachers for different instruments.
What are your expert advice?

[regeron]

The easy answer is that there is no easy answer. It depends on too many different thing - current familiarity with either instrument, need to produce a finished piece of music, learning new techniques or improving existing ones, learning a new historical or national style, playing faster or slower while staying in control and still creating beautiful music, etc.. Each of us will give a different answer on different days, depending on what we are working on.

Rather than take the time to work out percentages, just get to the instruments and try things. If you need more piano time one day and more organ time another day, then do it.

I must say that I'm a bit confused by your questions. In one of your threads about harmony, you said you tried a harmony class but hated it and left - too many rules. You came down quite hard on the rules and people who follow them, yet your whole complaint about a certain harmonization was that people weren't following the rules.. I worry that the same is about to happen here. You seem to be caught in a mental trap between following rules and being free, as if the two can't exist together. You need to find your own balancing point.

But, to offer some help, try a division of time that you think will work for you and that will satisfy your teachers. If, after a few days or weeks, you aren't happy with the distribution of time or your teachers aren't satisfied with your progress, then modify how you divide your time.

[andijah]

I agree with regeron, there is no easy answer. And we don't know enough about you and your situation to tell you anything that will definitely bring you forward.

You gotta do what fits your schedule and your goals. Ask yourself what you want to achieve. Do you want to become a professional with any of your instruments? Then concentrate on this. Do you want to play all instruments at a decent skill level? Then focus on one for a certain time frame each day and then move on to the next.

As an organist, singer, teacher, pianist and sometimes-conductor who also studied general music education and had to take exams in percussion and movement (better not call it dancing!) many years ago, I can say that it is possible to do more than one thing, but it's hard work. And I guess it's even harder if you try to work full-time at the same time, too.

[Dutchy]

What do you think and for how long would you practice?
There are at least three factors important:
- your goals
- the practice time you have available to reach them
- and your talent.
I.e., if your teacher say '30 min singing practice is enough', that migt be OK for you. Or not, depending on the three factors mentioned before. If your teacher know you well, based on the three factors, he might be right.
Personally I think, do not make a rigid distribution but look at what is needed regarding your goals.

I have difficulties organizing my practice time.
Create a 'practice schedule' per day, week, month, including the goals you want to achieve. Be realistic: you cannot work all day, so depending on i.e. work, family, music study and relax time, you must make a realistic schedule.
If it doesn't work, find out why not and adjust it accordingly.

.For the rest I agree with Regeron and Andijah.

Good wishes, Dutchy.

[Piperdane]

Each of us will establish our own practice schedules based on what we are playing, or, learning at the particular time. A more difficult piece is going to require additional practice time not only for notes but also for proper registration (stop selection) and any stop changes during the piece.

I wholeheartedly agree with what has been written above in the prior 3 posts. You will, with sufficient practice, know when enough is enough - depends also upon what playing skill you are trying to achieve.

When I was a beginning organ student I spent no less than 3 hours per day practicing. Not all in one session, mind you, but spread out over the course of the day/evening. My average practice time at the church in preparation for weekend services amounts to 3 or 4 hours ... again completely dependent upon the technicality of the piece and changing registrations.

[samibe]

50/50 works. So does 0/100, 100/0, or anything in between. You'll never run out of material to learn either way. In my book, as long as you are learning and/or having fun (or at least deriving some satisfaction) from your effort, then that's great. Your progress with each of them is going to vary simply because some lessons may be easier to pick up than others. You could definitely allocate X hours a day to piano and the same to organ. You may not cover the same amount of ground in a week on both, but if that's fine with you and your teachers, then there's nothing 'wrong' with it. That obviously may need to shift a bit if something more pressing causes your priorities to shift (like a performance on one but not the other instrument).

[jbird604]

Good discipline involves setting goals and working hard to meet them. Sometimes it is as simple as setting time limits for yourself. So give it a try. Set a goal of practicing organ for an hour, then piano for an hour, then singing for an hour. If that works, then that is good. If you feel that you needed more time for one of the three, then expand the time a little, even if it means cutting a bit from another area of practice.

One thing I know is that the more time you devote, the better you will become. I used to think that all I needed in order to play at church was a few minutes to "warm up" before Sunday. But then I met a guy who told me that he practiced four to six hours every day! I was amazed that anyone had that much time to devote to practice, but after I tried practicing a little more, I found that it greatly improved my playing! So do practice as much as you can while you can.

You must listen to your teachers of course, but then you are the only one who can enforce your practice times. Try dividing equally among piano, organ, and voice for a week and see how your progress goes.

[timnc]

I'm not a fan of one-size-fits-all. That said, some people need help with a starting point but it sounds like you already have a good idea about what you need. Right now, the organ is my biggest challenge. I also play guitar and just recently decided to revive my piano skills. I would have to sit down and do the math, but it's about 80% organ, 10% each for guitar and piano. But that works for me. I am even trying a regiment with calendar reminders further breaking down my organ time to specific areas such as pedal technique, new music, review, etc. As others have commented, start with what you think matches your needs, but be willing to adjust it as you go. Also, you will likely find it will change over the years as your skills develop. You said piano dynamics are an area you need more focus on, so make sure it's getting enough time. As you improve that skill, you may find some other skill that needs more refinement. I think that actually having a discipline and setting time aside for practice is already a big plus—the amount of time will determine how fast you learn. There is a law of diminishing returns when it comes to length of a single practice session, so 4 one-hour sessions broken up throughout the day is better than a single 4-hour session, but your schedule may not allow for that. Still, a single 4-hour practice session is better than a single one-hour session, just not 4 times better.