Raise your hand if your practice looks a bit like this.
You choose a song you want to learn, so you sit down and play it through once, start to finish.
It sounds ok, but you think you could probably play it better so you play it again.
By the end of your session, you’ve repeated the song you’d like to play about 10 times in total.
You feel like you’ve repeated it so many times that your performance of the piece must have improved.
But if someone asked you which specific part of the piece got better, you’d have a hard time describing it.
For many years, I believed this was practice. I assumed that enough repetitions would eventually fix the problem. Sometimes they did—but usually by accident rather than intention.
Real practice begins the moment you stop asking, “How many times should I play this?” and start asking, “What am I trying to improve?”
Today’s post is the second installment in my new series, Beyond the Notes, that explores how to practice with less repetition and more intention.
Ready? Let’s get to it!
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I take no credit for the images appearing on this page. Specific photos are courtesy of Canva. Although I am a nurse practitioner, I am not YOUR medical provider. The information in this post is for informational purposes only. It does NOT replace individualized health information from a qualified medical professional. Please see a qualified medical professional for individualized assistance with your health and wellness. I do utilize AI for certain aspects of content creation; however, the main ideas are all my own.
- The Myth We All Learn
- Why Repetition Feels Like Practice
- Practice Has a Job
- What Effective Practice Actually Looks Like
- Stop Counting Repetitions
- A Different Way to Think About Practice
- Signs You're Actually Improving
- Why This Is Harder Than It Sounds
- Try This Tomorrow
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Final Thoughts on Why Playing It Again Isn't Practice
The Myth We All Learn
I may have missed a crucial part of learning how to structure effective practice sessions when I was younger.
But I think the idea that to improve one needs endless repetitions is a somewhat pervasive one.
How many times have you heard the phrase, “practice makes perfect?”
And when you’re first learning piano, especially as a younger child, it’s all too common for piano teachers to track minutes spent practicing rather than the achievement of very specific goals.
The very act of repeating something in and of itself feels productive, as does playing a piece from start to finish.
Why Repetition Feels Like Practice
One of the biggest reasons repetition feels like practice is the myth of the 10,000 hours.
It’s assumed that if someone spends a great deal of time doing something (i.e., 10,000 hours), they will improve at that thing.
There are a few natural reasons why time spent doing something and automatic improvement are correlated.
Familiarity Feels Like Improvement
The more you do something, the more comfortable it feels.
But comfort isn’t necessarily improvement.
Muscle Memory Can Hide Mistakes
Unless you’ve outlined specific areas of improvement and are actively looking for mistakes, it’s quite easy to ingrain mistakes into your playing accidentally.
This is especially true if you’re not regularly listening back to your playing.
Recordings sometimes reveal the brutal honesty of what you sound like, which, in turn, allows you to change it.
Playing Is Easier Than Thinking
This is a huge one for me.
My job is mentally and emotionally demanding.
And so is raising kids.
I think one of the biggest reasons I fall into the “repetition is progress” trap is because sometimes I’m tapped out mentally.
But truly effective practice requires careful planning, problem-solving, and a certain degree of curiosity.
The type of practice that actually improves your playing is a mental game.
And as such, it can be mentally exhausting.
Practice Has a Job
I’m not suggesting that repeating something has no place in the practice room.
But I am saying that if you want to improve, the repetition must have a purpose.
Every repetition answers a question:
- Can I make this phrase softer?
- Can I keep the rhythm steadier?
- Can I shape the melody?
- Can I relax my shoulders?
- Can I hear the inner voice?
If you’re not answering a question, there’s a high probability that you’re just repeating without a purpose.
What Effective Practice Actually Looks Like
Although I’ve fallen into many bad habits over the years, one of the worst is mistaking mindless repetition for the type of practice that truly elevates my playing.
Practicing with more intention doesn’t have to be difficult if you break it into 3 separate parts.
1. Identify One Problem
Don’t try to solve everything at once.
Identify that one thing that you really want to spend some practice time improving.
A few examples might include:
- uneven rhythm
- wrong fingering
- tension
- dynamics
- articulation
2. Choose One Strategy
You’ve identified the thing you want to improve.
Now choose a strategy to try.
Here are a few to get you thinking:
- slower tempo
- separate hands
- blocked chords
- rhythmic variations
- stop before the difficult spot
- exaggerated dynamics
3. Evaluate the Result
After every attempt, ask:
Did it improve?
If not…
Why?
What should I change?
This transforms practice into experimentation.
If you’re looking for an easy way to incorporate these three steps into your next practice session, I highly encourage you to check out the Modacity app.
Musicians created this app, and it helps you become more deliberate in your practice by seamlessly incorporating all 3 of the above strategies.
The app suggests various areas to work on, such as dynamics, expression, or rhythm.
It then gives you a few ideas for how you can make improvements.
Record your effort right from the app and listen back to see whether your fix was successful.
I do think this app is invaluable for helping you establish the type of good habits that will take your playing to the next level.
If you’re curious whether this app might be a good fit for you, check out my previous Modacity review post.
Stop Counting Repetitions
Given that most piano students are never taught to practice the right way, it’s all too easy to fall into the trap of constantly wondering how many times we need to repeat something before it improves.
But the better question to ask yourself is, “what changed since the last attempt?”
Even though we are taught to think that “more is better,” five thoughtful repetitions are often more valuable than fifty thoughtless ones.
A Different Way to Think About Practice
Practice isn’t unlike the process of discovery that a scientist embarks upon.
Practice should be filled with this inherent sense of curiosity about the instrument and flexibility with how to achieve one’s playing goals.
Each repetition is a tiny experiment:
- tempo
- touch
- balance
- arm weight
- phrasing
- pedaling
You’re gathering information.
Not logging repetitions.
Signs You’re Actually Improving
You’ll know you’re making progress when:
- You’re solving a specific problem.
- You’re listening differently every repetition.
- You’re making adjustments.
- You’re stopping to think.
- You’re asking questions.
- You’re comparing attempts.
- You’re noticing tiny improvements.
If I get to the end of a practice session and feel like I did more listening than playing, then I know it’s been an effective one.
Why This Is Harder Than It Sounds
Truly effective practice is a total mental game.
It requires attention to detail, asking questions, and constantly making small shifts based on feedback.
The continuous refinement process that happens during a practice session requires way more thinking than playing.
Although it might seem counterintuitive, progress often feels slower when you’re practicing the right way.
But your brain is encoding information more deeply, so you need fewer repetitions.
Ironically, feeling mentally tired after a session is another sign that your practice session was effective.
Try This Tomorrow
Shift into a more effective practice routine by starting small.
- Choose one difficult measure.
- Record yourself playing the difficult measure.
- Listen back and identify one aspect that you’d like to change. Examples to consider:
- Rhythm
- Dynamics
- Fingering
- Phrasing
- Relaxation
- Try out the method you think will improve that one aspect.
- Record yourself again and see whether it improved.
- Repeat the process of trying a method, recording, and listening back until you have satisfactory improvement.
Noticed how much more engaged your brain becomes and how practice suddenly feels so much more productive.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is playing a song over and over good practice?
Playing a song repeatedly can help build familiarity, but repetition alone isn’t the most effective way to improve. If you play the same mistakes over and over, you’re reinforcing those habits.
To practice piano effectively, give each repetition a specific purpose, such as improving rhythm, dynamics, fingering, or phrasing.
Purposeful repetition leads to progress, while mindless repetition often leads to frustration.
What is deliberate practice in piano?
Deliberate practice is a focused approach to learning where you work on one specific skill or problem at a time.
Instead of simply playing through a piece, you identify what needs improvement, choose a strategy to address it, and evaluate the results after each attempt. This method helps pianists improve more efficiently because every repetition has a clear goal.
How many times should I repeat a piano passage?
There isn’t a magic number.
Rather than asking how many times to repeat a passage, ask whether each repetition is helping you improve. If nothing changes between attempts, repeating it is unlikely to help. A few thoughtful repetitions with clear goals are usually more valuable than dozens of mindless ones.
Why am I not improving even though I practice piano every day?
Many pianists plateau because they spend their practice time playing instead of solving problems.
Simply putting in more hours doesn’t guarantee improvement if you’re repeating the same habits.
Learning how to practice piano effectively means slowing down, identifying specific challenges, experimenting with different solutions, and paying close attention to the results.
What makes piano practice effective?
Effective piano practice is intentional, focused, and reflective.
Before you begin, decide what you want to improve. During practice, work on one challenge at a time and make adjustments after each repetition. Afterward, reflect on what worked and what still needs attention.
This kind of thoughtful practice builds stronger skills than simply playing through your music from beginning to end.
Final Thoughts on Why Playing It Again Isn’t Practice
If there’s one idea I’d love for you to take away from this post, it’s this:
Progress doesn’t come from playing more. It comes from paying closer attention.
For years, I believed that improvement was simply a matter of accumulating enough repetitions. If I kept playing the piece, eventually it would get better.
Sometimes it did.
More often, I was becoming more comfortable playing the same way I always had.
The biggest change in my own practice hasn’t been finding a better exercise or discovering some secret technique. It’s been learning to approach every repetition with curiosity. Instead of asking, “How many more times should I play this?” I try to ask, “What can I learn from this attempt?”
That small shift changes everything.
Practice becomes less about logging minutes and more about solving problems. You begin listening more carefully, experimenting more freely, and celebrating tiny improvements that eventually add up to significant progress.
This is exactly what the Beyond the Notes series is about.
As adult pianists, many of us have spent years chasing the right notes. But music asks more of us than accuracy. It invites us to listen deeply, think critically, and engage with every phrase we play.
The next time you catch yourself playing the same passage for the tenth time, pause before you try an eleventh.
Ask yourself one simple question:
What am I trying to improve?
If you can answer that, you’re no longer just playing it again.
You’re practicing.
For more tips on improving your piano playing, check out these previous posts:
- Beyond the Notes: Toward a Philosophy of Piano Practice
- Learn How You Can Practice Piano Without a Piano
- Why Am I Not Getting Better at Piano: 9 Adult Mistakes
- Tips for How to Stay Motivated When Learning Piano
- How to Still Practice Piano While Working Full-Time
Until next time, happy practicing!
