Yes, you can increase your piano repertoire with minimum effort. Not only can you learn a lot of songs, but also you can play them well if you know how. Throughout my teaching career, I’ve seen many students becoming frustrated because they can only play a couple of songs even though they’ve learned 10, 30, 50, or more pieces, whether they’re taking advanced or beginner piano lessons.
If you’re in this situation, there’s an easy solution to your problem…You’ve got to get organized!
I’m willing to bet, that when you play for friends or family, the songs you’re more likely to remember are the last ones you’ve learned. The reason you only can play very few songs well, if at all, is because you don’t treat them the same.
Here’s a simple method that works for my students, and it will work for you if you apply it correctly:
• Make a list of the songs you’ve learn (particularly the ones you really like), and number them
• Divide them into groups of 5. It’s easier to target groups of 5 than a list of 50 or 100 songs
• Starting with the first group on your list, practice one song each day, or every other day
• Continue with the second group in the same fashion, then the third group and so on
• When you finish the last group, start over with the first group
As you continue to add more songs to your piano repertoire, it will take you longer to go through the cycle. By then, you can make some changes to this method. Now the earlier songs are becoming easier to play because you’ve practiced them more times. You can now spend more time with the newer ones.
For example, let’s say that eventually you can play 50 songs. Go through all of your groups, and when you get to the last song on the last group, go back to song number 31 and start over from there. The next time around, you start from song number one and on the next round, start from song number 31 to the end.
The reason this method works, is because you’re treating all of the songs in your piano repertoire the same. You’re spending the same amount of time practicing each song, independently from your piano lessons. Now you can enjoy playing more songs, and playing them well.
