Does Practice Really Make Perfect?

A lot of teachers will tell you that you must practice a certain number of hours a day if you want to play piano. This is all fine and well if your goal is to play classical repertoire. If your goal is just to play what you feel, then you may be like me and hate practicing the piano.

In fact, practice will not make you a better player. It can sharpen your skills technically, but it won't help where it really counts - having the ability to transfer your feeling from the heart to the keys. To achieve this skill, practice is not necessary, only the desire to experience the joy of spontaneous expression. I don't practice the piano. Instead, I sit down and allow the music to tell me where it wants to go.