Piano is popular both as a lesson for children and as a hobby for adults. Some of you may have taken a few lessons as a child and have a vague idea that you would like to resume playing someday. Even if you think about it, don’t you often find it quite difficult to take action on what you want to do because of your daily busyness?
I have a friend who want to restart the piano someday. There are a few pieces that she has always wanted to play, and this time she decided to take the plunge and challenge herself to play one of them.
She doesn’t have a lot of time for practice because she has a busy life with child care, work, and housework. Nevertheless, believing in the saying that “continuity is power,” I decided to support her by keeping a record of what she would practice.
It had been decades since she had played a classical piece since elementary school. The project is called “5 minutes a day! Piano Challenge Project“.
もくじ
Try to play the piano for 5 min a day, and keep going
I would like to briefly explain how I came to plan this article.
Piano is Brain Training
Brain science research has recently shown that just playing the piano can be brain training. For this reason, it seems to be a very popular lesson for seniors who have retired from work.
It is said that even in healthy people, cognitive functions begin to decline in their late twenties. Since playing the piano is naturally doing many things at the same time, it also means that all brain functions can be enhanced by playing the piano. It even has the effect of changing the structure of the brain, and it can be said for the brain of adults as well as for the education of children. If you have a piano at home, you should experience this fabulous effect. (even a digital piano is enough!)
The accumulation of 5 min
As adults, we can’t spend all our time on our work, housework, and family. As a result, we tend to put off doing the things we want to do. I think it’s hard to find a day when you want to do something when you have free time. That’s why you need only five minutes a day. Even if you are a busy person, I guess 5 min is not too much.
Piano Practice Diary
Let’s have her start practicing the piano right away.
Introduction of challengers




Miyumiyu
She had learned to play the piano for six years in elementary school. At that time, the only time she touched the piano was once a week for 15 minutes during lessons, and she did not practice at home at all. She hated reading at musical scores, and her eyes would flicker when she looked at them, causing her to reject them. Because of this, she had always shied away from trying to play the music she longed to play. The last classical piece she played was “Flower Song” by Lange. She is now a mother of two elementary school students. In the midst of her busy family and work life, she decided to resume playing the piano. This time, she decided to give it a try, and I hope that by finishing the piece, she will be able to overcome her dislike of reading scores.
Reported contents of practice
(1) Details of the practice
(2) Practice time
(3) What she were able to do, what she didn’t understand, her impressions, etc.
Practice starts
From now on, I will keep a daily record of Miyumiyu’s practice. Music: Etude Op.10-12 “Revolution” by Chopin
2021/8/24 Challenge started
8/24 1-8 bars, music reading. Decide finger number. 40 minutes total. 8/25 Score reading, 10 min. 8/26 1-9 bars, read the score and sing the left hand part in Do-Re-Mi. 5 min. 8/27 7 -8bars, score reading. 10 min. No mistakes. Reported results on video. 8/28 7-8 bars, 5 min on the piano. 8/29 Bar 1-8, left hand only. Practiced reading the score and saying do-re-mi. 5 min. 8/30 0 min. 8/31 Read bars 1-7, right hand. 9/1 Read bars 1 -4 with both hands. 9/2 1 t-5 bars, both hands. Practice slowly. 5 min. She was able to play it with no mistakes. When she played fast, she made mistakes. 9/3 Practiced 1-5 bars with both hands slowly for 5 min. she was able to do it better than yesterday without making mistakes. 9/4 Only the fifth bar with both hands, fast with no mistakes. 5 min. She is getting used to using her fingers. Play slowly with both hands, 1-5 bars, counting in her own voice. 5 min. She found that she made fewer mistakes when she played while counting.9/6 Slowly played 6 -8 bars with both hands, 5 min. She could play it with no mistakes.9/7 Practiced 6 -8 bars slowly with both hands. 5 min. She could do it faster than yesterday.