Practice Coach
Helping Your Students to Develop the Most Important
Musical Skill of All
Dear Piano Teachers,
As you well know, motivating and teaching our students how to practice is one of the most important responsibilities we
have. To that end, I have created a compilation of practice worksheets to guide student’s practice time. I have been
developing and experimenting with these basic ideas and “practice games” for a number of years, and now I have
converted them into official worksheets and am making them available to the piano teachers of Expressions! Soon I
hope to convert them further into worksheets which will be useful for teachers of any instrument.
Like I said, I have been experimenting with these worksheets and concepts for a little while now, and I can honestly say
that they have completely transformed my teaching in regard to both the effectiveness and enjoyment of my teaching!
Here are the benefits as I have experienced them:
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The worksheets teach students HOW to practice by instilling crucial concepts such as breaking material into
smaller sections, slowing it down, and listening more carefully.
The worksheets promote goal-based practice as opposed to time-based practice.
Students are more encouraged and motivated to practice as they can visibly track their progress on the
worksheets.
Students are more accountable to their practice assignments and goals as they are required to fill out the
worksheets and complete each step.
It is much easier to get parents involved in helping their child to accomplish their practice assignments. All they
have to do is check that the worksheet has been completed.
The worksheets make practice time more fun as every assignment is broken down into small, manageable goals,
almost creating a series of mini games for students.
The worksheets allow you to give tailored, individual, extremely detailed assignments without spending precious
minutes of your lesson time determining or writing them out.
Ultimately, I have noticed that my students overall practice is more consistent and effective as a result of using the
worksheets.
Below I have listed the 14 worksheets divided into categories with a short summary description of each.
Trackers and Journals:
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Weekly Practice Journal: Divides the weekly assignments into natural sections such as technique, sight reading,
method book songs, Black Belt songs, theory, etc. and prompts students to write down their accomplishments in
each area each day. A blank version is also available so you can fill in your own categories.
 Promotes goal-based practice rather than time-based practice as well as student accountability for what
was accomplished each day
Weekly Practice Goal Setter: Divides the weekly assignments into the same natural sections as the “Weekly
Practice Journal” outlined above and then prompts the student to create their own detailed practice plan for
each section based on the teacher’s broader goals and assignments. A blank version is also available so you can
fill in your own categories.
 Promotes critical thinking and student practice independence
From Start to Finish: Provides a step-by-step checklist to track a student’s progress on a piece from the very
start to a polished finish
 Provides motivation as the student is encouraged to visibly track each step of the process
Help for Brand New Pieces:
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One Step at a Time: Provides a step-by-step list of instructions and checklist for learning a brand new piece
 Teaches students how to break one large task into many small tasks so it is no longer intimidating
Scouting: Guides students in exploration and analysis of a brand new piece by prompting them to answer a set
of questions
 Promotes student independence, critical thinking, and curiosity
Help for Polishing Sections and Pieces:
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Repetition Makes Better: Assigns students to complete an assigned number of basic repetitions on a specific
section each day, further individualizing the assignment by requiring or excusing a variety of details such as
metronome, correct fingering, correct rhythm, dynamics, articulation, pedal, memorization, etc.
 Encourages improvement by repeating small sections and promotes accountability by requiring
worksheet interaction
Perfect Repetition Makes Perfect: Provides a variation on the “Repetition Makes Better” worksheet by requiring
students to complete perfect repetitions in order to count them
 Teaches students to listen and determine whether a performance is acceptable
Metronome Method: Allows teachers to assign smaller sections and create a tailored game based on rewarding
small metronome increases for perfect performances
 Helps students to gradually improve and increase tempo by starting slowly and working in small sections
Snakes and Ladders: Provides a variation on the “Metronome Method” worksheet by requiring students to
decrease their metronome tempo on every performance which is less than perfect
 Creates more of a pressure situation and helps students to focus while practicing
The Penny Game: Provides a set of instructions for a fun and simple game encouraging repetitions, focus, and
careful listening
 Makes practice more fun for students and promotes discipline and focus
Challenge List: Provides teachers with the opportunity to give their students a random list of detailed tasks to
complete on a given piece
 Helps to organize miscellaneous tasks into a more streamlined checklist which creates motivation and
accountability
Help for Putting the Finishing Touches on a Piece:
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Bug Spotting: Provides a step-by-step checklist to help students find areas of weakness in a section or piece
 Teaches students to think critically, listen, and make discoveries independently
Looking for Trouble: Provides a catch-all method to help students identify and improve areas of weakness in a
section or piece
 Teaches students to identify and solve problems on their own
Time to Memorize: Provides a step-by-step method to help students commit their piece to memory encouraging
a thorough approach combining both motor and analysis-related memory
 Teaches students how to combine a number of elements to create a solid memorization based on more than
just motor memory
On the next few pages you can find a blank copy of all of the worksheets listed above along with a sheet of detailed
instructions and a filled out example for each one. The filled out version is an example only of what you as the instructor
would write on the worksheet – not what the students would write over the course of the week.