The Piano Student's Guide to Effective Practicing.

by Nancy O'Neill Breth. Contact author to order at nancybreth@att.net or 3324 N. Kensington St., Arlington, VA 22207. $8.95, plus shipping, for pamphlet; 10% discount on an order of five or more copies. All levels.

Have you wished for a practice guide for students to use during practice? Now we have one thanks to Nancy O'Neill Breth. The colorful 9 1/4 x 6 1/4 fold-out card will fit on the music rack to remind students of effective practice procedures. The guide may be ordered from the author at the contact information above.

Breth provides tips under five headings to assist students during practice: 1) mentally practice before playing (Pre-Practice Mapping); 2) read carefully (First Steps); 3) analyze (Asking Questions/Finding Answers); 4) make the hard parts easy (Practice Tips); and 5) review strategies (When All Else Fails). Students are challenged to make a pact with themselves to be patient and practice faithfully, to be aware of what they are playing, to be curious by asking questions about how the music sounded and to use tunnel vision, tackling one problem at a time in small sections. Three tools she suggests for use at each practice session are a pencil, metronome and tape recorder.

The first step of mental practice requires active participation with pencil in hand, marking phrases, form and trouble spots. The second step gives a list of five steps that are most effective if each is ...