Practicing piano for 12 hours straight... 

You really do NOT need to practice for crazy hours in order to become a good musician. Consistency is key.

When in music school classmates would say they practiced for 5-6 hours or more a day. The common comment was they practiced many hours and got very little done, but in reality they ended up noodling for most of the time and noodling isn’t focused practice. Or as one teacher would say they are just wiggling their fingers in a musical way. What the school said to do to try and keep your practice focused is the take a 10-15 break every hour. On the break get away from your instrument and go drink some water or something, if you smoke have a smoke. Bottom line we are like Pavlov’s dog and like oral reward so take a break every hour and reward yourself. I know using this suggestion I could practice multiple hours and feel I accomplished something. Legendary sax player and educator Dave Liebman in his clinics talks about practice and he says all Jazz musicians at some point will go through a period of six months to a year of practicing 10 or more hours a day. He said it's just something the serious players do at some point. One thing I’ll add that I like when approaching practice is what my old guitar teacher said she does. She breaks practice into two sections, the first her “warmup” and the second working on tunes, improv, composing. She says her warmup of technique work of various type can take three hours, but with her teaching schedule, gigs, and touring that shrinks and sometime can only be fifteen minutes. She does her warmup then take a long break that might include going to gym, lunch, run errands. Then the rest of her practice day is focused on working on playing tunes, improv, composing, etc. That part of practice she just goes however long that feels right. I try and use this two part approach so I don’t end up doing “warmup” my entire practice time, so I make sure I get to working on playing music, being creative, the important part of learning to be a musician.

I top out at around four hours in a day, absolute max. Most days I can't go past 3, even if I have nothing else to do for the day. The mental exertion wears me out more than the physical.

As Keith Jarrett says: "Some musicians think that music comes from music..."

We need a sequel: "I practiced 40 hours a day". btw this was very fun to watch!

You are indeed a great soldier .must say . Congratulations !!! For your perseverance and dominating spirit . Only clear lesson in this is you have showed us how to Never Give up . Happy sleep hours to you dear Simon.

I practice 12 hours a year. Works for me.

Editing is on fire man !

9 seconds after upload and I'm HERE FOR THIS

i think the difference is those jazz greats were composing and aspiring to be the absolute best in the world, they were driven men. I'm geussing there weren't enough hours in a day for Charlie Parker who would have been thinking and dreaming music, then trying to get his chops down/ the point is it would not have seemed like a chore for him. not recomended for mere mortals.glad you tried it, so we don't have to..taking one for the team lol

Excellently done and VERY interesting. I did 3 hours a day for about 6 months and really improved from good beginner to intermediate.

I clocked up 400 hrs in 12 weeks as a beginner to fastrack my learning, it left me a bit burnt out, 2 to 3 hrs per day is totally sufficient, it's a journey and should be an enjoyable one

I normally practice 3 to 8 hours everyday! I taught myself after loosing knowledge of the piano due to oxygen deprivation during heart attacks and stroke.

This was immensely entertaining

Proud of you!!

Ive done this once and i didnt wanna play for a couple days after that!

God! I still can't believe you went practicing through that many hours even though you took some rests... Tanks for biting the bullet and practice 12 hours to remind us that we do not need to practice a lot, but a few hours and fully concentrated.

Wow quite a challenge!! Hahaha very fun to watch, and really shows what you are saying through the video, that practicing 12 hours a day is not healthy or productive. I really don’t think I would ever want to try that!

Far out mate! Been there not quite 12 hours but i knew that burned out feeling

I think the most I have ever practiced in a day was something around 6 or 7 hours when I was a fresh beginner. I remember having played one of Burgumüller beginner pieces like 300 times repeatedly without any break, and it was probably nowhere near productive.

Simon, you are amazing..

Thanks for showing this man. Amazing how you pulled through. After 3 years of being an engineer doing 6-7 hours of effective work every day I got into a bad Burn Out. What you felt literally applies to any activity that is done in excess. Your brain just starts to melt.

Oh you youngsters !!!!! Keep on grooving🐷

Man that looks intense bro

11:39 "No Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!"

My longest is 7.5 when I was learning la campanella but I was using a practice bar which adds extra tension. (I'm a night owl) and I pulled something in my wrist (octive jumps). I learned it quickly, though.

so happy to hear your conclusion ! phew

Hi Simon was painful and interesting watching this video. 1/2 hours per day works perfectly fine for me . Luv from inside the Academy proud members 🥂🔥💯.

Your an animal good job.Back when I was a drummer in a jazz band we practiced 8hrs non stop we didn't really take a break when we weren't playing we were still working out odds and ends afterwards I think I slept for a week we got a lot done but it was at the beginning if starting something new be good for an hr than just off the rails we killed the gig that we had but I also agree solid practice is better than long practice

12:47 that faceeee😍😍

I would love to see that notebook to see your practice routine! Would you consider maybe emailing your routine to me or making a video! You are one of my favorite players, and would love to be as proficient as you.

A good teacher told me 3 hours a day was good to progress.

your dreams the night after must have been keys alll over every fucking place

I had a point where I moved back in with my folks and practiced, or did any musical related work all day every day (always sitting in a chair). I mostly drank black coffee. For about 6 months. I did end up with a blood clot in my leg and it went to my lung. Drink water and move around every hour or so.

you are A Great Heros !

Carpal tunnel syndrome speedrun

REALLY DONT KNOW HOW I COULD HAD GO THROU YOUR THIS VIDEO ? ANYWAY STILL RESPECT YOU

(im french, sorry for my english) I've try to do something like that once. At the end of day i experimented a derealization and a major anxiety. So its not for me. Beside there is a question left from this experience, if you practice more than 8h00 a day, how many time and energy left for actually playing, having fun, improvising, composition, find ideas. In my opinion we must not confuse training which must be a tool for better expression and the art of music, which comes from the soul and which requires an unconscious maturation of ideas, slowness and tranquility, a more calm consideration of the outside world and our inner world. Productivity come from the excitement and stimulation produced by music and must not be a goal in itself.

I kinda like this vlog style maybe a day in the life video is next

Dud i was surprised when you showed your face. Piano[Pig...I have a different imagery in mind. This channel in encouraging me to practice. I want to be a piano pig oink oink!

That was super entertaining, 😂 Thanks for debunking this piano urban myth 👍🏽

Fantastic effort. Great documentation. It's easy to say this as an outsider, but I wonder if the super-long practice sessions begin to take on a different quality/effect if you can sustain them day after day. Not 12 hours sessions, but maybe 6 hours a day for a week or more? There might be a breakthrough threshold awaiting. I'm unemployed at the moment, so I might be egging myself on here.

Pigged out maaaan!!!!

This wouldn't have been nearly so difficult had you been wearing the Piano Pig t-shirt. The 'Power of the Pig' woulda made it easier!! :) Great effort, I bet you fell asleep in 0.3 second!! Next, pick up that bass guitar for round 2 of "I regularly practice my instrument for 12 hours a day."

I had a time in my life when I practiced for 5-11h every day. It gave me a good boost into my skill but it also gave me a burnout.

Great! Would you have included listening, transcribing, composing, etc in your practicing?

Yo pienso que el tiempo de lo más importante si no el enfoque de lo que quieres aprender en cada secion de práctica good video

I think you have to count the breaks as part of the 12 hours, like 10-15 minutes per hour. Otherwise it feels unending, as you experienced. At least that's how I'd do it.

by any chance could you tell me where you acquired your keyboard? thank you

when you finished the 12 hours, MY JAW DROPPED and I said OH MY GAWD. my mouth is still open now as I’m typing this comment… OH MY GAWDDD!!!!!

Oh wow... Back in uni most pianists i knew battled to get in 5 to 6 hours a day... Well done for challenging yourself though!

I wonder if there is a record similar to yours in the Guinness Book of Records. You say Peterson, Coltrane. etc were 15 hours or so, but if it is not registered, you could try! No? Well, I don't think you will as I saw what you were doing at the end. You would have ended up with the following: Two-handed C Major Scale twice at 60 bpm. in black, four octaves, according to some teacher recommended me once. The truth is, I don't think you would have been able to do it without falling asleep first. Happy practice Simon 😁😷😉

The best part: at 8 minutes in the video where you actually think it said 4 minutes 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😂😂that’s how you know you’re wiped

Here's a thought maybe you lose yourself in the practice not time but just get swept away and trance and all time is lost im sure those guys didn't have a stop watch and they came up with something that nobody heard because Joe Jones embarrassed poor young Charlie Parker and thats when he disappeared in a room and came up with bebop just a thought I had

What software were you using for playing Parker when you were transcribing?

Allen Iverson enters the chat 😂! (Practice) This is dope bro! You’ve inspired me to try this! I don’t know how successful I’ll be because my wife, kids and dog need my attention 😂!

Just finished a 4 hour session practicing scales and felt ood about myself... Not anynore haha In reality though I find I benefit most from hopping on and off the piano throughout the day rather than a long chunk of tine at once

solid place in the zone during hours 5-6

I wanna see you play with a band Where can i see you?

Amazing - what time did you actually hit the sack?

You said two hours 15 seconds tough, but it was 15 minutes :D

This would be productive if you were learning a piece that seriously pushed your limits.

Regardless of what is going on each day, I always do 2hrs practice each day; this includes technical exercises, scales, arpeggios, note reading, chord progressions, harmony, circle of 5ths in each key, learning songs for the band (chordify) etc. I have the next 5 days off work so I'm going to at least push for 5-6hrs/day, but 12 hours is mentally and probably even physically retarded. It will involve tons of coffee, heaps of toilet breaks (although a pull-up might be handy) and an early start, probably about 0600. 5hrs over 5 days=25hrs; that's mad. I'll let you know if I go mad...

About 6 hours, yesterday. Today 4 hours

Good sir, You are missing one special ingredient that most of the greats used to practice for that long. Druuuugsss…. Kept them going those long nights I’m sure. I commend you to no end for even attempting this… sans the uppers and downers the jazz legends used 😂 I know Oscar Peterson didn’t use at all, and even shunned the use of hard drugs. But he apparently didn’t practice THIS much. But MOST of em were high as a kite. So again… hats off to you sir, incredible feat. 🫡

Thanks... you are also a comic actor!

420 likes les go baby

Me before a lesson:

Bruh I practice for 30 mins and I have tendinitis how do you do it?

I had a period too that I used to practice 13 hours everyday for a year. That was 2016. Now I can't even do 2hours. Lollzz. Honestly I can relate to I just washed.

You bullet journal??

Once open a time i played 18 hours straight only to go toilet or drink tea or water.....i played all my songs from my remember of my head without watch notes.....sorry my English is not good but it was my awesome day to know my repertoire of songs👍

I must become your student, it's time....

but Ling ling ALREADY practices 40 hours a day! xD

I would divide my morning 4 hours.....evening 4 hours

If one went to work in any other job 12 hours a day would be pretty ordinary. I often practice all day

I think amphetamines were readily available in Bird's day.

18hrs is maximum for me every day no cap

Sooooo funny

Some people say, 18 hours straight 😂

Are you taking it on tour🐷

how old r u xxx

16 hrs my longest but i was a kid an had the time to waste.

I would spend the majority on repertoire, exercises...later....perhaps...have an extensive repertoire...is more important....especially if you've been playing for 5 years or more....especially if you are classical....

U do be kinda attractive tho😂😍😍💗💗

😨my fingers cannot even make it for 20mins

Not 40 hours yet i guess..

you are in a zone, huh?

Or, morning 2 hours....evening 2 hours

Oh no! No need to go through that torture! 12 hs of anything, in a row, is going to become simply a horrible thing! Here comes the silly question... What kind of light are you using for the upright piano? Seems an interesting Led of some kind... Grab a bite and go straight to bed! Hahahahaha 😉

A random Chinese kid: 12 hours? Pffff amateur...

You look like you've lost weight. Good for you.

How can you say you practiced for 12 hours straight when you kept taking breaks? That's a 10 mile hike with a full pack soldier!

Hysterical. The musicians in other centuries, did not have the entertainment that we have. Possibly they started with two (2) hours and worked their way up to 15 hours. Not hard to do when done this way.

Do not recommend

Adam Makowicz told me once , that he happened to practice for up to 18 HOURS !! As they say - practice makes perfect....But.....it also can drive you insane....

I would love to see that notebook to see your practice routine! Would you consider maybe emailing your routine to me or making a video! You are one of my favorite players, and would love to be as proficient as you.