Piano learners are eager to gain fluency in playing and reading music. Yet the path to fluency can be lengthy, especially given the complexity of piano sheet music. I have never found a short cut to growing reading skills. Yet again and again I see the satisfaction learners get from adopting effective piano practice techniques, which help them make progress toward their goals. This post shines a light on one such piano practice technique: counting while playing.
Some years ago I noticed something about my two most experienced piano students at the time. They both read music quite well and had played piano for years before working with me, yet their playing lacked rhythmic precision. They would often play rhythms on the page incorrectly or make them up entirely. I tried to teach them to count, with mixed success. These students were so used to ignoring rhythmic information on the page that it was hard to train them out of the habit.
These students are not alone. With so much to think about when reading music, it is easy for piano learners–especially working on their own–to overlook rhythmic details in their music. This can become habitual, limiting how well learners learn their music. To counteract this, I emphasize that my students count out their music while playing.
Counting while playing is an active learning exercise that brings precision to a piano learner’s playing. Precision is important for rhythmic mastery. Counting requires active focus and attention, which automatically helps with making progress. In Chapter 9 of “Play Piano: A Learner’s Guide to Playing, Reading, and Creating Music,” I break down the process of counting. The first step is writing in the count:
For music in 4/4 time with long notes (quarter notes or longer), write in each beat from 1 to 4 while counting, “One – two – three – four.”
For music with eighth notes, subdivide the beat by adding “+” (“and”). This looks like “1 + 2 + 3 + 4” and sounds like “one-and-two-and-three-and-four-and.”
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In the following example involving both hands, the count is subdivided to allow for eighth notes. Notice that every note is assigned a beat. In other words, we see exactly where each note on both hands falls in each measure:
After writing in the count comes learning to play while counting aloud. Counting aloud is the best way to ensure counting properly. This is not effortless. My students frequently tell me it is harder to play and count than just to play without counting. Yet they always admit that counting while playing helps their rhythmic accuracy. This in turn builds confidence that they are thoroughly learning their music.
To that end, here are some counting tips, also from Chapter 9 of my book:
More Suggestions for Embracing Counting
Prioritize it! From now on, plan to allocate practice time for counting aloud. You don’t have to count every time you play, but you want to do enough of it to get comfortable counting when you need it. Remember: counting may be the most important rhythmic skill you learn! Even if it seems hard (maybe because of this), counting always pays off.
Take it in small doses. To stay effective, count/play your music a few measures at a time or one hand at a time.
The focus required for counting is at the heart of all piano progress. Skills are gained through effective repetition and deliberate focus on effective piano practice techniques. And yes, focus takes effort. That effort may not always feel convenient, but it always pays off in the satisfaction you feel as you improve.
