But I don't have TIME to practice!

Here's the truth:  No one has time to practice.  You have to make the time to practice.  Not FIND the time.  MAKE the time.

Here's what I advise my students to do ...

If you're a beginner - start with 15 minutes of practice each day.  Face it.  Fifteen minutes is a small enough amount of time that you probably won't notice a huge change to your schedule.  But if you practice 15 minutes a day as you start lessons you will be making it a routine.  Do you notice how long it takes to brush your teeth?  No.  It's just part of your routine.

So, set a specific time of day for practice that fits into your regular daily routine and stick to it!  Make it a habit!

If you've been playing a while and need motivation - try 15 minutes at a time several times each day.  If you have several performance pieces you are working on, practice just one section over a 15-minute practice session.  You won't believe your progress!

Whatever your daily practice routine, approach each piece of music intelligently.  Each composition has its difficult parts, so an unwise way to practice it start at the beginning of your composition and fight through to the end no matter what.   That just keeps the mistakes in there.  Work on your music using the following FIVE STEPS:

1.  Learn the NOTES, the correct RHYTHMS, the correct FINGERINGS and be able to play it at the correct TEMPO.   

Wow!  Seems like four steps right there!  But honestly, your first goal in learning your music should be the ability to play all the notes correctly and fluently.    There's no real shortcut to achieveing this, but I find that if I force myself to repeat things five times (or multiples of five times), I can intensify my focus, cut down on my total practice time and, ultimately, lessen my frustration.  I practice each page of a piano sonata five times, keeping track of each repetition with hash marks.  I really do that.  I write the hash marks on the page.  It holds me accountable and forces me to finish instead of settling for "good enough,"  whatever that is.

2.  Check your DYNAMICS.

Of course, you're paying attention to dynamics from the beginning but, once you have step one down, you can afford to pay more attention to your fortes and pianos.  I never feel like I'm totally done with my dynamics.  They're always worth a proof read.  I also find that I play dynamics differently based on my mood, too, but it's always best to settle on one interpretation.

3.  Check your ARTICULATION.

Again, you've done this from the beginning.  But look again just to see if there's something you should tweak

4.  Check out your PEDALING.

Yes, you've done this from the beginning, too, but is everything there?

5.  Add the MUSICALITY.

Let your music tell a story.  Be expressive and sincere.  This is the most important step!

And, by all means, BE PATIENT!  Remember:  It's the journey, not the destination ...

You're a mom or dad and you're having trouble getting your child to practice.  In fact, practice always causes a fight.  What do you do? 

CHILL OUT AND BE PATIENT! 

Young students have to WANT to practice and reprimanding them or making their time at the piano miserable won't do it.  Once the student works through a difficult piece of music, he will understand what it takes to achieve excellence.