How To Practice When You Feel Stuck
How to Practice When You Feel Stuck
Even with careful, consistent practice, you might reach a point where things feel… stuck. As if no matter how many hours you put in, nothing’s really moving forward. That’s normal. But it’s also frustrating.
When that happens, it might be time for what I call a “ceiling test”—a way to figure out what’s capping your growth and explore how to push past it. Sometimes it’s about leaning into discomfort. Other times, it’s about simplifying and sharpening your focus.
Here are a few ways to shift gears when you’re feeling stuck:
Make It Harder—Or Strip It Back
One way to shake up a plateau is to make your practice deliberately harder. That might mean increasing the physical challenge, like working on stride piano by jumping from one octave to another, then across wider registers, or aiming for difficult chord shapes with consistent accuracy.
But sometimes, progress comes from doing less, not more. Simplifying the task helps you hone in on what’s really happening. Maybe it’s breaking down a hand motion or isolating rhythm. Going small can often get you farther.
Try a New Time Signature
Let’s say you’ve been working on a progression in 4/4 and it feels stale. Try moving it into 3/4, 5/4, 7/8, or something unusual. Shifting the time signature forces your hands and ears to adapt. It’s a small tweak that can lead to big insights—especially if you’ve been stuck in the same groove for a while.
Explore Parallel Modes
Another fun way to reframe familiar material: change the mode. If a tune is in C Major, try playing it in C Dorian, or C Lydian, or even C Aeolian. This doesn’t just give your ears a workout—it expands your harmonic vocabulary and shows you new moods inside something you thought you already knew.
Take a Break (Yes, Really)
When frustration builds, take a step back. Even 5 to 15 minutes can help reset your mind and reduce physical tension. If you’re on a deadline, breaks become even more important—they help you stay focused and avoid diminishing returns.
That said, there are times when you just have to grind. But knowing when you’re spinning your wheels vs. when you’re climbing the hill is part of the skill.
Break the Technique Into Micro-Steps
Some techniques just feel impossible. Instead of trying to master them all at once, break them down. Go as small as you can. Find the most basic motion or shape, and drill that until it’s second nature.
You might not reach full virtuosity this way—but you’ll almost certainly build enough control to keep moving forward.
Create Your Own Targeted Drills
Let’s say you want to get better at 1st inversions. You could create a rule where all your melodic motion must follow a 1st inversion, up or down. Sure, that may not come up in a real-world tune, but it builds internal fluency. Once it’s no longer a weakness, it blends more naturally with the rest of your playing.
The same goes for rhythm: take a harmonic idea you’re used to and run it through new rhythmic feels or meters. The unfamiliar context gives you something fresh to respond to.
Final Thoughts
Feeling stuck is part of the journey. It doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong—it just means it’s time for a new angle. Whether you’re stretching your limits or zooming in on the fundamentals, small changes in approach can create big breakthroughs.
You can always create your own personal ways to grow, too. What matters most is that you keep listening to your playing, and stay curious about what it might need next.
