I know it seems like a crazy question to ask, but are you practicing too much? Even though the vast majority of piano students don’t practice enough, there are some that are practicing too much.
I am not suggesting that this happens very often at all, but there are some circumstances where a person is practicing the piano too much and they need to do less, before they can make further progress.
The first possibility of practicing too much, is if playing the piano is causing you pain or your piano playing is exacerbating an existing injury. The pain can happen particularly in your hands and wrists, but it could also have an impact on your neck, back or shoulders. If playing the piano does cause you pain, then I would recommend seeing a doctor or a physiotherapist who can help you resolve or at least manage your pain. If your medical provider recommends stopping altogether for a period of time, then I recommend that listen and do as they suggest, besides when you are healed then you can return to your piano playing.
Another circumstance where you might be practicing too much, is after a period of illness, where you still have a lack of energy. Don’t push your body into a state of exhaustion or relapse. Make sure you look after your health and gradually, bit by bit, get back to playing the piano.
The last circumstance that I think of playing or practicing the piano too much is when you are getting irritated or frustrated with the music that you are learning. If you practice too much in these circumstances is likely that all you are going to accomplish is to increase your levels of frustration or stress. You are also likely to be making absolutely no progress at all. In these situations, which happen to everyone from time to time, is that you practice less, insofar as you make your practices shorter to lessen your levels of frustration or anxiety or whatever. What you can do though, to make up for practicing less, is to practice more frequently. As an example, you could practice for 10 minutes at a time but you could also do 2, 3 or even more practices in the one day.
As someone who has experienced all of the above possibilities when I was a piano student, I can tell you that even though it can seem very counter-intuitive, it is important to look after yourself first because if you don’t you will then cause your progress to slow down further – take it from someone who has been stubborn enough that I had to learn these lessons the hard way.
Sometimes you do need to temporarily take a step or two backwards before you can progress further and be able to play the piano better.