I must be a piano failure

[sassafras]

Y'all practice so precisely. I always played pieces in toto and butchered them at the start and kept going till I got them perfect. My piano teacher tried to get be to play right hand first, left hand and break out majors and stanzas, but I always bit off the whole piece.
The initial playing may not be pretty but I always manage to get to ge musical prize.

I also work on 15-20 pieces at once, not just one or two.

Does anyone else play like this?

[ramseytheii]

Y'all practice so precisely. I always played pieces in toto and butchered them at the start and kept going till I got them perfect. My piano teacher tried to get be to play right hand first, left hand and break out majors and stanzas, but I always bit off the whole piece.
The initial playing may not be pretty but I always manage to get to ge musical prize.

I also work on 15-20 pieces at once, not just one or two.

Does anyone else play like this?

I think Richter did.  He said somewhere that he practiced a piece - well, a passage - "over and over" until he got it right.  He said his practicing habit bordered on stupidity, but that is what he did.  And clearly, he was no sloth when it came to learning new pieces.

But I think you differ from him in that, according to him at least, he didn't bite off big chunks, but didn't leave a page until he had mastered the passages on it.  He might have even said every bar, I have to review (in the Monsaingeon book).

Walter Ramsey

[daniloperusina]

I always thought separate hands was a bit silly.
Not to mention unmusical!
I always do the whole piece, then separate hands if necessary, to refine places.
Exception is pieces of monstrous difficulty.

[rimv2]

I always thought separate hands was a bit silly.
Not to mention unmusical!
I always do the whole piece, then separate hands if necessary, to refine places.
Exception is pieces of monstrous difficulty.

It's how Ah learn mah first waltz. Without it ah would have been doomed to try to figure out how on earth one manages to play jumping chords in one hand and a melody in the other.

Then again Ah was 16 when Ah started, so it might be possible that someone younger could manage hands together more gracefully.

[daniloperusina]

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[rimv2]

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Well that's just rude

 


 

[daniloperusina]

I made a joke, but me joking in english is just not funny...

[forzaitalia250]

I play like this sometimes, but I've found it to be ineffective in some cases because I tend to become satisfied with just hearing the melody sound right and disregard the bad parts. However, when I've taken my time and not jumped up to speed to quickly I've found it works.

The only advice I have for you (not that I follow it myself) is that if you have 30 days to learn a piece and there's 30 mistakes in it, if you play the song fixing one a day, each mistake becomes progressively harder to fix because you've ingrained (sp?) it in your brain wrong one more day than the last.

[ramseytheii]

I always thought separate hands was a bit silly.
Not to mention unmusical!
I always do the whole piece, then separate hands if necessary, to refine places.
Exception is pieces of monstrous difficulty.

People tend to play unmusically when asked to separate parts.  But any part (voice) should be played as musically as if you were playing the whole texture, when you isolate it.  If you can't do that, you have problems.  The same with pedal: when students are asked to play without pedal, very often the playing becomes totally inexpressive and uninteresting.  You have to be able to play beautifully without pedal, as well as with pedal.

I think generally speaking, people learn from a physical standpoint first and foremost: they remember what it feels like to push down the pedal, to play all the voices at once with usually just the top voice shining through, and disregarding the others.  They don't learn from a musical standpoint, by which I mean, the content of the music itself: the natural shape without help from the pedal; realizing the beauty of all the parts, not just the melody; learning it in a detailed, thorough, intimate way, rather than as one physical blob.

Walter Ramsey

[rimv2]

Y'all practice so precisely. I always played pieces in toto and butchered them at the start and kept going till I got them perfect. My piano teacher tried to get be to play right hand first, left hand and break out majors and stanzas, but I always bit off the whole piece.
The initial playing may not be pretty but I always manage to get to ge musical prize.

I also work on 15-20 pieces at once, not just one or two.

Does anyone else play like this?

Ah the irony

[daniloperusina]

People tend to play unmusically when asked to separate parts.  But any part (voice) should be played as musically as if you were playing the whole texture, when you isolate it.  If you can't do that, you have problems. 

It might seem like I'm contradicting myself now, but I agree with every word you say.
My point came from another angle, something about the piano as an instrument. An instrument that is played with two hands, and to get to the point where it is absolutely natural to do so. And that doesn't contradict what you say, since it also means a sort of natural, instinctive polyphony, where all the voices are played with good expression and understanding almost at once.

But a serious preparation of any piece will mean to look much closer at the music, thinking harder about every detail, the whole etc, and will include working on individual voices.
And usually, even the simplest waltz accompaniment or alberti bass has something to say.

And none of the above is intended to imply that I'm a particularly brilliant pianist or anything.

[ramseytheii]

It might seem like I'm contradicting myself now, but I agree with every word you say.
My point came from another angle, something about the piano as an instrument. An instrument that is played with two hands, and to get to the point where it is absolutely natural to do so. And that doesn't contradict what you say, since it also means a sort of natural, instinctive polyphony, where all the voices are played with good expression and understanding almost at once.

But a serious preparation of any piece will mean to look much closer at the music, thinking harder about every detail, the whole etc, and will include working on individual voices.
And usually, even the simplest waltz accompaniment or alberti bass has something to say.

And none of the above is intended to imply that I'm a particularly brilliant pianist or anything.

I'm sure you're fine

Walter Ramsey

[sassafras]

Some pieces come tgether in 2 or three playings and some take months...I always have trouble thinking stacatto in one hand and legato in the other . Some days nothings comes together and  two days ago  just about everything in the encyclopedia of classics came together ... even  pieces 2 levels above what I have been working on ... kinetic memory, of course. 

[j_mars]

You know if you enjoy what you do then it really doesn't matter how you play. I play around 8 peices at once and i manage it fine. With my cello i play around 30-40 peices at once. It really depends how you practice. Everyone plays and practices differently and the way you choose to practice will (most of the time) work the best for you. If you are finding that your peices aren't going too well then perhaps you should cut down a bit and concentrate on several differnet peices. Find some interesting composers and you will have a very interesting and exciting repitoir for people to listen too. Also you will gain alot of experiance.

Hope everything goes well!!
 

  J
 

[pelajarpiano]

It's fine to pratice many pieces at once if you can do that. It's very boring to learn just one pieces every day.

[chopinfan_22]

I currently do not have a teacher, and right now I'm trying to learn three pieces from Anna Magdalena's Notebook, three Mozart Minuets, the first two pieces from Burgmuller's Progressive Studies, the Spinning Song by Elmenreich, and Solfeggietto by CPE Bach. That's... 10 pieces? But at the same time, I learned all the notes in the Spinning Song in less than 45 minutes and now I'm just working on memorization and making absolute certain I'm using proper dynamics, etc. I almost have the first Burgmuller study learned, two of the mozart minuets are almost learned, as well as two of the pieces from AM's Notebook. It all depends on if you can handle the pieces.

When I practice, I take a chunk of the music, say... the first two lines until the repeat in one of the minuets, do hands separate to get a feel for each hand and to learn the notes, then put them together. With the Spinning Song, I did both hands from the start, because the left hand is practically the same throughout the entire piece. Depending on the piece will determine how I approach the music and a way to learn it. However, these pieces are not difficult for me. I've been practicing all of these pieces for about two weeks now, but I don't get to practice very much everyday... only 30 minutes to an hour, along with learning a couple of scales.

[ryanyee]

well im almost exactly like you. i play over 30 pieces actually at once and if im not happy with my playing, i either try to correct it or i throw the scores around the house.

[pelajarpiano]

well im almost exactly like you. i play over 30 pieces actually at once and if im not happy with my playing, i either try to correct it or i throw the scores around the house.

30 pieces?! wow, are you can manage that all? I think it's to much...

Hahaha..maybe you are busy to clean your house everyday after practice,if you like to throw your score.^^

[sborovic]

well im almost exactly like you. i play over 30 pieces actually at once and if im not happy with my playing, i either try to correct it or i throw the scores around the house.

Not true and stupid! One can play WELL only up to 5 pieces at a time.

[nyonyo]

Not true and stupid! One can play WELL only up to 5 pieces at a time.

He may play a one page piece, that is why he can do 30 pieces.

[pelajarpiano]

Not true and stupid! One can play WELL only up to 5 pieces at a time.

It's very impolite to say like that.
it's imposible to play whole of 30 pieces in one day. maybe ryanee just play frist page, and train at some places from the pieces(if it's true).

[db05]

No, I'M a piano failure.

I practice only one piece at a time. I worked on Bach's Minuet in G for one month and woke up one day to realize my tempo was uneven. I have been studying for a year, and I have only two performable pieces, including the one mentioned.

I'm a perfectionist. I'm so fussy, my teachers tell me I think too much.

I still think my minuet is uneven.

[tds]

we have alot in common: we both play the piano, we both are fussy, we both think much, we both play bach, and we both realize that our bach is often uneven.

BUT the difference is that i dont think myself as a piano failure. and you should not! we all try, some master pieces faster, others need abit more time, but eventually it will come. in the end, its the good intention and the best attempts that count more than anything, really.

I have been studying for a year, and I have only two performable pieces, including the one mentioned.

that is a normal situation. and one should not be discouraged by a normal progress. positive thinking is needed instead, and am sure, you can work hard if you put your heart into it.

my tips, you need to be extra careful when reading posts in a piano forum. not too rarely loads and loads of information are false and well exaggerated. all the very best, tds

[db05]

we have alot in common: we both play the piano, we both are fussy, we both think much, we both play bach, and we both realize that our bach is often uneven.

Ack, my connection timed out on me and I have to type all over again. 

I am far from normal. If we have much in common, it must be hard for you. I baffle my teachers despite 20 years of teaching. 

my tips, you need to be extra careful when reading posts in a piano forum. not too rarely loads and loads of information are false and well exaggerated. all the very best, tds

Well, an online forum is an online forum. 
Thanks. 

[tds]

hmm.. hard? well, i never expect things to be so easy all the way. i find alot of things are hard, BUT i live happily. and i hope you are, too ( despite ur decision to be a piano failure, etc). happily yours, tds

[db05]

tds,

I was considering being a piano failure... but meh, I haven't failed just yet. I hope everyone in this forum gets to live happily, despite the differences in practicing.

But then, how do you know what is normal?  How would one know if he is studying too many pieces at a time? Conversely, how would he know if he's dwelling too much one piece? Isn't that the point of this thread??

[tds]

I have been studying for a year, and I have only two performable pieces, including the one mentioned.

i have taught piano more than 15 years. i know what i am talking about.

besides, u sound like a more accomplished student now than i was when i passed my first year of piano studies. i had no performable pieces then, till my second year. tds