Measure by measure, or all at once?

[nightmarecinema]

When you learn a piece, do you play through the whole thing everytime and work it all up to speed, or do you perfect each measure before moving onto the next? I do the latter, though I'm not sure if it's the best way, or if it doesn't matter.

[steinwayguy]

I just sight-read them through once half and tempo and then I have it memorized.

[ada]

I'm not an expert but this works for me and it's based on stuff I've read (mainly Chang):

1.Sight read through two or three times, this gives me an idea of whether or not I'm going to be able to handle the piece and if I like it enough to invest time practising.

2. Start practicing in "chunks". This may be one bar or more, depending on how they hang together. I do the hardest chunks first and keep repeating them until my fingers do what they're supposed to. I also try to have a connecting note between chunks.

3. Put the chunks together and play the piece through trying not to stop. Then I do the same thing with a metronome trying not to stop. I work out the bits I stumble over and go back and do the the chunk thing again at the relevant trouble spots.

4. Then go back to the metronome. Once I can play the piece through acurately with the metronome I get rid of it. (the metronome, not the piece). That's when the fun starts, and I can get into the music of the work as opposed to just the notes.

It's recommended that you memorise as you go along but I'm hopeless at that.

cheers
ada

[jazz_man]

Ya,  I sort of practice it phrase by phrase and then try and play them together slowly.

[kelly_kelly]

Mostly I agree with Ada. I sight read the entire piece HT (or most of it) under tempo to see if it's at my level. Then I practice the difficult parts in each hand repeatedly. Then, when I think I have the whole piece HS, I practice HT (slightly under tempo). Finally, I bring the piece up to speed.