Studying a piece

[nicolaievich]

ok, i am a self-taught pianist basically.
i study with a teacher for three years, but that was almost seven years ago. after that i gon on playing, but not studying, and some days ago i start looking for some czerny etudes from op.299 because my fingers were kind of rigids. i did very good work with these etudes, but then i pick up the book of chopin's nocturnes, and i chose one of my favourites, op.27 no.2, and i don't know what to do, where to start from. i really forgot how to study a piano piece. what shall i do? i need some help! 

[grazioso]

if you managed with the czerny etudes and you worked well with that then i think that you should stusy the nocturne in a similar way. I think Etudes should be treated as pieces anyway to a certain extent. but anyway i think if you like the piece then jus spend some time playing it through to get back into learning repetoire and then perfect it later.....everyone has different styles of learning though do just try and do what you think is best for you

[TheHammer]

Although you indeed have to find your own personal way in the end, you should still try to PLAN learning a piece to do this as effectively as possible. The good news is, someone already did this for you... or at least gave you the blue print:

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,4797.msg45744.html#msg45744
https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,2255.msg19129.html#msg19129
https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,2526.msg21829.html#msg21829

These are all generally on "practicing".
This one here is more on-topic:
https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,2615.msg22522.html#msg22522
https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,2864.msg25252.html#msg25252
(how everyone in the forum practices!)
https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,3833.msg34775.html#msg34775
(piece analysis)

I am sure there are more.

My normal approach (right now) is, to get at least an overview of the piece. Either by listening to at least 3 different recordings or by sight-reading throught it (depends on the difficulty). Then and parellel to this I will analize the piece (as good as I can). Formal, harmonically, thematically, rhytmically. How does every passage affect me (works much better with a recording) - can I already say what might be a good "interpretation" of the piece? And if so, how will I be able to bring this interpretation out?
Then fingering. Noticing all the dynamics, phrase marks, pedal marks, articulation marks (requires sometime investigation - which ornamentation to use, etc.). Search Piano Street for useful advice. Figuring out where the most difficult passages are.

Going to the piano. Figuring out how to play the most difficult passage and simultaneously how to get the effects I want. HS or HT depends on difficulty. Pedal or not from the beginning as well. But dynamics and phrasing are normally already implemented in my practice from the start.
Depending on time and length of piece, sight-reading through the rest of it (carefully) and looking for passages I might be able to "just play" - normally I will not practice these then.
Etc.

Also, specify what you mean by "study". Do you want to say "practice" or "analyze"?

anyway. Must go now. Use the search function for more.

[nicolaievich]

thank you for the advices, they made me remember some ways to study. with "study" i mean play the piece, at good level, with all details.
i will take a look at that posts, and go for the nocturne! 

[alzado]

At risk of saying something unpopular, I really do think a person should NOT begin a new piece by listening repeatedly to CDs of professionals playing the piece. 

This poster then says that he/she goes on to contemplate an appropriate "interpretation" of the piece.

Surely, at this point he/she has "burned in" to memory the professional's particular interpretation, right or wrong.  Where's the possibility at this point of any exploration of the music? 

There's little chance anymore of finding one's way to one's own playing of the piece.

Not meaning to offend --  I have raised this issue before --

[grazioso]

Yeh, i completely agree. Although it may be good to get a feel of a piece you like, get a feel for overall structure, give SOME interpretation ideas. I don't think overlistening to a piece at a very early stage is advisable, particularly on pieces such as the nocturne which should be about expressing your own interpretation

[jerry xie]

ok, i am a self-taught pianist basically.
i study with a teacher for three years, but that was almost seven years ago. after that i gon on playing, but not studying, and some days ago i start looking for some czerny etudes from op.299 because my fingers were kind of rigids. i did very good work with these etudes, but then i pick up the book of chopin's nocturnes, and i chose one of my favourites, op.27 no.2, and i don't know what to do, where to start from. i really forgot how to study a piano piece. what shall i do? i need some help! 
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when i learn a new piece,i read it over first,then pick the most difficult part to practice first.
i had stopped leaerning piano with my previous teacher for almost 2 years, because i got a serious sick(so i played easy pieces like mozart ,by myself)
now i had a new teacher ,he's soooooooooo good...

[twinkletoesfaery]

I think listening to a recording of the song (CD/teacher) helps a lot.  It gives you an idea of what the general interpretation of the song.  Definitely a must for low-level, self-taught pianists like me. The only pieces that I can play now are ones that I've heard at least 3 times.

[grazioso]

Certainly a variety of performances to listen to is better then listening only to one interpretation.

[twinkletoesfaery]

indeedy!