Back to Bach......

[ralessi]

So im working on the Bach 2nd partita right now.  ANd its friggin driving me nuts...i have never been a good Bach learner, so i was wondering what  eveyrone did to learn/memorize Bach.  I would like to hear the techniques that eveying finds effective in learning baroque music.  Im pretty sure this thread will help others as well as me.  Anyways!  thanks all! 

Cheers!
Ricky

[jeremyjchilds]

With Bach you need to decide wether it is a prelude style, Fugue style, or Dance style work. (most can be fit snugly into those three categories)

Each of these has a different approach, but I usually have the best results (In general with Bach) when i play H.S.  untill mastered (with metronome, with consistent fingering, and at performance tempo)

THen I play H.T with the metronome at 1\4 speed. when I make a mistake for any reason, I decide what the reason was, and then play that section (plus a bar on either end) 5-10X and then move on.  (I may have to play slower or revert back to H.S. for remedial reinforcement)

When I can play the whole song through Perfectly at that speed, I usually try it once at a drastically faster speed (20-30 faster), then drop it down to a speed where I will have about 5-10 problem spots. and that's pretty much it.

The reason this works is that the slow speed emphasizes clarity and accuracy. The fast speeds are thrown in every once in a while to keep things fresh.

For less experienced people, I usually recommend that each phrase is learned indiviually and for experienced pianists, a whole page or a whole song can be learned in this manner.

Take note of which bars challenge you and a reason. Refer back to this at the beginning of the practice session.

[da jake]

Yeesh. I just listen to the recording a bunch of times, learn the notes, and practice them until the piece sounds the way I want.

[jeremyjchilds]

Yeesh. I just listen to the recording a bunch of times, learn the notes, and practice them until the piece sounds the way I want.

How dare you "yeesh" me