motivation problems

[piani0player]

hi everyone,
        :-[how do you motivate yourself to practice ? usually when im practicing some difficult section of a piece ,i start feeling bored very quickly and lose concentration even i like that piece very much .how do i motivate myself to practice and concentrate?

thank you

[BuyBuy]

You have to be extremely concentrated for practicing, especially when it's a hard section. If your mind starts wandering around, you can forget it.

Practice consciously. Don't do a mere and dumb repetition, letting your fingers take over. Your mind needs to be totally involved what you're doing, guiding your motions, improving your touch. Practicing is a rational act. It's not like going to the gym and walking on that machine while you read a book...

Think also of the benefits that you are bringing. Watch how you can play better and better after each repetition, and how it besomes easier for your hands to play. That gives me motivation to go on.

[eddie92099]

You have to be extremely concentrated for practicing, especially when it's a hard section. If your mind starts wandering around, you can forget it.

Practice consciously. Don't do a mere and dumb repetition, letting your fingers take over. Your mind needs to be totally involved what you're doing, guiding your motions, improving your touch. Practicing is a rational act. It's not like going to the gym and walking on that machine while you read a book...

I will sit on the fence here, but let you know that in Charles Rosen's new book, Piano Notes, he contradicts this in it's entirety! He says: Think about other things while practising, since this will make the action of the fingers unconscious allowing the music to be made over the physical action. He even suggests reading a book while practising! But not one which is difficult to read, he recommends detective stories. He also mentioned that one of Liszt's biggest tips to his pupils was to read a book whilst practising, and did this himself!
Ed

[BuyBuy]

Well, I have to disagree with that view. That's my right, I believe.

Technique is not a pure mechanical matter, but it involves your mind. You need to know what you're doing, or you might not get the right results. Like Hanon, I think it's an excellent book, if you practice it thoughtfully. If you just leave your fingers, they'll go crazy, and you can harm yourself. But you need to be concentrated, listening to the sound you make, getting it more even, feel the relaxation, and so forth.

I think the progress is made quicker with active participation of the mind in the practice process.

[eddie92099]

Maybe that's why Liszt practised 10 hours a day and we get by on less!  :
Seriously though it is interesting to see two completely contrasting views,
Ed

[Hmoll]

I will sit on the fence here, but let you know that in Charles Rosen's new book, Piano Notes, he contradicts this in it's entirety! He says: Think about other things while practising, since this will make the action of the fingers unconscious allowing the music to be made over the physical action. He even suggests reading a book while practising! But not one which is difficult to read, he recommends detective stories. He also mentioned that one of Liszt's biggest tips to his pupils was to read a book whilst practising, and did this himself!
Ed

I've heard this quote before, and I'll have to get this book, so I can read it in context.
In the meantime, I don't think he meant to always practice in this manner.

Usually I will defer to someone of Charles Rosen's experiance, but I find it hard to see what is beneficial about practicing the piano while you read Mickey Spillane. You should endeavor to maintain as much concentrations as possible when you practice.

Performing for an audience is an imitation and extension of what you practice. In addition to learning the notes, dynamics, phrasing, articulation, etc., you are learning and maintaining the ability to concentrate for extended periods of time.  If you have not developed the ability to concentrate in the practice room, you will have a difficult time concentrating in fron of an audience.


PianOPlayer,

One of the ways I motivate myself to practice those difficult sections, is to picture myself on stage performing the piece if I did not practice them enough. That usually gets me over the hump pretty fast.

[piani0player]

thanks to you all.

eddie92099:
that very interesting ,"Think about other things while practising" is that how you practise ?if yes, do you have any improvement?do you think it works? i thing that how i practise for the past 4 months and around 6 hours a day,well i do have some improvement but i think i should improve much more if i concentrate for the whole 6 hours or may be just 3 hours.

what do you think?
Hmoll:
i think that a very good idea ,i will try it now.

thank you

[eddie92099]

i don't practise the way Rosen suggests, I just gave it as an example of conflicting views,
Ed

[la_carrenio2003]

I think you're talking about different stages of the practicing. In the beginning, while you're reading, familiarizing with the structure and discovering what is the technical issue in the piece, you HAVE to be very concentrated,until you learned the thing by heart. After that, you have to play THOUSAND of times for getting the thing into the body, let's say this way. In this stage, you can be distracted and it  doesn't hurt but it was better if you try to focus on the artistic image, on the feelings and even in the physical sensation of playing the thing.