The practice schedule of the supervirtuosos

[sevencircles]

I recently read that Marc-André Hamelin only practice for apr. 3 hours a day.

I bet he must have practiced twice as much a day as a kid to be as good as he is today.

I also heard that Martha Argerich sometimes goes a month without even touching the piano.

In hear youth she had even longer breaks.

There must be many of the virtuosos that have got carpal tunnel as a result  from too much practice.

[pianistimo]

awadigan pratt used to play tennis more than practice the piano.  but, when he decided to become a concert pianist - i think he switched it around. 

sometimes i wonder if it is a mad rush for some because of teaching schedules and endless paperwork.  may a couple of weeks of 5-8 hour days?  i don't know.  whatever it takes, maybe?  suppose that having the repertoire in your grasp makes things easier than starting from scratch on everything.  perhaps the 8-10 hour days were the norm when they were in school themselves and had the time.

[contrapunctus]

Many virtuosos know how to practice efficiently, so they don't have to practice more than a couple hours daily. (there are many secrets to practicing more efficiently, I would recommend CC's book)

[crazy for ivan moravec]

the virtuosos usually don't need a lot of practice in order to perform. we have to consider that most of them had learned the basic repertoire when they were still young, played those pieces numerously all their concert lives, and so everything is in their head... they just need to review them once in a while.

the young ones i would guess practice more, although we also have the gifted ones who dont practice that much too. the young ones build repertoire and building repertoire means not only learning as much music but also performing those works in public often. everytime one performs a certain piece in public, it grows in a pianist. it becomes almost like he breathes it, it's in his system.

but basically, everything's in their head: those passages, chord progressions, fingerings, leaps, technical stuffs, etc. when they get back to it, it's easy.

[musicsdarkangel]

this is interesting...

I wonder about this stuff a lot.

[invictus]

Efficiency all the way, practicing over 3 hours is useless
I practise 45 minutes a day, does that make me a supervirtuosO?

[zheer]

3 hours sound good, but all day long sounds better. If you can practice all day long but with loads of rest from time to time you will get max result. Dont bother counting the hours make piano playing a way of life. I dont know why i said that am not exactly a supervituosos.

[thracozaag]

Just about every pianist out there lies regarding how much they practice.

koji

[thalbergmad]

Just about every pianist out there lies regarding how much they practice.

koji

I guess it sounds good to say "I practise 12 hours a day"

12 hours a week for me.

[stevie]

I guess it sounds good to say "I practise 12 hours a day"

12 hours a week for me.

its the other way round, they often tell that theyve done fewer than they actually have

[crazy for ivan moravec]

when i practiced for, say, 4 hours, i feel that i worked for only 2 hours, hehe. probably because the number of hours which was good practise was only 2.

but i'd probably end up saying "i practised for 3 hours today" because only 2 hours of that was important for me to remember, but at the same time, i wouldn't wanna tell people that i practiced for only 2 hours that day. 

in that light, i agree with Koji saying every pianist lies about how much they practise, hehe.

[pianistimo]

i'm not a concert pianist YET, but i also have lost track of time and have to guesstimate.  usually, i am reminded by the parking lot sign that says something about towing after midnight.  i'll pop in and out of the practice room, looking at the clock, like a cuckoo.  i am surprised at how distracted one can get by music if you forget time altogether.  when my back is good - and i have an unusual day where i don't have to be home to cook dinner (used to take wednesdays to go to class and practice) it frees my mind not to even bother looking at the clock until it gets to be late at night.

i think what's on my mind more than practice length is 'will i get locked into this building and have to sleep here overnight?'  of course, i don't always have this opportunity to practice so much - but when i do - i make friends with the custodians.  the only time i started fearing for my life was when a band of 'it sounded' gang members took over the band room.  i turned off the lights and left when it was convenient to not be noticed (after finishing a piece).

[gruffalo]

i wish i had a lot more time to practice. i have to concentrate on my singing while i also start an engineering degree next year. when my voice fully matures, im going to a conservatoire. but time is so limited for me. i play tennis 3 times a week too, but i guess i cant do everthing for much longer.

[cfortunato]

In the first place, there is obviusly a great difference between playing and practicing.  I can play all day, but when it comes to practice, I feel wiped after two hours, and it's usually an hour.  Or even a half an hour. (I consider it important to do SOME practice absolutely every day.  One hour for four days in a row is much better than four hours every four days.)

I read about people practicing for 6 hours a days, and I don't how they do it.  Not because I don't know how they find the free time - I don't know how they avoid total exhaustion.

[pianistimo]

you're right about playing and practicing.  i kind of divide up my time and make the practice first, then just playing, then sightreading, and then i turn the lights off and just try to relax and play what i know from memory.  my hands don't tend to get tense and tired (thanks to several teachers help) but my eyes get sore.  having the lights off makes it much better at the end.  when you think about it though, even if you are just playing - it helps you maintain finger-memory - even if your brain starts shutting off.

[sevencircles]

The Norwegian pianist Leif-Ove Andsnes didn´t start to play the piano seriously until he was 18 years old.

He wish he started earlier  since he had to practice a lot as an adult to be able to play what he wanted (often over 8 hours a day)

An early start is very important.

I wonder who practice the most and the least of the supervirtuosos?

[arpeggiosnake]

Adolph Von Henselt practiced 18 hours each day.

I think Liszt spent a 8 hours per day during a month in order to learn Beethoven´s Hammerkalvier.

It is true that Richter learned by memory both books of WTC in 55 days?

[mephisto]

Adolph Von Henselt practiced 18 hours each day.

I think Liszt spent a 8 hours per day during a month in order to learn Beethoven´s Hammerkalvier.

Not true. Read these books: Alan Walker, Liszt the virtouso years(also if you are more interested read volume 2 and 3)

-da Meph

[kreso]

It is true that Richter learned by memory both books of WTC in 55 days?

I just read the book called Richter:Enigma, and it's true that he learned Bach in just 2 months!
He also learned Rachmaninov 2nd Concerto in 7 days, Prokofiev 7th Sonata in just 4days..
He learned very quickly, usualy he learned one sonata by Haydn in one week..

But, of course, he practiced a lot..

[pita bread]

The Norwegian pianist Leif-Ove Andsnes didn´t start to play the piano seriously until he was 18 years old.

He wish he started earlier  since he had to practice a lot as an adult to be able to play what he wanted (often over 8 hours a day)

An early start is very important.

Yes, I wish I had taken piano seriously early on. I started caring maybe last year for some absurd reason unknown to me and I'm dying now trying to finish my audition repertoire.

[pita bread]

I just read the book called Richter:Enigma, and it's true that he learned Bach in just 2 months!
He also learned Rachmaninov 2nd Concerto in 7 days, Prokofiev 7th Sonata in just 4days..
He learned very quickly, usualy he learned one sonata by Haydn in one week..

But, of course, he practiced a lot..

Now the true test would be whether that involved memory or not.

[arensky]

Now the true test would be whether that involved memory or not.

Probably, Richter was not an ordinary person. This man was a real genius.

[aspiramente]

I just read the book called Richter:Enigma, and it's true that he learned Bach in just 2 months!
He also learned Rachmaninov 2nd Concerto in 7 days, Prokofiev 7th Sonata in just 4days..
He learned very quickly, usualy he learned one sonata by Haydn in one week..

But, of course, he practiced a lot..

When you say "learned" do you mean ready to perform in public?

Because if you just mean memorising and getting the peices under your hands, I don't think that is particularly fast.
I dont think I can memorise particularly fast, but I did the wanderer fantasie in a week and usually do a sonata movement in say 5 hours (depends on how complex the harmony is). I know a handful of people that are much faster than me also.


I think memorisation is like running. The more you do it, the faster you get.

[bearzinthehood]

I think memorisation is like running. The more you do it, the faster you get.

So many reasons why this is true.

[gruffalo]

i dont learn to memorize, the piece is just in my head by the time i have finished learning it. singing i have to memorize but only because there are words to learn.

[aspiramente]

i dont learn to memorize, the piece is just in my head by the time i have finished learning it. singing i have to memorize but only because there are words to learn.

 Do you actually know it properly though? can you pick it up from any bar without the music?

I find that I cant even begin to learn a peice until it is memorised. Then I work on it. I hate having to read. I find I have way more technical issues with peices I dont memorise straight away because Im not paying attention to my technique from the beginning.

I also find it difficult to come up with a good interpretation of the peice if I am still trying to read the music.

[jas]

Adolph Von Henselt practiced 18 hours each day.

I read that, too. Apparently when people came to visit him he would sit and play on his silent keyboard while they were talking.

Yes, I wish I had taken piano seriously early on.

Me too. But I didn't want piano lessons in the first place, I was nagged into them.

Jas

[gruffalo]

Do you actually know it properly though? can you pick it up from any bar without the music?

I find that I cant even begin to learn a peice until it is memorised. Then I work on it. I hate having to read. I find I have way more technical issues with peices I dont memorise straight away because Im not paying attention to my technique from the beginning.

I also find it difficult to come up with a good interpretation of the peice if I am still trying to read the music.

there are some places where i cant pick it up straight away but is that necessary if i can already perform it on stage without screwing up? this is how i have done things all through my piano playing and i have never screwed up the memory part, nor has it been the centre of my nerves.

[aspiramente]

there are some places where i cant pick it up straight away but is that necessary if i can already perform it on stage without screwing up? this is how i have done things all through my piano playing and i have never screwed up the memory part, nor has it been the centre of my nerves.

well I suppose if your muscular memory is infalliable then you don't need to, but it is extremely unusual to say the least!

When I was younger, my muscular memory was awesome and I could play anything infront of anyone without hesitation but now that I am more musically aware I am more nervous. I guess when I was younger I really didn't understand the difference between a proffesional pianist and an amateur.

Not saying you are amateur or musically unaware, thats just how I was when I could play proficiently in public without thorough memorisation.

 

[gruffalo]

well I suppose if your muscular memory is infalliable then you don't need to, but it is extremely unusual to say the least!

When I was younger, my muscular memory was awesome and I could play anything infront of anyone without hesitation but now that I am more musically aware I am more nervous. I guess when I was younger I really didn't understand the difference between a proffesional pianist and an amateur.

funnily enough my memory of physics and maths is appauling, and my general memory in life. in terms of nerves, i get hideously nervous, uncontrollably nervous. its just that my nerves and fear of not remembering the piece, its the fact that the big parts of the piece will just fall apart. thats my fear, and i am really not cool on stage. all the adjudicators that have judged me since afer i turned 12 have pointed out the fact that i am not confident on stage. my fingers shake too much, and whats worse, people say that after the first piece or first few minutes they are ok, but my nerves carry on right through to the end. i just read arenskys posts on nerves, and i am going to use his advice next time.

[kreso]

When you say "learned" do you mean ready to perform in public?

I want to say that Richter played that pieces IN PUBLIC!!

He often didn't have a lot of time to learn some piece..

[brewtality]

I want to say that Richter played that pieces IN PUBLIC!!

He often didn't have a lot of time to learn some piece..

Still, how well did he play them? Rubinstein used to learn pieces in the morning and perform them in the evening, leaving out 30% of the notes in the process. I'd imagine the same would hold true for Richter.