How do you tackle your new pieces?

[gruffalo]

Ok, I am hoping to get different peoples stories on how they tackle new pieces from fresh (not brought back from previous learning).

I am having trouble with learning pieces accurately. my teacher helps me with getting to grips with how the piece should be played, but seems to leave the technical practice with only a bit of advice because she doesnt understand that the last few years my technique was neglected by a not so good teacher (the one i currently have used to be my teacher when i was ages 4-6 but she costs too much, yet some how i win lots of competitions when she teaches me).

I already know that i am a slow learner, because i will spend an hour learning a certain technically demanding  phrase (for example the ritenuto section in chopin ballade no.1)  and i come back later and i cant play it properley. Eventually that phrase after a few months will fall into place but overeall my accuracy in a piece is terrible.

What i would like to know is how you learn technically demanding phrases. For me, i use the metronome and i start at very slow speeds and i move up each click but only when i perfected on that certain speed.

Hopefully this will help others who find learning technical bits difficult, or even give new ideas to those who already do know how.

thanks for readin

Gruff

[lau]

I just go for the gold. I learned the first page of Mazeppa in two days up to speed. Dang.





 

[lagin]

You're sad you learned it in two days??

Edit:  Oh, and yes I use the metronome like that, too, but I often move it up before I should .  I usually memorize right from the beginning.  I usually start memorizing before I even play through the page.

Also, you might not be a slow learner, but maybe you are taking on a few pieces that are just a bit above your learning level?  I don't know.  Just a thought.  Your teacher probably knows best though.

[gruffalo]

no, my teachers have usually given me pieces within my limit. my hardest piece i studied was the Debussy Etude no.1 and my teacher said that the accuracy would just come with time that i dont have because piano isnt my first instrument and i have exams.

however i am now learning Chopin Ballade No.1 along with a few other pieces and i intend to take as long as it takes to learn this piece.

[nicko124]

I am at a stage now with my piano studies that I can learn pieces very accurately (even if it takes a while).
I spend a lot of time trying to figure out the most efficient fingerings and I put a hell of a lot of thought to it in relation to the final performance.

I do spend a very long time trying to get things right (accuracy) and this takes longer for the more difficult piece. However it is better than rushing through only to have to go back later and correct things.

I always focus on getting accurate dynamics last after I can play the passage comfortably.

The metronome technique you mentioned is used by so many people, basically means playing section/s at different speeds - gradually increasing to the correct speeds. I think Liszt also approved of this method as he said a pianist should play a piece at ''Four speeds''. So your most probably on the right track.

[gruffalo]

well, the way i use the metronome is pretty much the only way i can learn diligently as gaining an extra notch on the metronome is like a little reward getting closer to the final thing. i dont really do four different speeds, i just start from really slow and go all the way through the speeds till i reach the desired speed. by that time it is usually in control but i lose it very quickly which makes my overal technique sound scrappy.

[cfortunato]

I spend a half an hour playing it over and over again.  Both hands.  I'm not a very good sight-reader, so reading it is the first major challenge.

Then I go through it one hand at a time, with a pen, and decide fingering.  And I mark off difficult passages.  I DON'T do the metronome thing, what I do is play the hard passages first, and several times, and then go back and play the whole thing.  They way I always play the hard passages more than the rest.

[gruffalo]

now we got a few facts about what people do at the start, anyone want to say what they do in the long term e.g. how long do you keep your piece or certain passages at a slow tempo? how do you learn a whole piece, do you learn page by  page or do you have a certain order in which you do things?

would be nice to know this stuff. hopefully it can help others here aswell.

thanks to those who shared their ideas so far.

[pianistimo]

short term, i used to try to perfect each thing separately (fingering, notes, dynamics, tempo) - but if you take too long on each piece you study - i guess you limit how much repertoire you can study at one time.

now, i feel motivated to try at least three things at once from the beginning.  my teacher does at least five.  this is called microwaving.  of course, not all of us can get the hang of this right away.  at first, i just felt dazed and confused in the lesson because i had to remember so many things and try to do it all at the same time.  but, then - it gradually came to me to be able to at least do two things and then possibly three (albeit in a staggered fashion).

sometimes you CAN cut things out at the beginning, though.  the soft pedal thread is a good example of this.  if you first practice without pedal - you get an idea of what you are capable with without it.  then, you can add the pedal according to the spots you need it.  also, i've learned that you don't always have to damper all the way down.  there's a little spot that you can sort of hover around (with minimal foot movement) and occasionally touch the una chorda for the nuances that you might mix with a passage or visa-versa (heavier on the una chorda and lighter on the damper)

perhaps the long term plan is adding the 'details' that come to you as you play the piece more and more.  experimenting with tempos, dynamics, interpretations, notes that you bring out, and in general getting a 'feel' for what you interpret the piece to mean to you.  i always thought of long term as a year.  my teacher probably thinks of it as a month.  never think too long term or you'll procrastinate.  i think he's always thinking of the next recital - which is motivating to learn quickly and move on to another piece.  we need audiences that will listen to our best performance (even if it is only 2 pages from memory ) after a month and keep trying to 'beat the clock.'

[cfortunato]

I work on it in sections, and usually do it backwards, because the later parts of the piece aren't as smooth as the early parts, and I try to counteract that by practicing the later sections first.

Ideally, I practice a piece (as someone said on here)  not until  you can play it well, but until you can't play it poorly.  But I often drop them before that, just cause I want to do something else.  I tend to only go that far with piece I am genuinely enamored of.

[gruffalo]

ok this is good stuff. i hope to use this when i get back to my practice after exams.