Bad practicing?

[elisianna]

I never used to have very much time to practice.  I worked bad schedules and so when I had time I would sit down and practice between one and two hours every day.  I always watched the clock and always stopped after two hours.  I didn't really set goals for myself every week it was more like, whatever CAN get done in two hours a day WILL get done, but it doesn't really matter.  I had very bad practicing habits and it took me forever to learn anything!

After quitting my old job I got a new one.  I have a lot more time.  I no longer watch the clock and have set goals for every week, I don't always meet them but I sure try my hardest.  Thing is, after a practice session I feel exhausted, dizzy, and like I didn't do nearly as much as I could have.  I'll sit at the keyboard for four hours straight before realizing that the time has gone by.  I can tell when I've been going for too long because I mess up on things that I could do easily early on, I can't even read the music because my eyes mess up. XD  Worst of all, I don't think that all this practicing is as efficient as it could be.

I've heard it would be better to just practice for a couple minutes a day (some people say ten minute sections!) several times a day.  I don't know if I could do that.  I get too into it, and I'm too used to just practicing for a long time.  I thought of maybe trying half an hour at a time, but that doesn't work most days. u.u

Does anybody have any suggestions for me?  I want to be more efficient and I don't want to feel so drained and braindead after practicing. (what is with that anyway?)

Thanks in advance

[debussy symbolism]

Greetings.

Perhaps you are distracted during practice because of either you are stressed from your daily life, or from the material that you are learning. My suggestion is, always approach practicing in a calm, non distracted way, and don't try to cram in the repertoire in a time limit. Practice enough so that you get something done. Devote some time to practicing only several things, but not all. It is overwhelming to practice all things at once. Lets say that in a practice session of lets say 30 minutes, you could work on technical material such as etudes, and then a piece. Next practice session, some other pieces and things like scales, arpeggios, etc. I don't put all of my pieces at once into a single session, I divide them. Practice only that time that you need to. Hope this helps.

[debussy symbolism]

Clarify on your repertoire. In your other post you said that you are above grade 8, which is impressive, meaning that you should know on how to practice, or is it just now that you run into stress problems. How many pieces are you working on right now?

[debussy symbolism]

Are you new to this forum? I am sorry that I haven't congested all of these messages in one post.

[debussy symbolism]

A lot also depends on how you progress. If you accomplish your pieces in your own practice regime, then it is okay. If you start to not accomplish as much because of your practice regime, then you need to practice properly. Hope this helps. Again I'm sorry that I haven't put all of these messages under one post.

[alzado]

It seems to me that the way you lose track of time while practicing is very good.

When I practice, I often get up thinking I have been playing for 15 minutes, only to find that I was playing for more like 45 minutes or an hour.

This seems very good to me, suggesting I really am getting into my playing.

[elisianna]

Clarify on your repertoire. In your other post you said that you are above grade 8, which is impressive, meaning that you should know on how to practice, or is it just now that you run into stress problems. How many pieces are you working on right now?

I'm doing grade 9 RCM which I think is about grade 7 ABRSM.  Right now I'm working on Beethoven's Op. 79 sonata, Brahms waltzes no.'s 4,6,7,8,9, Bach Invention no. 4 (Haha I guess that one is easy XD), Chopin Nocturne in C minor op. posth.  It's a little overwhelming actually. @.@

Anyway, last week I told myself I was going to learn the second movement of the Sonata, because I already know the third. (I'm going backwards >.>) It's not that hard so I learned it.  When I got to my lesson my teacher said that by next lesson he wanted me to play the whole sonata, so I have to learn the first movement this week.  I'm not doing that badly, but I think I could be doing better.

And yes, I am new to forums! (I've mostly done a lot of lurking XD).

Thanks for the comments guys =)

[Bob]

I get exhuasted from practicing sometimes.  Maybe try breaking things up a bit.  Not as much, not as long.  Take many breaks.

[rimv2]

It seems to me that the way you lose track of time while practicing is very good.

When I practice, I often get up thinking I have been playing for 15 minutes, only to find that I was playing for more like 45 minutes or an hour.

This seems very good to me, suggesting I really am getting into my playing.

Depends on how much you get done in the 45 mins.

I would be better IMO to practice 15 in such a way you feel you've practiced 45

[jas]

I'm in a similar position. I have very little time to practice at the moment, so when I do I tend to sit down and play through several things without really practicing anything, until I run out of time or exhaust myself, whichever happens first. I don't really think it's getting me anywhere. I'm progressing much more slowly than I used to. But I don't want to spend what little practice time I have running through scales and arpeggios, and repeating the same passages of the same pieces over and over again until I get them right. I've accepted that as long as I don't regress I'm happy to put my piano progress on hiatus, until a time when I can focus on it again.

Sorry, that doesn't really reply to your post ... I was just thinking out loud (so to speak). But I would agree with those who have said that "little and often" is probably the best approach -- that's true for many things in life, so I suppose it makes sense that piano practice would be the same.

Jas

[elisianna]

Thanks for the replies and suggestions!  I think I will start trying to practice a little while at a time... I'm going to have to start developing good practicing techniques. =P  The ones I've been using haven't been that effective...

I have to learn soon though... I don't know if my teacher is CRAZY or something but he told me to start learning Brahms' Intermezzi no. 1 and 2 Op. 118.  According to this website those are grade 8+.  I told him, and he said it was in my grasp.  I'm going to die I think... >.>

[kolmogorov]

Hello

I studied the whole Beethoven Op. 79 Sonata 2 years ago. In my opinion it is wonderful , first and second movements overall. My family, friends, etc. did like much to hear it. It takes time to get a presto tempo in first movement . In my opinion first movement is usually played a little too fast in professional recordings. Last movement should be played quite fast , also IMHO.

I also studied Brahms' Intermezzo Op.118 nº2 in A major, the same year. It is one of the most moving, romantic  and marvelous work I've ever heard.

I think it can be "easier" than the Beethoven Sonata (Charles Rosen wrote in a book that first mvt of the Sonata is quite hard to play).

But in the Intermezzo the musical lines, sound, pedalling, etc. are not easy at all.

I am about 7-8 grade, when I studied these pieces I was about 6-7.

For practicing, the best thing you can do is to search Bernhard' posts about dividing the works in small chunks, beginning the study of the piece by the most difficult section, etc.

I've followed Bernhard' ideas and made a lot of progress.


Javier

[elisianna]

Thanks sooo much for the great reply!  I'll do what you suggest =)