Possible reasons for frequent stops while playing?

[radiant]

Hi to the forum, I am quite new and I've browsed some of the topics, but they're so many! So, I suppose the problem has already been discussed, but I haven't been able to find where. Here it goes.
I must say that till now I've always been self-taught with the piano. Unfortunately. But in a couple of months I should start regular lessons. Anyway it's about 1 year and a half of playing. Now my greatest question is: why 95% of the times that I play I cannot finish the piece without hangin' up and stopping at least one time, on error and even without error? This also happens with technique, and it's very frustrating doing elementary and short exercises and not being able to repeat many of them more than 6-7 times. Not to speak about the pieces! While doing a fair good work HS, going HT messes it up.
So my question is: what are the possible reasons for this? And, of course, I would be glad to know some possible solutions.
(I know that this will probably get OK when I'll take lessons. But, while waiting for this moment, is there something I can do to improve my situation?)
Thanks for your kind suggestions and excuse me for my poor/bad English (I am Italian speaking!). Hope anyway to be clear enough.

Lorenzo

[allthumbs]

Greetings

What I would suggest and it has been suggested in this forum before, is that if you make a mistake or have a lapse in concentration that causes a break in the continuity of the piece, don't stop playing to correct the mistake.

Keep going until the piece is finished, then go back and work on the specific spots(s) where the breaks occurred.

By stopping every time this occurs, you are reinforcing the mistake and/or habit.

Make sure that you play a couple of bars before and after the part you are working on so that it will transition better into the piece.

I hope that helps.

Anyone have anything else to add?


Cheers

allthumbs

[debussy symbolism]

Greetings.

It depends on what kind of pieces or technique you are having trouble on. Post the pieces that you are working on. As for the stoppings, it may be because you arent using the wrist enough, or the incorrect hand postitions, or maybe just that the notes aren't secured. Post the specific pieces and the place where you have trouble on. Hope this helps.  

[debussy symbolism]

Also, pick out the particular sections and just repeat them until it is mastered.

[landru]

I am the same level as you and I have the same problem. The cause of it is almost always going too fast for my experience with the piece. You have to make yourself go only as fast as you can play it without mistakes. Remember, when you are practicing your fingers don't necessarily know as much as your brain - in other words your fingers learn the mistakes as much as they do the correct playing.

When I make myself slow down, I invariably become more proficient. I also isolate the parts that trip me up and really hammer them down - I've already demonstrated I can handle the piece without the trip-up parts, so why practice them as much as the difficult parts?

Also, there are numerous discussions in this forum about practicising efficiently - try searching for them!

[ryan2189]

You mentioned that your trouble is when you start HT. Don't worry if it is difficult at first, for it will get better, and, for those certain sections you are still having difficulty with, go back and repeat HS first (maybe 6 or 7 times withou mistakes) once that's easy, then go back to HT and, as allthumbs had said, make sure to add a couple of bars before and after so that it transitions smoothly.

[tac-tics]

No one practice session -- regardless of how long it is -- will teach you to play a piece without flubs.

However, keep at it and try for as few as possible each time. Over time, they will gradually disappear.

[radiant]

First of all, thanx for the very warm welcome and the quick and interesting replies to my topic!!! It's a good sensation to be surrounded by many "piano fans" like you!

Greetings.

It depends on what kind of pieces or technique you are having trouble on. Post the pieces that you are working on. As for the stoppings, it may be because you arent using the wrist enough, or the incorrect hand postitions, or maybe just that the notes aren't secured. Post the specific pieces and the place where you have trouble on. Hope this helps. 

Mmmm... let me see...
TECHNIQUE
Used to try with Hanon, but now I use it only for warm-up. To practise ice-cold technique, better return to the simplest and boring Schmitt's opus 16 exercises: at least I can control if the single movements are correct!
Studies are a thorn in my side. I found Czerny always very hard. Better with Duvernoy. But I do very little studies at this moment. Maybe is this THE error?
Scales 2 octaves parallel motion, at around 128 bpm, more or less depending on the difficulty. Arpeggios even 2 octaves, but quite slow and always HS, for the moment.
PIECES
- 23 Bach easy pieces' anthology (many Little Preludes, for example)
- Mozart famous "Easy" Sonata in C maj
- Haydn: Sonata in E maj and (attributed to Haydn) A maj
- Bach's 2-parts inventions no. 1 (C maj), 3 (D maj) and 4 (D min)
- a couple of easy pieces by Italian harpsichordists

Till now, technically only working with the fingers.

Lorenzo

[pekko]

Do you know how to join hands together properly? Dropping notes is a good technique. Take a look at here: https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,1651.msg14344.html#msg14344

[alzado]

I can think of a couple of things --

if you do not have a developed "sense" of where they keys are under your fingers, and thus have to look back and forth from your hands to the music, this could cause a stop.  Essentially, what happens is that you lose your place. 

As has been mentioned, starting too fast. 

If you practice sections of a longer piece, the "seams" where you either begin or end in the mid-piece could be the occasion of hesitations or stops.

Hope this helps --

[radiant]

Well, all the suggestions are good and I thank you all for them! I'll try to practise with some of them and to pass the difficulties, almost on the easiest pieces; then probably if I'll acquire a good method, there's a possibility that it works even on growing levels of difficulty. Or not?
Anyway, trying to study even more time HS seems to give me more control even on the pieces that I simply read HT. In particular, I found in another post an expecially working "golden rule": speed HT = (more or less) 70% speed HS. I must confess that I'm pretty sure I'll go confused when I'll try to dramatically increase speed on Bach's Inventions; but it sounds amazing, since the musical material is one of the best.
Any specific suggestion on the Studies' part?
Thanx again & thanx in advance for further replies.

Lo'