Restarting Practice

[emerson56]

Hi, I have played piano for about three years under a teacher, but I had to discontinue lessons because of scheduling issues and overwhelming schoolwork. I am trying to start playing again during my free time at school, but still do not have the time for lessons. When I did play, I managed to teach myself a few pieces, the most challenging being the 3rd movement of the Moonlight Sonata, but now my technique is not quite as strong and neither is my sight reading. I was wondering if anyone had any advice on how to improve my studies on my own, including my sight reading, in the limited time I have. I was also wondering if there are ways to revitalize my fingers and my technique quickly with only about an hour of practice a day.

[alzado]

If I were you, I would spend quite a bit of that available time researching the repertoire out there.

There are many composers who have produced "bushels" of works for piano.  Some would probably suit your needs excellently.

When you talk about great effort into learning Mov. 3 of Moonlight Sonata, I ask myself, what is your motive?

Do you have the (wrong) concept that if you play a very difficult work in a half-baked manner, this is progress?

Why not try playing a number of shorter, less-demanding works, just getting a sense of the piano and exploring the great world of piano music waiting for you?

You will only learn what is available to play unless you set aside time to research the available music.  You do not have a teacher to supply you with assignments any more.

[lagin]

Okay, I am going nuts!  Why does everyone, not just you , think that if someone plays the third movement of the Moonlight, then they are automatically hacking it ?  We have some great, advanced pianists on this board.  And even if they are not great, an advanced pianist can still play this.  No, I don't play it, but my teacher does, and she does a great job of it.  She learned it when she was my age - 20.

[lostinidlewonder]

I was wondering if anyone had any advice on how to improve my studies on my own, including my sight reading, in the limited time I have. I was also wondering if there are ways to revitalize my fingers and my technique quickly with only about an hour of practice a day.

An hour a day. If you can do that why can't you get a teacher? People who have NO time to spend any time of the week usually do not have a teacher. But if you can have 1 hour per day every day there is no reason why you cannot have a lesson with a teacher, at least that way your practice will be better organised.

As for general advice I would say get yourself reading a lot SIMPLER music and playing it at tempo, don't stop if you make mistakes or look at your hands, stare at the sheet neglecting rhythm and dynamics as you play. Maintain effective fingering as much as possible, if a string of notes is rising or falling prepare the hand for it and knit different patterns comfortably together with good fingering.  Doing this continually should increase the speed of your reading. To increase your accuracy take out harder music, play at a super slow tempo (move only when you definatly know where to go), neglect rhythm and dynamics.

If you are on your own choose things that are easy to start with. Do not give yourself difficult projects because you might simply flounder about with it for months and months wasting time. What to choose? I would say most definatly BACH has to be in the picture, the ultimate sightreading/playing resource.

[emerson56]

Thanks for the advice. Any specific Bach pieces you might recommend, I know a few easier fugues, but that's about it. The reason I can't get a teacher during that one hour is because I am practicing in school, I have no available afterschool time that would be convenient for any teacher. No music teachers at my schools will give private lessons in piano.

[m1469]

Hi emerson,

You can do quite a bit with an hour each day !  I will give you my recommendations on time management, as well as pieces that you might want to look at.

An hour can be split into three 15 minute sessions with 5 minute breaks in between.  Pick three pieces to work on at once, one for each time slot in your practice schedule.  There are a few different ways to approach the "kinds" of pieces that you work on, stylistically as well as degree of difficulty.  I would recommend picking pieces that you can have learned and memorized within 2 weeks to a month (this means shorter pieces for a while).  The point would be to cycle through a lot of repertoire, for the purpose of being exposed to lots of musical shapes and patterns, keeping yourself stimulated, and grasping a better feel for what is out there repertoire-wise. 

There are variations on the above recommendation, for example, you could choose one longer piece that might take 2-3 months to get through using only 15 minutes per day, one medium piece that takes about a month, and an even shorter piece that truly only takes about 1 or 2 weeks.  This variation is still styled to expose you to lots of different shapes and patterns and a broader repertoire in general.   You can imagine other variations, I am sure.

When you have chosen your pieces, I recommend that you be systematic about how you work on them.  Take the same steps with each piece :

1.  Number all of the measures so you have a better idea on how much you have to work with.

2.  Look for repeated patterns (this cuts down on practice time).

3.  Find each phrase and phrase segments (sometimes subjective).  Otherwise, find chunks of measures that make sense to you as a section.

4.  Discern which phrases or patterns, etc. will require more time from you, and work on those first.

5.  Begin working within 15 minute sessions, phrase by phrase, or otherwise chunk by chunk.

The aim is to be able to play the entire phrase or chunk from memory, without mistakes, within the 15 minute time slot (even if you do not remember it by the next day).  If you cannot accomplish this, the piece is too difficult and your time would be better spent on something easier.

Note : My last statement is purely my own subjective opinion, decided strictly from my own perspective on what it means to me to feel like I am making progress within a piece of music using this kind of practice structure.  One measure a day may feel like enough to you, if so, do that.  You will find these things out as you go.

The ideas behind this approach is to have a very high success rate in learning.  During this time confidence is being built alongside skill (and they go quite hand-in-hand anyway).  Throughout this process, you are learning not only pieces but how to learn pieces as well.  As you gain both skill and confidence, your ability to take on more complex patterns within one 15 minute session will increase while providing the same level of success as you had with previously easier pieces.

6.  WIthin 15 minute time slots, you may have to break a phrase up into sub-phrases, or concentrate on even smaller sections like one measure.  This should not stop you from memorizing the entire phrase by the end of the session.  Whatever you practice, aim at repeating it 7 times in a row without mistakes, then leave it.

7.  Once you have completed a 15 minute session, do not worry over what you have learned.  Let your subconscious digest the information overnight.


Now, for some piece recommendations :

Bach

2-part Inventions 

Nos 1, 2, 4, 8, 10, 13, 14 (easiest)
Nos 3, 5, 6, 7, 9
Nos 11, 12, 15   (most difficult)


Chopin

Preludes Op 28

nos  4, 7, 20  (easiest)
nos  6, 9, 2, 13, 14, 15   


Mazurkas

C Major, op 7 no 5
F Major, op posth. 68 no 3
F minor, op posth. 68 no 4


Grieg

Lyric pieces
Op 12
1 (Arietta)
2 (Waltz)
3 (Watchman's song)
5 (Folksong)
7 (Album leaf)
8 (National song)

(tons more)


Scarlatti

Sonatas (easier to more difficult)
K 32
K 40
K 431

K 34
K 25
K 404

K 63
K 67
K 70
K 112
K 175
K 203
K 213
K 373
K 381
K 402
K 454
K 461
K 544
K 547



Okay, there is tons more music out there, but this is a little start anyway.  Explore this forum as there is helpful advice throughout.


m1469

[pianoboyz]

An hour a day. If you can do that why can't you get a teacher? People who have NO time to spend any time of the week usually do not have a teacher. But if you can have 1 hour per day every day there is no reason why you cannot have a lesson with a teacher, at least that way your practice will be better organised.

As for general advice I would say get yourself reading a lot SIMPLER music and playing it at tempo, don't stop if you make mistakes or look at your hands, stare at the sheet neglecting rhythm and dynamics as you play. Maintain effective fingering as much as possible, if a string of notes is rising or falling prepare the hand for it and knit different patterns comfortably together with good fingering.  Doing this continually should increase the speed of your reading. To increase your accuracy take out harder music, play at a super slow tempo (move only when you definatly know where to go), neglect rhythm and dynamics.

If you are on your own choose things that are easy to start with. Do not give yourself difficult projects because you might simply flounder about with it for months and months wasting time. What to choose? I would say most definatly BACH has to be in the picture, the ultimate sightreading/playing resource.

So your means is DON"T look at our hand when sight reading?

[emerson56]

Thanks a lot m1469! Your suggestions are very helpful, I think I will enjoy several of the pieces you recommended.

[saturation]

To wing it on your own, it will help a lot to read Chuan Chang's online textbook:

https://members.aol.com/chang8828/contents.htm

By chance, I did many of the methods he writes of since I took formal lessons back in 1973.

There is certainly a wealthy of piano literature out there that can be played well with less virtuosity, but ask yourself are the compositions listed here, or anywhere offered as a substitute to your choice, really what you want to play? Will you be motivated to practice for hours on end to reach this goal?

Its true you might hack the Op.27 No.2, you might play it badly, but you will play it to your enjoyment I would presume and I think that matters more.  Further, in your quest to play the Moonlight you will be motivated to practice, and this will give you pianistic skills to play less demanding pieces with more ease than if you aimed low to start.  You may never want to play the Moonlight in public, but your Bach may rock!

Just insure that you make effort to stick closely to the music as Beethoven wrote it, as your virtuosity allows.  Don't get into bad habits of slurring the notes, loose timing, so as to build a musical sense.

Frankly, anyone who can play it well is extremely unlikely to sound better than Kempff, Richter, Gilels or many other greats on recording or currently living and touring professionally; their skills will far exceed the technical capabilities of many on this eboard.  Therefore, what is the goal of making a goal of playing at a professional level except for personal satisfaction and music education?  Therefore, the level of your playing depends heavily on what you want of it in the first place.  A semblance of the Op.27 No.2?  A good copy?  A Juillard candidate?  A Juilliard graduate?  Can a professional level performance be obtained with weekly classes with Ms. Marple?  If so, will it exceed the training one get if enrolled in professional music studies, taking classes with Gary Graffman or Andre Watts, practicing and playing everyday, rather than e-chatting  to 'saturation' on Piano Street or practicing as you have time?  If so, you should be in Juillard, Curtis and many other places, but not here!

So if you want the Moonlight, so be it.  Use it as a vehicle to build your skills.  Who knows, in the end you may play it very well.

[pianoboyz]

saturation, I can't see the picture that you had post....

[saturation]

saturation, I can't see the picture that you had post....

Sorry, not sure why.  Its not much of an image, just a page from the "Presto Agitato" Sonata #14 LvB sonata.  Maybe its a board setting?