Good practice strategy?

[Bob]

Get the notes and rhythms down well -- "note perfect"   Then drop the piece for awhile.  Come back and work on "higher" elements, like articulation, dynamics, voicing. 

The point being your mind will absorb the basic skeleton notes and rhythms and you won't have that clutter in your mind when you focus on those higher elements.


Sound good?

[bearzinthehood]

Get the notes and rhythms down well -- "note perfect"   Then drop the piece for awhile.  Come back and work on "higher" elements, like articulation, dynamics, voicing. 

The point being your mind will absorb the basic skeleton notes and rhythms and you won't have that clutter in your mind when you focus on those higher elements.


Sound good?

Seperating the notes from the music is a mistake IMO.  If you can't play the entire texture at first then simplify the texture and keep the music intact, as opposed to destroying the music and playing the entire texture.

[debussy symbolism]

Greetings.

I think that the notes should be momorized first and learned properly. Then it is important to work on articulation, dynamics, expression, etc. Hope this helps.

[henrah]

Sound good?

Yep

[sarahlein]

Get the notes and rhythms down well -- "note perfect" Then drop the piece for awhile. Come back and work on "higher" elements, like articulation, dynamics, voicing.

The point being your mind will absorb the basic skeleton notes and rhythms and you won't have that clutter in your mind when you focus on those higher elements.


Sound good?

Now, this is how I see it.

If one has properly done the preparation work for a piece beforehand then he/she will have an idea on how he/she wants the piece to sound.
So.. what prevents one to pursue that musical idea? Especially if he/she knows or has been shown the right movements to do so.


I think it's best to work everything- notes, rhythm, articulation, dynamics, voising, everything that music is about- all at the same time so as to get at least a rough outline of the musical idea already in one's mind. Then drop it for a while if you must, you might even find that this helps to refine or 'mature' your musical interpretation.

Think of a good homemade meat sause (for pasta). After you put everything together you let it simmer a bit so that the flavors and different aromas blend in together and at the end you have this delicious, mouth-watering, finger-licking experience.  Working on only notes and rhythm is like putting the ground meat and onions together in the pan, without the garlic, maybe some tomato paste, no spices and then turning off the heat.

(guess what I had for dinner tonight  )

[gorbee natcase]

Get the notes and rhythms down well -- "note perfect" Then drop the piece for awhile. Come back and work on "higher" elements, like articulation, dynamics, voicing.

The point being your mind will absorb the basic skeleton notes and rhythms and you won't have that clutter in your mind when you focus on those higher elements.


Sound good?

I agree . Many times when learning a difficult piece I give up and leave it for some time.
When the bug hits me to come back to the piece I find the notes and basics of the piece come back to me with ease, and then some. I suppose the sub-concious mind is still working on it long after that as your conciousness gave it priority in your life.
Perhaps on some level you get to a stage where your mind knows the notes and works on the piece in your dreams and hearing the piece again---Say on the radio triggers your mind in some way.

This is just conjecture as I don't understand the inner most workings of the human mind

[arensky]

Now, this is how I see it.

If one has properly done the preparation work for a piece beforehand then he/she will have an idea on how he/she wants the piece to sound.
So.. what prevents one to pursue that musical idea? Especially if he/she knows or has been shown the right movements to do so.


I think it's best to work everything- notes, rhythm, articulation, dynamics, voising, everything that music is about- all at the same time so as to get at least a rough outline of the musical idea already in one's mind. Then drop it for a while if you must, you might even find that this helps to refine or 'mature' your musical interpretation.

Think of a good homemade meat sause (for pasta). After you put everything together you let it simmer a bit so that the flavors and different aromas blend in together and at the end you have this delicious, mouth-watering, finger-licking experience.  Working on only notes and rhythm is like putting the ground meat and onions together in the pan, without the garlic, maybe some tomato paste, no spices and then turning off the heat.

(guess what I had for dinner tonight  )

Tasty analogy ! 

Now I'm hungry, I was going to practice but now....

Maybe working on notes and rhthym is chopping the tomatoes onions and garlic, seperating the meat and THEN you cook. But even when you are figuring the piece out, laying the groundwork, the playing should be "musical", not clinical and mechanical. Always play music, not notes. To seperate the two is to turn yourself into a mechanic; since it's music you're learning, it should be music you're playing.