Question about practicing

[bella musica]

I have a rather large program that I'm working on right now:

Bach Toccata in D Major
Beethoven Sonata Op. 109
Chopin Scherzo No. 1 (just maintaining this one)
Debussy L'Isle Joyeuse
Bolcom The Poltergeist
Prokofiev Concerto No. 1

This adds up to about 100 pages of music to work on (well, 99).  What I found though, is that if I try and work on all of it in one day, I can only devote a small amount of time to each piece, maybe half an hour or so.  My thought was to divide my program in half and practice each half on alternating days, then run through the whole thing on the remaining day.  That way I'd be able to devote a more substantial amount of time to each piece and not have to switch to Bach just as I was really getting on a roll with Debussy.

Do you think this would work, or does it seem like shorter amounts daily on each piece would work better?  I would love to spend an hour on each piece every day, but unfortunately my work and school schedules don't allow for that...  

[discturtle]

I'm not sure how far you're into learning the pieces, but what I'd do is record myself playing the entire program, then go back (same day or next) and work on the spots that I hear need work in the recording.

[paris]

i have the same problem. at least i had. discturtle's idea is cool, you can do without recording as well, just make sure you know places which give you troubles and need to work on. i don't think you have to cover all pieces every day. i used to do that and it didn't produce good results. but also, there are different pieces; i try to practise chopin etude every day, while other pieces with which i don't have major technical difficulties i just play through. it won't be end of the world if you don't practise all pieces every day. they need rest too 

[ramseytheii]

I think the two main points are,
   I. Know how a piece sounds all the way through (or a movement) before you practice           it (learn from sight-reading and listening to recordings)
   II. Be able to categorize technical difficulties and identify them in different pieces.

I think to work effectively all pieces need to be investigated in their component parts, but for those to be meaningful you have to know how the whole thing sounds.  For me, the initial act of learning a piece is the most intense, so if you are beginning any of the pieces on your list anew, don't worry about balancing the workload of the other pieces, and rather devote yourself and your mental energies towards learning that one piece.

You learn how it sounds and where the biggest difficulties are, as Bernhard says the hardest part of any piece is the key to playing the whole thing.  When you feel ready to work on another piece, you do the same kind of things, and also, search for the corresponding difficulties.  For instance, the double notes in Prokofiev 1st mvmt, may assist you in playing Beethoven op.109 IIIrd mvmt Canon, which is very difficult.  Or, the octave sections in the first mvmt of the Prokfiev and the third can be practiced together.

What is important here is concentration, that is a sort of mental obliteration of all other circumstances like other pieces you have to learn!   In that sense I would not force myself to practice these exact pieces, for this much time, every day.  You cannot limit your inspiration, such a key ingredient of practice, in this way.  As Richter says, "When you practice a lot, you reach the point where 'the water begins to boil..'"

But somewhere, I am unfortunately  too lazy to search myself, Bernhard has indeed given a step-by-step process for this which you will find contains a lot of logic, and requires a lot of discipline.  I hope I can help you by providing my own personal observations!

Walter Ramsey

[bella musica]

Thanks for the ideas, everyone.  You all have some good points.    Hopefully Bernhard will take notice of my humble little thread and post that discussion Walter Ramsey was talking about too... 

[pianistimo]

knowing your recital date could help you work this program in three completely different ways.  there have been the above two mentioned (beginning work ie taking difficult sections / intermediate work - memorizing entire movments and entire piece/ finishing work - playing entire program or playing parts of the entire program say to intermission).

when you are at the 'end stage' - i think it's extremely advantageous to play the entire program for the last two weeks (at least for me).  even if it is broken up by a longer 'intermission' than usual.  i didn't do this with my senior recital and was surprised at the exhaustion i felt on that day.  i was dragging myself off stage during the last piece and had no energy for an encore.  it IS about stamina.