Number of Pieces at a Time

[qoppa]

Hello all
I was wondering how many pieces you are usually actively working on at any given time.  Do you generally have only as many as you have time to learn, or do you have two or three that you work on diligently and then another bunch that you don't really have time for, but mess around with on occasion.  I've always tended towards the latter, but I'm curious what everyone else does.

Does anyone know which way will ultimately yield a larger repetoire?
Thanks

[m1469]

I have experimented with different things.  I used to concentrate on only one piece at a time because I wanted that kind of focus and felt I needed it that way.  Then I went with what I felt like was exactly the opposite route and would have something like 12 core pieces at once and a myriad of others that I would just read through and explore.  Then I would lose focus and feel as though I were not getting anywhere.  I wouldn't stay committed to anything.

Currently I have 7 core pieces going and I assign more than one session to several of the ones that I feel I need them for.  I find this to be a balance of the two ways I mentioned above, and this seems to work best for me right now.  I finally came to the realization that I need to feel as though I am meditating (for lack of a better word) over a piece of music.   I have to be able to sink *very* deeply into a work and let it take me over. 

I want to turn into a different person throughout the process and as a result of getting to know a truly great work.  Having this experience is something I absolutely *love* about playing and learning music, and I always learn faster when I am in love  .  I can't do this if I don't alot enough time to the individual work, and since time is limited, I only have so much of it to alot.

Each piece of music that I am playing brings out something different in me, and not everything needs as much time as the other.  I am still experimenting and learning and what I do will inevitabley change.



m1469

[leucippus]

Does anyone know which way will ultimately yield a larger repetoire?

I'm sure this will depend a lot on where people are at in their skill level, and how they go about learning/practicing.

I'm currently learning 30 pieces simultaneously.  I don't expect to be able to play any of them in their entirety until next spring.  That's partly due to the fact that I'm so new to playing that it would probably take me that long to be able to learn even one piece well.  So learning 30 pieces simultaneously will certainly yield a larger repertoire for me.  Instead of knowing only one piece by next spring I'll know 30 pieces.

Also, because of my style of learning/practicing limiting myself to only a few pieces isn't going to help.  I've discovered that it doesn't really help to practice a single pieces over and over and over again every day.  It simply doesn't pay off.  I've found that I actually progress faster if I only play a piece once or twice or twice at a sitting, certainly not more than three times max.  I might actually do that twice a day though at separate practice sessions.  I've found that I'm better off just practicing each piece once or twice and then moving on to another piece.  The real trick is to do this EVERY DAY!  I actually do it this twice a day.

I can see progress coming with all of the pieces, but I can't play any of them the whole way through yet.  And even when I do get to that point with some of the shorter pieces I still won't feel that I have learned them until I'm completely happen with the "dynamics" or musicality.   I work on virtuosity first (just simply learning how to play the piece which includes memorizing it as I learn it),  and only after I have the piece completely free from any dependency on sheet music, then I start to work on the "dynamics" or musicality (the way I want the piece to actually sound).

As I say, I'm new at this, I'm also a self-learner and have no teacher, so I have no clue how it will work but it seems to be producing results.  I'm moving forward everyday!

[ilovemusic]

I also work on many pieces on the same time. Some of the pieces I want to finish on a short time, others on a very long time (when they are finished). I personaly (to my great frustration) have great difficulty in playing fast and even tremolo's/trills, so I devote quite some time into playing these. So I pick pieces that require tremolos/trills, and in studying those, I memorize them at the same time (Jeux d' eau a Villa D'Este, Rach prelude op.32 no.12, Chasse Neige, La Campanella), and dream on being able to play them in the future. The pieces give me so much difficulty that I really cannot estimate the time they are finished.

I also sightread/study pieces. Each piece offers certain particular difficulties, and I like solving the rythmical/voicing/technique problems. In these category are for instance Godowsky-chopin no.6 (chopet 10.3 for the left hand), Harmonies du Soir (currently I am exploring the TE etudes).

Then there are the pieces that I study with the intention to finish on them on the short term, which is no op.9 from Scriabin.

I also have a few pieces memorized that I can play, except for a few measures. This is very frustrating.  Then there are the finished pieces. Probably I should re-study all of them with my now superior technique / better phrasing skills. Allas ! Perfection seems to take many years. But... I am patient.


Joost

[phil13]

At the moment, I'm doing 6 or 7 works at a time, more if separate sonata movements count. However, I feel that next year I might cut back to 3 or 4 since it does become a burden to learn them quickly.

I'm not sure which way will yield a larger repertoire. Do what you think you can achieve, but don't overburden yourself.

Phil

[pianowelsh]

I start with a large field of pieces say 15-20 and practice them till they begin to yield then I split them into groups of ones i want to do now and others that are underway fro future.