learning many pieces

[liszmaninopin]

How do you generally approach practicing?  By this I mean, do you tend to concentrate on one or maybe 2 pieces, perfect them, and move on; or do you work on 4 or 5 simultaneously, slowly improving on each?

[cziffra]

at the moment i'm learning the chopin etudes and the well tempered clavier.

but not all at once!  definitely one at a time, for an amount that large- only when you feel like you understand or know the piece like a friend can you move on to another.  

[ilovemusic]

I like to work on several at the same time, but  I seem to bore very quickly when repeating a certain part too often. For me the repetition becomes mechanical too fast.

I do practice 'around' a piece a lot. If I need an arpeggio, I practise arpeggio's on other chords as well. If I need octaves, I practise scales in octaves. This to secure the technique. And I tend to practice the scales of the pieces I work on.



Joost.

[Clare]

I have to learn a sonata and three other pretty hard pieces for my exams and it's taking way too long because for me it's too much to all focus on.
If I have to do a lot of pieces, I'd spend a fortnight focussing in on two of the pieces and keep practicing the others separate hands and giving them a little bit of attention in problem areas also. Then, next fortnight, I'd reassess and focus in on the two worst pieces again.
But if I had my way, I'd like to learn only two things at a time.

[pianogal86]

For most of my piano playing life (I've played for 8 or so years), I've worked on 4 or 5 pieces at a time, establishing a routine of practicing, putting away, and getting new ones.  However, this being my senior year and having a senior recital in the works, I've had a huge amount of music thrown on me so I'm working on 9 perhaps 10 pieces at the a time.  This has been a big challenge for me this year, and I compensated for the fact by increasing my practice time again and again.  Of course the learing process goes slightly slower, but I just try to practice more efficiently.

[krenske]

pianogal,
what are you playing at the moment?
tell me i need to know