being nervous about the speed of learning

[mahvash]

[shadow88]

Sorry, I don't understand what's your problem?!
I play also Bach inventios, because I didn't play Bach at my last teacher. But they are very easy it's just for warm up and I don't practice more than 10-15 minutes per day. Each week I get a new one.
What's your problem?

[lostinidlewonder]

This is what I think mahvash means: I'm learning Bach Inventions now and the rate my teacher has set me to learn them is too slow for me. I feel I can learn at a faster rate at which my teacher expects. How do I get my teacher to teach me more?

If you feel you are going to slow then prove to your teacher this is so. Are you simply learning the notes and ignoring the expression of these notes? I have had young students who are like this. They are uninterested to produce the ideal sound (musical immaturity) they simply want to learn the notes and move on. So long they can hit the right notes they are happy.

Teachers of these students shouldn't force them to produce an ideal sound if it totally does not interest them. Instead a teacher should encourage the rate at which the student does learn their notes and then only briefly touch on the expression now and then and also when it is totally essential to the context of the music (eg: obvious expression such as not allowing them to play loud when the passage should be softly played, or fast when it should be slow etc.) Musical maturity sometimes takes time and should not be forced.

It makes me think that Mahvash is not so interested in producing an ideal sound rather learning the notes and moving on. Most teachers who hear a student play a passage musically correct and techincally correct will move on, so there must be something that is telling your teacher that you are not "getting it" enough to move on. If this is a musical expression issue it can be infuriating for the student who can learn notes fast and in my opinion should not be studied over and over again in lessons. Rather the musically immature should appreciate the correct musical way to play a phrase even if it means that they do not produce it themselves in their playing. However the musically immature student should understand the practice method to produce the ideal sound.

If your teacher is holding your progress because of a it is a technical issue, such as fingering, you simply must hold yourself back until you achieve it. Unless you can prove to your teacher you can juggle multiple technical issues at once.

[hwangs]

hey mahvash,

I remember when I was learning the inventions, I wanted to go through pieces faster! But instead, my teacher was very thorough and intent on helping me make MUSIC not learn notes, so I learned all the inventions and took about 5-6 weeks on each invention, given the difficulty of the inventions. Also, as I learned the form and expression of the music (bringing out the subjects, and so on) I learned the music faster, maybe about an invention per 3-4 weeks.

Also, though I thought it was boring, then, it will be of use learning all the specifics of Bach. Bach bored me, because notes are not particularly hard technically, compared to Beethoven or Chopin, but his intentions on the inventions were not so that you can play notes, but that you can make music, and more specifically, for the purpose of instructing students how to COMPOSE.

Anyway, my advice is unless your teacher is making you learn an invention per year or something ridiculous like that, listen to his/her advice, because I'm sure it's worth it later on! Learning repertoire isn't important, imo, just for the sake of "going to the next invention" but instead try to consider what you can learn from each individual invention.