Learning a new piece...

[alb-d]

I'm learning one of the WTC Bach piece's..


Ok, I'm having trouble learning phrases. What i'm doing now isn't working. I play the right hand and left hand seperate. But I tend to overwork my brain, i have a habit of reptitive playing.

I was thinking of learning 4 measures at a time, that way I don't over do the brain. Whats some of the limits do ya'll face with overworking the brain, in like a 30 min. stint?

[mike_lang]

I don't separate the hands, generally, for WTC, but I work in very small chunks (even a measure at a time in some dense portions of the piece).  These fugues necessitate very detailed work, especially in order that everyone (each voice) cuts off at the right time.  I think that a helpful tactic would be to find the fingering for a small section (do not leave a single note without finger, though it need not be written), and then to play voices separately with the same fingering you use for playing the entire texture.  Then, try combining the voices - tenor and alto, soprano and bass, S & A, T & B, etc. so that you can understand how they interact. 

The reason I advocate this type of mental work is that its product is what drives the practicing.  I think you will find that the more clearly you perceive the fugue musically, the more quickly and satisfyingly it will come technically.

Which Prelude and Fugue is it that you are working on, by the way?

Best wishes,

Michael

[guendola]

Start learning the piece from the end in chunks of a few measures or even less. This will prevent you from repeating the same measures over and over (I don't know why, but it works - maybe because one is eager to know how it all starts). Hands together where it is possible, separate hands only where you can't do it otherwise. Slow motion and slower until you know what you are doing. The idea is to play slow enough to make no mistakes at all. Once you find it too hard to play a measure without mistakes, take a short break, then back to work.

While working through the piece, make up your mind about phrasing, accentuation and dynamics as well. Think about each note, figure out what it does to the following notes, consider how you want to play it in the context. Focussing on fingerwork doesn't help because that's the subconscious part of playing.

Once you have learned the text, you can start playing and listening to the individual voices and then start from scratch (you will have new ideas now!).

[dan101]

You could probably push yourself for 45 minutes before taking a break. It all depends on how long you can play without making careless mistakes.

[shadow88]

Hi!
When I practice my Bach pieces, I always take a few bars and try to play them hands together but very very slow. When there is a difficult fingering, I play the passage hands seperate for a few times, then hands together. I try to learn 1/4 of the whole piece (I play the sinfonias, each week a new one), and the rest of the week I try to play it without mistakes.

[alb-d]

Fugue 5