What to do...

[qoppa]

Hey all.

Here's the scoop.  I played piano for something like 8 years, and was pretty OK.  Not amazing or anything, but I could play.  A year ago I stopped taking lessons, since my life suddenly became really busy.  It still is, but I recently realized how much I miss playing.  I want to keep playing somehow.  I can still play a few pieces...  Chopin's Raindrop prelude and Rachmaninoff's Moment Musicaux No. 3 (neither by memory anymore) are pretty much it.  I've forgotten how to play most everything else. 

So my question is, how can I go about playing again.  Does anyone have any suggestions for working some sort of practice schedule into an already busy schedule?  Also, I need to figure out what pieces I want to learn.  And how I should get back into the swing of things (I'm likely a bit rusty).  Also, since I plan on taking a more self-directed approach to this all, I'm hoping to find away to not practice technique explicitly.  I seem to recall that people here do this, but I could be mistaken.  I haven't been on these boards for quite a while.  My teacher was really into practicing scales and arpeggios over and over, but I hated it.  If my practice time is going to be limited, I figure I may as well not 'waste' time doing stuff I hate.

Any advice?

[m19834]

Any advice?

Instead of trying to just fit piano in anywhere you possibly can, make time for it.  Eliminate other things that you don't need and are not as important to you.  So, first make time, then use it in whatever way is most inspiring to you.

[db05]

Try to memorize your pieces. Gain technique by learning them inside-out. It will help you to sight-read and learn more quickly, and you will not be limited by your current sight-reading skill.

What do you want to learn? That's a tough one. Try some free recordings. Some sites at the top of my head:
https://www.classiccat.net/
https://pianosociety.com/cms/index.php?section=1
https://www.mtpiano.com/index.html

Have fun!!

[qoppa]

Have fun!!

I plan on it!

Currently I'm thinking a good course of action may be to start rememorizing and perfecting/fixing the two pieces I can still play, and then starting a couple new ones.  I'm looking at Beethoven's Sonata No. 5 (op 10/1) and Brahms' Intermezzo in A major (op 118/2) now since neither look overly difficult, and since I'm out of practice, that's probably really good.  Also, I've been wanting to learn both for quite some time now, especially the latter, so why not?

[j.s. bach the 534th]

any particular reason you want to learn Beethoven's 5th Sonata first instead of one of the other ones?

[qoppa]

I like it?  Why do you ask?  Do you have a better suggestion (I'm open to them!)

[qoppa]

If anyone's interested, I got to work trying out Bernhard's method for the first time.  Today I did 15 min to get the first 8 bars of the Brahms' Intermezzo, and worked a bit on the first bumpy section in the Rach piece I'm relearning.  Not too bad.  I'd love to do more, but I'm really busy this week.  Next week I should have more time to practice.

Question about Bernhard's method...  Today I learned the first section of my piece, and tomorrow I'll start with the section I learned today, relearn it, and then move onto the second section.  Great, but what about the third day?  Do I review both the first and the second sections and then add the third section?  How does this work past the first few days?  How far back do I review each day, and how often am I supposed to be starting new sections?  I suppose it's largely personal preference, but I'm curious how it's 'supposed to be done'.

[m19834]

If anyone's interested, I got to work trying out Bernhard's method for the first time.  Today I did 15 min to get the first 8 bars of the Brahms' Intermezzo, and worked a bit on the first bumpy section in the Rach piece I'm relearning.  Not too bad.  I'd love to do more, but I'm really busy this week.  Next week I should have more time to practice.

Question about Bernhard's method...  Today I learned the first section of my piece, and tomorrow I'll start with the section I learned today, relearn it, and then move onto the second section.  Great, but what about the third day?  Do I review both the first and the second sections and then add the third section?  How does this work past the first few days?  How far back do I review each day, and how often am I supposed to be starting new sections?  I suppose it's largely personal preference, but I'm curious how it's 'supposed to be done'.

You can read and think all you want, but you are only going to get so much of it figured out (if at all) in your head.  The only way to know how to progress is to actually take the footsteps.  Partly, that is because the process you are undertaking has laregly to do with not just learning a piece of music, but more it is about learning who you are and learning how you learn (which will be entirely unique to you, no matter what is planned out or is on paper).  You can take any regime and try it, but how that actually works (or doesn't work) for you is going to depend entirely on you, and I think we do ourselves a great favor if we take each piece as a kind of "quest" in exploring these matters with an sense of adventure.  Since everybody is unique and individual, there is not really a one-size-fits-all precise recipe to how everybody should go about learning a piece.

I think though, the basic idea behind learning a piece in sections, or in learning an entire program at once even, is something like cooking a meal.  It's important to know what is going to require more time and effort and then what will perhaps come a little more easily.  That is part of where you will be getting to know not just the piece, but yourself, too, since what is easy or difficult for you may be entirely different for somebody else.  There is a balance though in knowing when you have the essence of a section or a piece and you can leave it and go on to another, vs. knowing when you need to keep on with the one and wait with the others.  It is not a linear process, it is instead a multidimensional "gathering" of sorts and may require growth as an entire person, and that is part of why you can't just write out a plan and stick to it no matter what.  With each piece you learn, you will learn more about how you function and what it takes for you to express your musical thoughts in a fulfilling manner.

So, yes, write out a plan.  Use your mind and figure out what might make sense on paper, but there is always going to be an element of intuition involved in the process.  And of course, this all partly depends on your precise goals, too.  I say, give it a few days and see where you are at, and then decide what the next step will be .

[qoppa]

A lot of useful stuff

Thank you!

Your post essentially captured what I meant by 'personal preference' (in retrospect, that was a really poor choice of wording).  I guess this is also why I couldn't find any posts by Bernhard about the pacing and such; it differs from person to person.

Well, I think this means I'm set to start learning again.  I was actually surprised at how much I accomplished today considering how long it's been since I've done any serious playing.  Actually practicing instead of just messing around felt good!

It's nice to be back at it.

[m19834]

Thank you!

Your post essentially captured what I meant by 'personal preference' (in retrospect, that was a really poor choice of wording).  I guess this is also why I couldn't find any posts by Bernhard about the pacing and such; it differs from person to person.

Well, I think this means I'm set to start learning again.  I was actually surprised at how much I accomplished today considering how long it's been since I've done any serious playing.  Actually practicing instead of just messing around felt good!

It's nice to be back at it.

hmmm ... well, I am happy if you find my post was helpful and I am happy to help, but I didn't write what you quoted as me having written, and though it seems a bit harmless, I would rather something is not quoted that I didn't write.  Thank you.  And, glad you are back at it !

[chopinmozart7]

hmmmm.