Re: How do you practice?

[mozartean]

Practising 3 hours a day may not be the most efficient way of practice. One should strive to achieve 10% practice time and 90% of music-making time. Practise with an aim in mind. Learn the most difficult part of the piece first and practise difficult sections using separate hands. Practising with hands separate is the only way to acquire the technique required to execute the notes. I would recommend you to read this excellent cybertext on Fundamentals of Piano Practice:

https://members.aol.com/cc88m/PianoBook.html

Good luck!

[bethie]

Hmmm... My teacher said she practiced three hours a day when she was doing my level of work. I've been working hands alone a great deal already, and always focus on the hard parts first. Maybe I need to cut back on the amount of music I am learning at a time. I currently am working on three sonatas, and about five modern/movie songs, as well as plenty of exercises. I tend to get tired of songs if I work on too few. I'll certainly read the Fundamentals of Piano Practice as soon as I get the chance.  

[ted]

I don't think I do anything that could be called practice. Aside from a fairly modest repertoire of reasonably difficult pieces I spend 90% of my time improvising these days. You know how it is - once the ideas start to flow bang go another two hours.

[chilichills]

Well, I've been playing piano for over 10 years now. I have found that the most effective way to practice...and I mean, effective way, is to play the song through once. Mark the places where you have trouble and play the particular spot ten times. After doing that for every difficult spot, try playing the piece again. If you still have difficulty with the same spots, try memorizing it so that you don't have to struggle with the notes. Then play it through and then you'll be closer to perfection.

[RhiAnne]

Wow,

 I really liked this thread.  

 The way I practice, is I have set up a goals sheet for the rest of this semester.  I really do not find practice a chore most days, becuase when I get really involved, I lose track of time and of the world.  My what a shock it is to wake up in the face of reality when I emerge from practicing.

 I will admit, sometimes it is a struggle, I had such a struggle as last week.  Practice should always be done, no matter how one feels.  This I have learned.  I wish I had used last week effectively.

 I usually split up the technique exercises for a duration of 10 minutes at the end of every hour.  This helps so I am not disgusted or overwhelmed with technique.  I vary my pieces every day, so I can have variety.  There is just so much you can do, to spice up practice.  And this would be a good thing.

 Well I will see you later, and have a nice day.

[e60m5]

3 hours a day is the most I can usually practice, given my schedule (and my neighbours).

Like another person here stated, I find that a good way to practice is to play a piece through (or a movement of a piece, if it's a concerto or a sonata or a partita or a blah blah), and then decide from there what to work on. However, if a piece has been practiced for a while and I'm familiar with it, I might just go straight to the parts that I know give me trouble and start from there.

What I do from there is a whole other story. Everything from that point onwards depends on the type of piece I'm trying to learn and the type of difficulties I'm encountering; if it's a particular kind of technical challenge, I could end up practising some fundamental exercises pertaining to the types of difficulties that I'm faced with. If I have a passage of tricky parallel thirds (like in Liszt's Orage from his Annees de Pelerinage bk1) then I'll practice some chromatic 3rds scales, and so on. If I'm faced with large arpeggiated passages, like in the Chopin Etude Op.10 no.1) I'll play through some arpeggios (surprise, surprise  ) and so on.

If I have access to other pianos, I also may practice certain passages on pianos which make the technique of those passages harder to execute. For example, at the last Presto of Balakirev's Islamey, I often seek out a piano with a much heavier action to practice that passage on, as it makes me really have to make every conscious effort to get all the notes sounding right and even.

And so on...

[selsa]

It have concluded these from what you all have suggested and also my experience :

-To play music, you have to:

a- first read music well  :
-read both clefs simultaneously
-practice, practice, practice
-learn to observe patterns (up, down, skip patterns)

b- and then execute the notations well :
-again practice, practice, practice.
-use the right fingering, know and move each finger idependently of the others.
-then develop speed

c-then you can memorize pieces through repetitiion.

What do you think???

Selsa.

[RhiAnne]

Selsa,

 You left out one thing.  Enjoy what you do. Do it becuase you love it.  For even if you did these things you suggested, you would only be a great technical player at the utmost.  Yet, if you enjoy what you do and allow the music to express itself, then you will be carried to higher heights.

 Expression cannot be practiced, it must be felt and lived daily.

 Have a great day.

[selsa]

RhiAnne,

You are right in saying that you have to also enjoy the music making, besides getting the techniques of playing down. But being a beginner, my priority now is to be able to play. Enjoying the music doesn't seem to be a problem for me. But right now, things like letting the music have its way are a far fetch for me. I am certainly not at your level yet. Thanks for the broader perspective. I will remember that when I can play well.

Was there anyhting you want to add on quckly learning to play music as it is written in the sheet music? Thanks.

Selsa.

[RhiAnne]

Selsa,

 Yes I agree with what you are saying.  I am glad that you are willing to pay attention to the details.  Of that, that is great.  You find so few beginners who wish to dedicate that much dedication and discipline to learn the details.  I am proud of that decision.

 As to your other question, about learning how to learn sheet music quickly.  Well, my professor gave me a new technique today, but before I share this with you.  Here are some old ones that have worked well for me.

 1.  Take the sheet music away from piano.  Look at it, remember every little detail.  Do this about 5-6 times a day for 5 min.  Begin at different spots in the music.  Imagine how it sounds.

 2.  Take music to piano, then take one hand at a time.  Learn each hand by itself and then put them together.  But only learn the hands together part as phrases.  Do not separate the music out by measures, separate them out as phrases.  This helps you figure out where the music is going.

 3.  Record the song when you have learned the song decently.  Play it over and over, and imagine the score in front of you.  Or get a recording of it, if it is available.

 I shall share the new techinque once you have tried these and have told me how you are doing.  Good luck in what you do.  It is a pleasure talking with you.  I shall respond to your other post, just have not had the time to do it in.  I have to have a long time to write that one out.

 See you later and have a nice day.

[benedict]

RhiAnne,

There is a smaller element than the phrase which is the basic element of musical beauty.I don't know how you call it : motive or theme.

It is usually not more that to bars.
Of course it is in the melody so it would be at the right hand.
And the left hand usually has a contrapunctal or harmonic theme?

I have found that it is like a seed : learning it, of course hands separately is like planting the seed in the ground of my memory and affectivity.

Then the seed will sprout and grow till it is a big, beautiful tree.

After all, the composer starts with a simple theme and lets it first germinate (often unconscously) till it is ready to grow, sometimes at amazing speed.

I am testing this approach now. The first week has given me moments of great joy.

I like learning motives (or themes) by Bach.
The themes of the inventions are so beautiful when you concentrate of the variety and beauty of themes rather the contrapunctal development.

Well that's what a forum is made for, crossed fertilization, isn't it ?

[RhiAnne]

Benedict,

 That is exactly what a forum is.  Yes, motives are smaller than phrases.  Yet, if you are not quite advanced phrases seem to be easier to manage than motives.  I usually divide by motives.  It can be frustrating though and when the process of memorization needs to be quicker, then I usually use phrases.  Just so, I do not separate them into simply measure blocks.  Well thanks for posting.

 See you later.

[princess]

here is something i read just recently even though it could've saved me a heck of a lotta work in the past.  my second piano teacher gave me this sheet of paper with words on it....i read it just a month ago....i got this piece of paper about 5 yrs ago...>.< it says to practise at 25% of the speed 75% of the time in order for fingers to become strong and confident when the piece is played up to speed.  it also "forces" the mind to pay attention to the notes and details.  a musically inclined person i've talked to said to practise 45mins simultaneously then take a break and go back for 45mins.  practising 45mins simultaneously may be quite hard for some people because their attention span isn't that long.  a way to get through a difficult passage wouldn't be to only practice it over and over until you get it because that'd take too much time...but rather to sit down and just clap out the rhythm and spend time just reading it without playing.