how do you practise?

[ryanyee]

well i guess i should be pretty well known for my stupid questions and all but i was just wondering how does everybody practise. like repeating a passage which u have difficulty playing with ease or something else. i find that no matter how many times i repeat some problematic passage i never seem to learn. or then again it could be my confidence or my technique. i keep missing the notes im supposed to hit and by miles and my fingers are really so hard to move that i've moved the wrong fingers in succession a few times already and this hasnt happened to me before. could hand injuries be the cause?

[db05]

Right now, I have a checklist for my practice, which acts as a loose schedule. I have a free schedule from time to time - no rules, just to gauge how well and how much I can practice one thing after the other. For example, a few months ago, I could only practice up to 2 hours a day and my checklist was written accordingly. Now I can do 3, sometimes even 4 hours (depending on my mood) so I make sure everything is done in 3 hours.

I get those times, too. When you don't seem to learn anything. But believe me, if you're paying attention, you'll get it. Usually, when I play this problem passage or piece the next day, it's a LOT easier than I remember. I don't know if it's my mood, or I needed the time to rest.

Edit:
If it's about my practice routine, it's ever changing and you can't trust me on this one. I like to memorize and practice everything in small chunks, and to hear the piece, otherwise I can't play it.

[trish89]

If I find piece easy then I play it a few times slowly. When the piece is harder then I practise it in parts. I sometimes just pick the hardest parts and play them very slowly. If Iwant to play a piece quicker I just begin with slow tempo and play it quicker and quicker. If I know the pieces pefectly I just try to focus on it and I enjoy the music.
I don't play scales for 2 years now but I think I should.
Yes it could be, I had broken finger, I couldn't play for half year.

[go12_3]

How we practice is an individual quest.  It depends upon the number and difficulty of the pieces, along with the circumstances in our lives.   Students may have more time to practice than teachers do.  Or a concert pianist must make time to practice to keep the pieces polished.  Also, practices varies from day to day, depending upon our moods and time.  And how we feel mentally and physically.  There are days, I can work  through pieces and fumble almost on every note and therefore, I slow down, no need to push it until I feel ready to play at a faster temop.  At times, I can pick up the pace as I feel in sync while my fingers go over the keyboard.  No matter what we do, practice needs to be enjoyable and comfortable.  A time that we can look forward to and love doing.  I would consider practicing as "play time" and then the music, if it's a difficult piece,
my fingers won't freeze up.  Just relax and enjoy the music, whatever we are working on and then the process of learning a piece will become easier too.   

[term]

My practise depends entirely on my appreciation of the work. For me it's surprising how methodical people practise, i feel brutally limited by methods, timeframes, schedules and routines and usually just focus on getting something done as opposed to analyzing details. Any other way of practising kills the music for me.

[zheer]

  I do have a method and it works, this though depends on the level of difficulty.
I start first by hearing it performed, either someone I know, on the radio, a CD ect ect, I then sight read through it ( usually badly ). Then I carry the music away from the piano and start making notes, theory, choice of fingers to use ( analysis ). If the music is really demanding, I would try to learn the music as much as I can away from the piano and usually put it to one side and come back to it much later.
  I've just learnt a Rach etude a really demanding etude techniqually, I started working on this Etude a couple of years ago with the method I just mentioned, but I couldn't play it at the time. In the last week or so I went back to the piano with this etude and managed to learn and almost memorize it fairly quickly. So this method does work or it does with me.
  I hople this is of some use.

[ryanyee]

thanks for all the advice. well i dont think i've stated the manner in which i practise so i guess i should say it then. i sightread the pieces, and any mistakes i make is due to technical and fingering problems. and here's the funny thing i always execute a piece better the first time i play it than the nxt few times. and after i've gotten to know the piece a little bit more i go on repeating the whole piece but i dont start slowly or repeat a problematic phrase cos im always so impatient that i feel like im playing like crap if i ever repeat or play slowly and anw my mom did say once when i was trying to repeat a difficult portion in the 5th goldberg variation, that i sounded like i was playing around, not being serious at all but i definitely was. so thats the problem. i dont think i can make my practice sessions sound any more serious unless if by some chance i do by pounding on the keys and she probably would say that im being too serious, which is the case most of the time

[trish89]

also you should not forget to concentrate on pieces and try to give musicality and energy even in slow tempo

[ryanyee]

yep i sure do. im going to record bach's concertos soon although it's been a long time since i last played them and with my recent messing up and loss of abilities, i've no idea if its even tolerable. right now ones ready and thats the 2nd movement from the a major concerto its lovely but whether or not am i capable of bringing the mood out is yet to be desired