Practicing Duet

[angierc]

Hello, My name is Cloedice.
I'm having a hard time practicing a duet piece (Beethoven Sonata 4 hands Op 6).
My partner is busy lately (because of school assignments), so we can't practice together very often.

I need some advice. How can we mastered the piece if we can practice together rarely?

[jgallag]

You can't, you're right. I had the same problem, playing one of Dvorak's Slavonic Dances a year ago. When recital time came, it wasn't perfect at all. I didn't miss a beat. My partner missed too many, in my opinion. When it comes down to it, you have to work really hard to understand that you can't control other people. I'm still working on this one.

If it's a piano recital (one of the ones where there's many little kids and then it gets to you guys, a non-serious one), I would accept that your partner may make some or many flubs and you should work to make your part the best you can. I always played the secondo when I did duets anyway, so I had to be the rock that kept going. If it's more serious than that, tell your partner you want to see him/her more often or you're calling it off.

It's a problem with group work. 

[timothy42b]

There are three things you can do.

Play with a metronome.  This gets you used to following external time, keeping a steady beat, and keeping going past flubs.

Record the partner's part.  The best way to do this is in MIDI, then you can change tempos and practice sections repeatedly.  Even better is to play it back through a digital piano if you have one.  But if all else fails, play it into a cheap microphone into Audacity on a laptop. 

Play with other partners, as many as possible.  This gets you used to playing in real time with people who flub and alter tempo differently. 

[dr. j]

All great ideas.  I always make sure I really know my part so in case my partner misses a beat or skips a measure or heaven knows what else - I can compensate and keep everything together.  Hopefully your partner will have the same idea about making sure they know their part equally as well so when you do have practice time you can work on really creating beautiful music.

Dr. J - The More You Play the Better Your Day

[angierc]

Thanks 4 the advice. 

[amelialw]

oh...i learnt that sonata recently too

I agree, working with someone is tough because you have to figure out when to practice and sometimes the other individual only does last min. work

my last duet exam was a complete wreck, i played the Ravel's Mother Goose suite(mvts 1,2,3). my partner kept skipping beats and after a while i went nuts and messed up everything...to make matters worse she pushed the blame to me...all i know is, i'm not going to work with that individual ever again

thanks for the advice timothy...i needed it too