just wonder how do you practice...

[fenz]

I just wonder how do you practice? How to learn a lot of pieces at once? Do you learn all pieces everyday but in small passages?

I'm learning on:

• Bach's Partita no. 2
• Bach's French Suite no. 3
• Bach's French Suite no. 1(polishing) - but I fell a little bored about it, so I didn't practice it for 2 weeks

And I want to learn Mozart's Sonata no. 14.

I need advise how should I practice and how to practice efficiently. For your information, I easily get bored when I play same piece in long time (I mean learn only 1 or 2 pieces at a time).

Thanks and regards,
fenz 

[point of grace]

mmmm it depends on the day... sometimes i like playing 1 or 2 pieces, and sometimes i prefer playing all pieces at once, to polish them, to read them at first sight, to polish fingering, pedaling and fortes and pianos, very slow or at the right tempo... but always the whole piece, also it's good for memorizing...

you are going to study all that bach? then you need patience!, there i wouldn't play all at once. Choose some slow and fast dances to play one day, but play the whole dance at once, although you play it very slow, because it's not easy to memorice all that Bach...

best,
Yanina

[CC]

have you looked into my home page below?

[fenz]

@point of grace: Thanks for your advice, I'll try it  . I'm not practice all of them at once, just practice what piece I like depend on my mood. But I haven't try to polish fingering or pedaling specially. Maybe this makes me learn slowly... How do you memorize pieces? I've a difficulty in memorizing. Thanks.

@ CC: Thanks  . Great site.

[jbmorel78]

My procedure for a new piece is usually as follows:

1) read entire work three times, significantly under tempo, observing as much as possible re: phrasings, character, harmonies, technical obstacles, possible fingerings, climax, structure

2) careful work in sections (one or two each day), with more detailed work on phrasing, fingering/redistribution decisions, experiencing mood, internalizing of material.  It goes without saying that all rhythms and pitches must be accurate throughout this work, otherwise it is wasted effort.  If you cannot do this, choose a smaller fragment and/or slower tempo.  Re: dynamic, articulation, tempo markings - always be asking yourself "Why?"  Why is there a crescendo here?  What would be the effect if it were the opposite?  Work to convince yourself that each indication that the composer gives MUST be so, because these indications are an organic part of the musical material, not an addition.

3) eventually, you may decide to test whether it is memorized.  There are several ways to do this other than public performance, which include playing slowly (the muscle memory has a more difficult time engaging, and so it gives a more accurate assessment), hearing mentally and "taking dictation," copying the score from memory, playing the LH alone... etc.

In summary, all work should be directed toward a greater musical comprehension of the piece, a more vivid sound image in the mind, and an impeccably accurate realization of this internal image.

Best wishes,
Jean-Baptiste Morel

[peterjmathis]

It's actually good to learn more than one piece at once. Not only will it help with boredom, as you said, it will also help when you hit a frustrating or difficult piece and just need to work on something else for a while. It's okay to work on different pieces unevenly, as long as you don't neglect any of them too much. I'd recommend keeping a log of how much you worked on each piece and what you did, what worked and what didn't.

You might consider replacing pieces you find yourself avoiding, like the one you haven't practiced for two weeks, unless this always happens when you get to the polishing stage, in which case you need to promise yourself to work on it at least a few minutes every time until it's done. Otherwise, it's better to have a third piece you want to play and not a third one you're avoiding.

[fenz]

Thanks jbmorel and peterjmathis 

[vviola]

I practice 30 minutes at a time. By the end of the day I've usually practiced about 3 and a half hours, sometimes more. Right now I'm learning three different Mozart sonatas. K. 309, K. 330, and K. 333. I divide each 30 minute practice session between the three of these. I never practice Hanon or etudes, only scales (and not for more than 5 minutes at a time). Each session I focus on the weakest spot in the piece, and try to refine subtleties in the parts I can play. I've never had a problem with boredom; I don't understand how people become bored. My advice is to pretend that Bach is in the room and listening. If that doesn't make you focus, I don't know what will.

[fenz]

Thanks vviola... I'll try it 
Hmm... Actually I don't know exactly why I can get bored, maybe if I hear same pieces again and again, or if I don't feel any challenge to learn those pieces