Fastest Way to Master a song

[kaligleean]

I've received a piece from my piano teacher and I've been wondering what is the fastest way to master a piece.  In previous pieces, it takes me usually almost 3 weeks or more to master a piece without memorizing it through somewhat diligent practice.  Is there a way to quickly master a song or does it really take weeks to master it?

[invictious]

If there was a 'fastest way to master a song', then there wouldn't be the need for professional pianists or teachers, would there!

[wildman]

You can't rush art.

[davidmoore]

Play slowly and with clean/ clear articulation of every finger to set the piece in the hand. Pay attention to jumps, hand position, etc. then gradually increase the tempo. Never rush this stage. Know every note correctly and analyze chord structures, especially in difficult passages, scale passages, arpeggios. Know the piece in your mind before teaching it to your hands. Then you will learn the piece in much shorter time and it will be yours.

[pianisten1989]

the fastest way to master a song is obviously to sing...

[nystul]

If you could truly master a piece in just a week or two, then it is a very easy piece for your capabilities.  Not that there is anything wrong with playing easy pieces well.  There are things that could probably help you learn pieces faster, but that is just a part of getting better and as you figure these things out you will want to play more difficult pieces which will also be longer and probably take a lot more than 3 weeks to master.

[dss62467]

I was just reading over on the PianoWorld forum the responses given to someone who asked a similar question.  Not about the "fastest way" to learn, but how to learn it in general.  It was an Adult Beginner's forum (I'm not a beginner, but was just curious) 

Anyway, there was one reply that said you should learn one measure + the next beat, memorize it, and move on to the next one, tacking the previous measures on as you go.

Does anyone do that?  I can't imagine a less enjoyable way to learn a piece.  I would literally go insane! Then again, I don't memorize anything.

[landru]

The fastest way to master a piece would involve finding some way of not memorizing your mistakes - getting rid of mistakes I've ingrained on the way is what takes a lot of time for me.

Memorizing the notes and fingering, repeating small sections (like a phrase or a difficult really small section) quickly over and over without mistakes and appropriate separate hand practice are all good ways.

As dss62467 says, the one measure at a time method might work (doesn't sound very musical though) - but it would be useless for those of us who have weekly lessons and can't practice 8 hours a day. I can imagine my lesson if I came in with "Hi Teacher, here are my 2-3 measures of up to speed work!"

[rmbarbosa]

The best way to learn and memorize a piece is going from the brain to fingers, never from fingers to brain. Of course, one can go to the lesson with his/her teacher after a quick study, but so quick one study so quick one forget. And its very possible to make mistakes during the lesson. But if one take up one or two measures or at most a phrase, at a time, and analyze it, read it with his eyes until the notes stand out clearly before one`s mental vision, and name the notes mentally and play them mentally and only after this play the measure or the phrase from memory, one will not forget no more, and can remember and play it after yearsfrom memory. This way is named memorizing in the form of addition. Step by step, measure after measure. Much time spent? May be. But one arrives at the point of being able to think through the piece much faster than the fingers can follow. And no more mistakes during the lesson or the audition. Impatient students never achieve a high and brilliant performance. They stay more or less in mediocrity. And personally, I hate mediocrity in Music. (we must learn first the more dificult bars, of course, and later the easiest) - Best wishes - Rui