Hello - practise advise please.

[siden1]

Hi all - I discovered your lovely forum a couple of days ago and after doing some reading would appreciate some advice please.

I'm an adult beginner (40 years old) who has just taken grade 1 (ABRSM) so very much a novice.  My current long term goal is to be able to play the Chopin Nocturnes well.  I have some way to go 

So far the hardest thing I am finding is to get a piece committed to memory and for it to stick there over time.  e.g. I have practised the Chopin prelude in e minor for some time but still need to have the score with me and my rendition gets rusty quite quickly if I neglect it even for a few days.

Having read several posts by Bernhard I'm keen to try his method to learn my next piece but I want to make sure I am applying it correctly.  Here is my understanding of it.  I'd be grateful if anyone more experienced could correct where it is wrong or add anything that is missing.

1. Choose small sections of a piece to learn, each of which can be mastered in 20 minutes or less.
2. Practise the sections in there own practise 'slots' HS and HT to a level where they can be played correctly 7 times in a row (stop at 7).
3. Repeat the exercises the following day after giving the subconscious time to work its magic overnight.
4. Continue to practise each day until the sections are fully mastered and can be played correctly immediately.
5. When the piece is complete, neglect it for a month or so and then come back to it and relearn it again to commit it to longer term memory.
6. Repeat as many times as needed to get it to 'stick'

The first question which comes to mind is:

Does mastered in 20 minutes mean to be able to play it at performance speed?  e.g. for me I can quickly get HS up to speed on either hand but I find HT is about 10 times harder to accomplish at the correct speed.  Should I be picking very small sections (e.g. a handful of notes) which I can master at the intended speed, or choose slightly longer sections (e.g. 2-3 bars) and increase the speed over a number of practise days?

MTIA
Siden1

[jimbo320]

Hi Siden,
Welcome to the forum. Bravo on your accomplishments. Your list of abilities is well on it's way.
To master any piece in a certain time frame is hard. Just the term mastering could have different meanings to different people. To me mastering a piece is the memory part but the performance is what I refer to as "nailing it".
Try this. Play the piece very slowly until all your fingering seems to flow easily. This will aid in muscle memory. Now speed up a little at a time watching your fingers as you play. This will help in eye/brain memory. As you start to reach normal speed also begin closing your eyes and picture the keyboard and your fingering. Replacing the eye/brain memory with just brain memory. The number of times needed to do this depends on the piece and you. Sounds simple, you might be surprised at the results.

Musically, Jimbo

[stevebob]

Bernhard’s prescription for practice is interesting and timely for me, as I ponder increasingly the elements of “learning” new repertoire (and how to accomplish it most efficiently).  Because all individuals have different backgrounds, skills and learning styles—and as every piece of music has a unique set of challenges—I’m puzzled at just how he arrived at an optimal strategy having universal application.

For example, why “mastered” within 20 minutes or less instead of some other span of time?  (And indeed what does mastered mean in this context?)  Why practice until seven times correct (rather than six or eight times?  These seem like arbitrary standards, and I would be interested to know the rationale behind them as well as the results that would substantiate them.

If anyone might correct my misunderstandings and/or clarify Bernhard’s methodology, I’d be as grateful as the original poster.

[becky8898]

Hi: your summary of how to practice seems pretty good, but no rule is fool proof . As you learn more about yourself you need to adjust , modify so your practice routine fits you like a glove.  As far as what is meant by Mastery, that is a pretty complex.  If your just talking about learning a piece so you know the notes and can kind of play it at performance tempo like you say thats one thing.  On the other if your talking about adding all the dynamics , voicing, customized fingering , your legato or staccato, the ability to start and stop the piece at any point that is all together different.  Finally if your talking about making a great artistic interpertation, thats different to.  One last thing  - work on training your ear , its really really important. 

Best of luck with your studies

Cheers, Becky

[mcdiddy1]

Assuming your goal is to commit the piece by memory I think the first step is defining your goals very clearly. WHAT are you trying to memorize?? The structure, grace notes, dynamics, sections, measures. Make sure you do a road test of the piece everyday meaning playing through to evaluate the sections that are not commited to memory. I understand where you are coming from with letting the subconscious parts of the brain time to make connections but it won't harm you to do play every day. Here are some tips you can add to practice to help with whatever memory issues you have.

SING IT!. If you can sing it you can play it and you really know the music. It will help show you where the phrases are, improve your musicality and help your aural memory. Singing with the piano can also help your ear by listening to the color of the tonalities.

PRACTICE WITHOUT YOUR INSTRUMENT- playing without your instrument is a great challenge for your brain. When you imagine you are playing and when you actually play your brain is doing the exact thing. This way you can imagine the keyboard, the physically jumps needed to preform etc without making mistakes

PRACTICE WITHOUT MUSIC (RECORD YOURSELF) Its good practice to hear what you sound like and practice faking a little bit. Everybody good performer knows how to fake a little bit to get out of trouble and recording yourself holds your self accountable.

PRACTICE SECTIONS RANDOMLY ( ESPECIALLY THE END)

These are generally comments judging by your comments, it seems you are at the hands together stage so if I were you I would attempt to get both hands together with every phrase rather than a couple of notes . Learn the grace note runs first and then learn the piece hands together at half tempo without grace notes

[pianisten1989]

Practise also away from a keyboard. Play a small part in your head, until you know it perfectly. It's really difficult, so don't stop if it doesn't work the first 5 times. If it still doesn't work you might use the scores at some spots.

You should make some sort of schedule of the piece: What happens, when does it happen, where is the climax, and so on.

Don't only start at the same place when you practise. and when you practise, try to think What notes you just hit and what note you will hit. Ofc you can't practise that in a very fast tempo at first, so play it really slowly.

[music32]

I believe in slow practice from the start of learning a new work. But this must be imbued with the phrasing you desire, and the commitment to a singing tone. Too often students tell me, I will first learn the notes, and later, "I will play them with feeling." If I am understanding correctly, your E minor Chopin Nocturne with the rolling arpeggio figures in the LH against the gorgeous spun out, melancholy melody, is what you were referencing. My teacher, Lillian Freundlich assigned me this very Nocturne when I first came to study with her. I would start with the RH and try to approximate a singer rendering the notes .. so there's a lot to think about shaping as well as the Harmonic Rhythm which is more readily revealed in the harmonically outlined broken chord bass.
If it were me, I would be aware of the harmonic flow of the piece from start to finish, because it influences interpretation. I could write a book about this, but my main point is that too play slow enough to shape the line, and be aware of relationships underlying the melody.

In my tutorial today on the middle movement of Mozart K. 545 there is a parallel to the this approach though we are exploring a Classical era work. Maybe the points made here can have some transfer potential to the Chopin, though in the vocabulary of Romantic music, the player takes more liberties (with rubato, etc.)

https://arioso7.wordpress.com/2011/01/07/piano-instruction-second-movement-mozart-sonata-in-c-major-k-545-video/