Focusing on a few pieces at once?

[thinkgreenlovepiano]

I'm pretty sure there have been threads on this, maybe I even made one... but I can't find anything using the search.
So, I was wondering if it was more efficient to focus mainly on say, 2 or 3 pieces at once (not including sight reading)... or to juggle many pieces at once? I realize this may be different for different people, so I'm just looking for your opinion.

Because personally I've been think of my piano practise and lessons in the past few months and I feel overwhelmed. I plan to play 7 pieces for my exam (2 studies, 5 repertoire), and I also I have 4 extra "just for fun" pieces. That's my plan for the year (my exam will probably be at the beginning of the next year)

But I realized, both at lessons and during practise, the focus has been on the same 2 pieces, my sonata and my prelude and fugue.  My teacher told me that those are the pieces to focus on, because it takes a really long time to perfect them and they are my "major pieces". I agree, because listening to me play them now makes me cringe. Hopefully it will get better

In the beginning of the school year, we balanced it out pretty evenly, so that I was practising everything and we'd go through all the exam pieces every 3-4 lessons and the fun pieces sandwiched in on occasion.

I do practise other pieces, but not with the same focus. And some have been completely neglected for weeks. I really don't know how to balance everything out without focusing too much on quantity rather than quality. I really only have so many hours in a day, or a lesson. If I try to focus on all the pieces at once, I feel like my progress is very slow. Or it could just be that I'm a slow learner...  

[ongaku_oniko]

when I had lessons, I was doing 1-2 pieces at a time.

Now I'm doing 1 at a time. I don't think you can do well with 5 or 6 at a time; you'll get ideas mixed up and stuff. Or maybe not, but I don't see the point in studying too many at the same time.

Good luck on ur grade 10 exam

what pieces are you playing?

[thinkgreenlovepiano]

when I had lessons, I was doing 1-2 pieces at a time.

Now I'm doing 1 at a time. I don't think you can do well with 5 or 6 at a time; you'll get ideas mixed up and stuff. Or maybe not, but I don't see the point in studying too many at the same time.

Good luck on ur grade 10 exam

what pieces are you playing?

So my routine isn't normal? :| What if I forget my other pieces?
Sometimes I don't know what my teacher is going to ask for the next week... she'll start getting worried about one piece, and ask me to play it even though I havven't practised it much.  So that's why I tried to juggle them all, because sometimes I don't know what she'll ask for. Thanks for the luck, I'll need it although I'm not even thinking about piano exam prep yet =/ (School... on the other hand :S )

These are the pieces I'm actually playing at the moment/attempting to juggle.  I started out with many more, especially from list E!!! , but they just got ignored. Maybe someday...

Bach Prelude and Fugue in Eb Major, BWV 876
Bach French Suite in G Major, Allemande
Haydn Sonata in D Major Hob XVI:33
Chopin Nocturne in C sharp minor, op 27 no 1
Chopin Nocturne in b flat minor, op 9 no 1
Faure Barcarolle in Ab Major, op 44
Muczynski Preludes Op 6, no 1 and 6

Rachmaninoff Etude Tableau op 33 no 8
Heller Prelude in c sharp minor
Haberbier Serenade op 33 no 5

[brogers70]

I'm sure it's personal and varies a lot. I work on 6-7 pieces at a time. For each piece, each day, I aim at something I want to do that I can accomplish in 15-20 minutes. Then I just go through them one at a time until I'm done. The better I get at figuring out what is a good 15-20 minute task for a given piece, the more productive my practice is. When I've focused on just 1 or 2 pieces I find it hard to concentrate and I also find diminishing returns from practicing more time on the same piece at one sitting.

I'm just an amateur doing this for fun, though. The pieces I'm doing now are Brahms Intermezzo 117/2, Schubert Impromptu 90/4, Haydn Sonata B minor H32, Bach Partita #1, and the two part inventions in A minor and A major. So my pieces aren't as hard as yours, and I'm not aiming for any deadlines, so there's no stress. It takes months to get the longer pieces in shape, but I feel the progress each day because the daily tasks are manageable.

[nanabush]

Exactly.

Make a list of goals with each piece.  It reminds me of people going nuts over "achievements" on Xbox (I play xbox).

An example of what I did today:

Bach: Prelude from G minor English Suite

-find all cadences with hemiolas... mess around with those rhythms
-since the piece starts on an upbeat (rest - 2 -3 ), find all other motifs starting on beats 2 and 3, again, play around with those, which voices have them?
-fix up 3 difficult sections (could range from bad fingering, to a tough trill, to an awkward jump)

While I'm doing this, I'm marking up my score so I don't do this again!

Right now I'm getting 5 pieces ready for my jury; throughout the year I think I worked on about 8 or 9 (cycling through; I never had 10 at once), and for the last 3 months have been focusing on jury rep.

I think if you want to work on more than 1 or 2 pieces, have a reason for working on them.  Playing a piece half-assed then going on the next one will in the end have you always playing it half-assed.  It took me pretty much all of high school to realize that will just hold you back.  Make a little checklist, leave room; write little notes if there was something you intended to work on that gave you lots of trouble.

Teachers love it if the student has a specific goal in mind during the lesson.  It really shows you practiced, and that you were focusing on certain areas of the pieces.

[omar_roy]

Not counting chamber music or accompanying pieces, I'm generally working on 4 pieces at once.

[countrymath]

I usually practice 4 hours daily. 1 hour for each piece.

Now im doing:

Chopin - Etude Op25 N. 9
Chopin - Etude Op.25 n.2
Brahms - Klavierstucke Op 118 N.3 'Ballade'

And Im searching for something cool for the 4th. =p

I usually break this 1 hour on 3 sessions of 20 minutes. I think i still sucks, cause sometimes I need 2 days to finish smt like 4 bars...

Wherever, anyway...

[invictious]

I think as one forum member has pointed out helpfully some time ago that the key to learning several pieces at once is to have them at different progress, eg one piece is nearly done, one is halfway, one is just started etc

I generally try to work on one major work at all times, and focus on two/three 'smaller' pieces. Even if there is a short recital where I need to play one piece only, I think it is inefficient use of time if one is only focusing on one piece at a time. Unless they are short practice sessions, there is only so much that the brain can absorb from every practice session. I am of opinion that it is better to give the brain a refresher by practicing a different piece after working on a single piece.

As you can tell from my signature, my 'major' work is the Sonatine by Ravel. The other two 'smaller' pieces are provided in my signature. I have got all the notes down for the Danse Russe (finally!) and I am just working it up to tempo and connecting each section more smoothly. The Sonatine I still have some way to go I guess. For the Prokofiev, it is not too terribly difficult (despite the hype around this piece! I think there are other pieces in the suite which are more deserving of attention) and I think I am making healthy progress on it.