This is the last piece I'll learn

[countrymath]

I'm tired of practicing a piece 3 hours a day for weeks and play it once or twice, then forget it completely.

I'm learning Bach Toccata in D minor (from the famous toccata e fugge) and after this, moonlight 3rd mov. That will be the last piece I will learn.

I will focus completely on improvisation and theory now (classical and blues). I'll keep practicing etudes, tough.

Hope this will rebuild my desire to play the piano and study music, because it is completely gone.

Any coments are welcome

[bachbrahmsschubert]

You're too hard on yourself.

You're trying to rush the learning process and are getting discouraged because of it.

Try some easier pieces that you know you can play well.

Practicing one thing for three hours a day would drive anybody mad. That's not a healthy habit. Try to limit one piece to a maximum of one hour while focusing on only the sections that you're having the most trouble with. It may take you an extra week to learn something, but better to take the time to learn something correct the first time than to develop bad habits and play it incorrectly for a lifetime.

Try and enjoy your time a little more. Be patient.

Best wishes,

[bleicher]

Get out there and take part in some chamber music or other musical activities. Sitting at home on your own practising can get quite lonely when there aren't other people to talk to about it (which is why I come on pianostreet).

[quantum]

Try not to look at practicing as work or the daily grind.  The bulk of what we do and experience as musicians comes in practice.  It can be an enjoyable and enlightening experience if we are able to switch to a different mindset. 

There are times when we need a break from what we are doing, that is why having very different sets of music or instruments to play is beneficial.  If you get tired of one, switch to the other.  Sooner or later you will get an itch to go back to piano. 

[countrymath]

You're too hard on yourself.

You're trying to rush the learning process and are getting discouraged because of it.

Try some easier pieces that you know you can play well.

Practicing one thing for three hours a day would drive anybody mad. That's not a healthy habit. Try to limit one piece to a maximum of one hour while focusing on only the sections that you're having the most trouble with. It may take you an extra week to learn something, but better to take the time to learn something correct the first time than to develop bad habits and play it incorrectly for a lifetime.

Try and enjoy your time a little more. Be patient.

Best wishes,

I'm practicing 2 pieces at a time. I do focus on the sections that i need most, but it still takes a lot of time to learn these  sections.

Get out there and take part in some chamber music or other musical activities. Sitting at home on your own practising can get quite lonely when there aren't other people to talk to about it (which is why I come on pianostreet).

There are no chamber music groups near here.

Try not to look at practicing as work or the daily grind.  The bulk of what we do and experience as musicians comes in practice.  It can be an enjoyable and enlightening experience if we are able to switch to a different mindset. 

There are times when we need a break from what we are doing, that is why having very different sets of music or instruments to play is beneficial.  If you get tired of one, switch to the other.  Sooner or later you will get an itch to go back to piano. 

Yeah...maybe I need a break.

[nystul]

You can make music a very dry and unpleasant experience if you always and only work on pieces that will take months to get a handle on.  There is a whole world of nice music out there and a lot of it is easy enough for you to learn in a week or two.  To move forward you need to play pieces that will challenge you in some ways, but that does not need to be your entire music experience.  Mix in an easy piece each week or two and try to have fun with it.  Plus your sight reading will benefit and you will have a more diverse set of musical experiences to draw from in your own creations.  Just my opinion.

[oxy60]

The blues, in Brazil? Is it played in the clubs or are there jam sessions?

Here in Southern California there are jam sessions every night of the week, often going on in two clubs far apart.

For the aspiring blues musician these jam sessions give an opportunity to expand their playing. In some places where the liquor laws are different it's possible to have jams for all ages.

The blues is an art form that is made anew each time musicians get together. That is how it started under a tree, or on a porch in the South.

[countrymath]

Mostly covers are player here...with some jam sessions between the usual 2 hours of shows

[lostinidlewonder]

I'm tired of practicing a piece 3 hours a day for weeks and play it once or twice, then forget it completely.

I know your feeling as I get some students wondering the same thing. It seems all useless to learn a piece only for it to fall into disrepair and you feel like you have to start again. The thing is, that your brain has already absorbed some knowledge of how you played that piece before. You have already made connections in your brain that although may be faded and seem forgotten, once refreshed you will attain mastery much faster than if you had never experienced it before.

Keeping conscious memory observations written on your score can act as a guide to refresh your memory when you return to a piece in the future, do not think that you need to have memorized and mastered everything you have ever played, that requires that you play the pieces constantly or develop the facility to merely sight read the pieces with mastery without requiring the input it completely into your muscular memory bank.

Just don't feel that when you forget a piece you have lost everything you learned from it. Try to learn the piece again and it will be solved much faster than your first trial towards mastery. If you forget it a 2nd time, the 3rd attempt will be even faster. Most people just get disheartened at the 1st loss of memory, they give up and think everything they did was useless.

[oxy60]

Mostly covers are player here...with some jam sessions between the usual 2 hours of shows

Yes, I see. So is there no chance for a walk up musician like yourself to sit in for a tune? Ask the band leader. You might be surprised.

I agree with everything said from the classical point of view. However you mentioned the blues as one of your goals. I can assure you, there is nothing like being up there on the stage playing with good musicians. That rush will replace anything you can imagine. Really!

[countrymath]

Yes, I see. So is there no chance for a walk up musician like yourself to sit in for a tune? Ask the band leader. You might be surprised.

I agree with everything said from the classical point of view. However you mentioned the blues as one of your goals. I can assure you, there is nothing like being up there on the stage playing with good musicians. That rush will replace anything you can imagine. Really!

I agree. The problem is that since I started playing, I got the idea of learn classical first, and then the other styles will come easily. I agree with this, but I think it will take too much time to it happens. I mean, it takes a lot of time to transfer the classical technique to pop technique. Also, I like improvisation (classical and pop) more then playing repertorie. After reading all these posts, I still think I should focus on improvisation. It would  be great to sit at the piano at anytime  and make some good music myself.

[oxy60]

Welcome to the club! I couldn't transfer for several reasons. The main one being that didn't know enough songs. My friend must know about 500 songs, complete lyrics, stops, rhythms, composer. year and the various cover versions.

So I picked my old bass and found that with the blues (8 bar or 12 bar) all my essential notes are across one fret. I still don't know a lot of songs but I can sit in on any blues jam and not embarrass myself. Often my fellow musicians like a more simple approach to the bass line. It gives them more space to improvise.

[countrymath]

Welcome to the club! I couldn't transfer for several reasons. The main one being that didn't know enough songs. My friend must know about 500 songs, complete lyrics, stops, rhythms, composer. year and the various cover versions.

So I picked my old bass and found that with the blues (8 bar or 12 bar) all my essential notes are across one fret. I still don't know a lot of songs but I can sit in on any blues jam and not embarrass myself. Often my fellow musicians like a more simple approach to the bass line. It gives them more space to improvise.

I've decided. From now, i'll focus on improvisation. I may listen to lots of music and learn 3 or 4 bars of wich one, on all (or almost) keys and improvise over them.

It should be so great to get early on the morning and make some good stuff...

Jesus, i'm getting excited again. Hope it lasts for more then a year, tough.