How fast do you learn repertoire?

[teosoleil]

Hi! New member here. I was just wondering the age-old question; how fast do you go through your repertoire? A long time ago, a piece the length of 8 or so pages would take me six months (when I wasn't an avid pianist). Now, it takes me less than a month to get the notes of large pieces, then at least another month to polish up and perfect my interpretation. I do have time to learn pieces faster than I am right now, but I think I'm at a pretty good pace although I want to expand my repertoire faster.

So, how long does it take you to learn a piece*?

*= I understand that it depends on person to person and there is no set standard. For reference, what is the longest piece you have ever learned and how long did it take you to learn? The shortest?

[michaeljames]

Hi.  I am interested in your query nd I hope there are many who respond to your question.

For me, it completely depends on many factors.  I can certainly "play through" most anything after one week, but to REALLY master a piece can take anywhere from 1 to 6 months, depending on so many variables.  The difficulty of the piece dictates pace, too, as does tempo. My biggest hurdle seems to be memorization.  As a child student, I could memorize most anything after playing it through just a few times.  That is not the case as an adult student.

Michael

[thinkgreenlovepiano]

It's hard for me to say, because I kind of juggle a bunch of pieces at once and focus on one or 2 at a time. After I decide to focus on the piece, it may take 1-3 months to polish it... but if you add up the total time it took for me to learn, including the time when I barely practised/ ignored the piece... it could be well over a year. But by the end of the year, I'll have a few pieces ready- given that I continue practising the ones I polished earlier on. 
 But these are for pieces that are quite short- 4 to 6 pages.
 
Yeah, I think I'm just slow. 

[pianoplayjl]

My annual repertoire comprises of 6 pieces. I usually take at least a year to 'perfect' them (although there are a few occasions where I learn 6 pieces in 6 months). If I'm lucky I get to learn an extra piece for fun. Usually this is my learning stage:
 
1 months: hands separate

2 months: hands together

3 months: start speeding up and adding a bit of pedal. This is the stage where I get stuck on the longest.

10 months: adding great amounts of detail. I find this the easiest stage once you get the hand of the piece you are working on.

12 months: mission accomplished.

JL

[williampiano]

With me, it changes. There are some times of the year when I don't feel like playing piano very much, so I don't. Then, there are other times that I do, like now. Generally, I complete about maybe..... 10 or so pieces a year, sometimes less.
Usually, in October, me and my teacher choose 4 pieces to perfect for Certificate of Merit (this year I am doing level eight). I work on those pieces until the test, which usually takes place around February. Sometimes I might finish one piece early, so then I'll start a new piece for CM. I usually do that once or twice. Then, after the test, I just work on different pieces until it's time to start preparing CM pieces again. Some years I get kind of tired of piano after CM, so I only learn 3 or 4 pieces. Other times, when I'm more enthusiastic about piano, I'll learn as many as 5 to 8 pieces.

So basically, when I practice a good amount, around 45 mins - 1 hour every day, I can get through about 4 pieces in 4-5 months. When I'm less enthusiastic about piano, then it takes longer as I don't practice as much.

[jesc]

depends on the level of the piece.

Mostly, without interruption which means continuous effort, 2-3 days sight read to play up to speed, 2 weeks to memorize and then improvement to perfection...

perfection stage never ends for me... mostly for the difficult pieces. Even after years, there's always room for improvement.

Now, factoring in my work, and other commitments... multiply by 3 lol.

[pianovlad1996]

Well, I can sight read with ease in tempo pieces like Bach Inventions, Mozart sonatas, Czerny and some Chopin etudes and some of the easier Beethoven sonatas (Op.2 No.1, Op.14 No.1,2, Op.10 No.1,Op.49 and Op.79). Other will cause some problems so I need to reduce the tempo. With this said, I first sight read my entire repertoire in first sit (exepting the sonatas or concertos ) and look at the technical problems. Then it takes me 2 to 3 weeks (depending on the difficulty of the pieces) to have the notes memorized in tempo. After this exhausting step,  my teacher starts to work with me on them (phrasing, articulation, hand movements etc.)-she doesn't help me reading notes. Then after 2 or 3 months, the repertoire is ready for recitals, exams, olympics and other competitions.          

[megadodd]

I'll take the Chopin Valse in E moll (without op number) for example.
It took me quite long to get through the piece (I memorize as I learn the notes). It was about 2 months. And that's about how long it takes me to get it up to speed aswell, when I have memorized the whole piece I usually can play it in tempo.
Then I add about 1-4 weeks of practicing the hard sections that I cannot play with as much ease as the rest of the piece. After that, I add desired dynamics, fix pedaling if needed etc. Can take alot of time, but it's the most fun part so I don't mind it taking forever.

Ofc, as everyone else says- it depends on the piece itself.
But usually it's like that.

I usually feel safe playing a piece in recital after atleast 3-4 months. Even though I might have it down in my fingers after a week, this is something I hold onto strongly.

[cagal]

Depends on the composer for me.  Some things simply come easier than others for me.  Generally I'm slow as molasses though - mostlly due to limited practice time.  I'd say I average 8-12 months (but this includes fully memorizing).

[jjs238]

I'll make it simple.

I'm a 6 month kind of guy. I juggle a lot but also don't ever really play for anyone until I got it down, then still keep perfecting it years after. I would say that 6 months is a bare minimum for myself to get any piece down and audience ready or to my liking. I'm talking about grade 8 I think, at least what I've read for some songs I like.

If I sit down to play some easy practice Bach or something, that's more like a 2 day job at most to master but you all know how the easy songs are. When I get stumped by a hard song, I go back and play an easy one like a pro to cheer me up, haha.