Seeking help to increase my practice discipline (learning Bach's inventions).

[snowbird]

Hey all. This is my first post on this forum. This post is a little lengthy, so skip the first part if you don't care about my background. I tend be a little verbose in my writing, so I apologize for that.

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Background
I'm a 22 year old guy who has recently (within the past couple months) decided to take back up piano playing. I started playing piano in middle school, and played through high school. That's about seven years worth of playing, followed by three and a half years off.

I took lessons during those seven years, and while the teacher I had was a nice person and overall a cool guy, he was not very strict in his methods. As a result, while I feel as though I have a decent base of knowledge when it comes to the theory side of music, I'm not very disciplined when it comes to my practice methods, and my repertoire is very limited. The most difficult piece of music I can play is Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata (all three movements, although the third movement is very "muddy" when I play it at speed) and a few other random "fun" pieces here and there.

Anyway, in order to get back into the piano I decided to get some Bach under my belt. I started by attempting to play the Well Tempered Clavier, but after some sight reading I decided to step it back a little bit before tackling that, so right now I'm working on his two part inventions.

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Questions
I guess I've got two questions.

Would it be better to memorize Bach's inventions as I learn them, or would it be better to get the point where I can play them clean and then try and memorize? I've been able to memorize music in the past with minimal effort, but I'm having a very difficult time memorizing Bach's inventions. I'd like to have them memorized, but I'm not sure of the most efficient method.

Also, my play tends to be very "stuttered" when I play Bach, much more so than when I play Beethoven or other such pieces. Do you have any advice for aiding this stutter? I guess, I've noticed that each individual invention is grouped into multiple entries of a theme (a lot like a fugue has multiple entries of a subject) that are connected together to comprise the entire piece. While I can get to the point where I can play each section clean individually, I'm having a very difficult time connecting the sections smoothly, especially when I try and play from memory.

Also, if you have any advice for general practice methods when it comes to learning Bach, that sort of advice would be greatly, GREATLY appreciated.

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I know that really it just comes down to practising more. I've got a lot of free time right now, so I'm not opposed to practising for multiple hours a day. Really I would just like advice on how to increase practice discipline.

Thanks if you read all of that. and I look forward to your replies.

[brogers70]

Well, Bach is great. I'm just an amateur, but I'll try to answer some of the questions.

For the two part inventions, you could listen to a recording several times. Each time you listen focus on one or the other part, so you make sure you have a good mental image of how each part sounds. Then play hands separate for longer than you think you need to. Get each hand up to a faster tempo than you intend to play in the end. Make sure you shape and articulate each hand/line the way you want to. Then work on putting the hands together.

I've found that to avoid stuttering it is very helpful to play the whole piece extremely slowly at least once a day. This works especially well for stuttering problems that appear in different spots every time you play the piece. If your stuttering problems occur at junctions between sections of the piece, then just practicing the junctions should help. And be careful that when you practice in short sections, the short sections overlap for a measure or two.

I can't help much on memorization techniques because memorizing comes automatically to me with practice (that's another way of saying that I'm such a bad sight reader that I can't play a piece until I've memorized it anyway).

For Bach more complex than two-part inventions I find it very helpful to copy out the piece on multiple staffs, one line to each staff, so that I can see clearly what each separate voice is doing. Then I listen to a recording many times paying attention to only one individual voice each time I listen. Then I learn to play each voice individually, and then each hand individually before trying to put it all together.

[lostinidlewonder]

Anyway, in order to get back into the piano I decided to get some Bach under my belt. I started by attempting to play the Well Tempered Clavier, but after some sight reading I decided to step it back a little bit before tackling that, so right now I'm working on his two part inventions.

The WTC Prelude Book 1 No 1 should pose you no difficulty and is a valuable piece. The inventions are trickier than they seem and are of many varying difficulty levels. Why not try some of his easier pieces like from Anna Magdalena for instance just to get used to the style.

Would it be better to memorize Bach's inventions as I learn them, or would it be better to get the point where I can play them clean and then try and memorize?

Memorize the fingering and then try to read as you play. Bach is difficult to memorize because of his part writing, it is not just support vs melody which can be very easy to memorize but more like melody vs melody which is more intricate especially with the fingering.  

I've been able to memorize music in the past with minimal effort, but I'm having a very difficult time memorizing Bach's inventions. I'd like to have them memorized, but I'm not sure of the most efficient method.

You need to ensure that all your fingering choices are the best solution for you and you can consistently play them. You can practice playing one hand while singing the other out loud or in your head. Play small sections at tempo with controlled pauses (freeze the hand without creeping to a position/note or moving at all) if you hesitate.

Also, my play tends to be very "stuttered" when I play Bach

Use controlled pauses in your practice so you can play small passages at tempo without stuttering. Whenever you sense you are about to stutter completely freeze, collect yourself, then continue. Controlled pausing is a very handy tool to remove your uncontrolled pauses. Take notice of where you pause and try to remove them systematically (play small sections which deal with the hesitation points, this may require only very few notes surrounding the trouble spot).

Also, if you have any advice for general practice methods when it comes to learning Bach, that sort of advice would be greatly, GREATLY appreciated.

Personally I prefer to sight read Bach, try to read much of his Choral pieces, this may help you to understand position of his writing easier. Take particular care of fingering technique when playing Bach. There is very particular fingerings which may not feel natural at all to you at first. This was a big challenge for me when I studied Bach, mastering all of his fingering patterns which often did not feel like a natural solution until it was thoroughly drilled.