How to prevent the corrosion of a piece.

[faa2010]

Hello,

I want to learn faster a piece, but if I get it quickly, I am not going to play the piece as it should be (eg. timing problems, rhythm, don't play the right notes, wrong finger position, etc).  A teacher told me that it can be "corroded", it can be spoiled if I don't learned it correctly.

I know that I have to be more patient and go to the next part of the piece once I have understood the part I am learning, but it can also lead me to staleness if I don't know when I am ready to continue. (or if my fuel of motivation becomes empty )

How can I know that I can advance to the next part of the piece?,  what professional pianists do in order to learn a piece (specially a big one like a Mozart's, Schubert's Sonata or a Chopin's Ballade) faster without spoiling the piece?

[dima_76557]

How to prevent the corrosion of a piece.

I am not a professional pianist, but i think the trick is to choose repertoire that is not much more difficult than you can actually handle. A few sight readings, a couple of hours work, and the basics of learning the notes and playing everything in the piece more or less CONFIDENTLY at a tempo of your choice (not too fast) are ready. You can then work on the music itself slowly, which can take as long as it takes. You will be surprised, but before you know, the piece is up to tempo without you drilling to achieve speed. That type of repertoire. When you pick pieces that are much too difficult, then you are asking for problems of the kind you describe in your post.

[faulty_damper]

That's not "corrosion" as in, it was brand-spankin' new and then oxidation caused it to corrode.  That's just learning the piece poorly to begin with.  Don't learn it poorly to begin with! 

[faa2010]

That's not "corrosion" as in, it was brand-spankin' new and then oxidation caused it to corrode.  That's just learning the piece poorly to begin with.  Don't learn it poorly to begin with! 

Yeah, and that's what I mean with the word "corrosion", that means that you learn the piece but not in the correct way so when you play it, it will have a poor quality: it won't have the right tempo, the right tonalities and/or some parts will sound loud when they don't have to and/or viceversa.

So, how can I prevent or mitigate to learn a piece poorly?

[lojay]

Corrosion inhibitor will work wonders.

[outin]

So, how can I prevent or mitigate to learn a piece poorly?

You learn it properly by using enough time to actually learn and analyze what you do, not just repeating it anyway you can. And you don't try to learn it before you have enough previous skill to be able to, that is, you don't pick up pieces that are way above you reach.

People are different, many seem to be able to learn things in a linear way, just learning every passage with all the details thought out and then put them together. I learn differently, I first have to make a "sketch" and then work on the details. I've tried the other approach because that's how my teacher would want me to do, but it just doesn't work. As with anything else my mind needs to grasp the big things first and then go deeper into the details. So I keep learning more and polishing details long after I already can "sort" of play the piece through. Forever actually, because there's always something that can be even better...