''Polishing'' a piece?

[mralkanesque]

I first opened the sheet music to the Cramer transcription of ''Danse Macabre'' two days ago. I can now play the entire work in over seven distinct sections. It would usually take me several months to take this ''note learned'' piece to performance level, but as I need it prepared for an upcoming event, it needs to be finished very soon. Can anybody share their method of how they ''polish'' a work? Measure by measure? phrase by phrase? Page by page? I would like to hear your input. Thanks.

[thesixthsensemusic]

It is about being better in control, so I think you could apply the same method as with learning technically difficult passages:

Play it phrase by phrase, and repeat all the phrases a whole lot of times before moving on to the next passage, starting with the measure before the phrase you want to pracitce starts, and finishing it with the one after, so you imprint the transition in your memory too.

Play about half the desired tempo, perhaps a bit more but not too much. If you have done so, take the scale up one notch and start practicing multiple phrases, perhaps a page or so at a time, also at relatively slow tempo and with 10-20 repetitions per page. Also incorporate the parts right before and right after it, this time maybe 2-3 measures instead of one.

Next step would be to cover even a bigger section, perhaps a 3rd of the piece or so, and apply the same principles. Before your performance play it through entirely at a low pace a few times, and you've boosted your memory to the max... this will also lead you to structurally know the piece at every level. Enabling you to play the right notes effortlessly will probably also boost the musical quality a great deal.

Good luck. The piece is a challenge but I'm sure you'll do a great job, if you're good enough to learn most of it it as quickly as you said you did.

[classicalnhiphop]

Doing rhythms on the entire piece.  I know it sounds tedious, but is helps alot.  Don't just do rhythms in 2s though.