Home
Piano Music
Piano Music Library
Top composers »
Bach
Beethoven
Brahms
Chopin
Debussy
Grieg
Haydn
Mendelssohn
Mozart
Liszt
Prokofiev
Rachmaninoff
Ravel
Schubert
Schumann
Scriabin
All composers »
All composers
All pieces
Search pieces
Recommended Pieces
Audiovisual Study Tool
Instructive Editions
Recordings
PS Editions
Recent additions
Free piano sheet music
News & Articles
PS Magazine
News flash
New albums
Livestreams
Article index
Piano Forum
Resources
Music dictionary
E-books
Manuscripts
Links
Mobile
About
About PS
Help & FAQ
Contact
Forum rules
Pricing
Log in
Sign up
Piano Forum
Hot topics:
Bucket list of works??
Who is your favourite composer?
What do you play for pure enjoyment?
Home
Help
Search
Piano Forum
»
Piano Board
»
Student's Corner
»
common pitfalls during learning stages?
Print
Pages: [
1
]
Go Down
Topic: common pitfalls during learning stages?
(Read 1206 times)
pover
PS Silver Member
Full Member
Posts: 101
common pitfalls during learning stages?
on: July 27, 2014, 01:44:06 PM
Hey everyone. Sorry for starting another thread but I want to make sure I have a correct understanding before I start learning a new piece.
What sometimes happens with me is that I learn a piece and work on it until I'm happy with it. So I start learning new stuff and playing the piece I just learned for my own enjoyment, but then out of nowhere, mistakes start to appear, usually at random places unexpectedly. And I can't seem to identify the reason for this, so I assumed it was due to lack in specific preparation in the initial learning stages, so I thought I'd ask you a couple of questions...
I know that one should divide a piece in small manageable sections, and do then HS and slowly. This I do. And I know a couple of tricks but the problem is I don't know where to use them! Some of these tricks include:
-Practicing in rhythms
-Practicing accenting different parts
-Using different touches and dynamics
-Some exercises I learned from watching Josh Wright's videos on youtube (Things like adding notes around passages so I know it all around, using a technique to ensure the both hands are completely coordinated correctly, etc).
The problem is, I don't know if I should use these exercises and techniques on everything I learn or on the difficult parts only? And I can't seem to find a reason for the random mistakes I make after I've learned the piece, making sure none are taking place. I start slowly, practicing a specific section each session, taking as long as I need to complete any particular task, try to work on dynamics from the start and all that. But still, unexpected mistakes take place.
I'm sure this is a common problem, but I feel I can do something to solve it. And I'm pretty sure it has got to do with the foundation I set in the initial stages of learning a new piece. So any ideas on how to reduce/eliminate this problem and any other tips/advice on what to do when learning a new piece?
Thanks for your time!
Logged
hmrichter
Newbie
Posts: 24
Re: common pitfalls during learning stages?
Reply #1 on: August 03, 2014, 10:26:41 PM
If I know what the problems you're talking about are (failure to keep a piece at it's "peak level" of performance), the key is to practice the piece at all tempos. My teacher has me do this all the time- when I had to play the Chopin prelude in E minor 28/4 several times over the course of several months, we played it at tons of different tempos to keep it fresh. I once played it swing at 120 BPM. That also helps with being able to improvise, if you're into that
If I may ask, what piece in particular are you having this experience with?
As for learning new pieces more efficiently, the best way IMHO is this:
-Figure out what the technical challenges are specifically to the piece, and think of strategies to deal with those.
-Figure out what the musical challenges are specifically to the piece, and think of strategies to deal with those (Trust me, you want those as two separate steps, it makes for much more efficient practicing in the next step as you can focus on one thing at a time).
-Practice the piece through until you have it at least 70% note accurate at 25-50% speed (depending on the piece).
-Rotate sections to work on them. This is where it gets more involved. I often label particular sections of my pieces with letters, not just the form (Though in the A section of a piece I might label some AA or AB and in the B section BA or BB and so forth). Then, work on one difficult section for 20 minutes, maybe take a small 5 minute break, then go to another section.
Try to end every practice session on a high note. While not always possible, your brain remembers the last repetition of something better than any others, and if you have a sloppy last practice, those mistakes will be there the next time you practice.
Logged
WIP:
Bach WTC Fugue 2
Chopin 17/4
32/1
70/2
"There are two things that are infinite- human stupidity and the universe, and I'm not sure about the universe." -Albert Einstein
Sign-up to post reply
Print
Pages: [
1
]
Go Up