How much can one improve in 1-2 months?

[sunlightsonata]

Hi all,

New poster, long-time lurker. I have been playing piano on and off since I was a child. I am at a beginner/intermediate level, the hardest well-known piece I have played entirely and "well" is Fur Elise. I actually performed it in front of a professional for some audition and they said I played it flawlessly, which I know is not true, so they must have had lower standards and were more lenient with less advanced pianists (if I can even call myself that?). My sight-reading is relatively poor but I do not really care... I usually memorize a piece entirely before working on the nuances.

Anyhow, I was thinking about dedicating a straight 1-2 months towards improving my skills as much as possible, basically to learn 10-20 pieces (personally chosen) in that time frame and "perfect" (sort of) them.

How much can one really realistically expect to improve within a month or 2? I am a full time undergraduate student, but I have been working on time-management and I am about to be ahead of everyone in all of my classes, which leaves a huge amount of free time. I could probably practice 10 hours a day, if I had the concentration and physical stamina to do so. But, I have about 10 hours of free time in a day.

My career goals and major are not related to music, this is just a passionate hobby of mine. Two songs I would like to learn within this time frame are Moonlight Sonata and Chopin's nocturne in E minor opus 9 no. 2. Those 2 are probably the most difficult of the list of songs that I want to learn. There's a myriad of other songs I selected that are just songs that I like which are not very well known and mostly not difficult.

Edit: What are some realistic goals to set regarding time practicing? How many hours a day is too much?

Thanks!!!

[m1469]

I don't think there is a limit on how much one can improve (or not improve) during any frame of time.  Even in a moment everything can change with the right idea.  To date, the most measurable skills I have acquired are in gaining clear, reusable concepts about playing that can be relied fully upon (and worked with for building upon) by me at any moment.  

A person can play pieces, exercises, spend hours at the instrument, etc., but if reliable -or at least workable- concepts are not being carved out, all that time is not amounting to as much as it could be.

From what I am reading, 10-20 pieces is your chosen "method of improving" in a set amount of time.  I am interested, where does this number of pieces and the idea of using pieces come from?  

[sunlightsonata]

I don't think there is a limit on how much one can improve (or not improve) during any frame of time.  Even in a moment everything can change with the right idea.  To date, the most measurable skills I have acquired are in gaining clear, reusable concepts about playing that can be relied fully upon (and worked with for building upon) by me at any moment.  

A person can play pieces, exercises, spend hours at the instrument, etc., but if reliable -or at least workable- concepts are not being carved out, all that time is not amounting to as much as it could be.

From what I am reading, 10-20 pieces is your chosen "method of improving" in a set amount of time.  I am interested, where does this number of pieces and the idea of using pieces come from?  

Oh, 10-20 pieces is just a rough estimate of how many songs I have on my mind that I personally like and want to memorize and incorporate into my repertoire. A few of them, like the 2 examples I listed in my previous post, are much more difficult than any pieces I have ever played before, so those would be pushing my technical skills. I would probably try to learn all the scales, chords, and arpeggios that are in my book that contains them, which is a fairly small book.

I simply outlined goals that I would be satisfied, at least for now, with achieving. Unless I decide that I want to improve more later on, what I outlined is approximately how good I really want to get. About 30 songs in my repertoire that I personally really like, and a few difficult ones, I think the nocturne has a rating of 5/6 (medium) and moonlight sonata has a 7 (hard) rating on Henle's level of difficulty scale.