Plateau

[pianowelsh]

Hi all you teachers out there . I would like please to pick your brains. As a final year student and teacher myself i have found that I seem to have reached a personal plateau technically . Before I entered college I had done very little technical work ( a series of teachers who simply didn't believe in technique!- ouch ) as you can imagine college was a shock when I had my first lesson with my proff and was handed 2 etudes of Czerny and 6 of Chopin to be going along with! and now in my 4th year I can say that my technique has improved vastly but I find that I am taking forever to conquer new technically demanding pieces (my learn rate  - i will give the example of my yr 3 end of year: Bartok: out of doors vol1, Chopin Ballade3, Debussy Estampe (all) was at least 6 months) clearly it is not possible to build a big repertory of any quality at this pace! DO any of you experienced guys have tips for advancing your technical agility  (ability to tackle and master new pieces) in a shorter space of time as I find at the moment with deadlines as they are that to 'learn' pieces of the 'expected' level takes so long that I don't have the 'finishing off' time that I feel comfortable with to know i've done a good job. I graduate this year from performance undergrad and will be taking some time out but would like to shore up the holes and go for PGrad later and maybe a (small - obscure ) competition or two so I have the time over the next year or so to develop my level and broaden my rep. Constructive advice is always welcomed!!!
Have a nice Christmas!

[green]

First of all, how do u practice?

[jeff]

you should find that the more you learn, the faster you'll be able to learn

[green]

Like the more u eat the faster u WILL be able to eat?

Or the FASTER u eat the taller and stronger u WILL grow?

Or how about we throw YOU in the water, and the more YOU struggle the FASTER YOU WILL 'be able' to swim.

YOU, WILL, LEARN, MORE, FASTER: these words stick out, they hit me in the face with built in 'meanings'. They 'force' the reader in a direction...

Or how about SHOULD and FIND? What 'should' YOU find? Where? When we practice are we 'looking' for something? Trying to 'capture' something? What?

These are all relative assumptions.

[pianowelsh]

Hi thanks for your comments! I realize i was a bit open ended. I don't have a ritual for practice (deliberately) I try to balance exersizes and studies and repertoire with the biggest bulk being repertoire but I often take a day a week to concerntrate on technique in abstract form (learn new exersizes or sections of etudes). My real problem is that I am just slow to learn the notes of Biggish repertoire. I find it much easier if I am learning a piece that I know well aurally already or one which is considerably easier than the level I'm currently working at and in this respect I have found that it is true that the more repertoire you learn the faster you can learn a new piece but it seems to me that it's a vicious circle as if it takes a long time to learn the rep you will take longer to learn a lot therefore progress in this area will be correspondingly slower.  I'm not quite sure what you meant? when you asked how do I practice?? - a piece? or ratios of how spend keyboard time?  regarding a piece I find it very easy to grasp the 'artistic, aural image' of the piece but my main struggle is trying to get my brain around the manipulation of my playing equipment to 'do it!' ie it takes me maybe one or two playings to know what I want from my performance (generally - there are of course nuances that change perf to perf) however the coordination and physical aspect or preproducing the notes takes me far longer than average for my level.  - I perhaps ought to mention I came to memorizing fairly late (ie 17 1/2). I am often frustrated that I struggle to attain anything remotely close to the level of polish that I hear internally and am often told by staff to settle for what comes out - I have to say that really goes against my artistic sensibilities though because musically I know I can do much better than I display - I know to an extent all musicians feel this but even though I have discussed this with my teachers they have given no suggestions as to how to overcome the situation and the frustration can at times be really debilitating. I have suggested to my teachers that the level of my repertoire may be too advanced for me but they insist I have the ability to play it. This is not my argument however - I just want to be able to play the rep better and I wonder that if I could increase the pace at which I learn the notes then I would have a longer period to secure and refine my work! ANY suggestions please!!!

[ChristmasCarol]

Perhaps it is your learning style that needs to be addressed.  Do you breathe well when you are playing?  I have noticed that whenever a person is struggling with something they hold their breath.  Sometimes simply stopping to take a long slow relaxed breath before beginning will put your muscle memory to much better use.    Also, do you get to see other pianists live very often, or on dvd?    There is a lot of subliminal information conveyed by watching someone really good play the piano.  If your intellectual approach is not working, then basically try looking at different issues.  Do you have a clear image ( I call them sound bites) in your mind of how you want the piece to be played?  Sit before your music at the piano and "play" the piece through in your mind only first, taking the time to play it just as you would with your hands.  Notice how your body feels doing this and how it changes when you begin to actually play it.   Sometimes I play a piece through as slowly as I can stand it, and then as fast I can, mistakes be damned.  Then I settle into a tempo that feels comfortable.  So, if you get the idea, I'm saying do things that help you get out of the box you created.