Help with grace notes

[leemond2008]

I'm learning a piece at the moment and there is one grace note (That I have come across so far)
The piece is really easy but this one simple grace note completely throws me, I can't seem to just graze the key and stay in time and I often lose my timing when I play it.

The grace note is on the 4th finger of the right hand with the next note being played by the 3rd finger.

I can it fine with just my right hand but it's when I throw in the left hand that my timing goes to pot.

The piece is Rondino by Diabelli.

I know that the grace note is just a tiny part of the whole piece and doesn't have any real affect on it but not being able to do it is starting to annoy me, does anyone have any tips that might help

[quantum]

Practice it without the grace note.  When you can get the music flowing with out it, add the grace note in to fit inside the work you have previously done.

Don't forget about the LH when adding the grace note in.  Sometimes it is the opposite hand that we take for granted, which causes us problems. 

[briansaddleback]

The above advice is really good. I would do it that way.

Also another suggestion (the way I would honestly do it) is play the grace note as not a grace note at all but a written in 'half note' at the divided area between the last note and the note it is attached to.

so if for example you are playing a line of 1/8 notes or quarter notes, and a grace note is attached to the 3rd note down the stretch,
then play the grace note as the '3rd note' as a sixteenth note or eighth note (respectively) as if written that way. play it that way for awhile, and later you will find out you will have more leverage in freedom to alter it to your liking or the way it is actually written.

[leemond2008]

I can play it without it no problem, the rest of the piece is coming along nicely it's just time to stick it in now.

I'll give it a try as playing it as a half note for now and see how I get on with thqt

[quantum]

Another thing to try is to practice the grace note + main note as a cluster, of course playing it in time with the rest of the music.  It probably won't sound nice, but you do get to sound the pitches and go through the kinesthetic actions.  Once this can be done with ease, gradually try to separate the cluster into two notes by moving the grace note earlier, or before the main note.

Again, do not neglect the LH even if it looks easy. 

[timothy42b]

Sometimes the problem with a grace note is confusion over exactly how long it is and exactly where it should be placed.

If it were notated with a precise note value, could you play it?

Try writing that measure out in Finale, Noteworthy, Musescore, whatever you use.  That will force you to think about how it is supposed to be played. 

Then hit the playback button and listen to it a few times.  That's the nice thing about notation software, it gives you a chance to internalize something that is hard to count.