Getting extremely tired of a piece?

[zxiao9]

Hey everyone, I am wondering how you can keep your enthusiasm in a certain piece that you have invested a lot (too much) energy and time in?

I am currently working on a piece (John Field's Nocturne No.6 in F for those interested) for my finals recital. I have invested a lot of time in it (started practicing it in September, working on the piece at least an hour a day), and has performed it quite a few times for my friends and in one of my music classes. Right now as I am trying to perfect the piece, I realize that I just couldn't stand it anymore. It is a pretty short piece (5 pages), yet each time I practice the piece it drains all of my energy. There's still a few spots I want to deal with in the piece, but I just can't bring myself to do it anymore. Any advises? Thanks!

[adodd81802]

Have you tried practicing a couple of pieces each lesson? Maybe that should be your approach going forward. I don't spend any more than 20-30 minutes actually learning something new on a piece I am learning, and I then come back to it, sometimes the same day, sometimes a couple days later, I don't actually find forcing myself to spend more time learning something actually makes me learn more, or any better than just spending a short burst of energy learning, and the rest of the time thinking and revising what I learnt in my head, sometimes consciously, sometimes not.

Here's a question, do you actually like the piece? I like his Nocturnes and Nocturnes in general, and as a particular fan of Chopin, it's easy to see where Chopin's Nocturnes came from, so I have an appreciation of Field, even though some of his Nocturnes are a little undeveloped.

Maybe you are putting too much pressure on yourself to perfect it, too much of anything is bad for you. 2 months at an hour a day seems like a lot to be spending one piece, if it's inline with your skill.

[thirtytwo2020]

When is your final recital?
I think the best thing you can do is just leave it for as long as possible. Just practice other things that give you inspiration and new energy.
I think you should always let things rest, you will continue to process the piece unconciously anyway. An hour everyday on the same piece for two months sounds like a sure recipe for the kind of tiredness you describe. Hopefully a break now will do wonders. Good luck!

[bronnestam]

I have many pieces I work with in parallel, because I don't want to get bored. Ok, so I don't prepare for a recital anyway, at least not in the near future.
Still it is good to have many pieces.

They also need some time to grow in the soil, that is, you must let it rest too. When you pick it up again, you will normally find that the hibernation was good. Perhaps there are small technical issues that need to be refreshed.

Yes, do NOT play the whole piece through every time. Just focus on small parts of it. Then you can start to explore it. Play sections in a whole different way, improvise, add funky rythm, make variations, slow down to meditation pace, whatever - it is your to play with and re-mold.

I also believe that practicing something on autopilot is worse than not practice at all. All of this are my own reflections, I am no expert. Hopefully you got some ideas, at least.

[visitor]

cannot be helped sometimea. Only cure i have found is puttinh it away for a few months. Not practical when you have an exam so you need to re connect  with why you like it, just how it
Sounds is noy good enough. Re iterate your narrative to yourself and  be very clear about the feelings you want to portray
 Focus on that and fake it if you have to for the exam. Ive done the same , there.are pieces i used to love that i set down after an exam, and could.nit bring mysefl to relisten or replay for several yeara. I am still burned out on some of themmmm

[zxiao9]

Here's a question, do you actually like the piece? I like his Nocturnes and Nocturnes in general, and as a particular fan of Chopin, it's easy to see where Chopin's Nocturnes came from, so I have an appreciation of Field, even though some of his Nocturnes are a little undeveloped.

I used to be a big John Field fanboy in the past  I love the piece a lot. However I felt like the problem with a nocturne is that it is very fragile to over-practicing (in comparison to a full sonata or concerto)