How do you deal with a piece that is learnt but sometimes falls apart?

[alberlos]

So I‘ve been playing the last Mozart Sonata in D major and I can say that I could get it to an acceptable good level. When I’m performing it though, I mess up at random places I’ve never expected, but all the technical aspects are solved, and I got it memorized. I am practicing it slow, but nothing seems to work. I still don’t get that “grasping“ sensation that you get when you dominate the piece. It’s somewhat frustrating because I spent months with it, and I am still uncomfortable. Any suggestions?

[brogers70]

A couple of things to try. If you aren't doing so already, just play it through, start to finish multiple times a day. Normally, you'd just focus on problem bits, but I find that once those are OK, just forcing myself to play through many times works out some of the random glitches - basically training yourself to keep focused all the way through. And another way to keep the focus is to force yourself to anticipate every sound before you make it. I don't know how this works, since you have to listen to the sounds you are making at the moment, but keeping a constant image of the sounds that you are about to make helps me avoid concentration slips.

[bwl_13]

I've found that these glitches are quite common when a piece is new (i.e. your first time learning it, not a relearn/review).

If you don't already, practice performing. Take any opportunity to perform before your "main" performance to play for people who don't normally hear you play, or more specifically, don't normally take time to hear your play. What I mean by that last part is that family might hear you play because you live together, but they probably don't come and watch you play through your pieces. Your teacher on the other hand, unless they're a new teacher, likely isn't enough experience practicing performing.

[stringoverstrung]

Any suggestions?

Play a bar (or 2 bars) and then skip a bar in tempo. Repeat with the other bars left out.
play a bar only the right hand and a bar only the left etc
one hand staccato and the other not etc.

it makes you "think" instead of relying on muscle memory only.

Regards,
Gert

[ranjit]

Josh Wright had a video on this, where he recounted a similar experience he had at university. And the answer in his case was to just play it multiple times a day for several days.

[bwl_13]

Josh Wright had a video on this, where he recounted a similar experience he had at university. And the answer in his case was to just play it multiple times a day for several days.

I remember this video. It's definitely important to remember that if you are very efficient in your practice sessions managing small sections, you might be susceptible to a piece falling apart in random or inconsistent places.

[lelle]

Sometimes the simple answer is that even if you can solve everything technically, the piece might still be just slightly above your level of mastery. Like, you can learn two different pieces and be able to play everything, but in one piece you feel completely in the driver's seat and in the other you feel like you aren't completely on top of everything. Long term, this resolves itself as you get better and better at playing, short term, you might just have to practice a lot to keep it secure.

[fretlesss]

You're doing all or most of the right things to get there, don't despair. Mozart's 18th sonata is the hardest of them all and not so much because of the technical demands (although there are quite a few), but because of intricate contrapuntal writing and keeping the form intact. This is what a visit to Leipzig does (I mean, did for Mozart).
3 tips on wielding the form and 1 tip on confidence when playing from me (I may repeat what other have mentioned already, not intended):
1) Play the piece from top to bottom (play movements at random order as well) more.
2) Play the piece from top to bottom in your head (TOP TO BOTTOM!!!!!). You will see that it takes even more concentration than actually playing it in reality
3) Try to design different interpretations (almost like creating different programs for the same piece), first as a short story to accompany the music and then trying to tell the same story through music
4) Confidence tip: play with a blindfold (very frustrating at first, but works miracles with confidence level later)

And good luck!