Efficient practice

[rtheunissen]

Hello everyone,

This is probably the 100th post about this topic, but still, I'm going to ask it. What are your tips on effective practice, how does your practice session look and how do you go about learning a new piece from scratch? I'm in my first year of conservatory but find that it takes me super long to learn a new piece and that my practice sessions are far from effective, it even feels worse than before I studied at the conservatory. My teacher didn't give any clear tips or advice when I asked him, probably because he assumed that I know how to go about it all. I also don't understand why I feel like I'm less efficient now compared to before, because I am more motivated than ever, that's why it's frustrating.

So any tips are welcome, even if you have to go into the smallest details or the most obvious seeming tips, I want all the help I can get.

Thanks in advance!!!

[brogers70]

I'm just an amateur, not a conservatory student, but I'm finding this helpful. I used to learn a piece by playing through it multiple times, finding the tough spots, repeating those many times, using different strategies like rhythms, simplifications, etc, and then playing at different tempi, a lot of the usual tricks. Lately I've been trying to go through a new piece phrase by phrase (or measure by measure if it's very hard) and forcing myself to play each fragment seven times in a row without errors. It's psychologically interesting - at first tension increased as I got to the 6th or 7th time, since I did not want to have to start again from scratch. Then I found that errors at the 6th or 7th time usually came from lack of concentration, so I'd make myself focus on some aspect of the fragment, a better legato, shaping the phrase, the sensation of making the right movement, etc, and as I did that, I'd start to hear interesting things I'd overlooked before and also lost some of the nerves that cropped up on the 6th or 7th go through. Even though this feels like progress is very slow, I find that once I've covered a phrase this way, I pretty much have it nailed, and I don't risk random slip ups. I just tried playing a couple of Scarlatti sonatas I'd learned this way for a friend and they went far better than pieces I'd learned the earlier way under the mild pressure of having a friendly audience of one. And I found I'd incorporated a lot more nuance in the musicality just because I needed to think about it to keep from going insane in the 7-fold repetitions. I'd say, try it for a week or two, it might help, and there's nothing to lose.

[ego0720]

I’ll give it a shot and yes, this has been addressed a lot. I’m gonna rehash what’s been said but give my viewpoint from personal experience. Technically I’m not that good on piano as I am in other endeavors of my life but what I’m giving is more the general process of mastery from both philosophical and spiritual sense in multiple hobbies I have been in. These are parallels I’ve seen in many performance art and the general progressive nature of that education.

We have two hemispheres of a brain. One side is the analytics or logic while the other is expressive or artistic. When progressing to mastery, the end result is that of balance from both sides (goes from the conscious effort to the subconsciousness). When one plays automatically .. without conscious thought and let the feelings guide the path.. the hands are without feelings as to be light and without tension (they have been programmed).. there isn’t a strong conscious presence but rather a thread of it while letting the expressive side take over control. That’s the ideal level. To play but not play.. to not think consciously.. to let it be and not be doing - that is the ultimate level. Once the piece is internalized the performance flows like a river that finds its way rather than forcing the direction. When force is applied, ironically it can be counterproductive and the harder one tries the more the desired result remains elusive.
That’s the hypocrisy of practice. So trying too hard can be detrimental but that’s a matter of dosage. Expectations without expecting too much or too hard. It’s a journey, not the destination.. conservatory will jumpstart your transition and probably push you above comfort level.. but I’m sure afterwards you continue to learn..

The process begins with the conscious effort.. getting the gist of the piece .. knowing the timbre and tone.. and what ultimately is the lasting impression I want that piece to leave. Keeping that central theme present in the background yet always the guiding principle that’s never leaving, when I practice I go as slow as I can to absorb as much information as is available in that arrangement -concurrently-.. any information to be ingrained at the outset and worked in coordination to deliver the experience to the audience.  I do like two full lines at a time. The #1 rule for me is that the movements have to be in harmony with the techniques and the rhythm (memorize by slurs and interpreting how slurs contribute to the songs delivery) and I avoid getting comfortable with movements that don’t fit or are awkward.. and this is important to discover and know now rather than later. Once a practitioner develops habit for a piece .. it can be hard to unlearn that comfort feeling that was established. A much better way to improve upon it might be difficult to reestablish as compared to having done it *correctly* the first time. This is the slow-is-faster mentality. This is going at snail pace to make sure one can get the right slurs with right technique and all the other information into the right wholeness. Speed and power is not too far behind to happen once the feel is there so I don’t emphasize speed or power artificially.. I want a more natural occurrence than one of coercion. In this regard, make sure one figures it out right the first time — one could say I have it right -in my head- first before I physically play it. A piece at the right level should take a week or two to process. If it takes more, imo, then it’s a piece that may be beyond one’s level and should be reappraised for appropriateness or realistic goals.

Also, many pieces have difficult problems (for me I mean). Sometimes I pass myself on a piece even though I feel I can do more to polish it.. sometimes my technical areas can improve it at a later point. I suspend the song only to be reviewed from my repertoire in hopes that time has helped (maybe I learned something from say pianostreet or other sources).  I keep an open mind and sometimes the answers come in ways unexpected as long as we are receptive.  It can come in unusual ways.

I noticed you have some negative feelings about your inefficiency (or less efficient) and getting frustrated. Let’s reframe or repackage that view in a more advantageous way. Just start with the problem (you like to be even faster) and you want to add tools to your belt. Take your challenge in the present moment and don’t reflect too much about the past (it no longer exist). Frame your mind so that you keep the challenges achievable and that you can be proud in the evolution of your journey. That’s how one keeps one’s sanity. Often it’s having a healthy attitude about life and keeping the challenge within grasp. And having the “I got this” attitude. Don’t allow those feelings that will refrain you from your success take any control. Always be happy, but never complacent as to stop growth.

Sorry if it’s pedantic. I’m verbose and something I’m trying to improve on. I hope you figure out a solution to your problem.

[rtheunissen]

Thank you both for the advice!

I also had one more question, purely practical. How do you all memorize a piece effectively? I've also noticed, and forgot to mention it before, that I'm spending an absurd amount of time memorizing just one page of music. That's actually where most (if not all) of my practice time goes and maybe that's where the frustration comes from...

If someone knows any good tips, they're of course always welcome.

[bryfarr]

I also had one more question, purely practical. How do you all memorize a piece effectively? I've also noticed, and forgot to mention it before, that I'm spending an absurd amount of time memorizing just one page of music. That's actually where most (if not all) of my practice time goes and maybe that's where the frustration comes from...
If someone knows any good tips, they're of course always welcome.

I recommend 1) you do a search on memorization, as this topic has been covered before with extensive comments, 2) if that doesn't turn up satisfactory results, start a new post

[bryfarr]

.... I just tried playing a couple of Scarlatti sonatas I'd learned this way for a friend and they went far better than pieces I'd learned the earlier way ...

BROGERS70:  could it be because you have invested more time into these pieces, sounds the like the 7 repetitions per phrase must really add up ...

[bryfarr]

... how does your practice session look and how do you go about learning a new piece from scratch? ...

First, you might want to tell us how you practice, maybe carefully observe a few practice sessions, brutally honest in noting how you go about it, and report back to us.  This will not only help viewers give you feedback, it will help you focus more.  Aside from that, there are some standard methods:
practice in groups based on meter
practice in groups based on phrase
change the tempo
change the dynamic level
practice each hand alone, doing the above
analyze the piece as you're learning it - what are the harmonies, melodies, rhythms and how do they relate to other passages in the piece, where do sections begin and end - - this is one of the steps in memorizing (which touches on your second question)

[brogers70]

BROGERS70:  could it be because you have invested more time into these pieces, sounds the like the 7 repetitions per phrase must really add up ...

I don't think so. Total time is significantly less. I think what matters is pushing each little bit all the way to a good comfort level before moving on (or stopping for the day). Trying to work on bigger sections with fewer reps ended up taking longer and left me prone to random errors even in bits that were not technically particularly challenging. Once I've got a phrase to where I can play it without error 7 times in a row, I can move on and ignore it and when I come back, it's still in shape, so although it feels like it's a slower approach in the moment, it seems to end up being a faster route to comfort and control over a piece.

[ego0720]

Thank you both for the advice!

I also had one more question, purely practical. How do you all memorize a piece effectively? I've also noticed, and forgot to mention it before, that I'm spending an absurd amount of time memorizing just one page of music. That's actually where most (if not all) of my practice time goes and maybe that's where the frustration comes from...

If someone knows any good tips, they're of course always welcome.

Memorization is an art form I use to practice separately in other hobbies. It is, in itself, complicated and philosophical by nature (as in the topic of -time-). To start, one can break memory into two components.. memorizing and the memory capacity. For now it’s good to simplify it this way.

Memory capacity is your ability to hold a certain amount of information temporarily. The bigger your capacity the better your ability to “see” and retain messages from the source. To store this information for longterm retention requires at minimum a certain amount of repetition (that’s all, or peg it to information that already is longterm). In music, this information can be assisted with multiple senses (touch, hearing, sight) and there is a harmony in all that and it just works. Theoretically you can probably imagine smell and taste too but usually most of us don’t because it requires very strong imagination to the point of impracticality and it’s not necessary. You take the sensory input and you mix it with -interpretation- of your mind. The analysis and interpretation of the piece will be personal and is what varies from performer to performer. When you hear, that’s different  from listening. When you see the arrangement, that’s separate from the mindsight (when you close your eyelids, what do you think?). That’s the beauty of music in allowing multi sensory perception that can make the difference between a painful or enjoyable experience as far as memorizing a piece.

As taught in many methods, music is not so different from language and may be even closer to the universal communication by feel and images. When I play music, I avoid framing it in any language reference (u don’t have to follow me on this— it’s ok to use language I just feel music purpose is to transcend language) and focus on the non-linguistic aspect of imagining the experience firsthand without any conversion or translation.  Language might be used as a crutch however during the learning process. To be direct, use the slurs or phrases in music and memorize those measures or groups of measures in blocks. Define those blocks in -functions- or purpose. It’s good to have the general structure of the song. I’m sure u knew this already but this is a reminder that that process does not change even if u r elite level. The difference between you and me is that you have more knowledge base to go by that makes you better equipped to process more complex song and your teacher probably had certain expectations of what you should know. Your ability to critically think about the piece will largely depend on how much experiential knowledge you brought and how u can reference new information to that information (caveat: sometimes that can lead to false interpretation like how ppl stereotype others before knowing them). New pieces can add to your knowledge base when at the appropriate level and build. Keep in mind that when you have little reference to a new piece (be it new style or just a notch above) and you have to learn this from scratch, you struggle if you can’t relate it to anything you have done before. It can take more time this case. For this scenario, you may have to really focus on the interpretation of that song (what is this song about and how does this structure execute on that delivery?). It can be challenging but rewarding too. Once you get over this hurdle your subsequent attempts should come easier.

In short, memorizing a piece is how personal you can make it. The more you get it, the easier the memorization should naturally come. Also, if you learn the piece slowly and correctly, memorization does happen naturally and u don’t really need to try on that point. It should bake into the process when u focus on the components of the piece and asking the right questions when u learn. When learning the piece you should do most of your thinking by soliloquy and that should be adequate. Memorization shouldn’t be the focus during the learning process unless u want to fake memorize it.. which is another skill in memorization but that isn’t as genuine and opposite of what music represents. Also, it has been said that sight reading is the efficiency skill in music that relates to memory too. Initially it is the bane of musicianship as it is unmusical but I feel that at a certain proficiency would be a null point. It can be motivating and musical in the hands of the few when all skills (performance, sight reading, touch, etc) reach that equilibium. The more knowledge u build the faster your sight reading and memory skills. In the end everything is memorization but how that is formed is part of the art.

[ranjit]

Some very thoughtful ideas, ego0720!

I hesitate to comment on memorization too much because it is still something I'm working on. I feel like I don't memorize quickly enough, although this may be more of a personal insecurity, or having high standards as opposed to reality since I see many posters complain that they take months to memorize a piece of music, but this hasn't been my experience at all. I can pretty much always memorize a piece of music within a few weeks. On the other extreme, we hear of (and occasionally witness!) musicians who have got memorization down to a T, who can learn a piece in a day and perform it the next.

I do feel like memory is a capability that can in some sense be improved generally, and that this does affect your ability to develop subject specific memory as well. Try, at the end of each day, to recall everything you can: images, sounds, fragments of music, smells and touches, thoughts, names, etc. For instance, my piano teacher references a lot of names, dates, etc. during classes, and I try to reproduce as much as I can from memory. I believe that, in a lot of cases, the impressions are stored in your memory, and you need to learn to be able to access them, rather than imprint them in the first place. It is like a hard drive: you have stored information and pointers to that information. I think the information is there, but it is a very difficult problem to have the correct pointers to that information in the human brain. You probably have certain pieces of music which your mind plays on occasion, either while awake or asleep. I find it very difficult to force myself to remember a specific piece of music; however, when it starts randomly playing in my head accurately, I know it has to be there, as otherwise it would be impossible to access it. Certain mental states are also more conducive to recalling specific memories. I've experimented along these lines with music and think it is a good idea to do your own exploration along these lines.

I think how you memorize a piece of music at a given point in time depends on which abilities of yours are more highly developed. I would suggest thinking about it in terms of your current skill level at a particular kind of memory, as opposed to innate aptitude. Innate aptitude will, of course, affect how easy or difficult it is to acquire a given level at a given skill, but what matters in the moment to memorize a new piece is your current level as opposed to a theoretical projected level (your "potential").

There are multiple different abilities which may affect memory. These can be broadly lumped into 4 categories: visual, auditory, motor, and theoretical memory. But if we go more in depth, there is how well you remember the sound of a piece, how well you understand a piece conceptually, how well you understand the language of the music and the idiom, how well you observe and remember patterns and music theory, how good you can predict what comes next in a given style of music, visual memory for the sheet music, ability to visualize your hands and physical mechanism, proprioception, visualization abilities in general, meta-awareness which allows you to learn how to memorize quicker and know exactly how long it takes you to learn something using whatever method.

Personally, for instance, I find that I observe patterns readily and always have, so I endeavor to know, as much as is useful, all of the chords and their function in a piece of music that is classical/early Romantic. I believe I have a good auditory memory (I started off playing by ear and improvising which must have played into this). I can also visualize the hands somewhat well with enough focus.

Given all of that, this is the way I tend to approach memorization (it always changes, but roughly speaking):
- Get the piece in your ear. Sight read it while trying to understand the music as much as you can.
- Once you understand the gist of the music, break it down into natural sections which fit the music. Make general musical decisions.
- Play each section a few times, hands together. If it "just works", then try to play it a few times in succession without making mistakes.
- Analyze each section of a few measures intuitively using patterns/theory to break it down into easily understood statements. For instance, I arpeggio going to IV arpeggio, with this cool grace note figuration which gives it a specific character.
- If you're disciplined enough (!), play the section in your mind's eye on an imaginary piano with both hands.
- Try to incorporate as much detail as feasible on a first pass. If the notes are easy, make sure you have good phrasing for both hands, good voicing and balance, and a melodic line that sings. Try to make sure that the piece has character from the get go. Ideally, if you were a professional, you would do it all with a solid conception of the piece from the get go.
- Think about technical efficiency, and fingering choices which might work better. Sometimes, technical patterns are easy to do once but unreliable when you try to do them 10x in a row. Sometimes, certain fingering choices are easier because they ensure better memorization, for instance if there's a pattern where you can use the same fingering for 4 chords in a row but it would be slightly more comfortable to play one different from the rest. You want to work out as much of this as possible initially, to save yourself time down the road.

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

[ego0720]

I hesitate to comment on memorization too much because it is still something I'm working on. I feel like I don't memorize quickly enough, although this may be more of a personal insecurity, or having high standards..

..this is the way I tend to approach memorization (it always changes, but roughly speaking):..
...
- If you're disciplined enough (!), play the section in your mind's eye on an imaginary piano with both hands.
- Try to incorporate as much detail as feasible on a first pass.
- Think about technical efficiency, and fingering choices which might work better.
Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Hi ranjit. It's funny you feel hesitant on commenting.  I have learned much from your many past posts and always enjoyed reading your insight.  Don't worry, our answers will always change depending on "time".  Sometimes we, at least I know that I, may complete change opinion on something that I previously would not agree too.  Information constantly flows and changes always happen. It's the nature of language that is illusory.  It's also the nature of life.. which is also illusory.

I wanted to underscore one point that you brought to my attention -- imagination.  There was a time I believed in the materialism and physical world of practice.  The mind reality has taken more weight for me than anything else these days (maybe due to age but it is how I feel now).  When I imagine something, that part is the perfect self that does the piano perfectly.  I may not be able to keep up with it physically but I first mentally picture myself doing all the skills discussed (again, whether I can actually do it another story).  It works better in my practice session.  It is easier and less damaging on my body when I focus on the mind. When I reflect on my past efforts, the talent that I felt I had more knack for .. that "innate" quality .. happens to be when I think about it day and night in my imagination.  At that time I never considered it practice but because I had such strong passion I kept thinking about it even when I didn't engage physically in the development.  My only regret is not recognizing that earlier in my life that .. that the mental practice is legit and should be considered.  I use to think it was a waste of time when I could have been physically working on said talent (I daydreamed a lot -- now I think its an important skill to have even though culture taught us that its wasteful). In short, don't underestimate the power of the mind and include more mental practice.  It can also be a good break and allow our hands to relax too.

[brogers70]

I wanted to underscore one point that you brought to my attention -- imagination.  There was a time I believed in the materialism and physical world of practice.  The mind reality has taken more weight for me than anything else these days (maybe due to age but it is how I feel now).  When I imagine something, that part is the perfect self that does the piano perfectly.  I may not be able to keep up with it physically but I first mentally picture myself doing all the skills discussed (again, whether I can actually do it another story).  It works better in my practice session.  It is easier and less damaging on my body when I focus on the mind. When I reflect on my past efforts, the talent that I felt I had more knack for .. that "innate" quality .. happens to be when I think about it day and night in my imagination.  At that time I never considered it practice but because I had such strong passion I kept thinking about it even when I didn't engage physically in the development.  My only regret is not recognizing that earlier in my life that .. that the mental practice is legit and should be considered.  I use to think it was a waste of time when I could have been physically working on said talent (I daydreamed a lot -- now I think its an important skill to have even though culture taught us that its wasteful). In short, don't underestimate the power of the mind and include more mental practice.  It can also be a good break and allow our hands to relax too.

I very much agree about imagination. One thing that I've noticed in the past year is this: I may be stuck on something - how to voice a melody in an inner voice, how to get a quick ornament to sound clear and even - and I'd work for a long time thinking about how to weight my fingers differently, or angle my wrist just so, or give an impulse from the upper arm, all the sorts of things my teacher had suggested - but all to no avail. But I found that if I just keep a clear mental image of the desired sound in my mind in the instant before I play the thing, then it often sorts itself out pretty quickly, as though by defining a clear target, I've just let the body figure out how to get there. Obviously, it only works for things that are technically within reach in the first place; having a clear mental image of a Ligeti Etude won't make me magically able to play it, but I've been surprised how often a clear mental image works better than detailed analysis of how I'm moving.