Brand New Piece

[bachs_homegurl]

Hello everyone. I hope asking for this advice isn't too bad but I am somewhat embarrased.

What is the ideal way for you to begin learning a brand new piece? What are the typical steps that you should follow each time?

miriam

[milkcarton08]

Ew, what a dumb question, haha,

jp I love you,


Well.


1. Scan through the music, find any spots that you think may cause you trouble.
2. You should start learning the notes, page by page, and you can either memorize at this stage, or wait until the peice is completly mastered to memorize. I like the second option.
3. Memorize, and get critisms from other people, post on the audition room in a piano forum, etc.

- michael

[Rach3]

2. You should start learning the notes, page by page, and you can either memorize at this stage, or wait until the peice is completly mastered to memorize. I like the second option.

Definitely the second option, the first isn't an option at all! There is too much information on a page of music, even besides the notes. I don't practice away from the score until I'm extremely confident I'm not contradicting anything; it's suprisingly easy to mentally substitute your ideas over the composer's.

[solange]

I disagree slightly  (as usual)

I always memorize before perfecting. This is because the page-turns put me off SO much. I can still see the dynamics and everything if the music is not there though.

[bernhard]

Ew, what a dumb question, haha,

Er…

I don’t think it is a dumb question at all. In fact it may well be one of the most important questions one has to ask.

The sad fact is that students are often left to fend for themselves the answer, and more often than not teachers take for granted that the student has been born knowing the answer. As a consequence, more often than not one ends up practising/learning in terribly inefficient ways. Soon such learning inefficiencies become comfortable and the student will resist better approaches because “this is not the way I learn”. If they ever become teachers they transmit (or not) their ways to their students and the cycle starts all over again.

This question has been asked many times. The astute reader will easily detect the trend described above in several of the answers. The astute reader will also realise that even when one has figured out what seems to be the most efficient method to practise/learn a piece, there is always room for improvement, and one can always learn new tricks/approaches that will make learning even easier.

Then again, this demands a certain kind of mental effort and many students would rather slave ten hours a day on the piano mindlessly moving fingers up and down then spend a fraction of that time thinking and investigating.

Now to answer your question, have a look at these threads (just the tip of the iceberg, there is much more).


https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,2255.msg19129.html#msg19129
(practising long pieces – Good discussion if one should or should not listen to CDs - Slow motion practice, comparison with walking/running)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,2526.msg21829.html#msg21829
(how to organise piano practise in short/medium/long term – Principle of memory retention – Principle of 15 minute sessions – stopping when you achieve your goals. Teachers should teach how to learn)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,2615.msg22522.html#msg22522
(Piece analysis – delay going to the piano and spend most time analysing – Comparison with the process of film making)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,2864.msg25252.html#msg25252
(how everyone in the forum practises – the scientific method to decide what practice routine is good and which is not. Comments on Chang book)

https://www.pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,7810.msg80415.html#msg80415
(How to organise the breaking down of a piece over several days. Examples: CPE Bach Fantasia, Blow Sarabande, Chopin Cantabile; Chopin Scherzo no. 2)

https://www.pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,7872.msg79188.html#msg79188
(How to plan your work for the next five years)

https://www.pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,7664.msg77057.html#msg77057
(How to break a piece in sessions – Example: Invention no. 1).

Also have a look at these two threads, where a lot of the above is applied in detail to two specific pieces of music form scratch:

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,2893.msg25500.html#msg25500
(how to teach Schubert Impromptu op. 142 no. 2 - Burgmuller studies – Lots of practice tricks – the pragmatical x logical approach using Boolean algebra and word processing as an example)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,2714.msg23310.html#msg23310
(how to teach invention no. 1)

And of course (it goes without saying), read Chang’s book :

https://members.aol.com/cc88m/PianoBook.html

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[hodi]

first listen to many performances of the piece

and now.. without many steps .. just start reading the piece? can't be simple than that

[bachs_homegurl]

Wow! Thanx for all of the feedback in such a short amount of time. Especially for all of those links Bernhard, they've helped so far.....but if thats just the tip of the iceberg then maybe I should be scared.  If anyone has any other advice I'd be very grateful! thanx again!!!

miriam

[pizno]

What a good question, one we don't give enough thought to.  I recently read Bernard's thread from about a year ago, where he talked about practicing one section for 15-20 minutes, working it out until you can play it 7 times without flaws.  I am now trying to adhere to this method and I think it is helping.  I'm sure it is in one of the links he gave.  My problem is only that right now I am busy at work, and occasionally either have to skip practice or have to work on other pieces, so am not as methodical as I would like.  After I do the initial working through of a section, I sometimes forget to do the appropriate follow up the following days.  I need to re-read the method myself.  But it has helped give order to my otherwise random practice.  It also has helped me really focus on a small section, so I get that imprinted on my brain.