Do you want to gain insight and develop strategies for how to improve the way you learn and practise your pieces? Take a look at me introducing a new piece to a student and check out the systematic, practical, step-by-step methods we use to work through the piece.
This video is part of a series of tutorials I’ve produced on ‘Practising’. These tutorials are designed to give students a framework for developing reliable and successful practice habits so learning pieces becomes faster, less stressful and more enjoyable.
Check out “Practising Like This?” where I talk about the importance of fostering a positive and forgiving attitude towards practice.
My other tutorial “Practice Tips that Work” is precisely that; a comprehensive overview and guide on how to get the most out of your practising.
0:06 Introduction
0:41 Separate hands work & focus on rhythmic component
1:04 Determine best way to count piece & count throughout
1:50 Repetition of selected passage to reinforce understanding and build muscular memory
2:24 Analyse music – look for repeating patterns & focus on small sections at a time
3:11 Explore melodic patterning & maintain consistent fingering
4:41 Practise in small sections for immediate reinforcement and refinement
5:46 Look ahead and plan for fingering and hand shifts
7:14 Getting your notes right means getting your fingering right
8:06 Isolate difficult passages, analyse what to do and practise SLOWLY
8:42 Expand view – look for patterns which serve as note reading shortcuts
9:59 Rhythmic co-ordination exercises – tap out rhythm without playing the notes
11:05 After tapping out rhythm, add notes back in and work in small sections
11:46 Can practise sections out of order – try practising similar sections one after each other
14:14 ‘Note drill’ difficult passages – just practise notes & fingering without worrying about rhythm
14:56 Practise difficult parts SLOWLY
15:07 Revision of practice suggestions
15:44 Introducing companion tutorials – “Practising Like This? – Stay Positive!” & “Practice Tips that Work!”