June 1997: First Stages With A New Piece

One of our readers requested that I address the subject of how to learn a new piece. So here are some suggestions for the first stages of that task working from printed music.

STEP 1: LOOK OVER THE PIECE WITHOUT PLAYING. Try to find clues that will help you know what to expect when you do play it.

--How many sharps or flats are there - and what key are you in?

--What is the time signature - and what does it mean?

--Will the music be fast moving (eventually) or slow?

--Is there a melody line?

--Which hand plays it or does the melody move between the hands?

--What kind of finger groupings will you be using?

--What kind of accompaniment patterns do you see?

--If there are intervals, what are they (5ths, 3rds, etc.)

--If there are chords, what are they (triads, inversions, 7ths)

--Are there different sections of the piece that look the same?

--Are there different sections that look similar but differ only a little?

--If so in what ways are they different from each other?

It really is amazing how much you can learn without playing one note by carefully analyzing the music before you start.

STEP 2: START WITH A VERY SMALL SECTION- perhaps 2, no more than 4 measures. You will find that music falls into natural sections based on musical ideas and phrases (which function like sentences in speech).

STEP 3: WORK ON ONE HAND AT A TIME - Start with right hand, or the hand that plays the melody. Decide how you will need to use your fingers, i.e. how the notes are grouped (in sets of 2 or 3 or 4), where you will lift away from the strings, where you may have to cross or replace. Try each tiny task to learn how it will feel. When you move to the accompaniment hand, work out each interval, chord and pattern until it is familiar and comfortable.

STEP 4: WORK OUT THE TIMING. Do this from the very beginning of your work. As you learn, your musical memory and ear are also learning. If they hear it incorrectly it will be much harder to correct later on.

STEP 5: PLAY VERY SLOWLY. I recommend that my students not consider their early stage efforts as "music" but rather as a technical and structural building process. If you play quickly (they way your musical soul wants to hear it) you will falter, stumble, miss the rhythm and generally get yourself into a mess. Drill and repeat, correctly, each tiny task in each hand within the small section of music you are working. Then gradually, combine the smaller tasks until you can execute all of what one hand plays within that section, slowly and smoothly.

STEP 6: REPEAT PERFECTION - Let's say that you have been working to play a tiny task correctly and after many tries you have finally done it! DO NOT LEAVE and go on to something else at this point. You have only done it maybe once properly against a zillion times incorrectly. You must repeat and solidify the proper process ad infinitum so it will become dependable each time you attempt to play it.

STEP 7: COMBINE HANDS. Now this is the tough part. First you must align the music played by the two hands and the most foolproof way to do this is by aligning the beat points in the music. What do I play on beat 1? Is beat 1 subdivided into parts (eighth notes, etc.) Where do the hands line up? What occurs on beat 2? etc. etc. etc. Again WORK SLOWLY, drill to accomplish the coordination and REPEAT PERFECTION before moving on.

STEP 8: MOVE ON TO THE NEXT VERY SMALL SECTION and learn in the same way. Remember always to maintain the parts you already know.

STEP 9: COMBINE NEIGHBORING SECTIONS so they move smoothly into one another until eventually you have the entire piece learned.

STEP 9: SET REASONABLE GOALS that can be accomplished within each work session. It does not matter whether you have 10 minutes or 2 hours to put in at any given practice session. Note the time available and choose a task that can meet with success within that period. It is far better to set a tiny goal and meet it early than to set a massive one and go away unfulfilled.

STEP 10: WORK ON HARDER AND NEWER PARTS WHILE YOUR MIND IS FRESH. Music is seldom evenly easy or difficult. More often there are parts that are more challenging than others or that simply take longer to get solid. It is best to do these sections at the beginning of your practice instead of satisfying your natural inclinations by playing first, that which feels comfortable and is beginning to sound the way you want it. Think of it kind of like eating your veggies before you can enjoy dessert (-- for those of us whose appetites move in that direction).

See you next month.

Stephanie

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