Anyone that has ever learned a new skill, be it music, arts, math, etc., knows what it’s like to be stuck on a concept. The reason I mention this up front is that It is normal to get stuck when learning a new concept or skill, and you should never let that stop you from continuing to improve! Do not let the few exceptionally difficult bars demotivate you, no matter what problems you are trying to overcome.
1. Take a Break.
If you are already worked up, demotivated, upset, or in any way feeling negative emotions tied to your instrument or piece – take a break. Take as long as you need to – 2 hours, a day, what ever is enough for YOU, in order to be able to come back to the instrument, sit down, and tackle it with fresh strength and a sharp mind ( i.e. not when you are dead tired before bed time)
2. Practice Less.
So I don’t mean practice less in general, but rather, spend less time practicing while increasing the quality of your practice session. Rather than playing a piece 3 -5 times, focus on the few bars where the actual issues lie, and play those as many times as needed in order to get your muscle memory working for you. Then, solidify your knowledge by playing the piece once or twice and connecting the parts around the troublesome spot.
This way you will end up spending less time practicing than if you were to play the whole piece all over and over again until you fixed all your mistakes.
3. Find the Underlying Problem(s).
This goes hand in hand with the tip above – try playing the problem spot once. Then, think what is the worst thing about what you just played? You should quickly have at least one answer to what you are doing wrong – or perhaps your teacher already pointed out the issues (for example lining up the rhythm between the two hands, difficult chords, wrong notes, wrong rhythm in general, etc.)
4. Work on the Underlying Problem(s).
Now that you have your underlying problem – iron it out. If it’s a bad note, play the bar or 3 repeatedly until you get the note right. Maybe mark it in your sheet music.
If you’re having difficulty with the rhythm, slow down the piece as much as possible, and pick a hand with the easier rhythm. Memorize it and SLOWLY add your second hand into the mix. Keep playing the bar as slow as possible until you are ready to bring it up to speed or alternatively – slow down the whole piece to the speed of the troublesome spot.
If you’re having difficulties performing hand acrobatics – perhaps you need to practice arpeggios/scales/chord progressions in the relevant key or, try different fingering.
5. Slow Down!
Yes I mentioned it above, but I’d be mentioning it again in person too! Your brain is already working overtime: it is reading sheet music and translating it to the right and left hand finger positions on the keyboard; it is considering how fast and how hard you hit the keys; it is considering the rhythm (or it should be, anyways!) with which you will hit the keys and how long you hold each note; and it is moving the muscles constantly in each hand.
All of this uses both hemispheres of the brain, at the same time! At this rate it is easy to become fatigued without gaining any progress especially if you’re just pushing your brain to keep trying to do all of the above AND solve the issue you’re having WHILE playing at a higher speed than you can handle! If you slow down to a crawl – you now have a LOT more time to spend thinking about each note, the value of each note, the fingering, the rests, the pedals, the sound of the music that comes out, and what you’ll have for lunch tomorrow.
Get your brain and fingers used to the troublesome spot while playing extremely slow, and you’ll be able to speed that troublesome spot up to a speed you didn’t even dream of playing, just by using your newly developed muscle memory and decision making skills!
6. Don’t Expect Immediate Results!
Using the above tips, you will absolutely improve at a very fast pace, but a difficult passage, is a difficult passage. Sometimes it will take you 10 minutes to fix the issue, other times it may take a week or even longer if your muscle memory memorized the wrong way of playing a piece! If you work on it, you WILL get results, but by putting unnecessary pressure on yourself you will have a much more difficult time achieving success.
7. Solidify Your Knowledge.
Don’t just stop practicing the difficult area on the day you learn how to play it properly! You will still make the same mistake occasionally, and when it happens, do yourself a favour and play that little excerpt a few more times before proceeding. This way, the mistakes that seem to haunt you forever, will finally disappear!
Compare Your Results!
By following these simple practice concepts you will greatly increase the efficiency of your time spent practicing. This will get you faster results, and more importantly, will make you happier as you will enjoy your new found ability to learn a new piece quicker, and play more confidently than ever before! When you put all of this together, you will be well on your path to becoming a better musician!
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