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View Full Version : The best way to get on top of a piece of music.


Richard Prowse
04-09-2007, 04:48 PM
I'm still working on the first Bach Prelude... slowly chipping away at the coal face. I guess I have a method for working on 'classical' pieces and it occured to me that maybe there are better methods out there. It is not my intention to get into fine details, but here is my approach.
1) I see what bits I can play.
2) I go slowly through and work out fingerings.
3) I set a goal as to how far I can play 'up to speed'... I might start with the first 2 lines and gradually build this amount up.
4) I look ahead at the hardest bits and try to work out how I will get through them... there might be a 'scary' bit that I just can't play, so I try to look for solutions.
5) As I work through the piece, I look forward to the day when I will have it memorised.
6) I try to remember about the music behind the notes.

I would be very interested in seeing 'better' approaches, as I'm sure many of you will have done deeper thinking on this topic than I have. Working in isolation, as I often do, it is vital to review one's methods.

JoeyNaeger
04-09-2007, 04:52 PM
I usually like to work out fingerings away from the bass before I try to play it. This makes that first run through a bit less cumbersome, and I find I come up with more logical finegrings away from the bass. I usually change some of them, but atleast it gives you something to work with. I also like to break the piece into chunks and tackle them one at a time.

Michael Case
04-10-2007, 01:12 PM
I just try to play the piece and hope my neighbors don't kill me. :D

Seriously though this is a great topic and I'll be watching to gain some helpful ideas about taking on a new piece of music.

Richard Prowse
04-10-2007, 03:46 PM
I just try to play the piece and hope my neighbors don't kill me. :D

Seriously though this is a great topic and I'll be watching to gain some helpful ideas about taking on a new piece of music.
I had a look at your profile and see that you are studying with John Patitucci. Do you get to ask him questions about how he works up a piece?

Michael Case
04-10-2007, 04:31 PM
Yeah he has given me many ways to approach a piece. He believes in working slowly and getting it all in tune. He has many ways to focus on problem spots too. Every lesson seems like another year of work. :D

Richard Prowse
04-11-2007, 01:39 AM
Yeah he has given me many ways to approach a piece. He believes in working slowly and getting it all in tune. He has many ways to focus on problem spots too. Every lesson seems like another year of work. :D
What does the green smiley guy mean? Does Mr Patitucci smile like this?

Michael Case
04-11-2007, 09:49 AM
No I just inserted it there, I thought the idea of every lesson giving me another year of work was funny.

John is a very generous person as a musician and a teacher. He has worked very hard to play the bass like he does. I've really learned a lot from him, but it's a little difficult for me to get into detail on a forum (I don't want to type that much).

Richard Prowse
04-12-2007, 04:13 AM
No I just inserted it there, I thought the idea of every lesson giving me another year of work was funny.

The green grinning guy has never had a better explanation!
No reflection on you Michael, I just don't like the green grinning guy because I suspect he's evil, like that purple happy guy. The rest of the faces seem fine.

Jim Gullen
04-14-2007, 08:52 PM
I would be very interested in seeing 'better' approaches, as I'm sure many of you will have done deeper thinking on this topic than I have. Working in isolation, as I often do, it is vital to review one's methods.

Greetings!

I wouldn't be so bold as to say it's "better" but to add some variety to practice, try using different rhythm and/or bowing patterns for the notes. The first Bach Suite works great for this as it's primarily 16th notes.

More specifically, I would (and did) start by taking every group of 4 16th notes and changing the rhythm to a dotted-eighth, and 3 sixteenth notes. This particular pattern is a good one to start with because it "brings out the ones" in each group and helps with intonation. You can move the location of the dotted-eighth in relation to the 3 16th notes and get four different patterns to work on. Go as slow as you need, you may find that some patterns are more difficult than others. You may also find that different fingerings work better for different rhythm patterns.

This is the method my teacher uses and I use it constantly. In fact, Galamian has a violin method with one book of nothing but bowing and rhythm patterns. That's what I use. It's AMAZING how many patterns there are if you want to find 'em.

Another trick I sometimes use is to work in sections from the end of the piece backwards. Not playinig backwards, just starting on the last 8 bars, say....and then then last 16 bars, and so on. That way, the longer you play, the better it gets!

Hope this helps a little and best regards!

Jim

Richard Prowse
04-23-2007, 11:36 PM
Greetings!

I wouldn't be so bold as to say it's "better" but to add some variety to practice, try using different rhythm and/or bowing patterns for the notes. The first Bach Suite works great for this as it's primarily 16th notes.

More specifically, I would (and did) start by taking every group of 4 16th notes and changing the rhythm to a dotted-eighth, and 3 sixteenth notes. This particular pattern is a good one to start with because it "brings out the ones" in each group and helps with intonation. You can move the location of the dotted-eighth in relation to the 3 16th notes and get four different patterns to work on. Go as slow as you need, you may find that some patterns are more difficult than others. You may also find that different fingerings work better for different rhythm patterns.

This is the method my teacher uses and I use it constantly. In fact, Galamian has a violin method with one book of nothing but bowing and rhythm patterns. That's what I use. It's AMAZING how many patterns there are if you want to find 'em.

Another trick I sometimes use is to work in sections from the end of the piece backwards. Not playinig backwards, just starting on the last 8 bars, say....and then then last 16 bars, and so on. That way, the longer you play, the better it gets!

Hope this helps a little and best regards!

Jim
jim,
Sorry to be so slow in responding. You give excellent advice!
I remember 'the changing rhythm' thing from when I was a violin student in the 1970's. I was too lazy (and too busy trying to pick up girls) back then to practise. I will definitely give this a work out now . I think my bowing would really benefit from some rhythmic pattern work.
Richard