Suggestions for efficient practice

After extensively experimenting with these five techniques for many years, I currently use the following regimen to guide my practice:

1. When learning a new piece, I use a modified version of hands-separate practice for a week or two until the piece is memorized. I play a page or a section at a time, both hands together, but completely focus all attention on the left hand during the first attempt, and focus all attention on the right hand during the second attempt. I pay attention to fingering, the physical shape of the hand movements and the musical details while I focus on one hand. This practice technique immediately integrates the hands, and requires the brain to focus specifically on one hand, while demanding the other hand keep up using auto-pilot, or the sub-conscious (which also helps one’s sight-reading).

I work at reasonably slow speeds during this initial phase, assimilating as much musical detail into the slow practice as possible. I also “over-press”

each note during this learning phase (most likely a similar technique to Robert MacDonald’s “follow-through” technique, described by Soyeon Lee in Chapter 5), using more weight than is necessary to produce the sound while making sure each note is completely pressed to the bottom of the keyboard (while keeping a flexible wrist).

2. If there are any specific technical sections which can easily be broken into rhythmic groupings (Orion’s groupings), I will also add this technique to the learning process. While using the different rhythms, I may also specifically focus attention on separate hands while still applying the rhythm techniques.

If there are large sections of technical material, I may alternate practice days using my hands-separate (but together) methods described above on day one, and with the rhythms on day two.

3. After the piece is learned and mostly memorized, I then sometimes use the metronome to speed up technical sections and iron out the rhythmic

inconsistencies if necessary; but once I can play it at full speed, I will most likely put the metronome away.

4. When the piece is in playable form, I will begin a different three day cycle.

Day one will comprise practicing a piece slowly with my hands-separate method described above at medium tempo (often over-pressing each note again), with some specific attention given to certain technical sections which may be practiced with a few rhythms. This first day of mostly technical work prepares my mind for the musical explorations of day two and three. Days two and three will focus mostly on play-through attempts with a performance mentality, allowing me to run sections or whole movements I have worked on the previous day (using Chaffin’s terminology). Richter’s approach of

practicing for long hours works particularly well at this stage. Once I can play through a piece (although imperfectly), I need to play it through a few times (in sections or movements) before I can start to control the musical details

(without missing too many notes). For many years, I used to play difficult passages through four or five times and leave them for the next day. After experimenting with some more intense approaches (Richter’s approach), I find that if I play sections or passages 10, 15, or 20 times, I can make rapid progress in cleaning up the piece to my performance standard. I have also found that practicing a section multiple times throughout the day (not all in one sitting) also enhances memory retention and technical proficiency. For example, if I am juggling four pieces in this semi-learned state, I find it much more productive to work very intensely on two of them for three days in a row, and then work on the next two for three days, instead of trying to get through all four pieces in one day. After two weeks of this more intense focus, my ability to control the music is much more advanced. The danger of this approach is that the multiple play-throughs can cease to be musical explorations and become technical exercises. This is only overcome by

constant reminders to myself that I am exploring the music, not the technique.

5. When the recital or concerto is fully ready, I will slightly modify my three day schedule. I will only play through the pieces or concerto on the third day in their entirety (and perhaps record these if possible), and I will attempt to do this play-through having not warmed up so that I can see exactly where my problems are. If I can successfully (according to my own standards) complete

this play-through without warming up, then there should be very little reason to doubt that I could do it on stage.

6. After this three-day cycle, I will often return to the hands-separate maintenance practice as a few technical things will most likely have lost precision after two days of only playing through.

7. In preparing for a concert, I will often use this three-day approach, with the third day being the concert day. I try not to use the rigorous first-day work on the day of the concert, or the day before, as it forces my brain into a more rudimentary and judgmental state. I listen differently to myself on day one than I do on days two and three, for if that judgmental listening starts to occur during a concert, it can ruin the “magic” of the concert. But if I do not

constantly return to this critical mentality and the practice techniques of day one, my playing gets sloppy and I lose focus and control. If I am very

concerned with producing a clean performance (often associated with a high-profile venue or a first performance), I may play the technical sections

numerous times the day before a concert, alternating rhythm practice with play-throughs.

8. During the morning rehearsal on the day of a performance, I try to play through everything at least once, without too much emotion or intensity, but often with my over-pressing technique. However, I do usually practice the technical sections a few times, without metronome, but in two or three

different tempi. If I do not practice these sections, I always feel they are less controlled in the concert than if I had practiced them in the morning. I then rest in the afternoon.

9. Before the concert, I usually arrive about an hour early. I am always anxious to get to the piano and to warm-up my hands as they always feel sluggish when I initially start playing. After about 20 minutes, they start to feel good, so I often get up, rest a few minutes, play a few passages, rest, play a few more passages, rest, etc. until it is time to walk on stage. I will start the first piece a few times with good performance energy, and I will practice some of the technical sections in medium and fast tempi.

10. I try to conserve as much energy as possible on the performance day as I have also been guilty of over-practicing on a concert day. In my experience, I need to conserve my energy, not to make it through the physical playing of

the performance, but to keep my mind fully alert and on guard to catch the negative emotions which can ruin performances. If I walk on stage and find that I am having a good night despite having felt tired beforehand, I probably will not have any problems and could most likely play for four hours. But if I encounter one of those occasional evenings where things start to go wrong and I do not have the mental energy to contest the negative emotions, I can have a dismal experience, and although the playing might not be that bad, I will feel that the performance was less than successful.

In practice, I am often not able to complete this schedule exactly the way I have suggested, but in theory, I try to maintain some semblance of these suggestions.

This practice blueprint above forms the basis of how I would prepare a work for a first performance. If I have performed a recital or concerto many times in

succession, I am continually able to get away with less and less preparation, but for security I still often return to my day one routine of hands-separate practice. If I am short on time, I may combine the tasks of day one and day two, perhaps focusing carefully on the technical work with strict techniques, but allowing some of the easier technical things to be played through only once. Sometimes I have so much

repertoire to maintain that I have to make choices about what needs work and what can survive with runs. I am a firm believer in Paderewski’s advice that “a bad plan is better than no plan” and my “system” gives me confidence that I have prepared to the best of my abilities.

I have never heard of anyone using my specific hands-separate approach, but I have found many benefits to the technique, both in learning new repertoire and with

maintenance practice. In learning a piece, it compels me to focus on microscopic details contained in the score (highly increasing memory retention), and in

maintenance practice, it engages both a specific brain concentration in one hand, while also constantly integrating the subconscious auto-pilot which controls the accompanying hand. This dual ability of the brain (specific concentration and subconscious auto-pilot) is often utilized in successful performance psychology.

One needs the ability to spontaneously focus on various melodies, inner voices and rhythmic relationships, while also being able to fully rely on muscle memory

(subconscious auto-pilot) to control the other lesser-focused material. My approach,

which

passage work is executed by keeping the same amount of pressure on the

keyboard, while distributing the weight evenly amongst the moving fingers. I have found the above rhythm exercise to be the most efficient means to transfer this weight between the fingers, when practiced correctly.

7.4 Conclusion

The objective of this seventh chapter has been to supplement this study with a few ideas that may have been missing or unexplored in the earlier interviews. Through my own experience as a performing concert pianist and my contemplation of the research collected for use in this paper, I have interjected my own personal thoughts concerning practice methods in the hope that they prove to be complementary to the body of work presented here.

Chapter 8