Efficient Piano Practice

Ways to More Efficient and Productive Piano Practice Daniel Herscovitch, Sydney Conservatorium of Music
This paper looks at four different ways to practise the piano, the most normal being at the piano both with and without the music, and the much less widely used methods of practising away from the instrument, again both with and without the music. As practising away from the piano is much morerarely utilised, the first part of the paper discusses various ways in which we can assist our students to make productive use of these practice techniques, and demonstrates how they can be used not only to expedite the learning process, but also to assist memorisation, reduce nervousness and generally enhance a performance. The paper then goes on to discuss the actual time spent at the piano,and how various time- and labour-saving techniques can assist students not only to make this time at the instrument as productive as possible but also to help engender confidence in public performance.

The purpose of this short paper is to discuss various practice methods, and how we can assist our students to spend their limited practice time as productively as possible. Naturally the most usualway our students practise is at the piano with the music, and many also practise at the piano without the music. But I think we also need to encourage our students to practise away from the piano, both with and without the music. Because these two practice methods are much less widely used, I would like to begin by discussing them. With younger students it is obviously pointless to ask that theystudy the score away from the instrument. However we can ask such a student to look at home for particular patterns in the music. These could be formal patterns such as a simple ABA form, or sequences or recurring rhythmic figures, or even simple modulations. This can help develop an almost subconscious awareness of form, so necessary for the student’s later development. On a more mundane level,if we have a student whose performance of a piece lacks dynamic variety, we can ask that student to open the music at home and just count the number of f markings, p markings, cresc and decresc signs. This can transform a performance. Again, many younger students (and unfortunately older students also) routinely overlook two-note slurs. So in a piece like the little Mozart Allegro in B flat K.3 orthe finale of Haydn’s D major Sonata Hob XVI/37, we can ask the student to count the number of such slurs. Again a remarkable transformation can occur. Naturally with more advanced students we most definitely can urge them to study the score, almost as a conductor might. Quite apart from formally analysing the work students can observe such aspects as where phrases and paragraphs begin and end,how dynamics are structured or how the bass line progresses. In studying a score it is generally best to focus on one such particular area at a time. An especially important aspect is to observe how repetitions of the same material vary, e.g. the bridge passage in a recapitulation as compared to the exposition, or even how repetitions of theme itself vary. One of my students was quite surprised todiscover that towards the end of Beethoven’s Sonata Op.109, when the theme of the variations reappears, this time it is marked cantabile rather than mezza voce as at the beginning. Similarly how many students notice that in the lengthy second movement of Beethoven’s Sonata op.90, each time in this rondo that the A section 1

returns, the main theme is marked dolce the first time, but the secondtime teneramente, which also explains the more lightly scored left hand. Another very useful exercise is simply to read through the score while hearing the work mentally. Surprising discoveries can also be made this way. Of course even advanced students can profitably use the more mundane methods mentioned earlier. Thus a student of mine was singularly reluctant to observe Beethoven’s staccato...