Each solo, let alone each etude, has “hard” parts. It is really the new material we are learning. How do we practice these new ideas to learn how to play them well. “Playing them well” means playing them accurately and musically. These two things in themselves have to be learned so that you have an aural picture of your goal. Let’s describe “playing well” for beginners as playing with clean finger technique, best tone possible, correct rhythms and articulations. More advanced students, or you, will add to this as they progress.
At first students are just trying to play the notes. Have them practice at a level they can play accurately.
- Play SLOWLY. You will say this a thousand times and still say it some more. You can only play as fast as you can think, finger and blow the note, otherwise you play a wrong note which is a mistake. Do not practice mistakes.
James Galway said he never played a wrong note!
- To work out a “hard” part, play just one measure at a time. When it is right, add in the measure before and the measure after. When those are correct, play the piece until you find another spot you need to work out in this same one-measure-at-a-time way.
- If one measure has a specific finger combination or run that is hard, then isolate it and practice it alone until you can do it right. You may find that you are adding a note or playing an incorrect note. Check your accidentals and key signature. Remember to practice the scale of the key of the music.
- Take out dynamics, ornaments etc. for the first practice sessions, then get them back in as soon as possible. You want to learn the music as you want to perform it, but you may have to leave some things out at first to get there.
Runs
Dot the Rhythm
Play the run slowly using dotted eighth and sixteenth. Then turn it around and use a sixteenth and dotted eighth rhythm. You will find you have practiced moving from each note to the next one quickly, and that your run will now be playable with an even fingering technique.
Separate Runs into Smaller Parts
Of course you must look at each run and decide where the beat lands. If the run has an odd number of notes, then ask yourself will you play a 7 note run as 3 and 4 or 4 and 3. By making that decision, and marking it, you will see and feel how it should sound. These two options sound differently giving you alternately a quick or a slower end to the run. Either one is right but one will sound better at a specific point in the music.
Also double check that you are playing not only the right notes, but the right number of notes.
Keep a Full Tone Throughout the Whole Run
Many students will let the tone on some notes in a run be weak. This sounds to the listener, or adjudicator, like you actually missed notes in the run. Fill up each note with sound to be sure they are all heard. Then add in the dynamic written as well.
Take Out the Slurs
Tonguing all notes in a slurred run will identify notes which are happening quicker or slower than other notes. You will be able to hear these “finger faults” easier. Slurs allow your fingers to move quickly, but maybe not evenly. Take time to play those two note combinations which are too fast or not fast enough to clear them up before putting them back into the run. Take time to practice the scale which includes these particular note combinations.
Rhythm
Do the Math
If there is a rhythm you can’t quite hear, break it down into smaller notes i.e. eights or sixteenths for example. Find the beat and really take a slow tempo until it seems clear. You may even have to make a quarter note into two eighth notes, for example to hear how long the quarter note should be in a certain measure. Work it our mathematically. You can do it.
Listen to a Performance
See if there is a performance on YouTube for reference. These are however, usually up to tempo so listen carefully.
New Term or Notation
Look them Up
Do not skip over new terms or notation. The composer actually put them there for a reason and of course any teacher or adjudicator will expect them to be included. You know about the web, use it.