When you are preparing a multi-movement piece such as a concerto or sonata, how do you go about practicing it?
Do you work on movement I and learn it before moving on to movement II (and then learn it and go to movement III), or do you start with movement I and work on maybe a third of it while also working on the same amount of measures in mvmnts II and III?
Sight read it. What I can't sightread I go back and work on small parts and make sure I practice the tail end of each movement straight into the start of the next one.
I take it the same as when I'm practicing charts for a big band concert. What I don't know I practice, what I do know, I run through. Eventually you just do run thru's
I actually think that it is slow practice everyday of the diffict sections which will insure that you really nail a piece. But you should do run-through's too. hmmmm....i think the best thing is to vary the practice because you never know what will happen in performance.
The same way you practice anything else. Run through it a few times, work out the hard parts, repeat. Spend a little extra time on the transitions, but it's still the same formula.
First you should analyze it:
- Find the main themes, motifs and harmonic paths.
- Try to figure out how these elements are interconnected and transformed from movement to movement.
- Based on that, determine a proper phrasing and articulation (where it is not notated already) for each part.
Practice what you can't play, play what you can! - on a more practical level I find taking the more difficult technical / rhythmical outside of the piece, even to the extent of rewriting them in a manuscript book in a simpler form (ie if you have something with lots of 1/8th & 16th notes take them into 1/4 and 1/8ths etc)
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