Welcome to Living Pianos.com, I’m Robert Estrin. Today I’m going to share a tip with you for making corrections in your playing. I’ve discussed so many different techniques, from taking things slowly, referencing the score, playing with the metronome, and playing hands separately. So what could I possibly be bringing to this video that I haven’t shared before? Today I have a tip for you that really helps to make corrections stick. Because that’s the hardest problem, isn’t it? You correct something, but then you make the same mistake again.
The answer is to articulate out loud what the correction is.
Say you’re playing through a piece and you miss something. Well, you have the score handy. You have the patience to find where you are in the score. You realize your mistake and find exactly what the correction is. Then you say the correction out loud, “It’s a fourth finger on F in the right hand. The first time it goes up. The second time, it goes down to the fourth finger on F.” Boom! You verbalized it. Now it’s not abstract. You don’t just say, “I’m going to get that right next time.” You really make the correction omnipresent in your mind. So when you get there, you go, “What was it? Oh, fourth figure F.” Boom! You have that extra bit of information floating in your head just when you need it.
If you’re not 100% sure of what you’re trying to achieve, you’re very unlikely to achieve it.
If you can’t put it into words, you might not really fully grasp what it is you want to do next time. It’s too abstract. You can’t just say, “I want to get that right.” It’s not black and white. It has to be quantifiable and precise. It’s not just the notes. You have to remember every articulation. For example, if you need to remember to play staccato on the repeat of the second section. You say, “Second section, make sure it’s staccato in the right hand.” So you think about where that second section is before you play. You see as you’re coming into it, “Oh yeah. When I get there, I’m going to play staccato in my right hand.”
Articulate it in words!
That’s the tip for today! Among all the other ways of solving problems, make sure you articulate with words specifically what you want to be different in your playing each time you repeat a phrase that you want to correct. Thanks so much for joining me, Robert Estrin here at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Resource.
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4 thoughts on “How to Make Corrections in Your Playing”
Robert, you are such a wonderful teacher!
Thanks so much.
Glad to be of help. I was very fortunate to be surrounded with great pianists my whole life. It’s a pleasure to share with you!
July 29.2021
Dear Robert,
You addressed a problem I’ve been having on perfecting a piece.
I have a couple of problem areas in it,
and I know what I am doing wrong,
and I have notated my music as to what I should do.
BUT, every time I get there I make the same mistake.
So I guess I have to appear crazy
and talk to myself about what is the right thing to do!
Really, if one talks to ones-self, one is not crazy,
but if you answer yourself, then you are crazy!
Thanks for this important tip, I will use it
whether or not people think I am crazy!
On another matter — as a kid growing up and taking piano lessons,
my parents bought me a 5’2” Baldwin baby grand piano.
This was back in about the mid 1950s.
It was a great piano, and had that rich base Baldwins are famous for.
However, I hear that the Baldwins being made now in China
are really not very good
compared to the Baldwins made in Cincinnati “back in the day.”
Is this really true!?
Thanks so much,
Sincerely,
Charlie (Charles M. Beck cranewingfeather@gmail.com)
Pianos bearing the Baldwin name are stencil pianos. Here is what that means: https://livingpianos.com/what-are-stencil-pianos/
They are well made, Asian production pianos with furniture styles very similar to the classic, hand-built, top-tier Baldwin pianos from years past.
In regards to correcting the issue in the piece you mentioned, try playing extremely slowly. If you can get it right 3 times in a row playing drastically under tempo, you may be able to solve the problem. Then you can speed it up. Then connect it to the previous phrase and get that secure. Finally, go back to the beginning of the section (or the beginning of the piece) and incorporate the correction.
Good luck!