Hi, I’m Robert Estrin. Welcome to LivingPianos.com. If you’ve ever faced a challenging piece of music and wondered how to tackle it, you’re in the right place. It’s tempting to dive right into difficult repertoire, but there’s a more effective approach. If you want to elevate your playing to the next level, you can set up a free consultation for the Living Piano Mastermind Club.
The Right Approach to Learning a Difficult Piece
Let’s say there’s a piece of music you really want to learn. You might think you can just dive in and figure it out. Sometimes, that can be a great approach, but it’s important to approach it with a realistic strategy.
Imagine you want to climb a mountain. You might have the determination, but starting with the highest peak without any experience could be overwhelming and unrealistic. Instead, you’d begin with smaller trails, then work your way up to more challenging peaks as you gain confidence and skills. The same principle applies to learning music.
Building Up to the Big Piece
If you’ve always wanted to tackle a monumental piece like Chopin’s Heroic Polonaise, it’s essential to build up to it. You can’t just jump into that level of complexity right away. Instead, focus on learning formative pieces that will help develop the skills necessary to tackle larger works later.
When you start learning a piece, don’t try to master it all at once. Break it down into smaller sections—small chunks that you can fully digest and understand. The key to mastering challenging music is to work bit by bit, rather than trying to take on too much at once.
The Long-Term Approach
The secret to achieving your musical goals is to take a long-term, methodical approach. Think of it like climbing a mountain. If you rush ahead without preparation, you risk burnout and injury. However, if you take your time, tackle smaller goals along the way, and rest when necessary, you can successfully reach the peak. This same principle applies to learning music. Break down pieces into small phrases and practice them consistently. Over time, these incremental steps will lead you to success.
Reaching Your Musical Peaks
By taking a more measured, intelligent approach to learning music, you’ll be able to achieve the goals you’ve set for yourself. You’ll make faster progress and find that you can tackle more challenging repertoire with ease. It’s not about diving headfirst into the most difficult pieces, but rather building up your abilities through mastery of progressively more challenging repertoire. This will give you the skills you need to reach the peaks in your musical performance.
Great advisce, as always;=. Right nor I am trying to learn a wonderful 2 page piece by Thekla Badarczcwka, The Virgin’s Prayer, that I often hear on the radio played by Lang Lang. I am learning just 2-4 bars at the time. really well, before moving on. It works. My fingers have better memory than my brain that had suffered a nasty concussion some years ago.
Playing the piano is the best therapy for your brain, as well as your soul!