Practice technique: Section-by-section

Category: Practice and Performance

photo credit: Sean Rogers1

Here is another practice technique you may want to try.  Divide your song into logical sections. Your section could be as short as a few bars, or as long as a few phrases.  A good rule of thumb is: the more difficult the section, the shorter the section should be.  An example of a section-by-section practice would be:

1.  Play through the entire song

2. Identify the different sections.  Rate the sections by perceived level of difficulty. (I recommend using a scale from 1-10)

3. Choose one of the most difficult section to focus on.  (It doesn’t have to be at the beginning!)

4. Play the section the number of times corresponding to the difficulty.  For example, if you rated the passage to have a difficulty of 7, play it 7 times in a row.

5. After repeating the passage a number of times, it is important to put it back into context.  So play the entire song again.  (If it is a really long song, just play a section of it again)

Now, of course – this is just one of the ways that you can use the section-by-section technique to your advantage. The main idea is to identify the difficult sections, and to repeat them a number of times. The more difficult the section, the shorter it is, and the more times you should repeat it. Play around with different ways of using the section-by-section technique. I’m sure you’ll find something that works well
for you!

Lesson 16: Staccato, Legato, Slurs

Category: Lessons, Music Theory

Well, it has been a while… but so far we’ve talked about the duration of notes (quarter notes, half notes, whole notes, etc) and the value of notes (A,B,C,D…).  Well now – you must be itching to learn something new.  So here it is – drumroll please….. Introducing staccato notes!

Staccato notes

The staccato note is indicated by a dot above or below the note as seen in the picture to the left.  Staccato can mean “abrupt” or “disconnected”.   So how do you play a note in a disconnected manner?  To play a staccato note, the finger basically hits the key and lifts up again so that the note sounds short.  The DURATION of the note will remain the same.  (That is, a quarter note will still be one count, a half note will still be two counts, etc).  However, after the finger lifts off the key, there will be silence for the rest of the duration of the note.

Legato

Legato is the opposite of staccato.  When a piece of music indicates that is should be played legato, it must be played as smoothly as possible.  In musical notation, legato is indicated by a SLUR, or a curved line above or below a group of notes. These notes should be played without a break between the notes, as smoothly connected as possible.

Now you know the two most common ways of playing notes: staccato and legato.  Now there is also a SHORTER version of the staccato note. It is called STACCATISSIMO, and is indicated with little triangular spikes above or below the note.  But we’ll talk about that some other time.

Practice Techniques: Hands separate practice

Category: Practice and Performance

photo credit: chelseagirl

It is very important (especially when just beginning the piano) to practice hands separately before playing with your hands together.  Most of your technique will be developed when practicing hands apart. When practicing hands apart, follow these guidelines to make the most of your practice:

• Pay attention to your fingering.  Make sure you use the right finger in the right place each time you practice.  Don’t try playing hands together until you are completely comfortable with the fingering in both your right and your left hand.
• Choose a short passage and switch between the right and the left hand every few minutes
• Practice hands separately until you can play as fast as the final song will be played – maybe faster

Hands-separate practice is very important for developing technique. It is a valuable learning tool for beginners and advanced piano players alike.  Add hands separate practice to your repertoire of practicing techniques – if you haven’t already!