'Oh a new piece!' said my husband as I sat down to practice the piano last night. 'Don't get too excited, its just the next page of the same piece!'.
Over Succot (October 2017) I set myself a challenge to learn a new piece by Beethoven in my week 'off'. (See my blog http://mirijeffay.wixsite.com/musicwithmiri/single-post/2017/10/15/I-had-a-week-off-so-I-set-myself-a-challenge-to-learn-a-piece-by-Beethoven)
I practiced every evening for a week in the hopes that I would make headway with this new piece and have a chance to reflect on how well I could take my own advice re practicing, and I'm pleased to say that 4 months later I am still practicing regularly and have discovered a real love for this piece. Now on page 5 of 8 and managing to practicing 2 or 3 times a week pretty regularly, I have learnt a lot more than the notes to this particular piece through this process.
I have enjoyed the process of learning a new and challenging piece so much and it is amazing to experience, just as I did many times as a student, how much the notes become a part of your fingers and how with consistent, quality, practice the challenges melt away and become so fun to play.
One of my students came in the other day for her lesson, and when she arrived I was practicing the newest page of the piece, and stumbling through the opening passage. She looked a little confused to hear my less than perfect rendition of this piece, which I noted, welcomed her, and put away my music to start the lesson.
She has had a really good run of practicing recently and has been moving quicker through her book and as they say, success breeds success. However, today she was finding her newest piece difficult, and she couldn't understand why. She was getting frustrated and loosing focus so i decided to try something different.
'Remember what I was playing when you walked in?' I asked her, 'That was the newest page of a piece I have been working on for a while. The first 4 pages are pretty brilliant, but this newest page is in the early stages. I know the notes but have to play very slowly and carefully and look at my fingers every now and then to get it right.'
She looked surprised so I brought out my music and played her the first 4 pages. Her mouth was slightly ajar as I played and then you see the moment where they start to understand what on earth you are going on about. When I got to the fifth and newest page I slowly and carefully played my way through the opening passage. 'See, this is how you practice- taking care with every note, working one phrase at a time.' I could see she understood, as she gently nodded her head.
If someone can play something so well, you don't imagine them 'practicing'. I wanted to show her that the reason I can play the first four pages so well is precisely because of the way I have been practicing them! In the fifth page, she could observe the careful method of practicing, and in the first 4 pages she could see the end product.
I hope that when I have finished this 8 page piece, I will move on to a new challenge and fall in love with a new piece.
I love teaching the piano but this 'experiment' has taught me that by developing my own musicianship, and making time for my personal musical growth, I can become an even better teacher.
