It is common in students to rely on fluency to fix itself naturally by working on a piece of music over an extended period of time. Practicing in this way can often make progress feel tedious and slow-going. Here are two practice strategies that can help fast-track the fluency process.
Backward Cell Practice:
A strategy that I call Backward Cell Practice is my variation on the Backward Chaining strategy (bar 3, bar 2+3, bars 1+2+3). This involves working on a bar or phrase or line of music from the end and the key is to work in as small of a unit as possible at the one time (one beat or two beats max.), then gradually piecing these units together. The reason why working backwards is extremely effective is because lack of fluency often means there is a lack of familiarity in anticipating what comes next in the music. Let’s look at this process with the following example.
This phrase excerpt ( bars 13-16) is taken from Study No.5 from 25 etudes melodiques Op.24 by Concone, AMEB Grade 3 Piano Series 18.
Please note: Each bracket or 'cell' needs to be played with the EXACT fingerings that you would be using to play each bar when playing through normally.
Where necessary practice each of the following steps hands separately first and then hands together. Do a few repetitions for each.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7. Repeat the above steps for bar 14 before playing bars 14 and 15 together.
8. Work through bar 13 in the same way and then play through the entire excerpt. Where necessary rework on particular cells that the student struggles with.
Though this strategy may seem to be more useful for tackling music of greater complexity, I find that it works just as well with students completing lower grades. Improvement is often already noticeable during the lesson once the student is introduced and understands how to apply this process. Moreover, this strategy strengthens their ability to start from anywhere in the piece and acquire greater security in their muscle memory.
Isolation Practice:
When students continuously struggle with a few specific spots in the music, it is important to practice them in isolation. The same principle from the ‘cell-type’ practice also applies here. Target the problem in its smallest unit as possible, gradually add units together and then test the accuracy in context.
Example: Cinema by Elena Kats- Chernin from AMEB Grade 6 Piano Series 17
Let’s say the student is struggling to play the transition between sections smoothly, having difficulty locating the notes on the first beat of bar 7. .Rather than practicing from the beginning of the bar or more ineffectively beginning of the line, simply start with the bracketed cell as below.
Do a few repetitions for each.
2.
3.
4.
5. Gradually add beat units on either side until you complete playing both bars through.
Now you may test the accuracy in a larger context such as starting from the beginning of the line.
If you are looking for lessons that can streamline your piano progress, BOOK YOUR FREE 30 MINS TRIAL LESSON TODAY.
Comments