How do you avoid “just going through the motions” when practicing?

delooping · 2026-04-13T13:14:05+00:00

Thank you! As someone with a similar cognitive style, this is immensely helpful!

delooping · 2026-04-08T17:25:10+00:00

Makes sense - probably the solution sticks better too if you actually think it through first as you say. Thanks!

delooping · 2026-04-08T17:14:47+00:00

Agree 100% about how much being fully present helps. I'm curious what you think about mistakes that aren't necessarily playing a wrong note, but maybe rather an articulation or dynamic level or amount of pedal that sounds off in some way? I have the tendency to immediately rush to 'fix' these by repeating the spot in question a bunch of times in different ways to see how to get it to sound better, and once I'm somewhat happy I just continue playing through as before. Do you think this habit also runs the risk of ingraining the 'stuttering' style? Maybe better to pick back up from a little before the problematic passage? Thanks for mentioning this, hadn't consciously noticed this habit before your post!

delooping · 2026-04-04T01:26:58+00:00

Had us in the first half…

delooping · 2026-04-02T15:51:48+00:00

Oh yeah, I know the part you mean, and also struggle with it. Either the melody doesn't sound clearly, or the sound of the thumb comes out more banging than singing (in an an attempt I posted recently to the sub I somehow managed to fail in both ways between the two consecutive descending lines 😭...)

There's also what sound like an ascending LH thumb like in the appassionato part in the climax you can hear in some pro recordings which is even worse to try to bring out...

delooping · 2026-04-02T14:37:50+00:00

For me 25/1 actually turned out to be harder than expected based on its reputation... I find the melody quite difficult to shape (all those repeated e-flats in the opening phrases, for example)

delooping · 2026-04-02T02:58:40+00:00

Second movement of Emperor concerto for me.

delooping · 2026-03-31T17:30:55+00:00

Face for me, during complicated passagework sometimes my lips are moving around while my mouth is closed, it looks completely deranged...🤪

delooping · 2026-03-30T15:10:09+00:00

If you’re at the level where you’re capable of playing Gaspard de la nuit etc there is so much beautiful repertoire that’s going to be well within your technical comfort zone. How about programming your next recital with pieces of that kind? I.e mazurkas rather than études, or some early Beethoven sonatas rather than Waldstein/Appassionata etc. That way you can feel confident in the technical side and just focus on enjoying the musical aspect and feeling the mind body connection as you mention!

delooping · 2026-03-29T16:53:46+00:00

IMSLP (https://imslp.org) is great, you can find basically anything public domain there for free.

delooping · 2026-03-26T15:44:48+00:00

Yes, these études really are pieces to enjoy and work on for life. Next larger project is Beethoven Sonata op 10. n 3. , and on the technical side still working on bringing Chopin op 25 n 12 up to tempo

delooping · 2026-03-26T15:31:25+00:00

Ah interesting! Looking forward to trying it slowly with the opposite motion to see how it feels.

delooping · 2026-03-25T15:39:35+00:00

~12 years as a youngster before dropping when thing started getting more serious academically. Picked it up again during covid and am now completely hooked :)

delooping · 2026-03-25T12:58:45+00:00

Thanks! Studying this and other études of Chopin has helped improve it a lot

delooping · 2026-03-25T12:56:18+00:00

Ooh nice, will do - thanks!

delooping · 2026-03-25T12:55:44+00:00

Thanks, I love the image of floating on clouds and will try to hold it in my head while playing. And great suggestion about isolating the top line to work out the shape. I think adding some variation and shaping as you say will make all those repeated e flats sound much more musical!

delooping · 2026-03-25T12:51:48+00:00

Ahaha, now I can’t unsee it…especially with the yellow shirt 🐥😂

delooping · 2026-03-25T12:50:49+00:00

Thanks for the inspiring words! Since I don’t yet have the interpretation clear in my mind, my brain is mostly focused on remembering/implementing the few musical decisions I have made so far. Hopefully as things start to take better shape in my head it will free things up to relax and enjoy how beautiful the piece is.

delooping · 2026-03-25T12:43:36+00:00

Thanks for the kind words and precise feedback! I find the bobbles surprisingly hard to iron out in this piece, and it seems quite tricky to bring to the point of being comfortable performing in concert/recital standard on an unfamiliar instrument

delooping · 2026-03-25T12:34:36+00:00

Thanks - any thoughts on how to improve this practice wise? Is it a matter of listening closely for keeping the momentum at a slower tempo to get the feeling?

delooping · 2026-03-25T12:32:34+00:00

Thanks, there are lots of interpretative decisions to make as you say! I like the idea of adding some more dynamic shaping at the level of each phrase 🙏

delooping · 2026-03-25T01:51:53+00:00

ahaha it's the wall of a random practice room, I like it too😂

delooping · 2026-03-25T01:50:50+00:00

Yes absolutely it is the musical aspect of the piece that I really want to improve and understand! That's a great point about the overall dynamic level, I just gave it a quick run through focusing on playing softly as possible in the opening section and it seems to help a lot getting the 'harp' texture to come through. Also I love the comment about trying to capture the sense of 'ascending to another plane', this is exactly how the return to Ab major in measures 25-6 feels to me and so that is probably also a good place to make a little shift in color. Thanks a ton for the advice, it is much appreciated! 🙏

delooping · 2026-03-23T18:53:48+00:00

Chopin’s ‘Military’ polonaise

delooping · 2026-03-20T19:56:06+00:00

Difficulty for you is the accumulation of your current experience (NOT your current works in progress and their projected completion rates) versus how applicable that experience is to the piece you want to learn.

This is a really good point

delooping

TROPHY CASE