Great video 👍🏻 1. For me the HT versus HS is simple - if a piece is well within your technical abilities then by all means go HT. But it any serious problem solving is needed then HS every time. I'm grade 4 and i learnt Satie's Gymnopedie No1 about a year ago. Straight off i went for those huge LH 9th span chords. 2mins, 3times a day for a week. Left hand only. When i play that piece now those chords come so easy and i rarely make a mistake during a performance and never get them wrong in practice sessions. 2. Agree shelve and come back. 3. I'm in the bad data is bad data camp here. But yes if you do make them then work out why it happened and draw up a plan to address Cheers
I think the HS/HT debate is a difficult one. I have come to the conclusion that it's more effective to solve problems HT rather than HS. HS 'feels' easier but perhaps lulls us into a false sense of security. However, just because Neuhaus has a certain view doesn't necessarily make him right :-) Always practice in a way we feel works for us - just not be afraid to experiment with different things to see. That's basically what I did. I experimented with avoiding HS and found that my time to learn a piece from start to finish seemed to contract rather than expand. For the 'target practice', I have found it works depending on the problem I'm trying to solve. I used the principle on the Maple Leaf Rag recently and found that it helped me get the left hand far more controlled than ever before. I feel that often we get a 'wrong note' because we're actually doing something wrong and so, if we work out what it is we're doing wrong, then we can correct it. I think the essential thing though is that we avoid 'carelessness'. Again, I found this works for me - it might not work for others but I think is definitely worth a try as an experiment.
Excellent video. I also only use the HS technique when I really have to break something down and get the best fingering. One thing it took me a few years to figure out, was that certain pieces took me so long to learn because they simply exceeded my ability. I often think of the complete novice who says " I just want to learn Clare de lune and I'll be happy" ! I would say to them - 0:09 okay it will take you 8 years to learn that ( as an example ) or you could go the usual route learning simpler songs and progressing to more advanced songs and by eight years ( as an example ) you'll be able to learn Clare de Lune in a few weeks. For me that's what seems to be how this " learning to play the piano process" works.
Yes, I have found I get better results when I avoid Hands Separate as a 'go to' approach. Working Hands Together (even if this means simplifying one of the hands somewhat) seems to get results quicker. I sort of have mixed feelings on tackling 'difficult' music. For me, a key element of piano is that I enjoy what I'm practising. I find it very hard to motivate myself to learn something that I don't find interesting. From that point of view, I'd rather spend months on something I like than learning 10 pieces that I don't like in the same period. However, you're spot on that this has its limits and I like your example of Clair de Lune. In this circumstance, I might try to convince someone to say just learn that first page that fundamentally isn't so hard yet contains lots of musical challenges (timing, rhythm, voicing etc.) that would prove extremely educational and could be worked on over a period of time. However, for the middle section, the skills required there would most certainly be acquired better using a set of 'stepping stone' pieces. I think often the challenge is finding such pieces. An option could be to transpose some easier Czerny studies (such as his 8 bar studies) into D Flat Minor and 'sell' them on the basis that they are building an ability to play in that particular key. I think time is only wasted where we can't find ways to practice something effectively and with a reasonable expectation. For example, nothing stops us from working on something with the aim of getting it to 'half speed' rather than full tempo. If that keeps someone more motivated than say Hanon et al then why not.
