When do you really know a piece? Is it after you’ve memorized it? Is it once you can play it often without any mistakes? Not necessarily…sometimes even if you can play a piece without audible mistakes, you might not know it very well…I found that out…after my teacher asked me to try some things ^^”
This is all stuff to ask yourself/try after you’ve memorized the piece.
- Can you play the piece while going on autopilot? Do you sometimes start thinking about random things while playing the piece? If you do, that is a good sign that you are beginning to know the piece well. And if there are certain times when you suddenly need to focus back into the piece, that might be a part where you are having difficulties. WARNING WARNING WARNING Although this may be a sign of knowing a piece, IT IS NOT SOMETHING GOOD FOR PERFORMANCE! You should always perform with your thoughts and expression on the piece, rather than thinking about other things.
- Can you play the piece hands separately? The right hand alone, then the left hand? (I hate doing this one the most T-T. Some people can do this naturally…I can’t D:)
- Can you play the piece at a much slower tempo? (Yes – Slower). Try it at half the speed and see if you still hit all the right notes.
- Can you play the piece eyes closed >=] This one is pretty much one of the final steps to really knowing a piece. It may be very difficult, but when you play a piece with your eyes closed, you can hear yourself so much better than with your eyes opened. Instead of watching your fingers and looking at the keys, all your focus is directed onto the music ^^
- Of course, most importantly of all, can you play it with musicality? ^^
