I have a problem with one of my piano pupils: his grade one pieces are getting steadily worse.
He claims to have been practicing a fair amount and I know he generally does work hard not just in music but in other subjects. Do you think there is a danger that he has over-practiced?
I always like to give my candidates plenty of time to prepare and it has always worked in the past but I am wondering if he's had too much time and the pieces have become stale.

Any ideas on what to do?

Does he play other repertoire than the Grade 1 pieces?

Violinia

last week I started him on a different piece but he only practiced his exam pieces. I took this as his way of saying he didn't want any more pieces to play. Generally it has just been his exam stuff.

QUOTE (Byron @ Feb 15 2005, 10:10 PM)

I have a problem with one of my piano pupils:  his grade one pieces are getting steadily worse. He claims to have been practicing a fair amount and I know he generally does work hard not just in music but in other subjects.  Do you think there is a danger that he has over-practiced? I always like to give my candidates plenty of time to prepare and it has always worked in the past but I am wondering if he's had too much time and the pieces have become stale. Any ideas on what to do?

hi byron........sounds like over-practise to me. i enter pupils for the music festival which requires pieces to be highly cometitively rpoduced - hence i have had some nervous moments when they begin to go downhill instead of up!!! slurs being pinged at the end etc!!!!! i think the pupil becomes too relaxed with the piece so their concentration is not so acute. i normally introduce a new piece (easier one!!!) just to distract them . It would also have happened to my own daughter who literally lived on the piano coming up to festivals/exams etc. hope this helps!

Kind regards heather

QUOTE (music speaks @ Feb 15 2005, 11:24 PM)

QUOTE (Byron @ Feb 15 2005, 10:10 PM) I have a problem with one of my piano pupils:  his grade one pieces are getting steadily worse. He claims to have been practicing a fair amount and I know he generally does work hard not just in music but in other subjects.  Do you think there is a danger that he has over-practiced? I always like to give my candidates plenty of time to prepare and it has always worked in the past but I am wondering if he's had too much time and the pieces have become stale. Any ideas on what to do? hi byron........sounds like over-practise to me. i enter pupils for the music festival which requires pieces to be highly cometitively rpoduced - hence i have had some nervous moments when they begin to go downhill instead of up!!! slurs being pinged at the end etc!!!!! i think the pupil becomes too relaxed with the piece so their concentration is not so acute. i normally introduce a new piece (easier one!!!) just to distract them . It would also have happened to my own daughter who literally lived on the piano coming up to festivals/exams etc. hope this helps! Kind regards heather

ohhh dear - this is a hard one i guess...the only advice then i would give to him is to play only ONE piece every day on a rota basis with 5 scales. is there any pattern to his mistakes in particular or is he speeding up his pieces too muchhence the semiquavers perhaps are being stumbeld over?

The pattern seems to be that he is just getting generally more uneven. He is playing the A1 piece 'giga' which requires a fairly quick right hand and a nice even tone. His fingers are stumbling onto the notes rather than playing them in time.

QUOTE (Byron @ Feb 17 2005, 01:32 PM)

The pattern seems to be that he is just getting generally more uneven. He is playing the A1 piece 'giga' which requires a fairly quick right hand and a nice even tone. His fingers are stumbling onto the notes rather than playing them in time.

hallo byron - i can't comment on the piece as i actually use LCM (!) but it sounds like either he just can't be bothered OR he needs to completely slow down and count his time (out loud!!!) until he secures the rhythm again. I wonder are the notes correct or is he repeating mistakes of previous weeks - some children just aren't cut out for exam work as it's so repetitive and they do lose interest...i would certainly leave grade two for over a year and get back to the JW schaum book to give him lots of variety so that he doesn't come to a standstill in losing interest and his playing and interest should improve three-fold...good luck!

How long 'til the exam? Is it possible for him to completely ignore the piece for a week and then pick it up again?
This was a tactic employed by my teacher when I was younger and over-practiced due to nerves. I think it worked!
Best of luck
~Suzy~