It Would be Great to be Consistent - Brahm's Waltz

[suzyq]

I've been working on Brahm's Waltz Op. 39, No. 9 (Classics to Moderns) for about two months - at my lesson last Tuesday I was able to play through it with little trouble, at my lesson on Monday of this week it was a fiasco.  Consistency would make me happy.  My teacher said that  I have it about 69% memorized so that when I get lost I don't know where to look for my place in the music.  I don't try to memorize, it just happens - I keep telling myself LOOK AT THE MUSIC. Does this happen to you?

My teacher is away for two and a half weeks and has asked me to add pedal - there's always a first time - should be interesting.

[Joe Barron]

All this sounds very familiar. First, I've never been able to play anything consistently well. each tme I go through a piece, I mess up at a different point. Second, I find myself memorizing pieces so I won't have to look at the music: I can't seem to play and read at the same time, and by the time I learn the piece, I don't need to read, anyway. What I can't to is sight-read.

All this is a large part of the reason I gave up lessons last month and have abandoned the instrument entirely after fifteen years --- that and because music takes me so long to learn. You have my admiration for sticking with it. 

[Holden]

Finger memory can take time. I usually learn a piece totally this way and then play it without the music in front of me. If I then go back to a work, not having played it for quite a while, then the sheet music becomes a memory jogger but playing it by heart is the way I do it and it gives me a more consistent approach. Stick with it SuzyQ!

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

My teacher said that  I have it about 69% memorized

I am amazed that your teacher can give such a precise estimate (what, not 70% even?)....otherwise, I sympathize.

All this sounds very familiar. First, I've never been able to play anything consistently well.

Me neither. I just adopt a relaxed attitude and try to have fun, even while butchering a piece. At my age and talent level, it's about all I can do.

But regarding sheet music - the curious thing is, even if I've memorized something, I play it more accurately with the sheet music in front of me, even if I never look at it. Must be a psychological crutch.

[suzyq]

Thanks for the "pep talk" it does get frustrating. 

I think 69% was not meant to be exact - maybe just a way to help me relax and keep going. 

My nephew (he's a pianist/organist) always tells me to relax, enjoy, have fun   Good advice -