I suppose most of us started off with music lessons (or not) and got into our own pratice. However, for others and a like, how do you teach yourself into learning a piece?
Personally, I play each measure over until I can play it without a second thought. How do you go about it?

Hehe, I can't do a bar/measure over and over again to do it right... that would bore the pants off me.

For concentrated practice, I usually work on a phrase (usually a line or 4 bars long), and practise that for about 20 minutes, haha. If I'm starting from scratch, I would start off slowly. With broken chord patterns, I'd play out the hand positions (for piano). Then just get faster... er...
What I tend to do is like.. I'll play it at a slow speed, and I aim to play it correctly with no mistakes 3 consecutive times. Once I've done that, I'll play it a bit faster, 3 consecutive times. Eventually I'll get to the correct speed and make myself play that absolutely correctly 3 consecutive times. (What I mean by consecutive times is.. if I get something wrong the 2nd time, I start from #1 again)

Eh.. yeah, that's just how I do it, lol. Always with a goal in mind (ie. the 3 consecutive times thing), and working on small sections. Then I'll group sections together and make myself play those together without mistakes 3 consecutive times, haha. Probably doesn't make much sense, but it usually makes sense for me!

Oh, and when I practise, I don't just focus on the notes. I work on the rhythm, tone, voicing, dynamics, etc, from the very beginning.

I play the song very slowly all the way through just trying to get all of the notes right. Then once I can play the notes decently i'll go into rhythm, tempo, dynamics etc.

Playing it slowly always works best for me. Also, play like you're performing it. What I mean is put a little heart into it. You don't play like a MIDI file when you're performing, so why not practice it like that. They do say you practice like you perform it.

I usually only repeat phrases when I'm trying to memorize a piece. Maybe that has something to do with a fact that I'm a boss at sightreading.

I suppose most of us started off with music lessons (or not) and got into our own pratice. However, for others and a like, how do you teach yourself into learning a piece?
Personally, I play each measure over until I can play it without a second thought. How do you go about it?

Well, I have a good memory :P , so I can memorize any piece after playing the piece for about a week. I had to practice for long durations in 2 days (about 300 min. a day) before I was able to teach myself college Clarinet pieces. I just sight-read it, then I get to all of the phrasing/expression-like stuff.

I like to do a little of everything that everyone has mentioned but I also like to drill the piece into my head by listening to a professional play it, over, and over, and over, till basically I get sick of the song (XD). This way I can get a better idea of how everything fits in with my part and a good idea how the song should be expressed.

I like to play through the piece first to see what needs to be worked on and then I focus on those sections. Then I do exactly like Spoonpuppet does with the three consecutive times and once all the bumps are worked out, I play through it again.

Afterwards, I make sure to play something fun and easy, just to wind down if there was any frustrations before.

For piano, I find it quite helpful to listen to a recording a few times over to let me get a feel of what it should sound like. Afterwards I play through the first phrase or page whatever I feel like (how vague..) and however slowly I need to. If I'm really screwed with it, I play it.. Hands separately, oh my!
After I've got it down pretty good, I listen to the recording again to fix up a bit here and there.
I use pretty much the same method for cello.

For flute, I kind of wing it for everything, so it's better not to ask about it. :bleh:

I like to do a little of everything that everyone has mentioned but I also like to drill the piece into my head by listening to a professional play it, over, and over, and over, till basically I get sick of the song (XD). This way I can get a better idea of how everything fits in with my part and a good idea how the song should be expressed.

Actually, even though this might be good to help you learn how a new piece should sound like, don't listen to it so many times like you're doing :heh: It sticks a certain perception in your head, and kind of prevents you from interpreting it your own way. After all, what's the point of there being so many different recordings of the same pieces if they're all interpreted and played the same way? ;)

Also, if you play in an orchestra or concert band (not with piano I know usually, lol.. but other instruments), if you play it the way you've heard it recorded, you may end up with people playing different takes on the same song - different speeds, accents, etc, which throws out the group harmony and can sound VERY dodge.

I used to do that consecutive phrase practise when I still had teachers. If I did that nowdays I'd friggin implode. That's really not me...

I take runs through the song slowly, fixing up any awkward points and transitions along the way in order to play through the entire piece (or major sections if it's very long) without coming to a halt. That way, I'll be able to get a good grasp of how I want to play the piece.

From that point on it's all making it more musical: calibration (adjusting and making changes as you play) and fine-tuning (figuring out exactly how to play a very specific part). I just take runs and make it sound better each time. Always calibrating as I play and when I find myself hearing something I'm just unsatisfied with, I'll zoom briefly, figure out how to make it more pleasant to the ear, then move on.

The thing about practising this way is... you have to be dedicated. Really dedicated... or you'll hardly be getting any practise done at all.

Also, I'm rarely directly focused on the notes. I only think about how it's played. I let my instrument sing as I like and feel the song... the notes kind of take care of themselves.