7 Strategies To Learn New Piano Pieces

You might be struggling to learn a new piano piece.

In this article you will find some methods to help you on your journey.

Know the key signature

When you sit down to learn a new piece of music, the first thing that you should notice is the key signature. It will be a lot easier to learn a piece once you are familiar with what notes are in the scale. 

If the key signature has a lot of sharps or flats, and you are finding it tricky to remember which notes to play, it will help to circle the notes in pencil that are black keys.

Practice hands separately

Splitting the piece into smaller chunks, such as separating the hands, will speed up the process of learning. 

I recommend that you start learning the hand that contains more of the melody, because this will give you a good sense of what it should sound like. 

By just playing the one hand, it is easier to focus on playing the right notes, the rhythm, and hand position. Once you have mastered each hand, it's time to play them at the same time.

Putting the hands together

First focus on playing the right notes, without worrying about the rhythm or speed. Once you have gained more confidence, you should try to gradually increase the tempo. 

It is also helpful to play each hand whilst someone else plays the other hand, or play along with a recording of the piece.

Choose the right piece

Before starting a new piece, you should be sure that you are making the right decision. You should consider factors such as tempo, skill level, and length of the piece. 

If you don't think about these, you might be taking on too big of a challenge, and end up giving up on it.

Practice regularly

Practicing piano often is essential to learning a new piece. This will improve your muscle memory, finger strength, and sight reading. 

Although practicing for long sessions will improve your playing, it is much more effective to practice consistently everyday, in much shorter sessions. 

I would recommend practicing at least 15 minutes a day, but try to do a bit more if it's possible.

Don't always start at the beginning

Instead of starting at the beginning of a piece every time you practice, start by practicing tricky sections such as parts that have complex rhythms, or fast arpeggios. 

If you start at the beginning each time, you will waste time practicing parts that you can already play, when you could be using that time to go over difficult passages.

Using synesthesia tutorials

If you want to learn a fun new piece, quickly and easily to impress friends or family, you can find synesthesia videos on Youtube that show you which notes to play. 

This can help you learn a lot of new pieces, but if you want to improve your sight reading, using synesthesia videos could hold you back.