<p>So piano players, how do YOU practice a difficult piece? Be specific, I already know you practice it over and over again. :)</p>
<p>Work on little chunks at a time. If I'm having difficulty with a particular scale passage, I just do it slowly, over and over again, then up the metronome, again, again, etc. You can't get better by playing the whole piece over and over again, necessarily. You must focus on your weaknesses. It doesn't make sense to work on parts that you're better at when you're sucking at particular parts. Putting it all together and playing the whole piece should not be attempted rashly or prematurely.</p>
<p>Hands seperately then when I get that down go very slowly playing hands together then slowly speed it up. I also agree with celestial's method.</p>
<p>actually, i can't practice one hand at a time, i need both, so i disagree with virtuoso</p>
<p>Pretty much what celestial said. I had to memorize this friggin' long song for Panel, so my teacher made me practice with her 3x a week. It definitely helped. There's not much more to say except practice..though it's boring. I'd rather just sit down and automatically know the song.</p>