Practicing in Random Order- What About Fingering?

by Dan

Enjoyed your piece on practicing a new song by breaking it down into small sections and then practicing each section or part in a random order.

I’m wondering if however this might result in problems when putting all sections back together and realizing your fingering is leading to problems during the transitions from one section to the next in sequence.

Many songs require a jump in fingering that is only obvious when played in sequence and would not be obvious when played in small sections. I hope this makes sense. I’d love to hear back from you.

Thanks.

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by: Maria

Hello Dan!
Thank you for taking the time to write to me! What an excellent question!

Yes, you are so right! When practicing in segments, it's important always to play one more note or beat for each hand, as a bridge or overlap, to make it easier to combine the parts later.

But, the random order exercise should help improve your understanding and security of the parts in the piece. And to be able to start from anywhere, not just the beginning.

So, yes, when you practice "backward" or in random order, it's maybe trickier. But it would be best if you still did this; add one more note or beat at the end of the segment.

You could also start each segment with one note or beat before. Even if you're not playing the parts in the order the piece is written with this exercise; you can still prepare for that with these slight overlaps.

I hope this makes sense!

Happy Practicing!
Maria

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