Should you Listen to a Piece of Music Before you Learn It? - Video 1

Hi. Welcome to virtualsheetmusic.com and livingpianos.com. I'm Robert Estrin with an important topic today, which is, should you listen to a piece of music before studying it? What a great question. There are many schools have thought of this, so I am going to cover them today for you, so you have a good handle on what is best for you.

Well, when setting a piece of music that you've heard before, it's much easier to learn. You have a sense of the harmonies, the speed, the textures, the mood, there are many aspects of studying a piece that you've heard before that make it much easier to learn. So on the plus side, sure it makes it easier to learn. However, there aren't always opportunities to listen to a piece before studying it. Let's say for example, you have a composer friend who writes a piece of music for you and nobody has ever recorded it. Or, maybe there's another piece that you can't get a recording of, so it's absolutely essential that you have the skills to learn a piece of music without hearing it first. More than that, it's actually detrimental to be too influenced early on to learn a piece. For example, if you were learning one of the Beethoven Sonatas or Chopin Ballade or any piece of music, and you've listened to one performance many, many times, you might not realize how unique that one performance is, and you may imitate that one performance and never give yourself the opportunity to develop your own interpretation and sense of what that piece is about. I think for students, very important to be able to learn pieces without having heard them at all before.

Now, if you've heard a piece a lot and you're studying it, good for you. You'll save time, it's easy. But, whenever possible, I think it's really good for you to go ahead and learn the piece first. At least get it memorized or if it's compendium, get some fluidity out of your performance before ever listening to a performance of a recording or a live performance. That way, you already have your own ideas of commitments about what this piece is about before you get influenced. Then, after you can play it, even if it isn't totally polished but you basically have it going, listen to a variety of recordings so you get a sense of the range of styles and interpretations that other people bring to the music. That is an ideal situation for a student. And other times, if you had a piece that you are familiar with, all the best, go with it, enjoy it, but try to listen to other performances. You realize there is more than one way to play a piece. Thanks so much for joining me. Robert Estrin, here at virtualsheetmusic.com and livingpianos.com.

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