How To Develop STAMINA for Long Pieces or Programs

[@pearltheplug]

Loved the mood of this video. It was like having a nice chat about such a crucial topic!

[@joshwrightpiano]

Here is a tutorial on a topic I've been asked about a lot via email - how do I have the energy to get through my longer pieces, or a large program? I hope you all enjoy the tips presented here. Have a great week of practice!

[@overlord6706]

Josh, Can you please make a video on how to play the left hand softly and speedy for the Revolutionary etude? Thank you in advance!

[@РоссийскаяФедерация-б4я]

Andrew C I think he goes over it in his pro practice a while back

[@overlord6706]

@@РоссийскаяФедерация-б4я Ok, Thanks!

[@mickizurcher]

Andrew C he hits on that etude in three different videos

[@leona7522]

You played that program last January, the 4 Ballades etc when you were ill? Heavens, talk about stamina!! And excellent discussion about stamina in this video! Thanks so much.

[@linaatthepiano]

Wow! I’ve gone back to seriously practicing the Winter Wind after a few decades and everything you said about having stamina made perfect sense. Thanks for your inspiration and your advice on playing “correctly”. Love your videos:)

[@mickizurcher]

Good topic I especially like the reminder to work from the back of the work and add to the ending. Even though I’ve done the first couple pages on a sonata I think I’m going start at the end tomorrow and build inwards so I don’t get bogged down. That same concept can be done with phrases and can be done with whole pieces, it’s such a good idea!

[@m.a.3322]

Speaking of stamina, Daniil Trifonov's transcendental etudes on KZbin made my brain glitch. How can someone have that much energy to play the entire set & encores in one seating? And that too with such precision & expressiveness. Shocks me whenever I think of it.

[@mickizurcher]

Its his mind set

[@РоссийскаяФедерация-б4я]

Transcendental Etudes tutorial series? that would be so epic

[@vipinbhat6971]

Российская Федерация totally second this, although that means Dr. Wright would have to learn all the etudes. I think that might be too much to ask.

[@РоссийскаяФедерация-б4я]

@@vipinbhat6971 He's done all of the Chopin Etudes. I'm suggesting sparsely not all in one. Although I wouldn't mind either

[@bjornviir3333]

Josh is adding Mazeppa to his repertoire...Feux is ridiculously hard, Wilde is still quite tough... need tons of practise...and patience...

[@crehenge2386]

Thank you for answering this both personally and with a video!!

[@Rose-zg9pu]

Haha i just saw an advertisement of yours, very well made! My compliments

[@christinegrossi4430]

I find that it’s my brain that gets tired, as opposed to my body.

[@colinyoungscot]

Was just about to post that very same thing. It's probably to do with the material I'm playing but I'm putting together a 30 min program just now and it drains my brain.

[@christinegrossi4430]

@@colinyoungscot I’m a lightweight, anyway, more accustomed to playing pieces that are five or six minutes long. .

[@mickizurcher]

Yes me too, i find often i hit a wall, i’m exhausted.. its almost physical sensation. I’m hoping it’s just about getting enough sleep the night before. If I have a particularly intense long practice session that leaves me feeling very fulfilled and satisfied about my playing, I find I want to do the same thing the next day and I can’t. At that point I basically mechanically go over the pieces sometimes slowly and then just call it a day

[@RUT812]

Me, too

[@bokumo7063]

Again, as with the octave lesson, I appreciate the real world pragmatic advice from a real world performing pianist. Now, this guy at 3:10 - "If you just synchronize your lungs to your mantra, you can run a marathon without training." Yeah, right. Of course, world class Olympic runners apply subtle, expert, microscopic techniques to shave milliseconds off their time to break the world record. But they also put in the roadwork. It's not a dirty secret.

[@lukasmiller486]

Who would you say is more difficult to play, Franz Liszt (in the 1830’s-50’s repertoire) or Maurice Ravel?

[@wangobrigado3864]

Ravel has tons of pieces that are easy to play whereas liszt only has a few

[@bjornviir3333]

@@wangobrigado3864 yes but toughest Ravel can easily hold its own against hardest Liszt.

[@overlord6706]

Josh, Can you please make a video on how to play the left hand softly and speedy for the Revolutionary etude? Thank you in advance!

[@mickizurcher]

I believe he has three different videos out addressing different aspects of the revolutionary étude he covers it pretty thoroughly

[@ST52655]

I don’t play at your level. Could you please talk about early advanced repertoire (grade 6/7/8)?

[@viggos.n.5864]

Thank you very much Josh! Great video.

[@nickiadams4388]

Hardest piece I've dealt with this on is Bartók's Three Etudes. Also heard András Schiff saying recently his fingers literally bleed after Bartók's 1st and 2nd piano concertos. Any tips for some of these more rhythmically demanding pieces? Thinking particularly about cultivating a metronomic dance-like feel with odd meters and displaced accents amidst extremely drawn out technical sections. Thanks!

[@hrobert745]

Great topic! I’m struggling with this issue now

[@Med_Onc]

I don’t know if you would endorse this but I noted I still got quite a bit of fatigue (which I equate to simple lactic acidosis buildup) on the lateral dorsum of my R forearm when playing Chopin 10.1 and 10.2. I can play the pieces pretty well but the fatigue can get real by the end. What I have been doing is actually targeting a faster tempo (usually that means just playing at tempo Chopin indicated lol) for the sole purpose of building stamina. I am obviously not as successful in the musicality or accuracy but when doing so the burn comes on faster and when it does I take a just take a break and restart where I left off. Over the last few months I have less and less fatigue. Also proper warmup I have noticed is extremely important in reducing fatigue. You don’t want to just sit down and play a taxing piece cold.

[@vitalflip9922]

I saw you at the 2015 Chopin Piano Competition, nice job

[@EricSmith-ce4mv]

Josh is a Chopin scholar

[@Lari_crescent_moon]

I have been playing piano for 6 years and I’m trying to play moonlight sonata 3rd movement which is wayyyyy beyond my still level. The biggest issue is how tired my hands get after 3 seconds of it. Im getting there though!!!

[@davidfayle7654]

Hi Josh!

[@stikfamaster2]

Hey Josh, do you have any thoughts on Interleaved practicing as opposed to Blocked practice?

[@liliancurbeloboe]

Nice life advice 👌

[@gleeb1282]

Would love a paid pro practice video on chopin's minute waltz in the near future if you ever get the time to do it ;P

[@andrewliu3181]

Argentina Danzas Op. 2 No. 3 absolutely killed me.

[@efytal3385]

So good!

[@juliavechkanova6371]

Hi Josh, I love your videos, but why are they all so quiet?

[@captivator13]

Superb Josh ! love U always 🤗 Sam 🎵✌🏻

[@jacobsimonson9040]

Have you ever played the Beethoven sonata op 2 no.3? If so, do you have tips on it?

[@JaimeJoseHernandez]

Great vid

[@gaanmeirongmei9787]

Sir, can u raise your talking volume little bit higher...

[@JordanEvansMusic]

This is very challenging

[@ayoubsboui]

the sound is low

[@thomasalempijevic7592]

Awesome !

[@vitalflip9922]

My left arm tenses up and I feel like I’m doing push-ups when playing songs that just don’t lighten up

[@MikeyOnKeys]

Igor Levit played Satie’s Vexations all the way through, 840 times.

[@amadeusradio9608]

There's no activity that when done 6 hours straight won't get you tired. Artists tend to BS a lot.

[@RUT812]

💯

[@luckmc2874]

3rd