Repetitions

Complex piece - complex answer. What do I mean by complex? A complex piece for one organist is sight-readable to another.

​And what is mastery? Being able to play it in public? Being able to play it by memory? Being able to transpose it? Being able to transpose it by memory? Or is it something else?

But let's do some math with the example of Bach's the Gigue fugue, BWV 577. I have found that it takes about 100 repetitions to prepare it to the concert level. I'm not saying it's a mastery, though. It's just something tangible to work with.

So let's assume for the sake of the argument that for the concert level one would be required to play this piece 10 times in a row correctly in a concert tempo.

For really great sight-readers it would take 10 repetitions, then. Not too many people in the world can do this, though.

Although there are many methods of practice, one of the possibilities might look something like this:

1. 10 repetitions of the piece stopping at every beat.
2. 10 repetitions of the piece stopping at every two beats.
3. 10 repetitions of the piece stopping at every measure.
4. 10 repetitions of the piece stopping at every two measures.
5. 10 repetitions of the piece stopping at every line.
6. 10 repetitions of the piece stopping at every two lines.
7. 10 repetitions of the piece stopping at every page.
8.10 repetitions of the piece stopping at every two pages.
9. 10 repetitions of the piece stopping at every four pages.
10. 10 repetitions of the piece without stopping​.

There you go. 10 steps by 10 repetitions. 100 total.

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