How to Learn Difficult Music Fast: Note Groupings and Rhythmic Patterns

By Julianna Evans, BM, MM, PMP

Have you ever had a deadline to learn music for a rehearsal, performance, or concert, and you need to learn difficult music or a difficult passage in a limited amount of time? I’ve definitely been there, so in today’s blog I’ll be writing about one specific technique that can help you learn difficult music fast.

Many methods can help when trying to learn difficult music fast, but today I’ll be sharing 7-note groupings/rhythmic patterns that can transform how quickly you learn a difficult musical passage. I’ll be using an excerpt from Mozart’s clarinet concerto and applying each rhythmic pattern to correspond with the notes from the excerpt as an example. I like to tell my students that they’re exercising their brains by changing up the original written pattern. Essentially, you can learn a passage quicker by employing these note groupings. Another benefit of these exercises is they can help identify where there might be unevenness in your technique, or maybe there’s a certain fingering or delay of finger movement when executing a passage.

Let’s start with an example from Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto:

Now we will take the notes in this excerpt and apply a series of note groupings/rhythmic patterns. I recommend starting at a very slow tempo and gradually working up the speed with a metronome for each pattern.

The goal is to go through each pattern and then return to the original excerpt as written. Hopefully, you will notice that you can play the original excerpt with ease and flawless technique. If not, practice the patterns at a slower tempo until you gain facility, and then start increasing the speed to the desired tempo.

I hope this blog was helpful. I’ve been using these patterns to help me learn difficult musical passages quickly for over 25 years, and have found them to be very beneficial! Click HERE for a FREE PDF that includes all of the exercises. I’ll also leave a link to my YouTube video where I demonstrate how to use these note groupings/rhythmic patterns.

Ciao for now!

Julianna