Breaking a piece into sections is one of the first ways to approach learning or improving any piece. It allows us to get to know a smaller section better and feel a sense of accomplishment because we can now play some part of our piece well.
Usually, sections are 4 - 12 measures long, but they can be longer or shorter depending on the goal of the practice session and how long the piece is. If you are working on a difficult passage, the section may be half a measure or just 3-4 notes. If you just want to familiarize yourself with a larger section it may be as long a whole page or more. When practicing a section, it is important to include the first note of the next section so that you are also learning how this section connects to the rest of the piece.
Additional tips:
- Mark the start and end of each section with a pencil
- play through the section slowly to make sure that the start and end of the section make sense.
- plan any exercises and write them down ahead of time
- play through slowly at the end of your practice session.