After a week or so you can put the music aside and play totally from memory. Giving Your Playing Direction Phrasing and direction in a performance is a mark of distinguished players. Their music travels towards a certain point and always conveys a distinct feeling. Each phrase is a whole, and each phrase leads towards another. They do this by studying the form of a piece.
Phrases are the most important means of determining structure.
Find the slur lines which mark each phrase, and think of each phrase as a melody which you can sing. When sung, all the notes flow together beautifully and make sense within the phrase. Map out the structure of a piece you are playing. Draw a graph on which the higher points represent strong emotions. Make squiggly lines for turbulent areas, plateaus for climaxes, slopes for gradual building up or dying away.