Overall, Moment Musicaux No. 3 is quite similar to a funeral march with its low, deep bass and deliberate nature. It has been referred to as the most "Russian" sounding of the six moment musicaux Rachmaninoff composed. No. 3 has four general thematic sections, and in each, the pattern of notes and the types of technique used are all very similar within said sections but can be much different than the notes and technique used in the other sections. During the learning process, I focused heavily on breaking up the piece into each section, while drawing out specific components from each. I also learned each section together in order to streamline and concentrate the process of learning the entire piece.

• The first section was fairly straightforward, and when learning it, I worked on keeping it slow and steady, with clear progressions between chords, and a slow increase in volume towards the end of the section. This first section ends with a cadence at the end of the first page.

• The second section picked up at the start of the second page, and generally sounds similar to the first section, however the speed picks up, and there is much more note and volume complexity, or embellishment. This part was fairly time-intensive to learn, as there are many sections with a decent amount of complexity, combined with hand leaps and periods of acceleration and deceleration.

• When the second section ends, it also has a cadence, but this conclusion is not followed by a brief period of silence like there is between the first two sections. Rather, the interlude between the main portions of sections two and three involves a brief repetition of the new theme, quietly and slowly. Then, the main theme of section three begins in earnest, where the melody is embellished and repeated. Throughout this section, the volume and speed builds, until the height of the piece, where the cadential sequence from the end of the first section is repeated but sped up, elaborated, and increased in volume.

• The final section involves the cadential sequence from the second section, but moved up much higher on the keyboard, and elaborated. In fact, the ending of the third page is very similar to the ending of the second page, meaning the fourth section has many similarities to the ending of the second section, with the rolled chords followed by descending scale sequences, and the finale of the piece is quite similar to the aforementioned beginning of the third phrase, with a quiet repetition of the original melody, leading to a soft final cadence.

Breaking the piece up into sections where the music is similar is vital to learning the score in a fast and accurate manner, while also creating a better sense of dynamics and melody by delineating the beginnings and ends of each idea/section.

While No. 3 did not involve intense speed, the slow and deliberate nature of the piece also raised some issues; mainly that keeping a consistent tempo can be fairly difficult. Considering the length of the piece (7-8 minutes), it can be quite difficult to maintain the same amount of strength and consistency throughout the entire composition. This difficulty is compounded by the multiple speed and volume increases, which upon their endings, mandate returns to the original tempo. This means one has to develop a natural "sense" of the speed of the piece, which can definitely be done but only with extensive practice.

While much of the piece remains slow and deliberate, there are also sections which speed up drastically while also increasing in volume. When playing these parts, namely at the end of sections 1 and 3, as well as multiple times in the middle of section 2, there is a lot of room for error. When one plays faster, the risk of mistakes increases exponentially in return.