this is one of my favourite pieces of all time and now want to work on it.
but the problem is that if it would be too hard (especially the presto section) for me (just passed grade 8)???

Oh yes. Way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way too hard.

Ridiculously too hard.

Hard in a way you can not even begin to dream about.

At a similar stage in my development, I would merely have regarded such sentiments as those I express above as challenging me to do it anyway.

Assuming you do the same, then here are three tips:

• Pretend 'presto' means 'andante' for now.
• Learn it for now, then leave it when you give up the struggle to master it. Believe me, you will give up the struggle, but:
• Return to it once a year every year and relearn it. Eventually, you will get somewhere.

Have fun. I did. Still do, and the piece rewards me afresh every time I play it.

Yes it's way harder than G8. I've had a few goes at it over the years. Actually the first 10 pages aren't bad then it starts getting harder and harder !

Well, I started to learn this piece just after passing my grade 8 - about 36 years ago, and I STILL can't play it properly.

What is more, the Presto section is not even the most difficult part of the piece. It might look it when you first start, but some of the connecting passage work is MUCH more difficult to make convincing. The Presto eventually yields to slow repetition and becomes impressive in a way that many many other sections do not.

And even when you can play all the notes at about the right speed, and make the different levels of tone, and changes of tempo there is still the horrible problem of getting the balance right between the bass, the melody and the inner harmonies (without which it all sounds just dreadful)

And then there are those big scales on the last page to fall over on.

Oh yes, this is one difficult piece of music. But like PianoDoodler says, I work on it a bit every now and again, and hope to play it passable well before I die.

I agree with everyone, absolutely epic piece! I would start from learning it backwards if you are wary of the Presto, but I would agree with Tom here that it isn't the most difficult section. For starters, you have the descending flourish right before the Meno mosso cantabile (first nightmare), then the repeated cantabile with full chords (in E major, second nightmare); THEN, as if that wasnt enough, the dazzling Piu' animato.

I would seriously start on some of his Polonaises before you take this on (Fsharp, Ab) they have similar problems and are not as difficult. It may open up new avenues when you try and play the Ballades.

The Ballades are one (or 4) of the reasons I play piano. I can't play any of them, but when I have passed Diploma standard in another year or two (or three, or . . . ) I intend to learn them. In the meantime there is so much stuff I could learn that is just beyond my comfort zone (and hopefully therefore will improve my playing so that when I finally do start on the Ballades they are not so impossible) that I don't worry about it. Yet.

The problem is that it is Chopin's finest composition, so we all want to be able to play it!!

My ultimate goal is to be able to play his Nocturne in E Minor Op.72 No.1 - that's probably the main reason behind finally deciding to take lessons and work my way up the grades.

Can't see me playing anything but the beginning part anytime soon

That Nocturne is one of my favourites - was set for Gr 8 a couple of syllabusses (syllabi ??) ago.

Yep, it was that piece that made me understand why Chopin is often referred to as a musical poet Absolutely love the whole mood of it.

Nice piece. One wonders why Chopin did not publish it in his lifetime.

My own favourite is Op 9 No 3 which has one section, starting around bar 40, that sounds amazingly modern - like it could have been written anytime in the last few years.

There is so much Chopin I would love to be able to play "properly" - I have been bashing my way through Ballades 1 and 3 for years, falling over in the Fantasie-Impromptu, teetering through the Barcarolle, meandering through the Mazurkas etc etc for years... Most of it is never going to be playable to anyone else (other than the long-suffering family) but there is a great deal of pleasure even in the gradual improvement.

Anyway my hands are too small (that's my excuse...!)