I am so easily capable of getting wound up by nonmusical things that if i looked for musical things to wind me up as well I'd be a total basket case

On the sly, I'm learning Schubert's D946 No.2 - it's wonderful I'm terrified of the latter sections but several skim overs trying to sight read assures me that it's difficult, but not impossible.

Splendid! We look forward to hearing it later this month.

Haha! You might get the first page!

Is that Op.19? I was forced to play acquainted with two or three of them when I was young... Put me off Shoenberg for years I still prefer pieces with proper melodies these days but then I heard his Op.11 played in a recital recently and liked it, went off to buy the sheet music and am now waiting for it to get to the top of my to-do list.

I'm playing Ginastera's Danza Argentinas #2. Also just started learning Respighi's Notturno. Both very pretty pieces

I am learning the Khorovod from the Firebird - which may get heard on the 26th, I haven't decided.

Also the Chopin Op. 53 Polonaise in A-flat, and Rachmaninoff Op. 23 No 5, which will not get heard on the 26th

and actually I am slacking off, need a break...

I had a whole lecture on the School the other week. I understand the thinking yet can't really appreciate the music and don't think I ever will.

It is music that is composed with the brain, by which I mean there is absolute minimal room for actual emotion. My lecturer said that if there was a composition module based on the principles, then it would be the only composition module in existance that it would be possible to gain 100% in because it is very much this is right and this is wrong.

Personally I can't deal with such music; there isn't enough personal space within it. Interpreting music is like translating a poem; when going from one language to the other you have to avoid literal translation and seek words that carry the same nuances as originally intended by the poet. Music like this, however, is like being given a poem in your own language to read; people may give different readings but all of them are very much bound by what is on the page if that makes any sense to anyone.

Anyway I am working on my final recital:

Beethoven- Sonata op. 26 (3rd and 4th mvts)
Chopin- Berceuse op. 57
Debussy- Jardins sous la pluie
Crumb- selections from Makrokosmos volume 1

On the side I am learning a transcription of Debussy's Prelude a l'apres-midi d'un faune that I made myself. Hopefully it will be in some kind of state that I can perform it at the gathering, though I'm still spending more time picking at it than actually learning to play it...

Try any Schoenberg from before the mid 1900s : it's often quite diatonic

I'm learning Chopin's Fantasie Impromptu, which I will be playing at a concert in may, along with Novelette in fourths by Gershwin.
Chopin's Ballade in G minor.
Bach's prelude and fugue in Bb major (should have it finished soon, the fugue is rather tricky).
And I'm making a start on Schumann's piano concerto in the next week...

Today I "got" the consecutive octave E major scale passage in the left hand of Chopin Op. 53

It sounds horrible but I can physically play it, which I couldn't last week, and that means if I practice enough it will eventually sound not-horrible

I'm still learning Tchaikovsky's Barcarolle (yes, it has been ages!) and I am really stuck on the arpeggiated chords in the middle section - I am beginning to think they will never be any quicker than "dolorosamente lento". Any tips gratefully received!

Brahms Op 118/2 is in good shape now, and almost securely memorized. SO it will replace Schumann's Fantasiastucke 1 & 2 in my DipABRSM re-take.

Latest discovery is Rachmaninoff. So looking at Preludes Op 32/5, Op 32/10 and Etude-Tableaux Op 33/8 (need to choose ONE to focus on).

Struggling with a solo piano transcription of the Rawicz and Landauer duet "Snowflakes". I have the 78 and it was one of my favourite records since early childhood.

Still working on several Trygve Madsen P & F's now I have the whole set of 24 !
Also 'Au Lac de Wallendstat' by Liszt , and a bit less demanding, 'Cordoba' by Albeniz. (Both from last Pianist Mag, (now that Solari has kindly sent me his copy as I threw mine out by mistake)

Brushing up Chopin 1st prelude (which I haven't touched for months) for a concert in 2 weeks.

Mission build-a-L-program-without-my-teacher-realizing-it is off to a good start - I just started Mozart K. 576 (which is HARD... I know it's been said ad nauseum, but Mozart is so difficult!), somewhat farther on Liszt Sonetto 104, and contemplating something from Albeniz's Iberia... currently in love with El Albaicin, El Polo, and Eritana, but of them I'm sure I can only manage the second! Oh well... I'm looking forward to my week off university (only 5 days left!) so that I can get the new repertoire started properly

Well it's slowly coming together, but there are moments during practice where I think I would really rather be hammering rusty nails into sensitive parts of my body than ploughing on...

So, for some light relief I've started learning Chopin Ballade in G minor. Yes I know it's the one everyone else plays but one needs the odd crowd-pleaser in the repertoire.

Right now I'm studying:

Schubert D899/1
Chopin Op.9 No.1
Schubert "Staendchen" - simple arrangment, but going to switch to the Liszt shortly I hope!

Toying with Chopin Op.28 No.1 here and there but I've put no serious effort into it.
Still picking at Schubert D946 No.2, but one for serious study later on I think.

A grade 3 exam alternative piece - Northern Lights. It has pedalling and crossing hands!

I haven't felt like learning much music lately so have been working on scales, Hanon and some technical runny bits in assorted pieces.

Bach piece ----- grade 3!

I'm teaching this to my grade 3 student. Simple yet beautiful. I really like it.

I finally decided my end of uni recital program and am polishing it up:

Beethoven- Sonata op.57 (complete)
Chopin- Berceuse op.57
Szymanowski- Sheherazade from Masques op.34
Debussy- Jardins sous la pluie from Estampes

Also working on an arrangement I made of Lever du jour from Ravel's Daphnis et Chloe but it's taking a bit of a back seat at the moment...

Ravel's Pavane. It is certainly an exercise in balance and consistency...

I just pulled out D899.. haven't looked at them for more than 15 years. Obviously I see all sorts of things now that I didn't then.

For example I didn't realise how "bipolar" D899/1 seems!!!

I remember you asking me in the pub after the playday if I'd played the G-flat minor impromptu and I said I hadn't. Sorry I lied, I have! It has markings written into it in my teacher's handwriting, so we must have done the whole set and I clearly don't remember playing it. Goes to show how clueless i was.

This is why I like him so much. Even in the lighter passages, there's usually something sinister waiting to jump out from under the surface. I'm *really* enjoying bars 74-94... although I suspect my neighbours aren't!

The worrying thing is that there is apparently a heck of a lot of music like that.. has writing in it but I have zero memory of learning it.

I'd have a run through some of it if I were you - I daresay quite a lot is tucked away in your subconscious and will come back quickly.

Already tried that And what I found was that I really didn't like a lot of it, which probably explains why I don't remember it. Though that mostly applies to the Mozarts and Bachs.

D899/3 to me seems harder to understand than the others, because I remember quite well playing the other three in the set and liking them. It doesn't have quite as catchy a tune or figuration as the others and it feels like there is a lot more going on. I reckon this is one of those that I just didn't get then.

Mozart- Piano Sonata in G major, K. 283- 1st mov. Allegro


It's a great piece but I somehow have problems with my timing

This highlights how we all see things differently - I think that D899/3 is supremely beautiful because of its simplicity. Those tortured LH trills are pure musical sorcery!

Chopin nicked that idea from Schubert, I reckon.

When it comes to arpeggiated chords, as has recently happened with a terrible bar - the last one - in Liszt's Romance in e-minor (Grade 7 List B), and also in a few passages in Black Coffee (Webster-Burke, Grade 7 List C) my teacher invariably suggests learning it with doubling. If the chord is, say, C - E - G - C - to mention an easy one - then the exercise to be done is:
C / E - C - E / G - E - G / C - G - C / and descending C / G - C - G / E - G - E / C - E - C, where the notes in bold type are crotchets and the others quavers.
This system, which may seem boring and monotonous, has helped me a lot with many tricky arpeggiated chords, especially when there are black keys involved! It seems that by going back to the pairs of notes, the muscles memorise the distances more accurately and the chord comes smooth and fluent after a few days of slow (!!) practice with firm touch.
Hope it's clear!

Have started practicing in earnest again. Two of the pieces I'm learning are unmanageable in total (Chopin Op. 53 Polonaise and Rachmaninov Prelude Op. 25 No 5) so I am reduced to still playing separate hands, or only short passage of hands together. No matter - I am philosophical about it, it will just take a long time. Tonight I'm appreciating how nice it is to not have an exam to work towards- though I've been re-learning the piano for 2 years, there are many more years of working towards exams to counterbalance that.

It will take as long as it takes. I have plenty of time.



Oops missed this first time around - I think I didn't do it justice the first time because I was too unsophisticated to get it. I just filed it away as "no bashing chords, no nice tunes, no impressive fiddly bits, BO-RING". Which is sad, but that's what I was like at age 15.

I have finally started to get back into piano for now. Not managing to practice loads but at least I am doing something. No scales yet but a few technical exercises and 3 pieces of varying difficulty

Still not got total enthusiasm back yet but once I start having lessons again I think it will give me some direction.

Great to see you posting Mini mo, do you have a short term goal to aim for ? not sure when Solari's next playday will be

lets think... Bach partita in c minor: Capriccio, Beethoven Sonata Op 13: Rondo and Debussy Valse Romantique.

Any one who notices these are all on the current grade 8 syllabus are very astute. Whether I take the exam or not depend on how my scales in thirds and sixths go in the next week (especially the ones in sixths, and especially the harmonic minors which I detest at the best of times; I much prefer playing melodic minors). If by Friday my shoulders and neck are still standing up to the practise regime then I will consider entering as the pieces are coming on nicely. I sight-read well and Aural is something that comes relatively easily to me.

Yes I know two out of three are in c minor. I'm planning to play them Bach, Debussy, Beethoven. I'd prefer to play the scales, arpeggios, dominant and diminished sevenths first if possible, then do the aural and finish with sight reading. (but I don't the ordering of the supportive tests and the centre in Cambridge has a practice facility to warm the hands and arms up, and a cloakroom in which one can wash ones hands before the exam.

Just starting on the TG grade 8 syllabus and hope to take the exam next March. I had started the Mendelssohn and the Rachmaninov before I took my grade 7 this term and have just decided I love the Beethoven.

Beethoven Scherzo and Trio from Sonata in C. opus 2 no 3.

Mendlessohn Song Without Words opus 67 no2

Rachmaninov Melodie in E

It took some persuasion to let my teacher do the Mendelsshon and the Rachmaninov!

I know the scales well as I have been doing them for some time and I like doing scales!

I hope I stick to these pieces and don't change when the new syllabus comes in.

I am also working towards G8, but will probably do the exam in the autumn, with GCSEs and a clarinet exam to worry about this session. Is your Cambridge centre the one on King's Hedges Rd?

I'm learning the Madsen Prelude & Fugue in C major, Beethoven Rondo and Albeniz Sous le palmier. I'd like to play them in that order, but the Beethoven has the biggest finish so might sound odd put in the middle.

The B and C pieces I have by heart, and I can play the Prelude, but the Fugue is sounding... interesting It'll need a lot more work, and some re-orchestrating to fit small hands! Scales are OK although staccato ones are hard. Sight reading should be all right, I read well enough to score about 17-18 usually, then I'll somehow muddle through The Tests That Must Not Be Named...

Yep, Kings Hedges Road! I'm making two entries as I don't want to think about my Grade 8 and pupil exams at the same time. Beethoven is coming on nicely, Debussy has currently had two days work and for that amount of work is progressing nicely. The Bach well I love it and it is going to be fine once I've got it up to speed, am happy with the middle voice transfer and have got the left hand sorted.

I have just started JS Bach's Capriccio, John Field's Allegro moderato, Chopin's Nocturne in B and Prokofiev's Prelude. These are all from the 2011 & 2012 Grade 8 syllabus. My teacher said my hands were too for Prelude and she said she played it for her final music recital in music college but she is letting me try it as I really like it. Anyone else doing Field's Allegro moderato?

I've decided that I'll pick an "easy" piece every two weeks and aim to get it to a decent standard by the time the next one is due. So... I started on the Grieg Norwegian Air on Sunday as a bit of fun/light relief. Got all of the notes now, just need to tidy it up a bit.

Plodding on with the Schubert D899/1 and quite a few other pieces which are a mix of long-term projects and playing for fun. Practice time has been rare lately but nevermind.

I wonder if that's the one I downloaded from Pianostreet the other day; it begins with a 3-note acciacc
acchi well, you know....
Very very nice - hope you enjoy it.
My next exam has been put on hold until December so to prevent boredom my teacher has suggested we work on other things to support my technique e.g some the Songs Without Words or Bartok Dances in Bulgarian rhythm.
Why does my heart sink at the thought of Bartok? Tuneless, percussive....
Must at least give it a chance - didn't like Brahms op118/6 at first but now I love it.

Nope, it's the one from Op.12 (No.6) that starts with rhythm:



Good fun to play Hated it when I first saw it in a Grade exam book, but liked it after flicking through my Lyric Pieces book..

The Bach may be difficult and require a great deal of strength from both ends of a small hand, but it is possible to play with a small hand. It also requires a level of musical maturity and suitable knowledge of structure and counterpoint to bring out the appropriate musical lines, but hang on here, the Piano is not the only instrument I play, I have an LRSM in singing, a BA in music and a grade 8 already on the Oboe, one would have though by now that I might know something about how counterpoint works.

Piano/violinplayer the people I know who particularly enjoy playing Bach tend to be Mathematicians and Scientists. Whatever your hand-size if your have that intrinsic understanding of logical structures than Bach is your man.

I chose to play the Debussy rather than the Field as I enjoy playing Impressionist music, and enjoy the dynamic range and musical language used by Debussy.

Beethoven and c minor is a rather special combination a bit like Mozart and g minor, and this Rondo is a particularly powerful statement for the piano.

I have also been learning the Capriccio for a few weeks now (coming to the end of several very enjoyable months learning the whole Partita no 2). I have a slightly different problem - largish hands with spatula-like finger tips. This helps with a couple of the stretches, but in some of the faster passages my fingers can get in the way of each other or stuck between black keys.

I agree that a major challenge is in making the voicing work properly, especially where there is lots going on (e.g busy semiquaver passage work) in the secondary voices. I have also not quite settled on an overall shape for the piece - it all sounds somewhat relentless and dramatic at the moment.

Jon

Presently learning the Capriccio and adding final touches to the Mozart piece for Allegro.
For the Bach piece, I initially find it difficult to have the rhythm but once obtained , the piece needs this voicing part which is a bit demanding. Yet this piece is so pleasant particularly after having watched Martha Argerich's playing.

I'm having great fun learning Joplin's Gladiolus Rag. Really enjoying Month's Mind by Ireland too.

I count at least 5 people currently working on the BSV 826 Capriccio! We should throw a party! I have the notes of 1/4 of it reasonably sorted... unfortunately, practice is limited since my final exams are this week But after May 17th, will have to go in to overdrive as my teacher wants me to perform it in early June!

Uni recital is over, so time to really get into DipABRSM preparation:

Schubert- Sonata in A minor op.164
Chopin- Berceuse in D flat op.57
Debussy- Jardins sous la pluie
Sculthorpe- Night Pieces

played the Chopin and Debussy for uni recital, so think to put them to one side for a couple of weeks to work on the Schubert and Sculthorpe is a good plan right now.

I was trying to remember who it was I was talking to at an event who had told me the problem about having large hands which was fingers being stuck between keys, i guess it must have been you!

I'm still learning the Chopin Op. 53 Polonaise and Bach P&F in C# major from WTC book 1. The former is not progressing at all every day I sit down and play whatever I can of it for at least 15 minutes. It hasn't got any better in terms of how it sounds, but it feels easier. It will take as long as it takes.

The Prelude & Fugue is progressing well. Learning to play and read a piece in C# major was quite illuminating. I completely dispelled in my head the idea that you can't use thumb on a black key- I'm filing this one under rules your piano teacher told you that you can break when you get old enough. Also just the sheer reading of C# major was hard. The first month I was learning this I just could not get in my head that B# = C on the piano keyboard and E# = F. And don't get me started on double sharps and then un-double sharping something - that symbol which is a natural and a sharp stuck together. It was of course entirely in my head and just struggling on very slowly has paid off.

Now if I really want to put my money where my mouth is I will go and try and sightread something in C# major. but at the moment I'm on holiday at my parents' place and so missing my piano.

This realisation is probably the most important thing I've come to terms with. I was getting extremely frustrated up until about 4 months ago but now I realise that some apparently "easy" pieces will take several months to learn while others may take only weeks. There's nothing I can do about it, it's just the way my brain works and I can't change it.