What is everyone learning at the moment?

[Rachmanoinoff]

Hey everybody,
what pieces are you all working on?

I'm working for a little mini-recital, and these are the pieces I'm doing:

Chopin scherzo no. 1
Chopin scherzo no. 2
Beethoven "Tempest" sonata (1 & 3rd movement... I'll do the second later!)
Rachmaninoff prelude in G minor

So, what are you all working on?

Regards,
Martin

[Chris_Rossoni]

im working on a sonatina by handel in A- and the raindrop prelude.  

[MzrtMusic]

I'm working on Beethoen's "Appassionata" sonata, J.S. Bach prelude and Fugue No. 2 book 1, Saint-Saens concerto No. 2 mvmt. 3, and various small duets, etc...

love,

Sarah

[sary2106]

Hi! I am learning:

Mozart: Sonata in a minor, K. 310, Mvmt 1
Bach: Prelude and Fugue in d minor, Bk 1
Rachmaninoff: Elegie, Op 3, No 1
Debussy: Pagodes for Estampes
Tchaikovsky: June from The Seasons

Sarah

[Zigma]

At the moment, I'm just trying to perfect Chopin's Nocturne 18 in time for auditions.  Pressure's on!

[10Fingers]

Hi,

I'm learning the Etude op. 25 no. 2 at the moment.
Further pieces I've finished are:

Chopin Nocturne E- flat major op.9 no. 2
           Scherzo no. 2
Rachmaninoff Prelude g-minor
                     Prelude op. 3 no 2
Shostakovich 3 Fantastic Dances
Schubert 4 Impromptus op. 90
Debussy  2 Arabesque  
Joplin       Maple Leaf Rag ...

[Le-ackt]

Perfect Pitch

Piano - Chopin Etudes Opus 25 # 12 ( learnt , pracitcing to perfection )

Violin - Paganini Caprice no.5


and cakewalk MIDI operation

Planning to
Learn Chopin Piano Concerto No. 2, Larghetto

[rach17]

Right now I'm learning:

Scriabin Fantasy in b minor Op. 28 (this is huge!)
Rachmaninoff 2nd concerto mvt 1
Mozart Rondo in a minor K 511
Bartok Suite Op. 14
and several accompanying and chamber music pieces.

Soon I hope to start the Barber excursions/sonata.  I love those!

[ned]

I have finished preparing my annual house/salon recital, which I will perform five times, in late March (Florida) and early April (Washington DC).

Liszt - Etude de concert (Sospiro)
          Sonetto del Petrarca no 104
Rachmaninoff -
          Two Preludes - c# and g# minor
          Elegie
          Polichinelle
Scriabin - Nocturne for the left hand
Khachaturian - Toccata
Chopin -
         Waltz op 69/1
          Mazurka op 24/1
          Polonaise in A flat
Then I can start working on something new! I really feel a need to do some Haydn, Mozart and Schubert.
Ned

[ayahav]

I've recently discovered the beauty of the "Fantasiestücke" by Schumann and I am learning Aufschwung. I also want to learn Des Abends from that opus so I can pair it together with Aufschwung... they should sound great together. I am also working on the chopin etude Op10 No4 in c#m - at very early stages...
I just finished and performed at a competition schubert's impromtpu op90 no2 and the first rachmaninoff nocturne (which is absolutely divine!)

Amit

[SteveK]

The pieces that I'm learning are:

Beethoven's Piano Sonata no. 3, op. 31
J.S. Bach's Prelude and Fugue no. 20 from Well Tempered Clavier part 1
Chopin's Scherzo no. 2; Etude no. 1 and 8, op. 10

[amp]

Bach Inventions (again), Liszt Liebestraum No. 3, Chopin Nocturne 55/1 and some Mozart Sonatas.

Hope to study some Chopin Waltzes soon.

[willcowskitz]

Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 (Liszt)
Totentanz solo piano transcription (Liszt)
Fugue in D minor BWV565 (Bach)
March of the Finnish Jaeger Battalion (Sibelius)
Flight of the Bumblebee (Rachmaninoff transcrpt.)
Toccata (Prokofiev)
La Campanella (Liszt)

Slowly getting there  

[mahavishnu]

Hey All,

Maurice Ravel, Gaspard de la nuit (all)
Chopin Piano Concerto #1
Bach Toccata in E minor
Chopin Scherzo #1
Barber Ballade
Mozart K. 284 Sonata

I get to perform in two weeks yahh! ah :-/

[e60m5]

Rachmaninov - Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini

Liszt - Paganini Etudes

Balakirev - Islamey (Oriental Fantasy)

Beethoven - Sonata in F Minor Op.57

Bach - Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue

Chopin - Etude Op.10 no.1, Op.10 no.3+4

That's it for now... Just had a recital last Saturday playing the Bach Partita no.1, Schubert G flat Impromptu, and the Islamey.

[rach17]

That's a nice big program.  The Rhapsody is one of my favorite peices, especially in the middle slow section and part immediately afterwards.  All you're missing is Op. 10 No. 8 to have my four favorite Chopin etudes!

[e60m5]

Heh... I agree the Rhapsody is a hugely underrated piece (apart from the XVIIIth Variation), especially compared with Rachmaninov's other concerti. But it's such a beautiful piece. I think of it as his fifth concerto... but it's not really, it's too short for that, but you have to admit that "Rach V" has a certain ring to it...  

I also do intend to learn the rest of the Chopin Etudes, too. I've studied some other ones, Op.10 no.12, Op.25 no.1, Op.25 no.2, Op.25 no.11... but I do have a long way to go to learn them all... that's one of my longterm goals. They're great pieces.  

[frederic]

You people are learning so many works at the same time!!!  
WOW! and not to mention the repertoire which are huge works.
I can't do it though.

I am learning:

Chopin Sonata No. 3
Rachmaninoff Polichinelle
Bach Invention
Bartok Sonata for 2 pianos and percussion
Liszt Pag Etude No. 5

[dinosaurtales]

Holy mackerel!  I feel wimp o' the board!

I am working on:

JB Cramer -Sonata in F - trying to get the sucker memorized - ouch
SS Wesley - March of March and Rondo (my teacher HATES this piece, don't tell her I'm still working on it!)

John Field - Sonata #1 in e-flat.  Memorizing this one, too - almost done!  ha!

JS Bach - French Suite #2.  My teacher LOVES this piece and knows I HATE it.  I think she is just getting back at me for that march.

I am just now starting the Beethoven Apassionata in earnest - for real this time!

Shopping for another piece - maybe a Prokofiev something, maybe a chamber piece - dunno.

[amee]

I am learning:

Mozart Concerto in A major
Chopin Impromptu in A flat major
Rachmaninoff Valse for 4 hands
The Little Negro by Debussy

[10Fingers]

Oh, "the little negro" by debussy is so sweet, one of the smaller pieces you can be happy with.

[PoSeiDoN]

I'm currently learning...

Mozart Sonata No. 14 in Cm (K457)
Gottschalk Souvenir de Porto Rico
Haydn Sonata No. 38 in Dm

[dinosaurtales]

Hm.  Gottschalk, eh?  Interesting. You don't hear his stuff much.  Some of it is quite interesting - I am not familiar with the piece you are working on, however.  What's it like?

[PoSeiDoN]

Yes, Gottschalk is definitely underplayed.  It's unfortunate, because his stuff is so unique and eclectic, even now.  Anyway, the piece I'm playing now is my first Gottschalk piece, and it's definitely a major undertaking.  It's based on a folk song of the Puerto Rican peasants that Gottschalk heard.  The beginning and ending are soft and rather easy, whereas the middle is a bear.  

But, it makes you a better pianist.  I would recommend Gottschalk to everyone!  It challenges your technique, while at the same time, bringing great fun to both player and audience.

[Rach3]

Hi!

I am working on a rather odd combination now:

-Schumman, Humoreske op. 20 (very underplayed)
-Mozart, Sonata in F major (K332 i think, #12 anyway)
-Beethoven, Sonata in F minor op. 2 #1
-Liszt, Sonett 104 di Petrarch
-Liszt Eb concerto  

Also various excercizes and accompaniments (Franck violin sonata, 3/4 mov., Brahms sonatensatz)

Note: I have modified my post since to accomodate very recent additions, rather than adding a new post.

[BoliverAllmon]

I am currently playing:

Dmitri Kabelevsky's Toccatina
Mozart's Turkish March
Brahms's Waltz in A flat major
Bach's Bouree from his suite in E minor
I have also been messing around with Chopin's fantasie impromptu

[Celeste]

Wow! Everyone's pieces sound soooo hard. Right now I'm practicing:

One of Bach's preludes, I'm not sure which one (all I know is it's realllllly boooooring)
Nocturne in C# minor by Chopin
Movement III from Pathetique Sonata by Beethoven
Prelude in C# minor by Rachmaninoff
Waltz opus 64 no. 2 by Chopin

[dinosaurtales]

Well, at last !  A pianist after my own heart!  The Bach I am working on is B-O-R-I-N-G too!  I know it's supposed to be *good* for me, but it's so DRY.  Don't change dynamic levels, keep a steady constant tempo - NO RITARD!!!!  Crud.  Why don't I just load the music into a piece of software and let my computer play it then.  Yuk!  

My piano teacher as a kid wouldn't let me do anything but Bach, and I think I learned to hate it.  My current piano teacher has no clue why I don't like it.  She thinks it's cool.  I think she just says that to get a rise out of me.

I am also working on the piano part to Schubert's Variations on Trockne Blumne (sp?)
Looks nasty.

[frederic]

Which Bach piece is this Dino?
Bach is good
Actually i think Bach is the only composer you can do anything you want with the pieces. Interpretation wise...
I mean Bach hardly left any markings apart from the notes so why cant we interpret it in our way?
There are plenty of ways to play Bach so just find a way which will make you enjoy the piece more. But do keep in mind that this is baroque music.

[willcowskitz]

Even if a composer wrote lots of interpretation guidelines to the piece, why couldn't we interpret it our own way?
I often disagree with the sheet I'm playing from, besides I hardly ever repeat certain style but keep it evolving.

[dinosaurtales]

Well, my teacher will NOT let me *interpret* Bach.  It's a French Suite (#2) and each dance has a specific tempo - NOT to be changed at any time, specific dynamic - first time through mf second time mp, NOT to be modified in any way, and that's all.  It's actually hard to do, but also no fun.  I know Bach wrote some neat stuff, 'cause I hear it coming out of practice rooms all the time, but I never get to do any.

[willcowskitz]

That is one reason why I don't want a teacher.

[amp]

DinosaurTales, I agree with you, it can be tough following the strict guidelines of your teacher. And each teacher has different views, when playing Bach I make a lot of dynamic changes, but not tempo changes. However,  your teaher's take on it, in some little way will benefit you, coordiation and finger strength for sure. I think it is important to follow the teachers guidelines, so you can get from the piece what they think is important, and as soon as they or you leave--play it your way :-)

We need the teacher to point us in the right direction, so we can learn appropriate ways to interpret things. And, there are appropriate ways to interpret things, just like in Writing...write what ever you want as long as you follow some sort of form of grammer.

Frederic, I agree with you, Bach music is very broad in terms of interpretion.

[frederic]

if you went a few months without a teacher, Willcowskitz, you will be very suprised at how poor your piano playing would be.

[amee]

It's good to hear someone else's interpretation of the piece as well.  After a lesson with my teacher, I find I sometimes think about the piece in a different way.  Having a teacher is important!

[dinosaurtales]

You guys are right.  As much as I detest that Bach suite, I wouldn't give up my lesson for anything.  I didn't get to major in music, so it's kind of like getting the music education I always wanted to do, just in little bits.  She definitely points out things I would never notice, so it's a good thing.

[willcowskitz]

I take a "lesson" like once a month. According to people who're around when I play, I'm not that crap. When I go on a lesson I just take any, ANY sheet of music with me and the teacher shows me which fingers to use in certain places if I haven't already figured that out, and one thing I'm totally untalented with, is rhythm. So yeah, she helps with that.  

What do I need a teacher for? Except if I somehow manage to hurt my hands due to poor technique. Haven't occured just yet, though.

[amp]

If you want to make signifgant progress in piano it's important to have a teacher to send you in the right direction. You can become great on your own, but even better with a teachers guidence. Outside of music, why do you need your school teachers? They help you along the way....that's all.

Also, you know there is more to music than just the notes, the teacher can teach you things that help you produce the types of sounds you want when you are interpreting a particular piece. For example, if I didn't have a teacher, I could learn all the Mozart Sonata's, but play them horribly because I'm not using the right technique or developing certain areas.  Like actors, there are a lot of great actors in movies, but those movies have directors.

It seems like piano for all of us is somehting we are motivated to do for our ownselves, it's a huge part of ourselves. So we try to be our best, and a teacher can help.

[BuyBuy]

I am currently working on :

- Mozart sonata K 333, in B flat
- Liszt "Les cloches de Genève" from "Années de Pélerinage", book 1
- Scriabin prelude op.11 nº 1

By the way, knowing that I am practicing those pieces, that their level of difficulty is not too hard for me, that I would like to improve my technique and that I do not have much time for practicing, what pieces would you guys recommand me to pick next ?

Thanks

[e60m5]

BuyBuy, given that you're already working on something from the Annees de Pelerinage (too lazy to put that accent in... sorry!),