Suggest Concertos

[Franz_Liszt]

Can anyone suggest a suitable concerto for me to learn. My Repertoire is as follows:
Bach 2pt Inventions 1,4,8,13,10,15
Mozart- Turkish March, ( learning sonata K.331)
Beethoven- Learning Sonata Op. 110
I know it is extremely small, but I have only been playing for about 8 months. I am 12 years old now.

[Franz_Liszt]

anyone...

[Legatello]

hi!

why don't you try playing Bach's Italian concerto? it's hard but fascinating. try it !

[Franz_Liszt]

Thanks for your suggestion

[Davek]

I know it is extremely small, but I have only been playing for about 8 months. I am 12 years old now.          

i know that i am not some great pianist or anything but a piano concerto after only 8 MONTHS thats a bit much right now at least wait 2 years or so. thats just my advice.

Dave King

[rachfan]

Hi Franz,

Think about concertos after you have been studying for 8 years or so, not eight months.  To move up to any composer's concerto(s), you need to have studied some that composer's solo works to fully understand how he writes, the demands he places on the performer, and how those difficulties are best overcome.  To jump into the concerto literature now will do yourself a great disservice.  But do LISTEN and appreciate the great piano concertos.  Maybe you already have some in your CDs or MP3s at home.  Keep building your collection so that you become very familiar with them.  That will start to shape your preferences and choices for when the time come for you to study one or more of them.  

Most piansts start with a Mozart concerto, do the Beethoven 1st, then move on to a Romantic era work like the Mendelssohn or Grieg.  Then they branch out from there.  But for most pianists (unless they are professionals on tour), the far better "investment" of time is in building a repertoire of fine solo works.  That way, you can play for yourself or even give recitals and not need to worry about an orchestra or finding another pianist who is up to playing the two-piano reduction.  This is not to discourage you.  If you love piano, then you'll also love the many years of study that it will take to hone your skills and artistic sense.  Plot a sensible course for yourself.

[eddie92099]

If you want to learn a concerto, learn a concerto! Easier ones are Shostakovich 2, or the second movement of the Schumann. Many young people start with Mozart but I would avoid it if I were you - he is the hardest composer to play well!
Ed

[tph]

I disagree that you need to wait for a long time to pick up a concerto.  Naturally, working at solo repertoire is far more productive for your foundation (don't forget to include a good dose of studies, like Cramer, Czerny, Moszkowksi, for starters), but there's no reason you can't work through a concerto at any stage of your studies.  If you don't master one right away, you can always pick it up again later, and it will have matured a bit - if not in interpretation, then your technique will probably have improved.

Good early concertos can include one by Haydn, or a Mozart concert rondo.

Have fun,

tph

[Ktari]

Man, I'm so sick of people asking for a type of song on this forum, and then everyone jumping on them saying "that's too hard for you"... maybe true, but let people try! if he asks for a concerto, it's a concerto you get!!

Hmm... I think Mendelsohn (oh god spelling)'s 1st concerto is relatively (musically) easy, and if you have those basic chords/arpegios/scales worked out the technique would be fine too ^^ good luck with whatever you do

[xenon]

If you're game, why don't you try the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3?  After you play that, I'm sure you'll gain lots of experience.

It's dubbed the "Hardest Piano Piece In the Word", but if you have the perserverance, go for it!

Good luck

[Hmoll]

Man, I'm so sick of people asking for a type of song on this forum, and then everyone jumping on them saying "that's too hard for you"... maybe true, but let people try! if he asks for a concerto, it's a concerto you get!!

Hmm... I think Mendelsohn (oh god spelling)'s 1st concerto is relatively (musically) easy, and if you have those basic chords/arpegios/scales worked out the technique would be fine too ^^ good luck with whatever you do

This is a forum where people ask for and receive advice. The poster asking the question had said in several other threads that he has been playing for about eight months. I will totally agree with those who said that he has not been playing long enough to tackle a concerto for the following reasons:

1 - Concertos are as a rule more technically demanding than the literature he is currently playing - with the poss. exception of Beethoven op110, which he shouldn't be playing either, and was the subject of another thread.  There is enough of a gulf between the 2 part inventions and most concertos that a real chance of frustration and overuse injury exists from attempting something that he is not ready for.

2 - If he learns a concerto - or any piece - that is way beyond his level, he will learn it incorrectly. Years from now, when he tries to re- learn the piece, he will have a lot of problems because the bad habits initially learned will have to be unlearned - if indeed they can be. In other words, it will take much longer to re-learn the same piece when he is actually ready for it than it would be  were he to learn it for the first time.

3- There is plenty of challenging literature at his level, and I suspect at 8 months, he is pushing the envelope with 2 part inventions.

So, it is easy to be cavalier about this and say "go for it." However, that would be doing a disservice to someone who is a beginner, and is looking for serious advice based on our collective experience.

[eddie92099]

I agree with Hmoll in that learning a rach 3 or Bartok 2 is a tad far-fetched after 8 months, hence i suggested the middle movements from Shostakovich 2 or the Schumann since both are technically comparitively easy,
Ed

[xenon]

True, and recognizing sarcasm is another virtue...

[eddie92099]

That it is, maybe he should have a go at Stravinsky's Solo Piano arrangement of Petrouchka instead of a concerto. He has only been playing for 8 months,
Ed  

[BuyBuy]

Stravinski's Petrouchka ? No, that's too easy for his level... I'd rather recommand, I don't know, the set of Ligeti's etudes, or Boulez second sonata, for example. After all, 8 months is a enough time.

[eddie92099]

Or perhaps Cziffra's Transcription of The Flight of the Bumblebee - no point wasting time on simple Rachmaninov (this one is all in chords and octaves!!!). Seriously though Rach 3 would be impressive after 8 months if he could fit it into 10 minutes (and sing the orchestral part),
Ed

[dreamaurora]

Well, guys, cut him some slack. I am sure he's very enthusiastic in learning the piano, altough a little tad overambitious. Well, I'm not sure whether he's telling the truth, but I will give him the benefit of doubt.

Anyway, I don't understand why people want to learn overly difficult pieces for their levels. Is it because of ego ? That you can brag to your friends that you can play piece so and so ? Or just plain impatient ? Well, anyway, it won't do anyone good. Although most of these impatient pianists will swear that they can play their so called 'repertoire' perfectly, but well, how perfect is their perfect ? Anyway, to the original poster, don't be discouraged by these posts, follow your teacher closely, and do check out my other thread on repertoire progression, and attempt the pieces from easy and intermediate level there. You will find that your musical learning a much more enjoyable experience.

[dreamaurora]

And oh yeah, Ligeti's etudes are truly evil. I am learning no 7 "Balamb Gorong" now, and I find it to be ridiculously hard, though musically not as complex as any of Chopin etudes.

[BuyBuy]

Too hard? No... My little brother can play it using only one hand.

[eddie92099]

And I can play it at double speed with my feet. Well, my foot, the left foot still has to do the pedalling!
Ed

[Irock1ce]

man u guys are so mean...   but i think dream and hmoll are right... 8 months is a little bit too early to be thinking about concertos... when i played for 8 months.. i was still thinking about row row row ur boat. lol. even with my 7 years or so of playing.. i still havent played a concerto.. (well i did play a bach 2 piano concerto) and i dont plan to do one until another 2 or 3 years.. concertos require way too much music maturity for someone with 8 months to play.... and one last thing.. how is franz_liszt learning beethoven sonata op.110?...

[Rach3]

Xenon, that is, tragically, a very difficult virtue to master.

[la_carrenio2003]

Franz_Liszt: they're just joking. What does your teacher thing about this? You have to trust your teacher in this matter.Those who told you Mozart , Haydn and Mendelsohn are true, but maybe wait one more year for them.The Italian concerto is not a concerto with orchestra. Mozart's concerto in A major for starting,Haydn in C major. You don't have to play the entire concerto, you can take a 1st movement. Personally, I reccomend you to start with J.S.Bach 's concerto in f minor, BWV 1056, is a 2 part invention with orchestra and I saw in the Soviet Union,where I studied,that they play it in music school.