Why does everyone wanna learn Fantasie Impromptu?

[elisianna]

Why is that?  I mean, everyone and their dog is going "I wanna learn Fantasie Impromptu!"
Is it just cause it would be a good "show-off" piece or does everybody really like it THAT much? (Not saying it's bad or anything...)

I think it's a little strange, maybe I'm missing something... but I don't think I will ever learn that piece, I really don't want to, and I don't really want the same goal as a lot of other people.

Maybe FI is trendy like iPods, big sunglasses and Guess handbags!

[nedgerhart]

Ah yes, grasshopper, show-off pieces are especially appealing to younger players. When you are young there is a strong motivation to demonstrate that your skills surpass those around you, and with age, this passes. Perhaps once a year, it is good to remind audiences that you can run up and down the most difficult passages with ease, but the rest of the time, it is the listener's response that must always be kept formost in mind.  In other words, it is more important to be able to play with passion and soul, than it is to be able to  nail every note in an virtuoso impromptu.

Ned

[apion]

I don't want to learn it; but my dog does. 

[freakofnature]

Maybe it's just because almost everyone knows it - and it's always nice to play something for friends and family that they recognize...

Besides, it's not a bad piece at all!

[pianowelsh]

Bizarely enough Its one of the few pieces of Chopin Ive never really wanted to play! I used to hate it with a passion.  Now I can listen to it and give constructive criticism when im listening to my friends playing it But I blame over exposure in the womb! I'll probably end up playing it one day but It will be a while I think - its certainly not on my priorities list of about 500 pieces!

[alzado]

I have always liked the piece -- although as you say, it has been overplayed to death.  Maybe because the melody is so catchy.

I have never tried to learn it, but I DO sometimes play things that are beaten to death by overplaying, such as Mov. 1 of the Moonlight Sonata.

The big danger is to overdose on these "old chesnuts."  Mix them up with some seldom played, more fresh material.

[contrapunctus]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, not again. I hate seeing those words.

[fredo2]

went to a recital of Grigory Sokolov 2 weeks ago and brought two friends of mine there, to whatch him play. I was in love with his Storm Sonata, and Schumanns 1st!! He palyed fantasie impromptu as an encore....
After the reciatal i asked my friends what they did think of it.(none of them palys any instrument...) and first thing they said was, that they liked the encore best...
Then my mom said the same thing, so now i have to learn it (at least its fast to learn...)
and i always tell myself that its to make a pleasure for the listeners that dont know that much about music or are not used to hear tons of music all the day and play themself an instrument......
(besides its not that horrible, i think its pretty nice, but defenitly not outstanding)

[forevere2]

I don't see why FI is considered a 8+ piece. Techinically its only like 6-7.

As to why everyone plays it... the melody is just very attractive. But it takes little time to learn this piece; it is far easier to play then it sounds.

Generally, if you have learned pieces like chopin etudes, sightreading FI at at least 50-75% of the tempo should be pretty easy.

[contrapunctus]

I don't see why FI is considered a 8+ piece. Techinically its only like 6-7.

As to why everyone plays it... the melody is just very attractive. But it takes little time to learn this piece; it is far easier to play then it sounds.

Generally, if you have learned pieces like chopin etudes, sightreading FI at at least 50-75% of the tempo should be pretty easy.

The Chopin etudes are way, way beyond level 8. So is fantasie impromtu. I am sure that a level 6-7 could waste a half a year learning it, but is would sound like crap, anyway. 

[pita bread]

The Chopin etudes are way, way beyond level 8. So is fantasie impromtu. I am sure that a level 6-7 could waste a half a year learning it, but is would sound like crap, anyway. 

Much like your Campanella?

[kriskicksass]

My teacher offered me the FI to fill the second Chopin requirement in a competition this fall. My other piece is the b-flat minor Scherzo (almost as overplayed, but meh). I gave him a piece of my mind for about 5 mins, and we never spoke of that piece again. 

[steve jones]

I don't want to learn it; but my dog does. 

 

[contrapunctus]

Much like your Campanella?

I don't understand this comment at all. I have not even had the time to learn that piece yet, and you have never heard me play anything. I don't understand what you are saying.

[steveie986]

Once I met this truly gorgeous blonde Russian chick. Leggy, slim, yadda-yadda. She said she loved classical music. I was impressed. Then she told me her favorite piece was the FI. She suddenly became a ugly old hag.

[klavierkonzerte]

FI. is an outstanding piece
it's one of the few pieces that you love from the first time you listen to
it's actually very dificult and not as easy as many think there's much more to it than playing the notes
i preformed it on national tv like a year and a half ago and now when one i listen how i played it i almost kill myself out of embaresment my playing wasn't musical and at some parts un eaven
it's a piece that you learn after you gain solid technique so you won't strugle and fight your way thro it.

[moi_not_toi]

Cuz it be cool and hard.

[elisianna]

I didn't say it was a bad piece! (or did I? XD) I just can't understand why ALMOST everybody wants to learn it.  As was said, it does please the audience, but what KIND of audience likes it?  A lot of people like it cause it just sounds cool cause it's fast.  I doubt some of them even pay attention to anything about it other than the fact that it's fast (I guess not really the people who want to learn it so much...)

If you are playing it for the average listener then I guess that is understandable... people aren't automatically attracted, upon listening only once, to a slower more "boring piece" (no matter how gorgeous they are!). XD

[gymnopedist]

it's one of the few pieces that you love from the first time you listen to

Not me, i hated it from the first time i heard it. It's one of the few Chopin pieces, along with the first Scherzo and 25/1, that i just can't stand.

[emmdoubleew]

Well, the turth is, purposefullly resisting trends makes you as much of a tool as anyone else, because it's a trend in itself; the "rebel" against society type of movement. It certainly doesn't make you more unique.

The real way to go is to think whatever the hell you want. In this case, I absolutely love Fantasie impromptu, and feel like bawling and weeping everytime I hear it. So logical conclusion: I want to play it someday. I really couldn't care less if it was the most overplayed piece or the worst one on the planet, because I love it and I know I love it.

If you don't want to play Fantasie impromptu because you don't like it, then that's absolutely fine! I'm sure there are tons of other pieces you love and would like to play, and I am absolutely fine with that, it's your business. If you do like the piece and you're not playing it just to rebel against norms, well, I feel sorry for you, because you're missing a great opportunity and a great piece for a completely futile and ridiculous cause.

[thaicheow]

Hi,

I myself have learnt this piece several years ago, and still practising it once awhile.

Yeah, it may have been overplayed. And in fact it is not that difficult to learn it. However being able to play and play it very well is 2 different things.

I find myself still unable to play it in a sastifactory state.

I personally think that FI should be a standard repertoir for those who study and love piano playing, whether one like FI or not. To play it well is not easy. It not only tests your technique, agility, dexterity, pedalling, playing duplet over triplet, etc,   its mid section also tests on your musicality, artistry, phrasing, ability to play legato. And lay people just love it.

So, why not??

[contrapunctus]

People like it for the same reason they like the minute waltz: it is an adrenaline rush the first few times you hear them.

[elisianna]

Well, the turth is, purposefullly resisting trends makes you as much of a tool as anyone else, because it's a trend in itself; the "rebel" against society type of movement. It certainly doesn't make you more unique.

The real way to go is to think whatever the hell you want. In this case, I absolutely love Fantasie impromptu, and feel like bawling and weeping everytime I hear it. So logical conclusion: I want to play it someday. I really couldn't care less if it was the most overplayed piece or the worst one on the planet, because I love it and I know I love it.

If you don't want to play Fantasie impromptu because you don't like it, then that's absolutely fine! I'm sure there are tons of other pieces you love and would like to play, and I am absolutely fine with that, it's your business. If you do like the piece and you're not playing it just to rebel against norms, well, I feel sorry for you, because you're missing a great opportunity and a great piece for a completely futile and ridiculous cause.

That's a good point.  I do like the piece, but because so many people play it I don't really feel the need to.  I'm not trying to go against the norm to be defiant or anything.  There are some overplayed pieces that I still want to learn, but those overplayed pieces don't seem to be the "ultimate goal" for some people.  There are so many newbs who hear FI and immediately decide they are going to learn that fantastic showy piece.

[chopinfan_22]

I am a chopin freak. I kid you not. I have not heard a single piece of Chopin I haven't liked. One of my goals is to learn all of his compositions... a total of 169 pieces. Now, in regards to Fantasie-Impromptu... sure, it's showy, but that's not the reason I want to learn it. I love the song for the way it sounds. I love it enough to want to play it. Besides, the only person I play for outside my annual recital in May is myself.

[sharmayelverton]

I'm starting to hate it allot, but mainly because i really can't play it and it's making me seriously doubt weather I have any piano technique to speak of at all!

[liordavid]

the fantasie impromtu is not an easy piece but i think you are having trouble with it because it has many technical stanpoints that you have not yet encountered. don't discourage yourself, just work on it carefully and slowly and you could do it in a few months

[thorn]

wasn't Fantasie Impromptu one of the pieces Chopin on his death bed requested to be burned but (can't remember the person's name- Fontana?) went and published it instead?

I do like it, but I would never want to learn it.

I realise I'm going to get the whole 'ah but you didn't think that before you found out Chopin wanted it burned' reaction, but I do think the difference between what Chopin wanted published and what he didn't is the same difference as in literature between Lord of the Rings and the dozens of Tolkien's unfinished notes published by his son.

And obviously, I didn't think that before I knew, though I don't like any of his posthumous stuff that much in all honesty. Finding that out just highlighted to me a reason for the slight dislike.

also... call me prude but chopinfan, please don't refer to any of Chopin's piano music as a 'song'

[musicsminion]

It's a well-known piece of music. And younger students do like to show off.

And who doesn't like pizza?? Same concept here.

[worov]

It's a well-known piece of music. And younger students do like to show off.

And who doesn't like pizza?? Same concept here.

How do you show off when eating your pizza ?

[dezfair]

Well I think everything has been said that CAN be said about this piece but here's my small contribution.

 As a kid I was fascinated by the effect of the 4 over 6. I didn't know that was what was making it sound so full but I knew it was nothing like anything I had played. I didn't learn it to show off but I did seek the satisfaction of duplicating that sound.

A word of warning to new students. I was not ready to tackle the piece in those days and the result of "practicing in" those mistakes dogged me for many years. I recently decided to clean it up (forty years later) as I now have the ability and it is in my repertoire but I CANT'T STAND IT!!

[ponken]

I love Fantasie Impromptu. I learned to play it because I thought it was so beautiful. I especially love the melody in the slower part. Actually I love the slower parts better than the fast. I would never learn a piece just to show off. That would just feel wrong.

[pianowolfi]

I would never learn a piece just to show off. That would just feel wrong.

O c'mon, sometimes we all love to do it! 

[ponken]

O c'mon, sometimes we all love to do it! 

You are right. I like to show off but I wouldn't learn a piece only that reason. When I was younger I used to play Fantasie Impromptu to show off but the reason I learned it was because I loved it.

[vickylee]

I also don't know why??

[vickylee]

can you explain more?


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[pianisten1989]

Because it's a great piece when one plays it well...

[lost_child]

Because it's cool but beautiful, because it's technical but melodious, and because it is one of the genious' piece, Chopin. When I was a child, I heard Fantaisie-Impromptu and then it became my motivation to be a great pianist. XD

[teccomin]

At least it wasn't ruined by its popularity, unlike some Canon

[slow_concert_pianist]

I am surprised. I have run out of fingers for the poor performances dressed as "concert". If it is not played as a perfectly balanced dialogue between both hands, it fails in conception. Interpretively, musically or technically it is not greatly difficult, but put all the elements together in absolute harmony...hell on toast!!!

[prometheus]

If only Chopin had had the balls to burn it himself rather than asking for others to burn it. That what has been heard cannot be unheard.

[stevebob]

If only Chopin had had the balls to burn it himself rather than asking for others to burn it. That what has been heard cannot be unheard.

If it was a deathbed wish, it may have been physical strength that was lacking instead. 

[hztb]

I realise I'm going to get the whole 'ah but you didn't think that before you found out Chopin wanted it burned' reaction, but I do think the difference between what Chopin wanted published and what he didn't is the same difference as in literature between Lord of the Rings and the dozens of Tolkien's unfinished notes published by his son.

Oh come on! What an artist thinks of his works and their true worth are two separate things. Kafka specifically requested that his whole oeuvre should be burned. His friend had them published after his death, and they are the masterpices we know now.

Anyway I like Fantaisie Impromptu just because the melody is beautiful.

[shaulhadar]

The Fantasie Impromptu is one of Chopin's most famous works, and as most of you know, it is posthumous. It is also true that starting piano players, tend to fall into the "technical showoff", most of us know.  The difficulty in the Fantasie Impromptu is playing polyrhtmic beats together seamlessly to give space to the main melody.  The slow middle part was adapted as a song in America, but i don't really remember it's name now.  Chopin requested that all his unfinished manuscripts be burned before he died, but his good friend Fontana published it none the less. So we know that this piece didn't get final approval from Chopin, and if he would have publish it, chances are that it would have been written a bit different.  There is a story, that Chopin didn't publish it because there was an impromptu by Moscheles that sounded a bit the same, and Chopin didn't want to publish things that sound like other composer's music.  Also, an interesting note, is the title. "Fantasie Impromptu", is not the original name of the piece, and actually Chopin didn't call it that way, and the name came because of editorial stuff, so we can't even know how Chopin would have called this piece.  None the less, it is a good piece, i myself prefer Chopin's later works, and this piece was definitely written when he was younger, but i like it's fiery passion.

[stevebob]

The name of the popular song based on the "B" section of F-I is "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows."

The allegedly similar piece that may have discouraged Chopin from publishing F-I was the Impromptu Op. 89 by Moscheles:

https://imslp.org/wiki/Impromptu,_Op.89_(Moscheles,_Ignaz)

[musicioso]

I think FI is a beautiful piece. Specially the middle (slow) part is so nice and romantic. When i will be able to play it, i will go for it either. Not to show off for friends, but really because i love that piece.

[carbe]

I've not read whole the thread, but I have to say that Fantasie Impromptu is an amazing piece in many ways... and it's very famous, I think that's why everyone wants to learn it.
It has a perfect combination between virtouso and fast parts and a extremely beautiful part in the middle. It's absolutely a piece with much feelings and it's very harmonic. A great piece!

[thalbergmad]

I detest the piece and wipe my bum on its pages.

Not one of my favourite songs.

Thal

[carbe]

I detest the piece and wipe my bum on its pages.

Not one of my favourite songs.

Thal

Oh, now you're exaggerate a lot...
You should still have some respect for the piece. But of course it's good that we all have different taste in music.

[pianowolfi]

songs...

Well....

[thalbergmad]

You should still have some respect for the piece.

I have respect for the composer, but not for this piece.

Why every pre teen spotty faced 3rd rate hack in the Universe wishes to play this is beyond me.

As you say, it is good we all have different taste.

Thal