Long Pieces

[tac-tics]

It has come to my attention that there are lots of pieces for piano which are loooong So far, the longest piece I've learned is about 60 bars. Learning it took over a month for a beginner like me.  Does it get any easier (or should I say, faster?) for getting a piece together?

Also, what are the longest streches of time you have spent on a single piece? How long does it take you to get to a point where you feel a 10-page, 20-page or longer sonata is presentable to your friends and neighbors?

[debussy symbolism]

Greetings.

Depends on what you mean by "long" pieces. Those that are full of repetitions are alot easier,  but are still long to an extent. On long pieces, it is important to actually stay with them. I have completed Mozart's "Twinkle" variations and am now working on Beethoven's "Rage over a lost penny" Rondo and am halfway through the piece so far. Which piece are you working on? Patience is the key.

[tac-tics]

Which piece are you working on? Patience is the key.

The thing is, I'm afraid to start longer pieces, because it feels like I would spend a lot of time working at it with little to show for it, or even worse, spend two or three weeks on it, see that I'm still no where near the end, lose hope and give it up for an easier piece.

[debussy symbolism]

Don't start with "long" pieces, start with "longer" pieces. Specify the short pieces that you are playing because I might know some pieces that would satisfy the "longer" need. Concerning long pieces, they can be very fun to learn like Beethoven's Rage over a lost penny, and Mozart's Twinkle Variations if you like them, I know I do. So my advice is to start with longer pieces, not necessarily long.

Best of wishes.

[gruffalo]

a time reference would be in order to clarify what you mean by "long".

[tac-tics]

a time reference would be in order to clarify what you mean by "long".

Eh? A long piece. One whose score takes up a good number of pages. To me, 6 or more pages seems like a lot. A piece with several hundred bars of music. A piece where my audience has time to question themselves on why they are even listening to me play during my performance.

[nanabush]

Grieg sonata is 26 pages... I'd say that's pretty long.

I think anything over 8 pages becomes tedious... luckily, this 26 pager was a sonata, comprised of 4 pieces, so it wasn't as bad...

Something like scarbo which is something like 25 pages must be tedious to learn.

[alzado]

I believe I understand where Tic-Tac is coming from.

I have long loved Chopin, and I have been playing a couple of Chopin's "Grand Valses Brilliante" lately.  I THINK he wrote either three or four of these.  They are waltzes on a grander scale, and are intended -- I think -- as the centerpiece of a salon recital.

As Tic-Tac says, when trying to define "long," they are about 6 pages and about 230 measures.  This is without repeats.  In fact, while there's repetition of some themes, there are no marked repeats per se.

My point --  when I play these for my teacher, they actually somewhat wear me out.  (I am 65 years old.)   It takes considerable concentration and a good spell of very brisk playing to get through one of these.

They are also so long, it is difficult when practicing to always start at the beginning and play through to the end uninterrupted.   So when pieces get this long, one tends to practice them in sections.

Tic-Tac would probably not want to play Sorabji's Opus Clav., since the score is 285 pages long, and it takes 3-1/2 hours to play.