the Dvorph

[practicingnow]

I nominate the "dvorph" as the official standard unit of measure when measuring the difficulty of a piece.
Wonderfully useful for when certain members ask those brilliant questions like how difficult a certain piece is compared to another, etc.  For example, The Don Juan Fantasy is approximately 18.72 dvorphs more difficult than Scarbo, Chopin's 4th Prelude is 9.01 dvorphs easier than the 15th, etc.
All hail our fellow memeber Nicco for this long overdue and much needed invention.

[pianistimo]

can you explain the acrostic meaning of the letters and how you tally points?

one easy system i use is simply to ask my teacher, 'am i ready for this yet.'  but, when i really want to learn a piece - i just try to put the book in with my other music and act like i'm learning it.  quickly putting it up on the piano after the other pieces have been discussed.  usually , there isn't any time andi have to take it down again. 

say, mussorgky's 'pics at a exhibition.'  i know i'm ready for it.  but, he thinks it's doctoral work.  who decides these things?  do they save some pieces only for doctoral students?  i think i shall grab the list and just 'make hay while the sun shines.'  then, if i ever get there - i'll have already learned some of them.

difficulty = graded scales on most syllabuses
veritable problems = according to levels of piano until you are past 8 or so and into college level.  then you are dealing with problems that you take one at a time (or two at a time) and not 1,000 - as with a very very difficult piece.

oober musicality = say you are at 2nd year of college - but give the musicality of highschooler.  then - you might need to work the musicality side a bit more.  maybe understanding phrasing better - or dynamic shadings - or how to accurately determine rubato for different time periods.

random insight = some students have great osmosis when they hear their teachers and repeat good ideas.  or, they have some ultra thought-out ideas of their own that pass for genius.  these guys get promoted to the head of the line and allowed to instantly skip over those dratted pieces everyone else has to languish on. (but, they play them in their dreams at night anyways).

pianistic flair = not necessarily hands flailing - but a 'style' of one's own.  not COPIED.

hotness = you either have it or you don't.  this is where imagination can come in.  whenever i walk on stage - i think i'm hot (even if i'm not) and in my mind from the first step on stage to the last one off, am thinking 'performance.'  never let down your guard (like contestants on american idol do sometimes).  stay the performer and finish what you start.

[pianowolfi]

Ok, how many dworphs has let's say Scarbo, Chopin 10,2, Liszt Spanish Rhapsody?

[nicco]

Ok, how many dworphs has let's say Scarbo, Chopin 10,2, Liszt Spanish Rhapsodie?

compared to eachother, with the scarbo as a point of reference with its basic 15.15 dvorphpoints, the chopin would be 11.998 and the liszt 344.022

[pianowolfi]

compared to eachother, with the scarbo as a point of reference with its basic 15.15 dvorphpoints, the chopin would be 11.998 and the liszt 344.022

So Spanish Rhapsody would be unplayable or what?

[nicco]

So Spanish Rhapsody would be unplayable or what?

nonono, remember the degree of dvorph rises exponentially

[shun]

I nominate the "dvorph" as the official standard unit of measure when measuring the difficulty of a piece.
Wonderfully useful for when certain members ask those brilliant questions like how difficult a certain piece is compared to another...

This term "dvorph" was coined by nicco in response to my question about how difficult Liszt's 1st transcendental study was compared to the others. I'm not sure what nicco's intention was in giving this response but it's quite obvious that practicingnow was bieng sarcastic when refering to my "brilliant question".
I would just like to clear things up. When I asked about the comparitve difficulty of Liszt's etudes I was not looking for a precise and difinitve answer. I am perfectly aware that any answer to such a question will be somewhat ambiguous. In all honesty an answer like "heaps" or "not very much" would have been sufficient. Furthermore, I was specifically looking to hear about other peoples experience with these pieces. I think it perfectly resonable to assume that if a particular piece takes twice as long to learn as another, then, for that person, it is roughly twice as difficult. If the "easier" of those two pieces was only just within my capability, then it's safe to say that the other one is probably out of reach.
I didn't mind nicco's answer to my question, nor even practicingnow's sarcastic post. I can take a joke, but I'm not a moron.

[pianowolfi]

i don't find these difficulty questions stupid (ok, perhaps some are). As i mentioned somewhere else it takes sometimes time to find out if you are ready to play a piece or not. And it is always helpful to hear the opinion of someone who has played the piece(s). As I remember i wasn't able to rate the difficulty of Rach's g-minor prelude before I had practised it almost up to speed. Of course there is always subjectivity in a ranking. But though it can be helpful.