Learning Islamey

[stringoverstrung]

HELP! Islamey has mutated into an EARWORM to me!  I can't get it out of my head; I hear it going to sleep(?), I hear it when I wake up. It's driving me nuts.  Can anyone help??

1) meditate and think about green pastures or a flame and the way it moves when you go to bed.
2) read a good poem
3) think about the happy hobbies/memories  you have / had in your youth (childhood)

[birba]

Am I the only one who can't stand this piece?!

[antichrist]

Am I the only one who can't stand this piece?!

no,every hates it , have you heard the middle parts ? its as beautiful as chopin
And why dont you admit the main theme is fun  Sorry balakirev

[antichrist]

By the way Cziffra played it most romanticlly, and berezovsky played it most techniqually

[gorucan]

HELP! Islamey has mutated into an EARWORM to me!  I can't get it out of my head; I hear it going to sleep(?), I hear it when I wake up. It's driving me nuts.  Can anyone help??

It's easy man I had this issue too. Start learning it and soon you will get fed up
That's how I got rid of it (but at least I didn't get fed up until i could play it well)

[dremusi]

a huge help in playing this piece is getting used to playing scalelike passage in only thirds, as this is hugely common in islamey. the beginning is relatively easy to learn, and I would recommend you do the left hand staccato. The parts when the left hand splits into two harmonies is pretty difficult to get used to, i would recommend practicing those sections alone. And, the parts where the left hand keeps coming between the right hand, during the entire piece, has the same tune so try getting down in the 2nd page, and you'll adapt to it in the rest of the piece. Finally make sure are hands are used to playing TONS of octaves in both hands quickly and accurately, as technique is pretty much the most essential benefit to this difficult piece.
Hope I helped!

[steppenhund]

This peice can be easily played if you slow down the tempo, but the real challenge is to find a good EXCITING tempo. Personally I think little of a pianists abilty if they take this peice too slowly, listen to how Kissin plays it, thats how you should play it once you really own it.

The piece is in my opinion slightly more difficult than the 3 movemnts of the Apassionata together (even though it is shorter), but if you can command the Beethoven without fuss then you should have the capability to play Balakirev's Islamey and learn to control some keyboard acrobatics you will face in it. Like any work you should take time to section it up into its musical parts, you should highlight parts which you find difficult (note patterns you haven't experienced or had much exp with before) as well as those which has procedure which is standard for you.

There is unfortunately no general tips or rules people can give you for any piece you study unless you specify which bars are troubling you and why. This is because everyone has different problems and face different challenges, so if anyone tries to give you tips it might not help you at all, and in fact distract you from what you should be actually focusing on.

Good luck.

Thank you for this answer. For me I took up practicing this piece when I listened to Karen Kornienko who plays it two minutes slower than other pianists but still having a great musical suspense. I am in retirement, an amateur, and I have time enought to practice it bar by bar. This composition can be addictive