Picking piano up again/.

[invictious]

I haven't touched the piano in a whole year.

Time to pick it back up. I dropped the piano after my ABRSM Grade 8 Exam. After a whole year of minimal playing etc, I just said 'screw it, I am going to pick it up again'.


I won't have a teacher for quite a LONG time btw, relatively. Like 6 months or something. I should take on a start.

I was barely Grade 8 ABRSM back then, so people here, please help me set a few piece to learn?

[jeremyjchilds]

I have always loved brahms op118-2 as a long term project.

It would be a perfect piece to play to get your ear listening again.
It is easy to play, but difficult to play well
.
It can be very rewarding as your ear and technique becomes stronger and stronger. Do a recording session every few months, and soak in the experience.

If you don't feel like learning a whole sonata, try Czerny's op821 (8 measure excercises)

There are a million other wonderful suggestions that could be made, (and I only suggested for classical and romantic)

This is my two cents

[invictious]

How about some things which aren't too difficult. I love 20th century pieces, by those Russians btw, but again, i need a balanced diet.

I have once tried to learn the Brahms, but I guess it was a bit of my league.Thanks for your suggestion though.

[henrah]

Speaking of Brahms, there's a Capriccio in F#minor, Op.76 No.1, which is simply beautiful. Mentioning it here is making me want to go learn it again! I'll send you a recording by Ivo Pogorelich if you want. That's what made me first like the piece. However, I think that if you are going to learn this piece, do so before listening to Pogo's recording because I think that'll influence your interpretation heavily - it did mine, and it's hard not to play it like he does.


Anyway, other music to consider: As you are (or were) Grade 8, and I'm only Grade 7, I'd suggest Rachmaninov's Prelude Op.32 No.12. I was surprised how easily it came to me, and seeing as you must be technically at the same level or more advanced than me you should be able to get through even the parts I find tough. If you do choose this piece, here's a bit of advice for the 4bar forte section on the second page when the RH starts playing a D#-A#-D# arpeggio: in the LH, try many many different configurations for the four semi-quavers down to and including the D# bass and the jump to the chord. I think though that you should avoid doing it all in one hand, i.e. 1-2-4-5, 4-5 being between the B and D# in the first of the four bars. I found that doing this gave me a lot of pain in my wrist, but that might be just because either I was doing it wrong or because I have small hands I find that separating the first 3 semi-quavers from the last works in that you can kind of 'slap' two or three fingers down onto the D# to ensure accuracy and enable a jump back up to the chord that follows.

Some other nice and short pieces (relatively) are Shostakovich's 24 preludes and fugues. The fugues can be somewhat complex and actually quite hard, whereas the preludes are relatively short and simple, and really beautiful.


Also, why not try some improvisation? It could even lead to composing! It's really fun let me tell you that

[invictious]

I guess I will start at Henrah's level, somewhere in grade 7.

I'd appreciate a recording of both the pieces to my email please.
invictious (at) gmail.com

you obviously know what to do with that.

Ok ok ,come on, bring it on. Bring on the pieces

[fyrexia]

some poulenc you might try to play, the elegies....
try some alkan etudes, quite not dificult and if you want more easiers.
play moszkowsky then and kabalevsky, and casella and heller that also have easier ones.
you might want to try skalkottas.

[invictious]

^ rather obscure and underrated composers, which is the main problem. I can't find any sheet music or decent recordings of them.
But still thanks for the suggestions. I want to stick with more mainstream classical music for now.

Yes, I will try them.

[invictious]

Ok, so I have these in mind already>

Chopin - Nocturne op.72 No.1
Rachmaninov - Prelude op.23 no.5 G minor
Rachmaninov - Prelude op.32 no.12 G# minor
Rachmaninov - Prelude Op.3 No.2 C# minor (revisited)

I want to do some Scriabin and Prokofiev. Anyone got any suggestions? I am thinking of a full Prokofiev Sonata, the easiest one to begin with.

I also want to start off with an easy concerto, and it will be my first concerto in my whole life! (I am thinking along the lines of Mozzie?)

[pianogeek_cz]

A Mozzie concerto to complement the rather romantic/modern solo rep is a good idea, plus it's bound to get your fingerwork back up to par (and over). I'd personally go for no. 9, but the choice is biiiig.

The aforementioned Czerny is also a good idea, just plow through the excercises to get the basic figurations and movement patterns (back) under your fingers.

A full Prokofiev sonata might not be a great idea right away, I'd go for either some Visions Fugitive or Sarcasms before attempting one (I've just started working on the 3rd sonata, having done several of the Visions before is a head start...). Prok's style can get complicated and not very clear in places, so it's good to have some of his easier works under your belt to get used to it. Plus, doing a Prok sonata without a teacher is rather risky at your, e. g. our level. By the way, I'd suggest getting a teacher as soon as possible.

As for Scriabin... Some Preludes, perhaps? Koji's bound to know. 

And on a side note, a bit of Bach never hurts. Especially if you haven't really practiced for a year.

Have fun!

[invictious]

I am pretty flexible with the repertoire I am building right now, because I haven't really truly started any, just plowing through a few old pieces (i.e. Rondo alla Turca )

I was thinking along the lines of Mozzie PC 20 or 21 or Haydn D major for my first piano concerto.

Of course, Koji also suggested the Scriabin Preludes, so I will also put them in.
Which Scriabin Preludes should I start out with?
Someone recently suggested:
Scriabin Preludes op.11 no 9, 10, 14