Recommended Music to Learn

[annicka089]

I have to learn a piano piece to play in our school. Lot's of us play the piano. What's the best song to play? And recommendations? Something not too hard, not too fast...
Recommendations except for:
Fifth of Beethoven
Fur Elise
Turkish March

Thanks!!!

[pianochick93]

How about some of Satie's Gymnopedies or Gnossiennes? They are a fairly moderate pace, perhaps slow, pretty easy, and very beautiful.

It really does depend on your skill level though, can you give us a few examples of what you are learning/have learnt?

[annicka089]

Hmm... I learned very few because I have no piano at home and because I only have once a week practices at school... here are the very simple pieces I learned so far:
Fur Elise
Turkish March
Fifth of Beethoven
Tarantella (Simplified)

[annicka089]

P.s... hehe... I love fast songs.. wahaha, but it takes me so much time and practice to master them!

[tanman]

since you love fast songs and since you already know fur elise, why don't you learn Fantasie Impromptu? Great SONG!!!   

*runs...

[annicka089]

Never heard of it before.... hmm... okay! I'll research about it first... who wrote it?

[annicka089]

WoW!!!  That Fantasie thing is waaaaay fasT!!!!!!!!! I'm not that good... hahaha... it's lovely though! Thanks...  but do you know a piece that's, er, slower... hehehehe....

[beethoven_fan]

Haha ! The guy recommending Fantaisie-Impromptu was kidding. He did know the piece was virtuosic. Play some Chopin waltzes or some Bach inventions.

[pianochick93]

Yeah, Fantasie Impromptu was just tanman being slightly sadistic 

Have you played the full Fur Elise and Turkish March? Or just the bits that everyone knows.

[alpacinator1]

since you love fast songs and since you already know fur elise, why don't you learn Fantasie Impromptu? Great SONG!!!   

*runs...

pfft, that's lame. How about Ravel's  Gaspard de la Nuit? (especially the third movement, great beginner piece)

[tanman]

pfft, that's lame. How about Ravel's  Gaspard de la Nuit? (especially the third movement, great beginner piece)

no, no, that'll never do... how about OC?

[pianochick93]

Stop it you guys. When I was a beginning pianist I called pieces songs as well. Give her (?) time to become accustomed to the standard repetoire etc.

[concerto_love]

Sonata facile..??  hmm.. it's pretty fast... How bout traumerei..??

[beethoven_fan]

Play something you like. That's the only way to improve your technique. For instance I like Beethoven and Bach, so I play Beethoven's Sonatas and Bach's WTC. What composers do you like ? Mozart and Beethoven ?

Play an easy sonata by Beethoven : sonata no. 20, opus 49 no 2. It's nice and not very difficult. When you have mastered this one, You will be able to play sonata no. 19, opus 49 no 1.

You like Mozart ? You can have a look at Sonata no. 16, KV 545. The first movement is very famous. You might have already heard.

You can, if you love Chopin, play his Nocturnes, Waltzes, Mazurkas, Preludes.

I don't know if you like Bach, but if you do, I recommend some Inventions. No 1 and 4 are good for a start. Then move on No 8. It will strengthen your fingers.

Good luck.

[pianochick93]

Sonata facile..??  hmm.. it's pretty fast... How bout traumerei..??

Traumerei is easy technically, but not musically. Very beautiful though.

[healdie]

try the Brahms Op 39 Waltz in D Minor it is slow and technically undemanding or the Schumann Waltz in A minor Op, 124 it is slighlty faster than the Brahms both are nice pieces and are not too hard

[tanman]

try Debussy first arabesque. really nice piece. or an easy Chopin Valse.

or here, there is a thread on easy beautiful pieces.
https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php/topic,7008.0.html

btw, this time I am NOT kidding. 

[danny elfboy]

I tend to think that if you learned those pieces but didn't learn anything else before and with just school lessons they're likely all simplified versions. Hence in my opinion you would not be able to play other pieces that are at the same levels of the full version of those you already are able to play. Hence you need to be suggested easier pieces.

It's like with salt and food. It's always better to put too little salt and add more later than putting too much salt and being unable to remove it later.

So let's start with something easy and let's see how you metabolize it.
If you see it is too easy (you can almost immediately play or it or just need one practice session) we can move on but at least we will have a definite starting point.

So the piece I suggest is:

The Happy Farmer, Op.68, No.10
Schumann  (Album for the Young)

[lostinidlewonder]

Come on people, really how well can one go playing piano once a week at school and having no piano at home? danny elfboy I think you are right that the pieces played must be simplified.

How about Chopsticks?

[pianochick93]

The Happy Farmer, Op.68, No.10
Schumann  (Album for the Young)

That's good, but possibly a little fast. How about 'Melody' by him?

[chopinmozart7]

thank you guys
 

[concerto_love]

hmm... how bout handel's sarabande? Too easy..? 

[db05]

Try an easy sonatina by Clementi or Kuhlau. See if you can play all movements nicely as one set.

[chopinmozart7]

try beethoven sonatas op 19 or op 49 maybe

[lina rose]

what about Prelude I by Bach? It's really easy and beautiful.

[pianochick93]

Yes Lina Rose, that one is good.

[lina rose]

"Melody" by Schumann is a good idea as well. It sounds a little like a musicbox, but i like it.

[concerto_love]

ah, that one's cool too!! 

[kelly_kelly]

try beethoven sonatas op 19 or op 49 maybe

Op. 19? I think you might mean op. 14 which I would not advise. Or maybe you meant op. 79, which is much easier, but probably still inappropriate. How about some Grieg Lyric Pieces?

[beethoven_fan]

I think he meant Sonatas no. 19 and 20, opus 49 (both).

[gyzzzmo]

clare de lune? (Debussy)

Saties Gymnopedie is just too boring i think

[pianochick93]

The 3rd gymnopedie is beautiful. It's only boring if you play it boringly.

Claire de Lune is a good one as well.

[concerto_love]

yeah, gymnopedie's cool~!

[zzzz]

hello
i have one question about clair de lune.
i went to music school ad a kid and then didn't play for a while, so i forgot a lot of theory.it is now more like a hobby for me now but i enjoy playing when i find some free time.
i learned few chopin nocturnes lately and now i'd like to learn Clair de lune Debussy. what i'm not sure is how to play such a wide rang of notes in the left hand in 10 th, 11th...  measure. do i have to play it with a middle pedal?
oh, i know this question must sound funny. thanks 
(sorry if my english isn't very well)

[pianochick93]

If you're talking about the part I think you are, then yes, the middle pedal does help.

[concerto_love]

middle pedal? how to use it, actually? 

[pianochick93]

If we are talking about the same kind of middle pedal, I believe it is: press note, press pedal, release note but keep pedal down. You can then play all notes after that first one staccato if you want, it will oly hold the first one.

Such a useful pedal, so annoying to learn to use.

[concerto_love]

If right pedal is used for 'bluring', how bout the others? what is it for?

[pianochick93]

It depends on my piano I think, most uprights just have a sustain pedal and a soft pedal. One sustains, one makes the music quieter.
Some uprights have a 'practice pedal' which you press down and put it in a notch so it stays down and everything you play is really quiet. Not like a sustain pedal though, it changes the touch of the piano so much! Not good.
I've seen an upright which has the middle pedal I spoke about before...the one that only sustains one note, but I believe that they are mostly on grands.

My only experience with pianos is the school ones, mine, and my piano teacher's, so I'm definitely not an authority. Someone else can probably explain it better than me, but I'll try for now.

[db05]

Some uprights have three pedals, and the pianos I use have them.

The right pedal is the "damper pedal", or "sustain pedal" because it sustains everything as long as it's pressed.
The left one is the "soft pedal", in uprights it just makes the sound softer, but on grands it changes the timbre.
The middle pedal, well, I've never used it. I guess pianochick is right, and we should try it out.

That is the short answer, and there is a looooooong explanation for the terms. But I'm more interested in the middle pedal. What foot do you use? In what pieces do you use it?

[pianochick93]

Some uprights have three pedals, and the pianos I use have them.

The right pedal is the "damper pedal", or "sustain pedal" because it sustains everything as long as it's pressed.
The left one is the "soft pedal", in uprights it just makes the sound softer, but on grands it changes the timbre.
The middle pedal, well, I've never used it. I guess pianochick is right, and we should try it out.

That is the short answer, and there is a looooooong explanation for the terms. But I'm more interested in the middle pedal. What foot do you use? In what pieces do you use it?

Yeah, most uprights have the middle pedal as the practice pedal, but I've encountered one that has the grand piano middle pedal.

But yeah, just play around and find out what each one does.

[db05]

Yeah, most uprights have the middle pedal as the practice pedal, but I've encountered one that has the grand piano middle pedal.

But yeah, just play around and find out what each one does.

Never heard of practice pedal before. There are some pianos at school that have a muting thingy inside though...

[concerto_love]

yeah, I should try it....

[pianochick93]

Never heard of practice pedal before. There are some pianos at school that have a muting thingy inside though...

Yeah, it's almost like a mute, it makes it really really soft. Changes the whole touch of the piano though, so we get told not to use it.

[scottmcc]

middle pedal? how to use it, actually? 

with no pedal depressed, pressing a key causes the damper of that note to lift, and stay lifted until the key is released.  the hammer strikes the note shortly after the damper rises, creating a sound which continues until the note is released, when it stops.

left (una corda, "quiet") pedal uses various mechanisms to make everything less loud.  in doing so, the timbre (sound quality) is changed.  dampers are unaffected.

middle (sostenuto) pedal holds up the dampers on any keys which were pressed at the time it was depressed, and leaves all the other dampers on.  this allows those notes to continue to ring while still letting you play other notes staccato without muddying the waters. 

some uprights don't have a sostenuto pedal at all (only 2 pedals), and others have a practice pedal as the middle pedal, which is similar to the una corda pedal in that it greatly quiets the sound but changes the timbre (poorly in most people's estimation).

right (sustain, "loud") pedal lifts up all the dampers, allowing any note to continue to ring for as long as the pedal is pressed.  leads to muddiness if left too long, but essential for a number of different things.

as for how to use the pedals...there's whole books written on that, and I can't claim to be a pedal use expert.

[pianochick93]

with no pedal depressed, pressing a key causes the damper of that note to lift, and stay lifted until the key is released.  the hammer strikes the note shortly after the damper rises, creating a sound which continues until the note is released, when it stops.

left (una corda, "quiet") pedal uses various mechanisms to make everything less loud.  in doing so, the timbre (sound quality) is changed.  dampers are unaffected.

middle (sostenuto) pedal holds up the dampers on any keys which were pressed at the time it was depressed, and leaves all the other dampers on.  this allows those notes to continue to ring while still letting you play other notes staccato without muddying the waters. 

some uprights don't have a sostenuto pedal at all (only 2 pedals), and others have a practice pedal as the middle pedal, which is similar to the una corda pedal in that it greatly quiets the sound but changes the timbre (poorly in most people's estimation).

right (sustain, "loud") pedal lifts up all the dampers, allowing any note to continue to ring for as long as the pedal is pressed.  leads to muddiness if left too long, but essential for a number of different things.

as for how to use the pedals...there's whole books written on that, and I can't claim to be a pedal use expert.

What I said, but better explained. Good post mate.

[zzzz]

thank you very much!
so if i want to play Clair de lune by Debussy i should press the middle pedal! i can see now that there's "una corda" written below, i just didn't understand that
pianochick, why do you say it's difficult to learn how to use it? it is definitely my first time using it. is there some right technique?

[scottmcc]

thank you very much!
so if i want to play Clair de lune by Debussy i should press the middle pedal! i can see now that there's "una corda" written below, i just didn't understand that
pianochick, why do you say it's difficult to learn how to use it? it is definitely my first time using it. is there some right technique?

well this is where I'm uncertain...because some editions say una corda, which would be the left pedal, but some say con sordini, which means "with dampers," which means "don't use the right pedal."  but I've always played it with generous use of the right pedal, so maybe I've been playing it wrong.  but I've seen some editions that include pedaling, so now I'm thoroughly confused.  any experts care to weigh in?

[pianochick93]

pianochick, why do you say it's difficult to learn how to use it? it is definitely my first time using it. is there some right technique?

Well, it was for me. With the normal sustain pedal you are just pressing it down at the same time as the notes, after the note, or before it. With the sostenuto pedal you have to press it down afterwards. It's an odd feeling until you get used to it.

[zzzz]

well this is where I'm uncertain...because some editions say una corda, which would be the left pedal, but some say con sordini, which means "with dampers," which means "don't use the right pedal."  but I've always played it with generous use of the right pedal, so maybe I've been playing it wrong.  but I've seen some editions that include pedaling, so now I'm thoroughly confused.  any experts care to weigh in?

oh,yes that's true. una corda is left pedal. that doesn't solve my problem. it seams impossible to play it without the middle pedal,(the lower notes last all measure) and i'd also like to use the right pedal. well, i don't have three legs.