Building my repetoire!

[A.C.]

Hi everyone! I'm a matriculation student who has been accepted by the RCM for B Mus degree next semester. I hope I can be a professional pianist in the future.

I think I am very lucky to be accepted because, although I know myself that I got an inborn talent of music, I know also I'm not born as a virtuoso like some other people do. When I was still a child I was not quite advanced in piano, and I have not really started building my repetoire since my late secondary school age.

Because of the large amount of piano literature today, a pianist must acquire a repertoire that extends over several hundred years. The works of Bach, Chopin, Mozart, et al, must be learned and learned quickly. A pianist cannot afford to learn only a few of the Bach Wohl Tempierte Klavier, or a few of the Chopin Etudes, or a couple of the Beethoven sonatas (these are what I got...). They all must be learned and learned quickly.

I just want to ask here...do u think I can learn most of them in the next 4 years in the college? I'm determined to practise piano for long hours every day...but I'm not quite sure whether I can manage these pieces in 4 years....I know it's a long period of time, but the pieces that I must learn is far much more than the time!

In the end, please suggest ways to increase my repetoire and faster ways to refine them! Thank you!

[bernhard]

Er.., I am not sure if I totally agree with your assumptions.

1.      

although I know myself that I got an inborn talent of music, I know also I'm not born as a virtuoso like some other people do

No one is an inborn virtuoso. So called piano prodigies are prodigies all right, but not piano prodigies. It is a matter of environment mostly. If they are born in musical households they end up musical geniuses, if they are born in a chess household they become grandmasters. And so on. The “talent” a prodigy have is not talent for a specific activity, but talent for concentration and hard work. They do not get constantly distracted by useless stuff (TV, computer games, social life, friends, etc.) Instead they have a one track mind. Anyone with a one track mind will end up being good at whatever they target their one track mind. They are usually very sad individuals.

2.      

. The works of Bach, Chopin, Mozart, et al, must be learned and learned quickly. A pianist cannot afford to learn only a few of the Bach Wohl Tempierte Klavier, or a few of the Chopin Etudes, or a couple of the Beethoven sonatas (these are what I got...). They all must be learned and learned quickly.

Why? Unless you want to specialise on a composer I see no reason why you should learn all of his/her works. And some pieces cannot be learned quickly (unless you are referring to the simple task of playing the right notes at the right time). Some pianists will spend several years working on a single Beethoven sonata before they feel that they are ready to perform it publicly. Personally I believe that it is a most worthwhile project to learn the complete WTC, the complete Chopin studies and the complete Beethoven sonatas. But I would not put a time limit on this sort of project, and I wouldn’t certainly suggest it is an obligatory requirement.

Besides there is much on the piano repertory (even by the most famous composers) that may not be worth playing – either because it is not very good or because you do not like it. For instance, I do not care much for the Mozart sonatas, and although I play some, I have no urge or desire to master all of the solo piano works of Mozart. Nor do I see any need. In fact most famous pianists usually play limited parts of the repertory. Brendel usually does not play Chopin, and almost no Bach for instance. Glenn Gould had an even more limited repertory.

3.      

do u think I can learn most of them in the next 4 years in the college? I'm determined to practise piano for long hours every day...but I'm not quite sure whether I can manage these pieces in 4 years....I know it's a long period of time, but the pieces that I must learn is far much more than the time!

Well, there are 208 weeks in four years. How many pieces can you learn in a week? Bach WTC (48) + Chopin studies (24) + Beethoven sonatas (32) total 104 pieces. Learn one every two weeks and you will be there! Of course learning one piece after the other is a very inefficient way to go about it. You must learn them at the same time. How do you that? Planning, planning and more planning. And it is not really about how many hours you practice.

4. I think you should start by asking yourself the following question: “What pieces would I love to play?” Start from there and keep adding.

Ah yes, read all posts in the forum. The answer is out there.

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[A.C.]

Thank you...u'r so nice...many people just go in and out the forum, but u really concern about my matter, thank's a lot.

Well, maybe u'r rite...haha, I didn't realize that I have to learn 1 piece in 2 weeks...it is quite impossible. I listen to all kinds of music including many pianist's music. I love Pollini playing Beethoven, Berman play Prokofiev, so forth. However, I dun really know how large the repetoire these pianists got. I know Brendel do play Chopin and Bach, but just that he had no recordings for them, as he's a Beethoven specialist. Glenn Gould do play lots of repetoire in his teenage, but he's now famous for his Bach's interpretation (In fact I dun really like his Bach...he is always so technical and dry. Listen to his "famous" concerto in D minor! I can hardly understand his music!! It sounds too awful to me). I'm quite sure that there are many pianists got a wide repetoire. But maybe u'r rite again...they got one track mind and I dun, haha.

I'm currently studying piano with a very gd piano mentor, she's a very fine musician, I like her so much ! She mentioned before that she loves my Beethoven more than my Mozart and Haydn, coz she thinks I have much more understanding in Beethoven...well, I agreed with her. She told me that she coudn't learn a hugh Beethoven Sonata in 1-2 weeks in her teenage, but she had once mastered a mozart sonata in 2 days in order to attend Cortot's masterclass. She told me that her teachers like her mozart interpretation a lot and asked her that she should play more Mozart. But she told me that Mozart is very hard to "sing", and could screw up on the stage if one is nervous, so she hardly play any Mozart in her concerts.

oops....haha, I think I went out of the topic already, have to stop here. At last, really thanks a lot!