Hmmmm I'm strange

[xpjamiexd]

Okay a question, I can't seem to grasp a simple piece like bach's prelude in F yet I can play pieces sucha s Chopin Op. 28 No.15 and Moonlight Sonata in their entireity. I've found that when I'm not motivated to play a piece I literally can't, do you think this is it or is there something else?

[healdie]

maybe because you don't like those pieces as much you are not motivated therefore are not concentrating properly on the piece, i know exactly how you feel when i have to learn a piece i don't really like i never seemt o be aable to play it well

so no i don't think you are strange but you could maybe do with really trying to concentrate on these pieces or if you really don't like them don't play them i don't think it is a matter of difficulty

[mad_max2024]

Or maybe you have trouble with the Baroque style and feel more confortable playing romantic music.
After all, Bach is very different from Chopin or Beethoven.

I think some people may have trouble playing it while for others the reverse will happen. They will play Bach beautifully and have trouble getting free from Baroque meticulousness into the romantic more freeflowing style.
I was a lot more confortable playing a Rach etude with lots of notes all around the keyboard then when I tried a Bach Prelude and found I had to play the exact notes at the exact time in the exact way.
That worsens with the fact that I'm not really a great fan of Bach.

Just my opinion, maybe some of the teachers here will have more insight.

[hyrst]

If you are used to the Romantic (and Romanticised Classical) pieces it can be very difficult to play the Baroque.  One reason is the logical, unified and progressive harmonic structure of the Romantic music - it is much more obvious immediately and the broken chord structure is easier to play than the polyphonic harmony.  Also, the Baroque demands precision in each voice line while the Romantic you can get away with some things (lack of clarity blurred by pedal, as is sometiems a wrong note, and nearly always one voice is dominant).  The Baroque is light and clear, the Romantic more passionate, slurred and brooding.  The difference in tone requires a different sense of touch and finger action, one that needs to be learnt as that style.  It can also be quite easy to get away with some technical styles in the Romantic that just stand out dreadfully in the Baroque - been there! 

My recommendation would be to listen to the music (piece and generally the style) and soak in it.  Then approach each part of the prelude trying to see it as simple - the notes and demands on the fingers might take some digestion, but you need to aim for a simple sound.  Try and use small arm movements - you might be used to using excessive ones from the Romantic.  Learn initially with light finger staccato then make legato the parts that need to sing.  BE clear, pure, realxed, delicate and 'sunny' when you play.  You'll get used to it - it is just a new way of playing than you are used to.

[xpjamiexd]

Thanks for all the help and I think you're are probably right .

[j.s. bach the 534th]

the others are definitely right. If you play a lot of one music from one period, it is difficult to get used to another period. I have the opposite problem. I got used to Bach, and now I have a much harder time with Romantic songs than I should.

Problems like these are really all in your mind. What I'd suggest doing is taking a break from Bach, doing something else you really like, and coming back to Bach once you're mind has forgotten about these troubles.  I think you'll find that if you take a break from something you are having too much trouble with and come back to it later with a refreshed mind, you will be able to learn it much faster.