When can I reach Appassionata/Islamey?

[rihyun]

I've been playing piano for about a year and a half, and I recently finished Fantasie Impromptu after about a week of hard practice (prior to Fantasie Impromptu, I've played mostly nocturnes, waltzes, and mazurkas by Chopin and some Bach). I practice around 1.5 hours to 2 hours on weekdays, and I practice 3-4 hours on weekends.

So I have two questions:
1) Would beginning Beethoven's Appassionata be too big of a jump from the impromptu (I'm aware that the pieces are on way different levels)? If it is, what would be intermediary works that I could go through before attempting Appassionata?

2) And this one is probably far fetched...but down the road, when would be the most reasonable time for me to attempt Balakirev's Islamey?

Thanks.

[xxmynameisjohnxx]

I can't help you with when you should start apassionata since I'm at least a year or so out from being able to start that....but you learned all of FI in a week and a half? That's impressive...at least to me.  Or were you meaning you finished polishing it after a week and a half?

[rihyun]

Yes, I learned the impromptu in a week and a half (and I spent another week and a half polishing it) so I suppose you could say three weeks.

[db05]

Do you have a teacher? Ask your teacher.
If not, I seriously doubt your post.

[frank_48]

I've been playing piano for about a year and a half, and I recently finished Fantasie Impromptu after about a week of hard practice (prior to Fantasie Impromptu, I've played mostly nocturnes, waltzes, and mazurkas by Chopin and some Bach). I practice around 1.5 hours to 2 hours on weekdays, and I practice 3-4 hours on weekends.

year and a half of practice > FI > in 3 weeks with only a few hours of practice? thats more of a leap across the grand canyon if you ask me. and your in doubt as to whether you can play appassionata?

how old are you?

all seriousness aside this is the strangest post i have read in a while, 3 weeks!? damn.

[thierry13]

year and a half of practice > FI > in 3 weeks with only a few hours of practice? thats more of a leap across the grand canyon if you ask me. and your in doubt as to whether you can play appassionata?

how old are you?

all seriousness aside this is the strangest post i have read in a while, 3 weeks!? damn.

Well if he practices 2 hours a day and 3-4 on weekends, if he practices well I don't see where is the problem. FI has many problems for beginners but it does not have many advanced technical material. Of course the guy is talented, but with the time he puts in it it sounds reasonable to me.

[quantum]

Do you wish to take up music professionally or are you just playing pieces you like for fun?  If it is the former, I strongly advise you to get a good teacher.  These pieces are continents apart from each other in both technique and the musical depth required to perform them well. 

You say you've recently finished the FI.  How well do you play it?  How would you define your level of "finish"?  Are you comfortable playing it or are there struggles?  Would you feel comfortable playing it for someone else, a friend perhaps?

Have you learned any other Beethoven pieces before?  You say you have learned some Bach.  Any P&F's? Movements from the Partitas, English or French Suites?  There are polyphonic elements in Appasionata, to which previous Bach study would be helpful. 


If you are just playing for pleasure, I'd say test drive a couple bars of these pieces.  Have a general look through the score and pick some spots to try.  If there is any point in the music where you are thinking "this doesn't make any sense" or you just can't wrap your head around how to play a passage, or you think you've stepped onto a foreign planet, you are probably not ready. 

[tanman]

you should also consider taking up OC once you finish Islamey. 

[pianisten1989]

How well do you play fantasie impromptu? Like Concert-perfect, or "well.. I can play through it, with some misstakes, etc. etc."?

Anyhow, you should wait with appassionata, and islamey... But you should ask your teacher...

[twiltot]

I think you should practice a bit more...

[aslanov]

maybe if u made a recording of your fantasie impromptu we'd be better equipped to advise you.
I myself (also been playing for a year and a half) started the first movement of the appassionata, and only after a few weeks of listening/reading and trying parts that i didnt get at first, i think I'm ready to tackle it. But technique-wise, i think as i learn the piece i'll have to develop my hands for certain parts of the first movement that require more depth in playing. I did however not jump to this. When i first started playing i played some chopin nocturnes/waltzes, then the rach 3/2 prelude, and then beethoven's first sonata, and i feel i have a thorough enough understanding of the sonata form and beethoven's writing (i've listened to, read, and played bits and pieces of MANY of his works) to start to learn it.

[youjean88]

when i was about a year and a half in i memorized FI in just a couple weeks and was able to play it at a moderate tempo. but there is a definite difference between playing it and playing it well. after i memorized it i stopped playing it altogether because i planned on going back to it much later when i am more mature (musically).  theres no point in butchering a piece now and think that thats the way its supposed to be played. i would never perform FI in front of an audience with my current skill level. honestly, it sounds like garbage compared to how i want it to sound but i am not mature (technically and musically) enough to make it sound like how i want it to.

unless you want to butcher your pieces or unless you are some kind of prodigy, dont plan on playing either of those pieces for a long long time.

[hardybar]

I've been playing piano for about a year and a half, and I recently finished Fantasie Impromptu after about a week of hard practice (prior to Fantasie Impromptu, I've played mostly nocturnes, waltzes, and mazurkas by Chopin and some Bach). I practice around 1.5 hours to 2 hours on weekdays, and I practice 3-4 hours on weekends.

So I have two questions:
1) Would beginning Beethoven's Appassionata be too big of a jump from the impromptu (I'm aware that the pieces are on way different levels)? If it is, what would be intermediary works that I could go through before attempting Appassionata?

2) And this one is probably far fetched...but down the road, when would be the most reasonable time for me to attempt Balakirev's Islamey?

Thanks.
You have only been playing 1&1/2 years? And you are playing the Impromptu? What planet are you from?

[braintist]

Errrm, if you managed to finish fantasie impromptu in a week, You should be able to play islamey like a piece of cake and liszt's virtuosic pieces. Do you mind posting a recording because is quite unbelievable.

[thierry13]

Errrm, if you managed to finish fantasie impromptu in a week, You should be able to play islamey like a piece of cake and liszt's virtuosic pieces. Do you mind posting a recording because is quite unbelievable.

There's nothing unbeliveable in mastering fantaisie impromptu in one week and that is an accomplishment that is far under the level of playing islamey.

[udf3]

You know, your work ethic is admirable, but this is the Appassionata, regarded as one of Beethoven's most difficult (maybe even THE most difficult piano sonata), both technically and musically.  To truly savor it, it sure helps to have the technical mastery that would only come with more experience.  I practice roughly the same amount of time as you and have been playing for eleven years, yet the technical difficulty of the piece still intimidates me.  This is not to say you can't tackle this piece soon, but what I've heard is standard is to learn the Pathetique first- you get almost as much bang for your buck and it leaves you hungering for more.  Plus, the tedious learning process (notes, etc.) will be MUCH　ｅａｓｉｅｒ　ｗｉｔｈ　ｔｈｅ　Ｐａｔｈｅｔｉｑｕｅ　ｕｎｄｅｒ　ｙｏｕｒ　ｂｅｌｔ．Ｇｏｏｄ　ｌｕｃｋ！

[scottmcc]

if you're going to go for the appasionata, start on the middle movement.  It's a quite nice set of theme and 3 variations, and not terribly technically difficult, although I will say the 3rd is a bit tricky.  once you can play that movement well, then reassess, and if nothing else, you've at least learned a beautiful little bit of music.  but if you do play it in isolation, change the last chord so it resolves.