How Much (and what) is Enough?

[theone7]

So I've realised that a lot of people on here seem to know massive amounts of music, both that they listen to and perform. And then I just watched Barenboim play through all of Beethoven's Sonatas in a sitting on YouTube...and a similar display by Zimmerman.

I sat down and thought...well, theres really only about 10 pieces I know off top of my head and can play start to (almost) finish. Is this spread across various artists? What if I know one piece each from 20 composers? What if I know 20 pieces from just one?

What are your thoughts on repertoire? How much do YOU know? Whats enough for a recital? How many pieces qualify as a good repertoire? And how do I go about acquiring more pieces without waiting for my teacher to assign me more? (She doesn't assign new pieces till I get one damn near technically and emotionally perfect, which is at the rate of about one every 3 months)

Thoughts?

[thalbergmad]

That is an awful lof of questions for one post

I don't know about some of the pro's on here, but i don't think i have ever had more than about 10 pieces that i had in my repetoire in a "ready to perform" state at any one time. However, when i was playing a lot, i guess i had about 20 - 30 in reserve that i had played before, that would only take a short period of time to get up to scratch.

I think all pupils tend to play pieces that they have not been assigned, but i guess it would not be a good idea to have too many, or pieces that are way beyond your current capabilities. A good teacher will feed you a diet of composers from different eras, so that when you are proficient you can decide which "roads" you wish to take.

Thal

[neardn]

What are your thoughts on repertoire? How much do YOU know? Whats enough for a recital? How many pieces qualify as a good repertoire? And how do I go about acquiring more pieces without waiting for my teacher to assign me more?

it would be nice if people would include more early baroque music in their repertoire... in my opinion

how much I "know"... it depends what "know" means. I can play 10 pieces easily from memory right now. And I could play about 20 more with a few days practice. and I'm confident I could learn and memorize moderately difficult pieces within a month's notice.

enough for a recital: that depends also. I played a recital of four short pieces once, but that was the most.

a good repertoire: that is very subjective. and it doesn't matter how many pieces one can play from memory. I would be more impressed by someone that could play the first WTC book, than someone that could play all of the chopin nocturnes.

And how do I go about acquiring more pieces without waiting for my teacher to assign me more?

listening to music? when you hear a piece that you fall in love with, go buy the sheet music and practice. :)