Questions on Developing a Piano Repetoire

[kaligleean]

I have a question about developing repetoire/performance or what ever you call it.  How often am I supposed to review songs in order to develop a repetoire/ performance?  I already have some songs to play but how many is too many for just a performance for family and friends, and what is a preferable limit? 

[rmbarbosa]

This depends of your own choices: if you wish to "make" MUSIC, there are no limits. You must play a piece and play again and again, because there are always a lot of things to do better and better and better. If you feel music seriously, you will wish to attain the best performance you`ll be able, whether you play for family and friends or in a music hall. Music is music "per se". Another thing is to make some noise with a piano, a trompet, a violin...and call it music. In that case, no matter how many times and how much time you spend. There are, about the world, so many guys making noise...
Best wishes
Rui

[nystul]

Realistically, friends and family aren't looking for a very long performance.  Just a few pieces.  But you want to be able to play those pieces really cleanly and expressively and have a lot of confidence in them.  They won't know how good you are unless those pieces are polished to the best of your ability.

[jcabraham]

"RepeRtoire". Just FYI.

[lostinidlewonder]

Most of us cannot keep all the pieces we have ever learned at concert standard at all times. However we know how to "brush up" pieces we learned before and it will take much much less time than what it took to learn it initially to bring it back up to standard. You should if you want to perform in public, be able to maintain at least 1+ hours of playing at concert standard.

Maintain and upkeep old pieces you have learned. That might require you to at least sight read through the piece at least once every few months (even if you think you have it memorized). SIght reading the piece keeps you more consciously aware of what you are playing and take away a little from the muscular memory. Relying on muscular memory for memory of passages is good but sometimes it changes (the music, fingering, technique etc) without us realizing it, we should upkeep pieces with sight reading to prevent these errors from arising.

[ramseytheii]

"The example of Godowsky is memorable for me.  I sometimes happened to be at his home when he was preparing for a recital.  Pieces that he had played dozens and perhaps hundreds of times he would again and again check against the score, he compared the different versions of various editions (of Chopin alone he had seventeen editions at the time!); in other words in the shortest possible time he again went through the work he had done long ago.  An example of artistic honesty worthy of being followed."

--- Heinrich Neuhaus



Walter Ramsey