My BROTHER NEEDS LISZT AND A CONCERTO!

[LiszTMaN]

I have a crucial dilemma here
I have been teaching my brother the piano for 2 years and he is now 9 years old. He has played some pretty medium pieces like Fur Elise and the 1st movement of Moonlight Sonata.

He is impatient whenever he hears me play Liszt and has been begging me to chose a Liszt piece that he can play. Can you please recommend me a easy Liszt piece.

By the way, he also wants to play a piano concerto, and i don' know of any that are his level.







PLEASE HELP

[Fastzuernst]

Check out a Haydn concerto. Not because they are easy, but it would probably be accesable to him. Plus, you could accompany him and it would get him used to playing with others which is an important skill that can never be developed to early!

[amanfang]

Liszt piece - try one of the Consolations - perhaps number 1 or 2.  Also maybe Nuages Gris.  

[super_ardua]

Liebestraum 3? (Probably too hard)

[steinwaymodeld]

I have a crucial dilemma here
I have been teaching my brother the piano for 2 years and he is now 9 years old. He has played some pretty medium pieces like Fur Elise and the 1st movement of Moonlight Sonata.

He is impatient whenever he hears me play Liszt and has been begging me to chose a Liszt piece that he can play. Can you please recommend me a easy Liszt piece.

By the way, he also wants to play a piano concerto, and i don' know of any that are his level.







PLEASE HELP

Tell him


"Patience is as important as Practice, little dude."

[larse]

Patience is as important as Practice, little dude.

I agree...unless he's one hell of a a prodigy, and you're one hell of a teacher, I would'nt think he'd be ready for much of a piano concerto. He should rather be forced to play Mozart and Haydn atm...

[bernhard]

Surprisingly Liszt wrote quite a few easy (easier) pieces.

Here are some:

Etude op. 1 no. 4 – written when Liszt was only 16, this etude sounds much more difficult than it is, and eventually it grew on to become Mazeppa. So if you cannot play Mazeppa, start with this one (grade 5/6).

Years of Pilgrimage: first year Switzerland – no. 2 Au Lac de Wallenstadt. (grade 7/8 )

Years of Pilgrimage: 2nd year Italy no. 2 - Il Pensieroso (grade 7/8 )

Years of Pilgrimage: 2nd year Italy no. 3 – Cazonetta del Salvador Rosa (grade 7/8 )

Five Hungarian folk songs S. 245 (grade 5/6).

The Shepherds at the Manger S. 186 (grade 5/6)

Sancta Dorothea S. 187 (grade 5/6)

Consolations, S. 172 no. 1 (grade 5/6), no. 2,  no. 3 and no. 4 (grade 6/7), no. 5 and no. 6 (grade 7/8 )

Wiegenlied  174 (earlier, easier version of 1854)  (grade 5/6)

The Christmas Tree S. 186 (grade 5 – A set of 12 pieces that Liszt apparently wrote for children, but he probably forgot this, since there are octaves, double thirds, stretches, and so on.

Five piano pieces S. 192 (grade 5/6). This is the easiest Liszt you are going to come across (very high quality nevertheless). Main difficulty are the key signatures.

Nuages gris  S. 199 (grade 5/6)

Valses Oubliees S. 215 (grade 8/8+)

Bagatelle without Tonality S. 216a (grade 8+)

Abschied S. 251 (grade 6/7)

Good luck!

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[donjuan]

Lisztman, I have a question - what Liszt are you playing when he begs you to choose a Liszt piece for him?

[LiszTMaN]

He begs to play Liszt whenever I play the song Mephisto Waltz #1 and his Concert Paraphrase of Eranni and Rigoleeto by Verdi.

[donjuan]

He begs to play Liszt whenever I play the song Mephisto Waltz #1 and his Concert Paraphrase of Eranni and Rigoleeto by Verdi.

sooooo....
yep. :-/

I think he needs to be a super genius to play this stuff well at age 9, as well as a freak because I am sure his hands aren't big enough for it.

Bernhard suggested some possible pieces, but if he would like to play stuff like Mephisto Waltz, he wont be satisfied with any of it at this point in time.  He needs to understand you are playing some of the most impressive technical works for the piano and to be able to play them he must take stepping stones to develop his independence of fingering with even, controlled keystrokes, knowledge of scales and harmony....  I think you should allow him to play whatever he wants and let him realize on his own that he needs to do the slow lyrical works of Liszt like the consolations or Liebestraume to effectively learn and perform the virtuoso works.  This is what happened to me and I felt it worked... I wanted to play Hungarian Rhapsody No.2, so I learned the whole thing (It took me a year just to memorize the notes) and I came out of it with a shotty performance with technical messes all over the place.  I realized I wasted my time learning such a difficult piece so early and moved on to the easier works, motivated to not waste time again.  In fact, I now look at the situation and realize I didnt waste time at all- Learning the piece too difficult for me taught me to take things in stages, not all at once, and I believe someone can only learn this through experience-->I wouldnt listen to my teacher tell me it was too difficult for me.


SO my advice:::  Warn him it will be hard and let him start work on any Liszt he wants  

good luck with your ambitious brother.
donjuan

[Pumpkinhead]

You should check out Shostakovich's concerto no. 2 for your bro. The middle movement is also very simple, yet  breathtaking. Really, it's how you play the piece. At my last competition, I beat both the Tchaikovsky and the Rachmaninoff 1st with this first movement. This song is alot harder than everyone says it is. Like Mozart, perfection and continuity is manditory for it to sound good. Best regards.

[LiszTMaN]

People of piano forum
I have no idea what has gotten into my brother. I agreed to let try out Mephisto Waltz and he is going crazy. He has broken 5 strings on my Bosendorfer piano because he is enraged at the piece since his hands are not big enough. He has asked me to find another piece that sounds just as well as Mephisto Waltz that he can play.

He is also comparing himself to Lang-Lang and Yundi Li just because he can play the first page of Sonata in B minor.


I need help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE

Suggest me some pieces like Mephisto Waltz that his little fingers can stretch to play.


By the way my brother wants to play Profokiev's Piano Concerto #3. I personally think it is too hard. Do you?

THanks

[donjuan]

5 strings?! That is a STRONG 9 year old!!  I have never broken a single string..

What is his reach?  To play Mephisto waltz, you should be able to reach across 10 whites.

It's funny you play Rigoletto because I am just starting it right now- I am finding it really easy to learn and fun to practice.  Maybe he could have a go at it, and I am sure you will do a great job of teaching it because you play it yourself.  So far, I think anyone with an octave reach can play it without too much struggle, physically.

I think prokofiev is too hard right now.  Maybe Grieg or Scriabin's concertos would be better.  

He is also comparing himself to Lang-Lang and Yundi Li just because he can play the first page of Sonata in B minor.

HAHA!!! keep him going! let him continue with it, and realize on his own what makes it such a mountain to climb!!!

donjuan

By the way, what do you mean by "sounds just as well"?  Do you mean, "has the same diabolical tone"?  If so, maybe Rigoletto is not what he is looking for.

[emmdoubleew]

Your brother needs a psychologist more than an easy liszt piece.

If he's breaking strings out of anger at age 9 he could turn into one violent man when he grows up.

[sharon_f]

You do realize you responded to a thread from almost two year ago.

[emmdoubleew]

You do realize you responded to a thread from almost two year ago.

Hhaha  , I fail. It was linked to me and I couldn't resist.

[bernhard]

Nothing wrong with pianoforum archaeology

[donjuan]

i take it you know that story about LiszTMaN... the porn and everything..

[emmdoubleew]

i take it you know that story about LiszTMaN... the porn and everything..

Hahah, what's the story?

[donjuan]

oh nothing; he just posted a whole bunch of porn one day, and then came back the next, saying it was his brother who logged in under his name.  He then began whining like a little b%$ch about 'oh don't ban me i didn't do it wah wah wah' I actually believed him for a long time.  anyway, he got banned, and only after being banned did he create another account and own up to lying.  and then he got banned again

at least that's how I remember it...

o well.. just a little sidenote in pianoforum history.

[alejo_90]

This is what happened to me and I felt it worked... I wanted to play Hungarian Rhapsody No.2, so I learned the whole thing (It took me a year just to memorize the notes) and I came out of it with a shotty performance with technical messes all over the place.  I realized I wasted my time learning such a difficult piece so early and moved on to the easier works, motivated to not waste time again.  In fact, I now look at the situation and realize I didnt waste time at all- Learning the piece too difficult for me taught me to take things in stages, not all at once, and I believe someone can only learn this through experience-->I wouldnt listen to my teacher tell me it was too difficult for me.

Funny.. I had exactly the same problem two years ago. But when I realised it was not at my level, I practised like hell every day until I got to play it exactly like I wanted. It took me more than a year, though...

Best
Alex

[letters]

You should check out Shostakovich's concerto no. 2 for your bro. The middle movement is also very simple, yet  breathtaking. Really, it's how you play the piece. At my last competition, I beat both the Tchaikovsky and the Rachmaninoff 1st with this first movement. This song is alot harder than everyone says it is. Like Mozart, perfection and continuity is manditory for it to sound good. Best regards.

although this is slightly depressing (because i am 17) i am playing this as my first concerto (that i will perform anyway) and i think the second movement would be suitable. it changes key a bit but it is simple with the same melody in both hands at times and he will get a little bit of practice putting 2 against three. tell him he can learn the rest when hes older hehe

[prometheus]

I remember this topic, I had to laugh hard.

I did seem to have missed this 'porn story', luckily.