Help with what I should be playing.

[smallville]

Hi

I am currently working towards my Grade 3 ABRSM piano.
Daily I work on my scales, appegios etc that are required. I use the Hanon Vituoso Pianist in Sixty Exercises, (Obviously only a small section of it at the moment.) four pieces from the Grade 3 book, (3 for the exam and 1 that I just like.) slowly working through the Book 4 of Alfred's Basic Piano Library Lesson Book and also a piece from Making The Grade: Grade 3.
I do this every day pretty much.

I was just wondering what things I SHOULD be playing and learning that will really help me?
Is what I am working through at the moment ok?
What should I add, take away etc?

Please help
Oh and I am 30 yrs old if that makes a difference 

[healdie]

I would suggest doing some other repertoire work, just learning pieces these will increase the enjoyment part of playing and will help your technique as well, so just play everything you want, obviously at grade 3 your going to find a lot of the famous repertoire is a bit out of range yet but try stuff anyway and it doesn't work keep for a year or two and try again.

but in regards as to what you SHOULD be doing there is no right or wrong it all depends on your goals, also I don't believe that there is one correct way to learn I learn best through exercises and routines but I know some better pianists than me who have never played an exercise in their life and did as minimal scale work as possible and their technique far surpasses mine, and then there are others who have had structured routines that I'm better than so it is whatever works for you in a sense..... the exception I suppose would be if you were to try making a career out of piano playing in which case there are probably set things you need to do that other posters could better advise you on

[asiantraveller101]

My suggestion is to wean yourself from Alfred and start with simpler "real" music. Though Alfred is good to start with for beginners, you want to get out of it as soon as you can. At Grade 3, you can try Anna Magdelena's Notebook, Beethoven's Dances, simpler Clementi or Kuhlau sonatinas and Burgmuller Op. 100. For exercises, try some Czerny studies. Hanon can be dry and boring; and learning all those patterns lead to "no-where", whereas Czerny's exercises are more functional, and the techniques learned are used in many classical pieces. Your teacher will be able to advice you with better repertoire and pieces.
Best of luck.
PS. And your age makes no difference!

[smallville]

Hey Healdie

Thanks for the reply.
I just want to be the best player that I can be. I am new here and have been looking at some of the pieces on this site so think I'll add some of them to my practise sessions.
Are the levels similar to grades?

[smallville]

My suggestion is to wean yourself from Alfred and start with simpler "real" music. Though Alfred is good to start with for beginners, you want to get out of it as soon as you can. At Grade 3, you can try Anna Magdelena's Notebook, Beethoven's Dances, simpler Clementi or Kuhlau sonatinas and Burgmuller Op. 100. For exercises, try some Czerny studies. Hanon can be dry and boring; and learning all those patterns lead to "no-where", whereas Czerny's exercises are more functional, and the techniques learned are used in many classical pieces. Your teacher will be able to advice you with better repertoire and pieces.
Best of luck.
PS. And your age makes no difference!

Hey asiantraveller101

I was posting the same time as you so only read this after I posted. So thank you to you too for the reply. I am going to order Anna Magdelena's Notebook, a few people have mentioned it around on here.

Sorry to be a pain but in regards to Czerny exercises, could you recommend a suitable book for me?

Thank you in advance

[asiantraveller101]

I applaud you for your determination to be the best player that you can be. Welcome!

No, the levels in Alfred do not correspond to ABRSM grading. Remember that Alfred is an American publication, whereas ABRSM is a British testing system. Even among the testing systems, there are differences, for eg. between Trinity vs. ABRSM vs. Canadian RCM. If you want to find pieces that correspond exactly to ABRSM, then you have to look into the graded supplemental publications by ABRSM. ABRSM is good in producing many collections of pieces that are graded.

[liszt_ani_rach]

Do some good minor pieces by Mozart like Allegro in F, minuet in c, two pieces from London notebook,etc. Once you get a little better, buy Alfred's Chopin:14 of his easiest selections and do the Cantabile in Bb and the easy preludes.

Good Luck

currently working on

• Chopin Heroique Polonaise
• Liszt La Chasse

[asiantraveller101]

Sorry to be a pain but in regards to Czerny exercises, could you recommend a suitable book for me?

No pain! 
Well, for grade 3 level, start with Op. 823; (and eventually work you way to Op. 299). Remember that you do not have to do every one of them. 

[smallville]

No pain! 
Well, for grade 3 level, start with Op. 823; (and eventually work you way to Op. 299). Remember that you do not have to do every one of them. 

Sorry to ask another question
How do you know which one comes next? (After Op.823 etc)
Do the Op. #'s go downwards?

[asiantraveller101]

Oh my, now you are going to get very confused. No, the number does NOT go down in sequence for the studies. The numbers are just publication of collections of his works (in this case, his studies). For example in Op. 823, there are 73 exercises!
Czerny was a prolific composer and he wrote tons of studies for the piano. There are near countless collections of studies by him: Op. 299, 261, 599, 818, 819, 829, 821, etc, etc, etc, etc..... and the famous 822. Try checking out: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_compositions_by_Carl_Czerny. To navigate through the many opuses of studies, you probably need a teacher to guide you. But as I suggested, start with 821 and then just jump to 299. It should keep you busy for the few years. Besides, who knows if you want to try studies by Burgmuller or Heller?? Heller is another one that wrote a whole bunch of studies as well, for eg. Op. 45, 46, 47, etc, etc, etc. But again, you are only in Grade 3, so either Op. 823 should work, or Burgmuller Op. 100.
Now I feel guilty for not being of much help, but merely confusing you. As I have qualified myself time and again, it is best, perhaps, to seek guidance from your teacher? 
Let me know what you think.

[smallville]

Thank you so much for your help. I have ordered op.823 and looking forward to it arriving and getting my teeth stuck into it.

[asiantraveller101]

Yay!! Remember you do not have to go through each one. Many are similar. Find the ones that interest you and jump right in! 

[smallville]

Are the ones I learn meant to be played daily or once I have learnt them do I just move on to the next one and not play the previous?

[smallville]

Yay!! Remember you do not have to go through each one. Many are similar. Find the ones that interest you and jump right in! 

Are the ones I learn meant to be played daily or once I have learnt them do I just move on to the next one and not play the previous?