New to the board .. looking for some advice .. late starter

[robpina]

Hey Guys,
I am indeed a very late starter to the piano. I took some lessons on and off as a child and eventually quit the piano to play baseball. That being said I was a very low level pianist at that time and a very lazy one as many children are. I never properly learned how to read sheet music as a child. Instead I'd learn how to bang out a few christmas carols to make the family happy. Now at 20 I've decided to pick it back up again. I've gone back to the same teacher I had as a child. Together we have begun to work on a few pieces as well as re learn basic site reading. For the first two months I played remedial works to re aquaint myself with the instrument. Now in the  third month I have learned the aria from the goldberg variations and some of Chopins 4th prelude. The pieces are certainly not of concert quality but I think they sound pretty decent. My question is what pieces would you suggest I work on in the future. While I am certainly looking to improve my technical skills I do enjoy playing the music I love to listen to! I'm glad I found this forum and I hope to hear from you.
Thanks

[quantum]

I would suggest listening to a lot of music.  Try to expand your breadth of the repertoire available to the piano.  Through listening you will begin to discover music that you are interested in.  Some of the more difficult pieces that appeal to you may be beyond your current level, but they are good to aspire to. 

The Aria and Prelude are somewhere around an RCM grade 7 level.  This may give you a better idea of where you are at.

[kellyc]

Hi. Not having heard you play , I can only say that try and include some Bach. It helps teach both technique and musicianship.


Kelly

[robpina]

I would suggest listening to a lot of music.  Try to expand your breadth of the repertoire available to the piano.  Through listening you will begin to discover music that you are interested in.  Some of the more difficult pieces that appeal to you may be beyond your current level, but they are good to aspire to.  

The Aria and Prelude are somewhere around an RCM grade 7 level.  This may give you a better idea of where you are at.

Thanks for the reply. I am hoping to add some Mendelssohn and Ives to the repertoire if I can advance to that point. My goal is to one day learn Ives Piano Sonata #2 "The Alcotts" from the Concord Mass. I realize Ives is not for everyone but I find the Concord Mass astoundingly profound. For now, I am really enjoying the Goldberg Variations and find many of the variations to actually be far easier than some of the other pieces around that level. Hopefully with some work I can become a decent pianist at some point in my life!!

[ted]

Quantum is right. At twenty, reject nothing. Plenty of time to start picking and choosing over the next half-century.

It is remarkable that you should be attracted to Ives, and an indication of a broad and receptive spectrum of musical response. Never question or modify the validity of your own response to suit what other people might say or think. On the contrary, treasure it; when you are older your independence will repay you a hundredfold. No particular tradition has grown up around Ives so you must play him according to your own feelings every inch of the way, which is a dynamic adventure in itself.

Also, if you feel driven to create your own sounds, improvisation, composition, then begin to do it at once. Don't leave it "till later". Everything feeds everything else.