amateurs: how many pieces at once?

[Derek]

I've finally gotten back in the swing of playing some classical pieces alongside my usual glut of improvisation. At the moment, I'm working on all Beethoven:
op 27, no 1, first three movements (I want to add the fourth before long, and yes I'm aware some consider the third movement really an intro to the fourth)
op 27, no 2, third movement
op 31, no 2, third movement

I have a number of other pieces that I either worked on in the past or have been toying with on top of those. I was just curious, amongst fellow amateurs how many pieces you may be working on at once? It seems like four to six is about the max I feel comfortable with, but I do like to spend a lot of time improvising as well.

[pianoplayjl]

I reckon it is best to stick with 4-6 pieces per year to work on. along the way you might learn  a new piece if you quickly master a piece.

[jesc]

are we counting each movement? then I'm working on 11. Last semester I had to learn 4 simultaneously while maintaining the 7.

I consider myself an amateur pianist and this is the most hectic thing I've done. I have 5 months left to put all 11 within my peak capacity.

To ease my tension I would like to ignore the movements and tell myself I'm just working on 7.

BTW I consider myself an amateur pianist cause it is not my source of income, actually it's a source of expense.

[pianoplayjl]

BTW I consider myself an amateur pianist cause it is not my source of income, actually it's a source of expense.

Nicely said. same here.

[octavius_trillson]

I usually practice 3 pieces at once and I limit myself to one 'demanding' piece at a time. At the end of a practice session I often sight-read through a few pages of all the pieces I want to play (I've made a list, they are only 30 or so). This isn't focused practice, but it facilitates some familiarization of each work and helps me determine which one I should tackle next.

[countrymath]

If its a hard piece, I learn one by one. Right now I'm learning chopin Butterfly etude.

[pianoplayjl]

My typical program has a mixture of easy and hard pieces. I think a balanced program should be good e.g. a fast piece followed by a slow piece or a mixture of easy and hard pieces.

[danhuyle]

How do great pianists build such a massive repertoire? Not only can they play the pieces, they master everything they play.

[pianoplayjl]

Some pianists manage to difficult pieces in a few days, while others are able to sight read.

[pastlifepianist]

How do great pianists build such a massive repertoire? Not only can they play the pieces, they master everything they play.

They build up repertoire from a young age. Having superb memorisation skills (possibly coupled with absolute pitch?) and a solid technique established from an early age enables them to learn and master difficult pieces early on. By the time they're 20 (sorry, chose an arbitrary number there!) they have a few concertos under their belt, etc.

[lmpianist]

Back when I took lessons more formally, I could manage 3 long pieces at once.  These days it's usually one or two, no more, unless they're very short pieces.  Like a couple years ago, I learned three Scarlatti sonatas at once, and the year before that, three Scriabin preludes.  If I had more time to devote to piano (around job & other hobbies), I would probably try to do more in parallel.

[brogers70]

I'm definitely an amateur. Working on either 2 or 10 pieces depending on whther you count individual movements separately. Three movements in Beethoven Sonata Op. 14#1 and seven in Bach Partita in Bb. Every day I pick 3-4 of the movments to focus on some particular problem and spend most of my time on those.

[scott13]

I am currently studying as a piano major at University, so i consider myself just under professional level and my current workload is:

1) No fewer than 2 Virtuoso etudes at any one time (currently; Chopin Op 10#1 & Liszt Etude #3 in F major)
2) No fewer than 4 major works at any one time (Currently; Chopin Op 23 & 46, Beethoven Op 101, Rachmaninoff Op 39 # 2 & 7 and Haydn Piano Trio #18)
3) Always be in the process of learning a concerto at any time (Currently - Chopin E minor)

I manage my time by being very specific about what i want to cover in a days practice session. I also practice mostly HS at 110-130% performance tempo in very small fragments that can be repeated endlessly, as this allows me to quickly and easily iron out difficulties and in only 2-3 minutes i have played a troublesome bar or two close to 50 times. Then i move to the next bar, then add the two together etc etc. Granted this is only used for difficult sections such as the coda in Chopin op 23, but allowed me to cover the entire code in a single practice section, and almost all of it was at the correct tempo (although in fragments) so then all i needed to do was connect fragments.

All up my practice schedule takes at a minimum 5-6 hours a day to do, and allows me to put together very large works in only 2-4 weeks.

[pytheamateur]

I'm studying 3 pieces with my teacher at the moment: Ravel's Pavane, Chopin's Etude in E Major and a Mozart Sonata.  I have a one-hour lesson every week.  I find that we spend a lot of time on the Mozart and often there's no time left in the lesson for the other two pieces.

I'm also learning and maintaining a couple of short pieces myself.

[autodidact]

I tend not to work on many things at once, making it so that usually it takes very little time to finish each piece. In fact, right now I am working on nothing but one Beethoven Sonata, which I do not plan on taking very much time with.

[akasimone]

I've been trying to find an optimal workload, lately.  I'm sort of all over the place right now, working on like twelve different pieces on-and-off. I just try to make sure that (A) there are two or three that I like enough to really stick with; and (B) if I'm going to move something to the back burner, I've at least learned something from it first.

[rachfan]

For the question "how many pieces at once?" there are a number of variables, such as:

Is the pianist a serious student or a casual pianist?

How much practice time is available per day or week?

What is the objective?  Preparing for annual auditions, meeting music degree requirements, planning repertoire for a senior recital, playing for pleasure, doing recording projects, etc.?

What is the pianist's level and learning capacity?

Etc.

So as you see, an answer might suit one pianist but not another.  It's very difficult to generalize.  I do believe that it's more important to ensure that there is always a mix of styles present.  That is, even if one practices only two pieces at a time, then one might be Baroque while the other is Impressionistic.  Or if somebody is doing 10 pieces a year, then to the Baroque and Impressionistic, one should add works of the Viennese Classical, Romantic and Modern styles as well.  By playing all of the musical styles which make different demands on the pianist, one builds a more versatile technique which then enhances artistry, speed of learning, and the expansion of one's repertoire.

David

[49410enrique]

For the question "how many pieces at once?" there are a number of variables, such as:

Is the pianist a serious student or a casual pianist?

How much practice time is available per day or week?

What is the objective?  Preparing for annual auditions, meeting music degree requirements, planning repertoire for a senior recital, playing for pleasure, doing recording projects, etc.?

What is the pianist's level and learning capacity?

Etc.

So as you see, an answer might suit one pianist but not another.  It's very difficult to generalize.  I do believe that it's more important to ensure that there is always a mix of styles present.  That is, even if one practices only two pieces at a time, then one might be Baroque while the other is Impressionistic.  Of if somebody is doing 10 pieces a year, then to the Baroque and Impressionistic, one should add works of the Viennese Classical, Romantic and Modern styles as well.  By playing all of the musical styles which make different demands on the pianist, one builds a more versatile technique which then enhances artistry, speed of learning, and the expansion of one's repertoire.

David

great answer. i'll add that in addition to the above (kind of a subtext to the 'available practice' time) is if we include collaborative/accompanying piano works (i.e. pieces for piano + (chamber group, instrumental solosit, voice, etc.).
i guess i fall in under the 'student' side and i'd like to have more rep but i play for other students and these professors expect a level of musical polish above and ahead of (timeline) their student (to facilitate teaching and the student's grade is on the line) so there are times when a piece will fall off the solo list or will get temoprarily get pushed back (as is the case for me right now).

so for me it's those solo works in my sig. plues piano reductions of orchestral parts for the Hoffmeister Viola concerto (I,II, and III), Kabalevsky Violin Concerto (I), and probably vocal work that i'll get handed this afternoon. i'm swamped!