What are you practicing?

[hfmadopter]

Godowsky Albeniz Tango. Very nice piece.

Paul

I'm working on Beauty and Beast theme song in F major and adding my own arrangement of cords and filler melody in certain sections and intro. I've added a few accent notes here and there. My wife says my 16 yo grand daughter will cry when she hears this and she herself is getting much enjoyment out my playing this..

I was working on Canon in D, have kind of put that aside for a bit, it's mostly complete. When I get back to it I have a couple of rough spots to work out.

Since I had been away from the piano for a lot of years I'm working on some study pieces, some Bach Two Part Inventions at the moment.

I've scratched the surface of Chopin's Sonata Op35 No 2 third movement.

I was working on Ave Maria but then I picked up the Shubert/Liszt Transcription of it, I believe that's the version that Berman played and just tried a few bars, it's way more rich sounding than the version I was praticing. Also more difficult. After some excercise work I will get into that.

Mean while we have been invaded by my sister in law. So practice time has been diminished for a week or two here. Or spotty at best. I don't like that but it's a feature I'm living with for the moment !

[williampiano]

Lately I've been starting to play some Kapustin. I'm not quite used to playing music with jazz rhythm in it, so I've started out with one of his easier pieces, Sonatina op. 100. I'll hopefully be able to work my way to some of his harder music after a while. My teacher and I are also choosing a lot of new music, as I let some of my pieces go after my last recital. Hoping on possibly learning some spanish music like Albeniz, Turina, Granados etc. I've also been playing lots of ragtime like Eubie Blake and Scott Joplin.

[chopin2015]

ballade no 1
rev etude
winter wind etude
scherzo no 1
nocturne op 27 no 2
sight reading some valses and berceuse on a day off

Valse nobles no 1 Ravel
Bach invention no 4

that is pretty much it, does anyone have suggestions(besides more etudes)? I am going for a nice Chopin repertoire before starting on the-in my opinion-more difficult(musically) Ondine by Ravel

[williampiano]

I don't have any piano lessons with my teacher for a few weeks now, so I've decided to start teaching myself some music until I start working with her again.

I've just started with Scriabin's Mazurka op. 3 no. 4:

[shaggyy]

Right now I'm working on the Liebestraum no. 3 from Liszt and the prelude op. 3 no. 2 from Rachmaninoff. And sometimes I practise some parts from Chopin's first ballade and his fantasie-impromptu, but those pieces are actually too hard for me (I hope someday I can play them though, just like so many other great pieces that are so beautiful but so difficult).

[xavura]

The Beethoven I am relearning... again, I should stop taking extended breaks. The Chopin I've either learnt and am practising or am near to finishing. The Liszt-Beethoven is something new.

Chopin:

• Nocturne in Cm [Op. 48/1]
• Nocturne in C#m & Db [Op. 27/1+2]
• Etude in E [Op. 10/3]

Liszt:

• Symphony in A [Op. 92/2] [S. 464/7?]

Beethoven:

• Sonata in C [Op. 53/1] "Waldstein"
• Sonata in Fm [Op. 57/1+2] "Appassionata"

• Sonata in Bb [Op. 103/1] "Hammerklavier"

Also I'd like to add - I doubt that I will ever ever finish Hammerklavier (nor be able to play it well), even the 1st part never mind the entire thing. The amount of times I have given up is unreal.

[unholeee]

[cvp1796]

Bach:
Two-Part Inventions - 5
Three-Part Inventions - 1
Italian Concerto - Movement 3
Chopin:
Posthumous Waltz No. 14 in E Minor
Beethoven:
Rondo a Capriccio

Since I don't take private lessons anymore and school is getting busy, I'm kind of learning 'whatever I want'...within reason, of course.

[j_menz]

Alkan, Symphony for Solo Piano Op39 Nos 4-7.

It's the weirdest piece to actually learn of pretty much anything I've done. Usually, even pretty much from the first read through, a piece sounds like a slow, somewhat inaccurate, badly garbled hash of itself. Once the notes are more or less learnt, and the difficult passages identified/worked on a piece sounds like a pretty awful rendition of itself.

With the Alkan, however, it has a tendency to sound like a deranged chimp banging at the keyboard even at that point.

I've played some easier Alkan, and have always found the exacting demands he makes on voicing to be a challenge. I had hoped they wouldn't get any worse in the harder stuff. I was wrong. 

[evitaevita]

Chopin - Etude Op.10 No.1 (really hard but beneficial)

Bach - The Well-Tempered Clavier: Book I: Prelude and Fugue No.1 in C

Schubert - Impromptu Op.90 No.2 & No.3

Prokofiev - Romeo and Juliet

(and just for fun: Mozart - Fantasie in D Minor K.385, relearning: Chopin - Nocturne Op.55 No.1)

Evitaevita

[havisham]

Grieg -Wedding at Troldhaugen
Beethoven - Sonata op 2 no 1 - 1st Movement
Joplin - Maple leaf rag

[cody_wickham]

Brahms 21 hungarian dances for solo piano.

[blazekenny]

J.S.Bach - P&F book 1 d minor
L.v.Beethoven - Tempest sonata op.31 no.2 d minor
C.Czerny - Octave etude op.740 no.49 G major
F.Liszt - Transcendental etude f minor "allegro agitato molto"
F.Chopin - Etude op.10 no.4 c sharp minor
S.Prokofiev - Sonata no.3 op.28 a minor
V. Novák - Amoroso B major
------------------------
L.v.Beethoven - Sonata for piano and violin op.12 no.1 D major
A.Dvořák - Romance for violin (playing the orchestral part)
B. Martinů - Arabesques for piano and violin no. 4 and 5

[jollisg]

This is what I'm practicing right now:

Chopin - ballade no 1
Khachaturian - toccata
Prokofiev - suggestion diabolique
Brahms - fantasies op 116 (no 1-3 right now, but I'm planning on playing all seven).
I am supposed to practice Beethoven sonata pathetique, but I'm really not motivated to do that...

[rachmaninoff_forever]

John Cage 4'33.

I'm having trouble getting the technique down.

[j_menz]

John Cage 4'33.

I'm having trouble getting the technique down.

Then try the Erwin Schulhoff In Futurum. It's an earlier work using the same technique, and it's notation is more user friendly.

Score is in my request for it in the Sheet Music forum.

[rachmaninoff_forever]

Then try the Erwin Schulhoff In Futurum. It's an earlier work using the same technique, and it's notation is more user friendly.

Score is in my request for it in the Sheet Music forum.

Does it say in the score to collapse half way through the piece?

[j_menz]

Does it say in the score to collapse half way through the piece?

No, but neither does the Cage manuscript. It's a modern affectation.

[rachmaninoff_forever]

No, but neither does the Cage manuscript. It's a modern affectation.

If I ever made it to the stage, I would definitely do this as an encore. 

[leahp]

Bach - 'Sinfonia' of Partita no. 2 in C minor
Mozart - Sonata in D major, K 311
Chopin - Nocturne in C#-, op. 27 no. 1
Faure - Impromptu no. 3 in A flat
Persichetti - Make Me Drunken With Deep Red Torrents of Joy
MacDowell - Traumerei

I was previously playing Copland's Passacaglia as well, but it was a little too big for my hands

[outin]

If I ever made it to the stage, I would definitely do this as an encore. 

Nice piece... was that note at 1:17 a mistake or is it in the score?

[chadbrochill17]

Liszt's transcription of Ave Maria. It's a lot of fun but it's also impossible.

[j_menz]

Nice piece... was that note at 1:17 a mistake or is it in the score?

It's a mistake. A very funny one in context.

[mahlermaniac]

Right now, just Scarborough Fair. My practice right now is quite humble: fifteen or twenty minutes a day or so. I'm practicing on a borrowed keyboard. I have a newborn baby at home, so I don't have the time or money for a piano or serious lessons. My goal is to have a piano in the home within one year, and start lessons a month or two after.

I'd like to select another two pieces to work on as well for some variety. nothing classical yet, but I'm going to research and find an easy classical piece as I do love classical.

[amelialw]

-Bach Toccata in c minor BWV 911 (stopped this for a short while)
-Mozart Sonata in c minor K.457
-Liszt Transcendental etude no.3 'Paysage'
-Mozart Piano Concerto no.25 in C major K.503
Technically everything above for 2 piano competitions and an exam back in Canada next May-June...hopefully one of them will have an open piano concerto class so that I can compete with the mozart concerto as well.
Bartok 6 Romanian Dances
Debussy Children's Corner Suite (Complete)
The top 2 are for enjoyment; technically neither of my teachers control me but they trust I'm mature enough to learn something sensible...it's not exactly sensible but rep esp. the debussy which I could add to my rep; and of which I learnt the 1st piece many years ago...

[ted]

I am doing some practice just now as it happens, although I don't usually do any. I am going through a mild infatuation with rapid double notes of all sorts in the left hand, because they produce such exhilarating sounds in improvisation. Trouble is, legato is much easier at speed but inferior rhythmically while detached gives superb rhythmic effects but is too strenuous to keep up for long. It is a puzzle I have yet to crack.

[hfmadopter]

Right now, just Scarborough Fair. My practice right now is quite humble: fifteen or twenty minutes a day or so. I'm practicing on a borrowed keyboard. I have a newborn baby at home, so I don't have the time or money for a piano or serious lessons. My goal is to have a piano in the home within one year, and start lessons a month or two after.

I'd like to select another two pieces to work on as well for some variety. nothing classical yet, but I'm going to research and find an easy classical piece as I do love classical.

Might I suggest to you that you try downloading the Anna Magnalena Minuets in the Bach section here at PS. Those are strong level three classical pieces.

I have practiced the Sound Of Silence early this past summer and did some reworking in the bass with it ( I took a few popular pieces and reworked them as my re intro to piano after a long time away).. Then moved on to some David Nevue pieces, very nice.

Right now I'm working on some carols and on some David Nevue pieces for my Christmas performance on Christmas Eve. It's all going very well. I'm in the catogorizing stage to put them in order for the evenings playing. The only thing is half the people that will be here have already heard me play half the pieces ! Oh well. I have to get on to my one classical choice and put full effort into that. That's Canon in D or Ave Maria, to which I have three different arrangements of each. Got to bite the bullet soon and choose one. I'm leaning towards Lee gallaways arrangement of the Canon ( ok so maybe not true classical!)..

[larapool]

Right now I'm practicing...

• Chopin - Nocturne in C Sharp Minor (post. 1830)
• Scarlatti - Sonata in F Major (K 82)
• Beethoven - Op. 49, No. 2 Sonata in G Minor, second movement
• Debussy - Claire de Lune

I'm also slowly chipping away at Chopin's Revolutionary Etude.  I feel like I should return to practicing Bach as well, so I'm going to dust off my copy of the WTC and give some of the easier works a try.  I know I can do the Prelude in C Major from Book 1, of course, and I'm working on the Prelude in C Minor in Book 1 - it's simple enough, I just need to coordinate both of my hands and try not to zone out before the patterns switch on page 2.

[amelialw]

Lessons with my new teacher are going well; I think much more successfully then my previous teachers. We've had enough of lessons for him to correct and help me with quite a number of things. He will be off and back probably beginning of Jan... on top of what I'm currently working on this is what he assigned me (for the next 2 months while he's MIA)since what I've been working on is mainly at the final stage. He did mention that I can feel free to contact him if any questions.

Beethoven Bagatelles op.33 & op.126
Chopin: a few selections from his Waltzes, Preludes and Mazurkas of my choice
Mendelssohn: a selection of Song without Words
Prokofiev: a couple of selections from Visions Fugitives and Sonata no.3

He did mention Schumann but I am quite terrified of that composer because of an experience with one of my teacher's. Even though with another I learnt his piano concerto& scenes from Childhood. He said we will wait till he gets back; in any case I might try to be courageous enough to start Abegg Variations and see what comes out of it.

[mikeowski]

Rachmaninoff: 23/5
Bartók: Allegro Barbaro
Mozart: K 332, (1st mov.)
Beethoven: op 2/1 (full)
Bach: P&F no. 17 from book 1

And I just began working on the little prelude BWV 936 (great piece!) and partita 1 from op.1 / BWV 825, might also pick up some inventions and sinfonias some time later this year.

[ranniks]

I is very excited!

I got the minuet in g major about a month ago from my teacher I suppose. Now my teacher gave me Prelude in C Major. Very happy! He taught me about the different settings of chords on the white keys, 'ground chords' if I'm translating correctly from Dutch. Grond Akkoorden = Ground Chords. Literary translated that is.

We're gonna work on both pieces.

I'll post a video soon and show you folks how my minuet is doing.

[outin]

I is very excited!

I got the minuet in g major about a month ago from my teacher I suppose. Now my teacher gave me Prelude in C Major. Very happy! He taught me about the different settings of chords on the white keys, 'ground chords' if I'm translating correctly from Dutch. Grond Akkoorden = Ground Chords. Literary translated that is.

We're gonna work on both pieces.

I'll post a video soon and show you folks how my minuet is doing.

Great! You will soon be able to help me with Bach 

[ranniks]

Great! You will soon be able to help me with Bach 

LOOOOLLL, maybe you can help me when I hop over to scarlatti in a few years.

My teacher tells me I'm doing really great for a beginner and usually a beginner doesn't begin with the minuet after just a month of lessons. Now I am by no means talented.....I just practise hard and without doubt.

Is it normal for an adult to make progress this quick? Obviously I'm going to perfect the pieces over time, but it is really nice to be able to play them already. Can't believe I'll have 2 bach pieces under my belt sooner rather than later.

When I told my teacher my goal: In 2014 I want to be able to play:

- Ronda Alla Turca
- Fur Elize
- Chopin's Raindrops
- K545

He said you'll be able to play some in 2013 or something, which was nice to hear, but I'm not gonna let it go to my head.....I mean, it's not an easy instrument by any means......

[outin]

LOOOOLLL, maybe you can help me when I hop over to scarlatti in a few years.

It's a deal, I'll take the few years before touching Bach again

My teacher tells me I'm doing really great for a beginner and usually a beginner doesn't begin with the minuet after just a month of lessons. Now I am by no means talented.....I just practise hard and without doubt.

Is it normal for an adult to make progress this quick? Obviously I'm going to perfect the pieces over time, but it is really nice to be able to play them already. Can't believe I'll have 2 bach pieces under my belt sooner rather than later.

When I told my teacher my goal: In 2014 I want to be able to play:

- Ronda Alla Turca
- Fur Elize
- Chopin's Raindrops
- K545

He said you'll be able to play some in 2013 or something, which was nice to hear, but I'm not gonna let it go to my head.....I mean, it's not an easy instrument by any means......

Some progress really fast, some really slow and most in between. It doesn't really matter as long as you stay motivated to keep working. And you will probably progress faster in certain areas and slower in others depending on you natural qualities.

I am now inclined to think that those who work entirely on method books progress slower. Maybe I am wrong, but seems to me that working a bit over your level pays off if one can handle the occasional frustration?

Let me know when you start raindrops, then we can do it together

[nocturnetr]

I am waiting for the lucky one who will tell us he/she practices The Toccata, Rach 3, Islamey, Gaspard de La Nuit or Transcendental etudes.

[Derek]

I'm almost embarassed to say this, being a pianist now for over 10 years, but I'm currently practicing the 2 and 3 part inventions by Bach. Even these humble pieces contain a lot of challenges in execution and expression. For one who has many hobbies and a time consuming career, I find them to be very satisfying but also achievable pieces for me to play. It no longer makes sense for me to fret that I haven't developed the technique required to play Rachmaninoff etudes, though I'm certain if I were to change my lifestyle, I could probably do it. The most recent evidence I have for this is having had my sister in law stay with us, where my only refuge from her hellion of a son was to lock myself in the office with the digital piano and practice classical pieces. I was definitely making progress then---but mainly because all my other hobbies and things I like to do were greatly diminished.

Not to mention, these inventions are teaching me a lot that help fuel my baroque improv exploration as well.

Oh, and a couple of pieces from the French Suite no .2 in c minor.

[chopin2015]

I'm almost embarassed to say this, being a pianist now for over 10 years, but I'm currently practicing the 2 and 3 part inventions by Bach. Even these humble pieces contain a lot of challenges in execution and expression. For one who has many hobbies and a time consuming career, I find them to be very satisfying but also achievable pieces for me to play. It no longer makes sense for me to fret that I haven't developed the technique required to play Rachmaninoff etudes, though I'm certain if I were to change my lifestyle, I could probably do it. The most recent evidence I have for this is having had my sister in law stay with us, where my only refuge from her hellion of a son was to lock myself in the office with the digital piano and practice classical pieces. I was definitely making progress then---but mainly because all my other hobbies and things I like to do were greatly diminished.

Not to mention, these inventions are teaching me a lot that help fuel my baroque improv exploration as well.

Oh, and a couple of pieces from the French Suite no .2 in c minor.

Don't be embarrassed, there are many of us here that work on inventions. My teacher will let me do a prelude but wont let me look at a fugue until I "finish" a couple of inventions. P.S Rachmaninoff etudes scare me too. Also, Prokofiev and Liszt I have no patience for, either.

[rachmaninoff_forever]

I am waiting for the lucky one who will tell us he/she practices The Toccata, Rach 3, Islamey, Gaspard de La Nuit or Transcendental etudes.

I might start a transcendental etude pretty soon, and I just learned a page of the Rach 3 today.  Ondine may also be a possibility.

And isn't Chopin567366735692111771291249157346739164793564367431966913697341596731967:679139649731649671639493174613649316496143691367115969831919753913505013008000001358001358131011000 1010100101010110000100111101101001010101010110 working on Ondine?

[chopin2015]

I might start a transcendental etude pretty soon, and I just learned a page of the Rach 3 today.  Ondine may also be a possibility.

And isn't Chopin567366735692111771291249157346739164793564367431966913697341596731967:679139649731649671639493174613649316496143691367115969831919753913505013008000001358001358131011000 1010100101010110000100111101101001010101010110 working on Ondine?

Lol yeah, I am working on Ondine, I plan on finishing memorizing it in the next few weeks. Watching Lisitsa practice is helping me practice better as well! Ondine is not that hard though, if you try it. Scarbo, I am not looking forward to. Which Transcendental etude are you going to learn?

[pianoplayjl]

I am relearning Beethoven's Allegro ma non troppo  from op 49 no 1 in time for my music assessment in 5 days. I wish I had more time. I hate short notices!

JL

[ranniks]

Having.........Spasms......Must.....Acquire.....Skills......To......Play......More.....Bach.......M ust.....Play.....Bach.......Must......learn......Violin......As.....Well......Must.......Learn....B ACH!

Pure.....Bliss.....

[ranniks]

It's a deal, I'll take the few years before touching Bach again

Some progress really fast, some really slow and most in between. It doesn't really matter as long as you stay motivated to keep working. And you will probably progress faster in certain areas and slower in others depending on you natural qualities.

I am now inclined to think that those who work entirely on method books progress slower. Maybe I am wrong, but seems to me that working a bit over your level pays off if one can handle the occasional frustration?

Let me know when you start raindrops, then we can do it together

Definitely!

Hopefully they have a piano I can play on this evening at the place I have to go for my voluntary work. I must be lucky that the center where the patients I do voluntary work for have a grand and an upright yamaha piano. The Grand is sort of scratched on though!

Outin, why do you not want to learn Fur Elize? Is it lack of experience? Or just not willing to learn an overplayed piece?

The old lady at my voluntary work told me not to play Fur Elize because so many people do. Well she didn't outright say it, but you get what I mean. I do however want to learn Fur Elize.

[outin]

Outin, why do you not want to learn Fur Elize? Is it lack of experience? Or just not willing to learn an overplayed piece?

I don't really like that piece... I did play it many many years ago...badly I think

[rachmaninoff_forever]

Lol yeah, I am working on Ondine, I plan on finishing memorizing it in the next few weeks. Watching Lisitsa practice is helping me practice better as well! Ondine is not that hard though, if you try it. Scarbo, I am not looking forward to. Which Transcendental etude are you going to learn?

I'm debating between etude Nr. 4, Nr. 5, or Nr. 10

Teacher:  Yeah man, after this college stuff is done, I want you to play some etudes.

Me:  Does that mean no Rach 3?

Teacher:  ...Did I studder?!!?!?!   

Me:  So would Rach and Transcendental etudes suffice? 

Teacher:  Sure.



I didn't say this above, but I was also thinking of working on some Rach etudes as well.

While studying the Rach 3 behind his back...   

[chopin2015]

Lol, just get another teacher that you work on Rach 3 with, and only Rach 3. I am thinking about a Prokofiev etude. Also am thinking about the alternate cadenza from Rach 3. Too beautiful. BUT I already have the book for Chopin's first. He makes me happy enough in a strange, painful way. I don't mean that in a perverted way, for the record.  o_O

[ajspiano]

Lol, just get another teacher that you work on Rach 3 with, and only Rach 3.

haha, fair enough...  or watch "shine" repeatedly and take notes from the appropriate scenes.

...

my current work..

inventions - all, for baroque improv.
chopin 10/2

mixed unfocused meandering through large portions of pretty much anything.

[blazekenny]

You guys are just dreamers, Rach 3 needs alot of time.
By the way, repertoire consisting of just Rachs, Liszts and Prokofievs is quite boring. I mean, Liszt is my favorite composer, but to keep improving, you always need more Bach.
Oh, and I play the 10th transcendental..

[lloyd_cdb]

Perpetually improving musicality:

Schubert - Impromptu op90 no4
Chopin - Polonaise in g#m posthumous
Chopin - Trois Nouvelles Etudes no. 2 or 3 in A-flat

Learning:

C.W. Krogmann - La Coquette op81 no2
Scriabin - Prelude op11 no1 (focusing on right hand to balance the Krogmann left hand piece)
Alkan - random esquisses and preludes


Pretending to learn:

Henselt - 12 concert etudes, op2 no1 - Orage, tu ne saurais m'abattre. (I love the name "Storm,  you cannot break me".  I'm always looking at it, but the left hand hurts my wrist a bit too much still, so just reading and noting any odd fingerings and editor suggestions for practice)

[teran]

Moonlight Sonata is my long term project, while I'm sort of stuck at a crossroads between choosing Chopin's Op 72 or Op 48 no 1 nocturnes. They are both such touching pieces in their own ways, but there's something so personally resonant about the op 48 one, still it's quite the challenge and for once I wish I could be moved to learn repertoire that was a little less demanding.

But that's life I guess.

[49410enrique]

working to address a conflict in a tempo indication to my Hamauzu prelude, he doesn't use designations like andante or moderato, etc but just gives the metronome marking. but my offical CD recording album the artist takes more than a little liberty with the tempo playing some 30 clicks slower in the opening bars and only upping it slightly. there are no tempo changes indicated in the score. it is the only publication/edition so there are no ways to cross reference this. so despite what is in my 'ear' i am retraining myself to hear it as the composer calls for it. as such the piece is taking on a different character and new technical challeges are presenting themselves as i approach the indicated tempo .

i am also trying to coordinate some foot action on doing some coloration with the keyboard through use of the sostenuto pedal when playing chords that sing in the innervoices then releasing just in time to allow a normal tone to ring on the top melody notes then quickly sostenuto pedal again, then release etc etc. it can get a bit tricky and hairy so plan on having this worked out by EOD

also memory is a piority, it is almost there but i have to play this next saturday so i have two days or so to realy nail it as the days up to a performance i really don't practice i just rehearse and practice the performance of it...

my other piece im working some tempo issues out in two toccata like passges that transition the piece from one theme to the next and that finish the work.. tricky!

bach , woking on tone variety within the same hand to allow for more differentiation between simultaneous lines/voices...