Want to play Rhapsody in Blue. How long will it take?

[toby1]

Hi All,

I just joined the Piano Street forums. I'm in my late 20s and just returned to the piano about 3 months ago. I'm currently studying for my AMEB Grade 8 Examinations, which I guessed puts me as an intermediate beginner level?

Currently working on Rage over a lost penny, Wedding Day at Troldhaugen, and the Hunting Song by Mendelssohn for fun. For my exam I'm working on Sonata in A major by Mozart, The Engulfed Cathedral by Debussy, The Evening by Schumann from fantasiestucke and Fugue from Suite in F minor by Handel.

My big aim one day is to learn to play Rhapsody in Blue by Gershwin. So with that in mind, a couple questions for folks here.

1) Should I start learning some written jazz/contemporary pieces as preparation towards that goal? I eventually want to get my AmusA or LmusA diploma which offer mostly western classical style pieces.

2) Just how difficult, compared to my current pieces I'm learning, is the Rhapsody in Blue? I'm trying to work out a road map to playing the piece.

3) Just for fun, has anyone else read any of the research by Anders Ericsson on deliberate practice? It's part of why I returned to the piano after a 10 year-ish hiatus. Do you think natural talent really exists? Rachmaninov had large hands which let him do things that I prob can do with my reach. I can just manage a C to E stretch, although I have to slide to the bottom of the keys to comfortably reach it.

I'm joining up to keep my motivation and practice up. I've set myself a goal of trying to manage a minimum of 2 hours practice a day, 5 days a week as a kind of experiment to see what I can really achieve with hard work. I sometimes do more, sometimes less. Anyways, thanks for reading the wall of text.

[zezhyrule]

Rachmaninov had large hands which let him do things that I prob can do with my reach. I can just manage a C to E stretch

Oooh ooh I can reach a 10th also! That means crazy natural talent, right? *throws away everything else and starts Rach 2*

Oh, unless you mean a 3rd. I can do that too, it's just a pretty awkward strech.

[p2u_]

Just how difficult, compared to my current pieces I'm learning, is the Rhapsody in Blue?

It's really not easy and it has the kind of technique you haven't been through yet, judging from your repertoire. My suggestion would be to get the music, play it through slowly and see what it requires. Do not attempt to play it up to speed yet, because that will be a disappointment. As soon as you have a general overview of the problems, probably together with a teacher or a guide, work on the technical shortcomings with special exercises. This is going to take some time (maybe a couple of years even), but if you have really set this goal for yourself, you will find a way to reach it. Good luck!

Paul

[49410enrique]

i think you should buy the score and like was said above begin reading it and finding places that will be problematic and consult your/a teacher about it. hard to say how long it would take.  that would amongst other things depend on how much time you have to practice, how much other repetertoire you work along with it and how much rehearsal time you will have with the 2nd piano and orchestra.

i am planing on beginning the solo transcription over the christmas holidays and do not plan on even being remotely ready to play it in public till at least september 2013 so for me it's going to be a 9 month deal minimum but i also work a LOT of other repertorie with.

i have never done a 'level this or that' but i would put myself as a 'student' level performer.

if you go solo transcription route i HIGHLY reccommend you get the edition i picked up by henry wassamer who was one of gershwins piano teachers, it is considered much better than the originial transcription which was essentially finished off by a staff arranger at schirmer and has some uneccessary horrendously difficult places technically. the wassamer version preserves the musical integrity of the work in those spots , is still very 'impressive' /virtuosic in many spots but much more accessible by those of us without a lot of experience in mastery of highly virtuosic and long very difficult concerto works. it is by no means a watered down easy version but just makes a lot of sense in certain spots for solo performance. there are still 'orchestra' performance cues that can be followed to make it fit with the origianl orchestration as well if that is the route you'd be taking.


might be a good idea to play a couple of the gershwin preludes or some of the earl wild gershwin etudes as tech and musical prep.

[starstruck5]

All hunting songs should be burned!

This question is a bit like asking how long is a piece of string -there are so many variables -even if we knew all those -it would still ultimately be down to you -

[toby1]

Thanks for the advice so far, I'll keep it in mind.

Playing the piano is a bit of a journey I guess and we all take our own time to move towards our goals.

I should have been clearer and stated that I wanted to play the solo piano performance version, I don't have access to an orchestra as an amateur. On a side note I meant to say that Rachamninov's large hands meant he could do things that I can't do with my regular, mere mortal sized hands. My reach is average for an adult male, no pretensions of genius here. In fact when I was doing music in high school, there was a young kid 2 years my junior who was put into the senior year class because he was so advanced. I think he does accompanist work now.

I'll try to read my posts more carefully next time.

My teacher has told me to avoid the more taxing pieces for my exams. According to her they mark based on how well you play the piece, not on difficulty of the piece within the exam level. I've got a vague suspicion though that the "taxing" pieces are more fun though

I'm planning to start Gerswin's Prelude number 1 in the holiday break, or after I finish Jagerlied which is probably my closest to being finished for now.

Thanks for all the advice, it's great to see an online forum where every post doesn't descend into trolling and immature behaviour. Now back to the piano before my lesson

[jkosmic]

I'm gonna give some real motivation.......

My name is Jonathan Diaz,I grew up in Puerto Rico, I'm 26 now, and started playing piano when I was 13, but I started playing classical when I was 17,,,. In that year when I was 17, I had a bet with a guy from my school, to see who was the better pianist,,,, I lost badly,,that moment triggered something special for the rest of my life!!!.... I felt so bad about myself,, that I said to myself I was gonna practice the piano till I was the best!!. Ironically, my father bought a grand piano for the house, that same year. It was in February 2003, The only pieces I could play at that moment,, where Fur elise, chopsticks lol,,the first movement of MOzart k535 and Chopin waltz # 64 right!, just common pieces you find on any casio keyboard!! lol. I started listening to the most famous classical pieces like, Moonlight  SOnata, Fantasie Impromptu, Rhapsody in blue, Hungarian Rhapsody #2 , Clair de lune and so on. I don't remember witch one I started practicing but I assure you, I managed to figure out how to play Rhapsody in blue in the summer,, it took 2 months day and night till I got it, I'm not lying its the honest truth!..And it stills is the best one that I can play!. Now I had just a tiny amount of skill when I started playing again in february of that year, but I played and played, and when it was summer I poured my heart out to rhapsody in blue witch to me its the most beautifull and exciting piece for any pianist to play!. BUt before that In february, I started learning, more easier pieces like, Chopin Nocturne opus 9, clair de lune, fantasie impromptu, Wedding day at trouldhagen, moonlight sonata, and then Hungarian rhapsody #2 liszt,, yes I played that too!, and very good I might add!!, and I managed to aquire the tecnical skills necesary to play rhapsody in blue. The next year I was accepted to study in the Conservatory of Music in puerto rico,, after playing just a few pages of rhapsody in blue in the audition, Ironically, I never got to be a proffessional pianist, because I had problems in college, and opted for a career in music production!. It may seem hard to believe that you can learn all those pieces in less than one year, and play them good, and on top of it, not having the skills necesary to learn them, O and without a teacher, but believe me, I DID IT!. HOW DID I DID IT. Well first of all, I listened to the pieces each night for months, 2), I never stopped practicing, in fact the whole summer I literally did not come out of my house 3) I played till my arms hurted, 4) I practiced the hard parts like a million times, but the trick was, I put my laptop on top of my piano and I learned the pieces mostly by ear with a program called sibelius scorch (at that time), because I could not read music very well, but I did also learned them with the sheet music!,,but the real formula, is listen and practice, thats the key to do it fast, because if you just do it looking at the sheet, its gonna take some time,, and believe me, my interpretation of the pieces its right on point!. I dont know if I was born with the talent or what, I just now, I busted my ass off!


COnclusion: Of course you can learn rhapsody in blue, I DID, why cant you!!, anybody that puts their mind into something can achieve anything, but be carefull,, obsesion its not for the faint hearted!!,,, PEACE!!!............JONATHAN DIAZ

[jkosmic]

Heres me paying rhapsody in blue,,, now keep in mind,, I dont practice the piano since years, because Its not my thing anymore!! so I forgot most of the piece!! lol

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