New here! Questions on where I should go...

[clarinetist]

Hi everyone!

So I've been playing piano for 2 years, all while studying with a college professor. Recently, I decided to drop my music major and focus on a math major instead - and I'm not quite certain if I will actually be able to take piano lessons next semester due to availability (won't know until later).

Below is the repertoire that I have played in chronological order (starting with my first piece and ending with the latest repertoire at the bottom):

- Prelude – Maurice Ravel (the really short one, not the Le Tombeau de Couperin one)
- Sonata in G major, K. 391/L. 79 – Domencio Scarlatti
- Prelude in c minor (#20) – Frederic Chopin
- Preludes, Book II (#10), “Canope” – Claude Debussy
- Four Arabesques, Arabesque #1 – Vincent Persichetti
- Four Little Fugues (Op. 43 #1) – Nicolai Miaskowsky
- Mazurka in Bb Major (Op. 7 #1) – Frederic Chopin
- Five Little Preludes (BWV 939, C Major – also transposed to F, Bb, Eb) – J.S. Bach
- Gymnopedie #1 – Satie
- Mikrokosmos, Book 4 – Bartok
- Waltz in b minor (Op. 69 #2) – Chopin

Before I dropped my music major, I was told that my fall repertoire, if I were able to study, would be:

- La vallee des cloches from "Miroirs" - Ravel
- Waltz in c# minor (Op. 64 #2) - Chopin
- Sonata in D Major, L. 482 (K. 389) - Scarlatti

A few concerns I have:

1) My sightreading is EXTREMELY slow for most pieces. Although I was originally a Music Theory major (and can analyze things quickly), my hands are extremely slow at hitting the keys.
2) I have all my major scales memorized, but don't have my minor scales and arpeggios memorized. Theoretically, I know them - but it's mainly the piano fingering that gets me.
3) I was recently told that I needed to use my wrist - and I've noticed that it has helped with making the Chopin Prelude in c minor a lot more even-sounding, so I'm assuming that will take a while to develop. (Until about a week or two ago, I was only using finger strength.)

I guess my main questions are:

1) In addition to the suggested repertoire, what would be some good pieces to study?
2) What would be "necessary" technique that I should try to have down? Would you recommend Czerny, Hanon, etc.?
3) How can I improve my sightreading? Typically, I choose pieces that are too hard for me to sightread, so I'm not quite sure where to look.

Thanks for the help!

[roseamelia]

Hello! Welcome to the forum! I'm Rose and I'm in level 6 been taking lessons for 1 year and have enjoyed it since I started piano. any-way welcome!

[sphince]

Hello clarinetist!
Your so-far repertoire looks nice especially for 2 years of playing
What I noticed is the absence of Bach(I mean bigger works than the preludes).
My suggestion would be to add some Bach in your repertoire for this year,I'd say maybe a 3-voce
invention or an English suite if you feel strong (Bach will also improve your "brain speed" when it comes to sight reading).You can also also add something modernistic but not impressionist(ravel is enough).You should listen to Prokofiev's Waltzes from Cinderella op.102 they are wonderful and sooo underplayed .Also it makes for excellent sight reading(assuming prokofiev's ambitious harmony of course).

for your 2nd question:
 Typically your technical study should constist from czerny 30,clementi and cramer these all make wonderful studies. but dont push yourself too far

 for your 3rd question
 1)Pick pieces that are at least 2 degrees from what you're actually playing
 2)Pick from different genre/composer/style everytime (for ex. dont sight read 3 mozart sonatinas or 2 chopin preludes in a row,I would recommend you to go for really extreme variety
say,bach then bartok then scarlatti then chopin then handel then bartok again and so on )
 3)whatever you play PLAY IT SLOWLY no one at this level is going to judge you for playing something too slowly.Play slow to the point where you have enough time to think about the next measure and a bit about the dynamics of the piece and always be relaxed and confident.
Hope this helped

Cheers

JG