The long term one hundred

[qpalqpal]

So, form a Bernhard post, he said list 100 pieces you would like to get done in a couple of years. HOW do I do this, AND by difficulty order it.  I tried to come up with a random list, some pieces that I love, and others which I want to do for my pianistics sake. SO, give me ideas on how to do the long-0middle-short term goal thing and how you do it.

Here is my so far list:
Cantabile in B flat major: Chopin
Invention 1 Bach
Sonatina 2 op.36
Sonatina 3 op.36
Sonatina 4 op.36
Sonatina 5 op.36
Sonatina 6 op.36
Invention 7 Bach
Waltz A minor posthumous Chopin
Prelude in B minor, op.28 no.6
Invention 8 Bach
Sonatina op.20 no.1 Kuhlau
Sonatina op.20 no.2 Kuhlau
Prelude 1 chopin
Etude Op. 25 no. 1
Nocturne Op. 9
Nocturn op.27no.2
Mozart sonata K545
Rachmaninoff C# minor Prelude Op.3 no. 2
Rachmaninoff B minor Prelude Op. 32 no. 10
Prokofiev Old Granny's Tales
Bach Prelude in C minor and Fugue WTC 1
Chopin Mazurka Op. 17 no. 4
Liszt Consolation 1
Liszt Liebestraum 1 2 3
Chopin Fantasie
Chopin Prelude 13
Chopin Impromptu no. 1
Ballade no. 1 Chopin
Debussy Arabesque 1 and 2
Debussy The girl with the Flaxen hair
Chopin Waltz op. 69 no. 1
Chopin Waltz op. 64 No. 2
Chopin Polonaise Op. 40 No. 1
Scriabin Prelude op. 11 no 4
Scriabin Prelude op. 11 no 1
Chopin Nocturnne in C# minor
Clementi Gradus ad Parnassum
Hummel Op. 125
Little Preludes + Fugues, Preludes
Bach Sinfonias
Liszt etude op. 1 no. 9!

[chopin2015]

Id group the Bach and Prokofiev together, also, do Beethoven first and most often. And Chopin here and there. I'd do the Rach last, loud and fast. Then Liszt, and the others.

[qpalqpal]

But can someone tell me how by come up with pieces to play and decid what's next

[davidjosepha]

But can someone tell me how by come up with pieces to play and decid what's next

It's hard to start with a list like that and organize it, so here are some tips. First, you're not going to be able to get it "perfect" since there is no perfect. Different pieces are hard in different ways, so you're going to find one piece that's hard because it has a ton of fast chords and one that is hard because it has fast individual notes, and you're not going to know which is harder, and maybe neither is. So basically, all the pieces you order are going to be in the right position, +/- 5 or so pieces.

If you're looking for someone to rank this list for you, you're most likely gonna be out of luck, but I will give you some tips on how I'd do it if it were me.

Here's how I'd start. First, find the ones that are within your capability range or maybe a little beyond it. The ones that are way beyond what you can play now are going to be very difficult to rank since after a certain point, everything you can't play is just "really hard" to you, when there are probably people who could play one of those "really hard" pieces, but not another one of your "really hard" ones.

Start from the top of the list of pieces that are within your range. Let's start with the first one in your signature, Bach Invention 1. So you write Bach Invention 1 down in a text document. Then look at the second piece in your signature, Clementi Op. 36 No. 2 Sonatina in G major. Is this piece harder or easier than Bach Invention 1? I honestly have no clue, I played the Clementi a long time ago, but I don't remember enough to compare it. Let's just say it's easier. So you put it a line above Bach Invention 1 on the list. So now your list looks like this:

Clementi Sonatina No. 2, Op. 36
Bach Invention No. 1

Now, go onto the Cantabile. I'm not sure where this one ranks either as I'm not familiar with it, but to help with the explanation, I'm going to say it's easier than the Bach but harder than the Clementi (don't bother correcting me if I'm wrong, I don't care ). So you put it between the two, your list now looks like this:

Clementi Sonatina No. 2, Op. 36
Chopin Cantabile
Bach Invention No. 1

Do this for any other pieces you are know enough about to rank. Using Piano Street's listing of pieces, you might be able to come up with a decent list just using the given difficulty level 1-8+; however, I wouldn't rely on it too much...doesn't seem that accurate, in my opinion, not that I could do a better job

In order to make the listing easier, you might even want to start with a set of pieces, like the Clementi Sonatinas, Op. 36. You have all 6 on the list, so maybe start by ordering them from easiest to hardest, which shouldn't be all that difficult since they are very similar. Then order the Bach inventions you want to play, the nocturnes, etc. Items of the same set will be easier to define in difficulty in relation to each other because there are many similarities; it's easier to compare two Bach Inventions than a Bach Partita and Rachmaninoff Etude-tableau, since they are completely different things. Once you've ordered these sets from easiest to difficult, try to interlay the sets and add in other pieces from there.

Good luck, and if you have any specific questions about where certain pieces fit in the list once you've already got the list started, I'd be more than happy to help, if I can, as would, I'm sure, many on this forum, but you're going to have to get it started for yourself, I'm afraid.

[qpalqpal]

Thank you very much. I have an idea now... I'll make category for something and then use them one at a time. Example

Baroque:Invention
Classical:Sonatina
Romantic:Cantabile
Post-Classical:Prokofiev

[chopin2015]

I feel like some of Prokofiev is like Baroque on shrooms. Hey can we discuss psychedelics on here?

[qpalqpal]

Hell no! Dude I'm 14. And I think Prokofiev is very playful, it you get passed atonality

[davidjosepha]

I feel like some of Prokofiev is like Baroque on shrooms. Hey can we discuss psychedelics on here?

How old are you?

[rachmaninoff_forever]

Hell no! Dude I'm 14. And I think Prokofiev is very playful, it you get passed atonality

But his music isn't atonal.

[chopin2015]

Oh, good point. I am not 14. The only book I have by him is the visions, sarcasms, and fugitives. His etudes look awesome but just like the rest of most of his music, technical and musically absurd and scandalous and sometimes pretty from time to time.

[chopin2015]

https://valentina-igoshina.com/repertoire/

[qpalqpal]

It isn't atonal, but it's not what you expect. Also, some of his music played by him is very sweet. And his fast music is sometime cartoonish, which I love. Very Russian

[outin]

This is how I do it:

I have listened and keep listening to new piano music. Whenever I like something I put it on my list. Either "to do now list" of "to do some day" list", which now is about 500 pieces long

To decide which list it goes to I use sources. I realized pretty soon after I started that I cannot assess the difficulty of the piece just by looking at the score and to sight read the pieces it would take so much time that it makes little sense (I'm just so bad in it).

The sources I use to assess the difficulty of the pieces:

Pianosteet

Online syllabuses of different grading systems, I don't have the links on this computer but you can always start with ABRSM.

I also have this great book:
Pianist's Guide to Standard Teaching and Performance Literature by Jane Magrath
It has been really helpful. It doesn't have anything really advanced in it, yet a huge amount of pieces are graded and with comments also, not just numbers.

The syllabuses and the book may have different grading systems but you soon learn to calibrate.

I have set the division between my lists around grade 6. Everything above that goes to "some day", grade 6 depending on how desperately I want to learn the piece

[davidjosepha]

I am not 14.

It was more of a rhetorical, "How old are you?" in the sense of "I don't know anyone older than 15 who talks about drugs and thinks they are cool." I know plenty of people who use drugs, but they don't talk about them like "Hey do you smoke weed oh my God me too let's have a party!"

[chopin2015]

I don't drink or do drugs...which is the best thing for all of us.

[davidjosepha]

To decide which list it goes to I use sources. I realized pretty soon after I started that I cannot assess the difficulty of the piece just by looking at the score and to sight read the pieces it would take so much time that it makes little sense (I'm just so bad in it).

Sightread them. Trust me, it'll make you a ton better sightreader as you do it. Sightreading is something a lot of people don't practice much. They only do it when they're learning a new piece and are forced to. But because people don't practice it that much, it is so weak, it doesn't even take that much time to see a notable improvement. I made a project to sightread all the music I own, which, sadly/happily, is a never-ending pursuit since I continue to increase the size of my collection, at the moment, much faster than I can/do sightread things. Anyway, since I've started doing it, I've, first of all, had a ton of fun discovering music I've never even heard, much less played, and I've watched as I go from stopping every second to check what the notes are to playing straight through, rarely breaking time to check notes. I still sightread significantly slower than the piece is supposed to be played, generally, but I can keep a mostly constant tempo now and find I'm not working so hard. Lots of it is starting to come naturally. And, I haven't noticed this as much since I haven't been working on many new pieces in the past couple weeks (which is how long I've been working on sightreading--two to three weeks and already noticeable results!), but I've been told (and can easily believe) it speeds up the process of learning new pieces, so you'll be able to learn pieces significantly faster than you currently can. More music under your belt in less time, sounds like a deal, right?

I don't drink or do drugs...which is the best thing for all of us.

Glad to hear it!

[qpalqpal]

Ah! What joy there just be in being able to sight-ride, say, a Chopin nocturn. I really wan that skill, because, as you said, it helps you learn pieces faster . Man... So jealous of those incredible sight readers.

[chopin2015]

I am awful at reading rhythm unless I hear the piece first, and I know it is because I miss detail, and I have astigmatism and sometimes confuse seconds and thirds(intervals). It helps to see patterns, simply ascending, descending, arpeggio, chromatic, octaves, etc and you could also improve your sight reading by improvising in the key signature that you are working in.

[outin]

Sightread them. Trust me, it'll make you a ton better sightreader as you do it.

With all respect you have no idea what you are talking about (in my case that is)

I am not just a bad sight reader, I am partly note-blind. It would take me literally hours to just get through one page of more difficult music. And it would not be sight-reading really, because I have to stop all the time and use my finger to help see where the notes are on the staff. I cannot remember the key signature so I have to check that all the time too.

My sight reading exercises consist of grade 1-2 pieces at the moment, but it's pretty boring so I don't do it enough.

There's also the fact that I don't have all the time in the world to learn to play, I'm not that young and I also have to work and do lots of other stuff besides practicing, so I really want to use that time to learn to play.

But thanks anyway, for someone else that might be just the thing to do

EDIT: The thing is I might add 10 pieces in a week to my lists, so just the sheer amount makes it impossible to sight read them all. But of course I always first (attempt to) sight read the pieces when I actually start to learn them. And I am getting a little better, I'm not quite as hopeless as last year.

[qpalqpal]

UPDATED LIST:

Okay, so I decided that for the next months I will tackle four pieces at a time, and this will be one from every era: Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Other. It is in order by difficulty...
What do you guys think of the list, is it well ordered by difficulty.

Repertoire List in Progressive Order of Difficulty, Least-Greatest

Repertoire List in Progressive Order of Difficulty, Least-Greatest

Baroque:
Bach Invention 1
Bach Invention 7
Bach Little Prelude BWV 934
Bach Invention 8
Bach Invention 13
Scarlatti K32
Bach Sinfonia 15
Bach Prelude and Fugue in E minor (WTC I)
Bach Prelude and Fugue in C minor (WTC I)

Classical:
Clementi Sonatina Op. 36 No. 2
Clementi Sonatina Op. 36 No. 3
Clementi Sonatina Op. 36 No. 4
Kuhlau Sonatina Op. 20 No. 1
Kuhlau Sonatina Op. 20 No. 2
Clementi Sonatina Op. 36 No. 5
Kuhlau Sonatina Op. 20 No. 3
Clementi Sonatina Op. 36 No. 6
Mozart Sonata K545
Clementi Sonata Op. 24 No. 2
Clementi Gradus ad Parnassum (selected)
Hummel Op. 125 (selected)

Romantic:
Chopin Cantabile in B flat major
Chopin Waltz in A minor (posthumous)
Chopin Prelude Op. 28 No. 20
Chopin Prelude Op. 28 No. 6
Liszt Consolation 1
Chopin Mazurka Op. 17 No. 4
Chopin Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2
Chopin Waltz Op. 69 No. 1
Chopin Nocturne Op. 9 No. 1
Chopin Prelude Op. 28 no. 13
Chopin Nocturne Op. 72 No. 2
Chopin Waltz Op. 64 No. 2
Rachmaninoff Moment Musical Op. 16 No. 3
Chopin Nocturne Op. 72 No. 1
Rachmaninoff Prelude Op. 3 No. 2
Chopin Polonaise Op. 40 No. 1
Chopin Impromptu No. 1
Chopin Nocturne Op. 27 No. 2
Liszt Etude Op. 1 No. 9
Rachmaninoff Prelude Op. 23 No. 5
Chopin Prelude in C major Op. 28 No. 1
Chopin Fantasie Impromptu
Rachmaninoff Prelude Op. 32 No. 10
Liszt Liebestraum No. 3
Chopin Etude Op. 25 No. 1
Chopin Scherzo No. 2
Chopin Ballade No. 1

Impressionist/Post-Romanticism/Modern:
Prokofiev Tale Op. 24 No. 2
Scriabin Prelude Op. 11 No. 15
Prokofiev Tale Op. 24 No. 1
Prokofiev Tale Op. 24 No. 3
Scriabin Prelude Op. 11 No. 4
Debussy Prelude 8 (Book I)
Prokofiev Tale Op. 24 No. 4
Scriabin Prelude Op. 11 No. 1
Debussy Arabesque No. 2
Phillips Pastel Op. 24 No. 2

[j_menz]

100 wouldn't get me through the "A"s. 

[qpalqpal]

What do you mean?

[outin]

100 wouldn't get me through the "A"s. 

Same here, but our time on earth is limited you know:)

[j_menz]

Same here, but our time on earth is limited you know:)

I'm not leaving until I'm finished.

[davidjosepha]

I'm not leaving until I'm finished.

Life ain't a restaurant. If it closes, you don't get to stay and finish your meal. You're kicked out on your head.

Edit: Please note that if I were the manager of life, I'd allow people to finish their meals.

[rachmaninoff_forever]

UPDATED LIST:

Okay, so I decided that for the next months I will tackle four pieces at a time, and this will be one from every era: Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Other. It is in order by difficulty...
What do you guys think of the list, is it well ordered by difficulty.

Repertoire List in Progressive Order of Difficulty, Least-Greatest

Repertoire List in Progressive Order of Difficulty, Least-Greatest

Baroque:
Bach Invention 1
Bach Invention 7
Bach Little Prelude BWV 934
Bach Invention 8
Bach Invention 13
Scarlatti K32
Bach Sinfonia 15
Bach Prelude and Fugue in E minor (WTC I)
Bach Prelude and Fugue in C minor (WTC I)

Classical:
Clementi Sonatina Op. 36 No. 2
Clementi Sonatina Op. 36 No. 3
Clementi Sonatina Op. 36 No. 4
Kuhlau Sonatina Op. 20 No. 1
Kuhlau Sonatina Op. 20 No. 2
Clementi Sonatina Op. 36 No. 5
Kuhlau Sonatina Op. 20 No. 3
Clementi Sonatina Op. 36 No. 6
Mozart Sonata K545
Clementi Sonata Op. 24 No. 2
Clementi Gradus ad Parnassum (selected)
Hummel Op. 125 (selected)

Romantic:
Chopin Cantabile in B flat major
Chopin Waltz in A minor (posthumous)
Chopin Prelude Op. 28 No. 20
Chopin Prelude Op. 28 No. 6
Liszt Consolation 1
Chopin Mazurka Op. 17 No. 4
Chopin Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2
Chopin Waltz Op. 69 No. 1
Chopin Nocturne Op. 9 No. 1
Chopin Prelude Op. 28 no. 13
Chopin Nocturne Op. 72 No. 2
Chopin Waltz Op. 64 No. 2
Rachmaninoff Moment Musical Op. 16 No. 3
Chopin Nocturne Op. 72 No. 1
Rachmaninoff Prelude Op. 3 No. 2
Chopin Polonaise Op. 40 No. 1
Chopin Impromptu No. 1
Chopin Nocturne Op. 27 No. 2
Liszt Etude Op. 1 No. 9
Rachmaninoff Prelude Op. 23 No. 5
Chopin Prelude in C major Op. 28 No. 1
Chopin Fantasie Impromptu
Rachmaninoff Prelude Op. 32 No. 10
Liszt Liebestraum No. 3
Chopin Etude Op. 25 No. 1
Chopin Scherzo No. 2
Chopin Ballade No. 1

Impressionist/Post-Romanticism/Modern:
Prokofiev Tale Op. 24 No. 2
Scriabin Prelude Op. 11 No. 15
Prokofiev Tale Op. 24 No. 1
Prokofiev Tale Op. 24 No. 3
Scriabin Prelude Op. 11 No. 4
Debussy Prelude 8 (Book I)
Prokofiev Tale Op. 24 No. 4
Scriabin Prelude Op. 11 No. 1
Debussy Arabesque No. 2
Phillips Pastel Op. 24 No. 2

I think you should just play whatever you like irrespective of what era they come from.  That being said, that's a lot of music.  Practice practice practice!

[qpalqpal]

I am deeply sorry for not putting enough RACHMANINOFF>I don't really know intrinsically his works in and out, so i choose what stands out :S

[rachmaninoff_forever]

I am deeply sorry for not putting enough RACHMANINOFF

That's a sin!  You must ask him for forgiveness now or else you'll never be able to play his works!

No but it's okay dude.  You only started piano like seven months ago right?  Yeah, in a little while your list is gonna get WAY bigger.

[qpalqpal]

To whom it may concern, this is my goal:




Due Christmas:

Bach Invention 1
Bach Invention 7
Clementi Sonatina Op. 36 no. 2
Clementi Sonatina Op. 36 no. 3
Chopin Cantabile
Chopin Waltz in A minor (posthumous)
Chopin Prelude op. 28 no. 20
Chopin Prelude op. 28 no. 6
Prokofiev Tale Op. 24 No. 2
Scriabin Prelude Op. 11 No. 15
Prokofiev Tale Op. 24 No. 1

[ajspiano]

Yeah, in a little while your list is gonna get WAY bigger.

Bernhard advocates 100 pieces per year, if you manage to correctly follow all his methods.

The list is meant to get WAYYYYY bigger, and be organised into groups like this month, this year, next 5 years and next 10 years etc..

Its about expanding a beginner students horizons, exposing them to repertoire and teaching them how to organise their learning into an effective plan.

[j_menz]

The list is meant to get WAYYYYY bigger, and be organised into groups like this month, this year, next 5 years and next 10 years etc..

I've already got things on my list for the millenium after next.

[qpalqpal]

So like this?

End of September:

Session 1:Bach Invention 1, technically mastered
              Begin Invention 7
Session 2:Finished the first Clementi Sonatina
              Begin the Second near October
Session 3:Finish Cantabile
              Begin Waltz in A minor
Session 4:Finish tale
              Begin Scriabin

And then obviously I will do the sessions for every piece and calculate EXACTLY how much time for now.

[ajspiano]

Maybe I got the numbers wrong..

In my bernhard index this thread is sub-titled "how to study 20 pieces per month" - but they seem to talk alot about 20 pieces per year. Some people arguing that its totally unrealistic and bernhard explaining how to go about it.

https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php/topic,4750.msg45125.html#msg45125

Difficulty is a factor, part of the "list" project is ordering them into progressive difficulties (which you knew) - you've done it by period yeh? You can also go across periods, rather observing technical similarities..  this piece technically prepares me for that one..

And where you have monsters with no preparatory pieces you can go searching for them, expanding the list and your technique to satisfy your personal prerequisites for the monster pieces.

....

Bernhard is arguing for working on 20 pieces simultaneously here, if I remember rightly, which would require minimum 5+ hours of well structured daily practice. - Assuming 1 x 20 minute session per piece per day.

Its not for you 1 hour a day people ...you need to consider whats plausible for the amount of time you are putting in.

[qpalqpal]

Thank you, ajspiano! The thing is, unlike piano teachers, I am not familiar with pieces similar to others. EX: piece that prepares me for Chopin's monster ballade 1, monster scherzo 2, Isidore Phillips Feux Follets. It would be difficult, so the list has to adapt, be flexible. There will be acne on the way (Prepatory pieces  ) But yeah, I get you, and some parts in my list work as such (look at my classical and baroque list)

....

And by the way, I have no control over if I have more time or not. This school year is goin to be tough, and so I need to limit myself. Is this still not  satisfactory>? ;o

[ajspiano]

!! - here's the other thing I was looking for..

Following was an outline of a single days practice plan, as written for ~4 hours of practice time (spread throughout day if necessary). This breakdown incorporates work on 7 pieces...
................................................

Session 1: First 2 bars of Chopin op. 10 no. 1, HT

Session 2: Complete outline of Chopin Op. 25 no.1 (outline: get rid of all the small notes – the arpeggio figurations, and play only the melodic notes).

Session 3: the first arpeggio figuration in Chopin op. 25 no. 1

Session 4: Work out the ornaments (away from the piano) in Scarlatti’s sonata K427.

Session 5: Play through (as in a performance) Schubert’s Impromptu op. 90 no. 3 which was learned last month.

Session 6: Work on the Bach fugue in Gm (no. 15 WTC 2), each voice separately, bars 3 – 5.

Session 7: Sight-read through the piano part of Arvo Part’s Spiegel im Spiegel for violin and piano.

Session 8: Bars 25 – 26 of Chopin’s op. 10 no. 1 HT.

Session 9: Beethoven sonata op. 78 – play as if in performance.

Session 10:Keep going with session 9 if necessary.

Session 11: Bars 76 – 79 of Chopin’s op. 10 no. 1 HT.

Session 12: Just play for pleasure.

[qpalqpal]

SO this is for example what I will do tomorrow:

Session 1:

Bach Invention 1 motif score, whole piece, play through.

(once bringing out the inversions, then alternate to bringing out retrogrades. and of course c scale, arpeggios etc.)

Session 2:

Clementi Sonatina: liszten to piece once and get to piano, practicing the bars 1-5, and mastering it. F major scale introduced (again -_-) as well as arpeggios etc.

Session 3:

Chopin Cantabile
bars 1-4+5-6+7-8
then, when finished, bars 1-8

Session 4:

Prokofiev's tale, compile recordings, liszten to piece and familiarize myself with it
Mentally map sections of the piece, etc, other techniques with listen which can be explained later.


All in less then an hour and a half.

Is this correct?? Am I completely mistaken, ajspiano and all>?>

...

Session 5:

Now: Pianostreet, Classical diversion on YouTube etc! Woohoo, my favorite

School starts: Homework., study. This is my largest 20min session, and it is approximately 1-3 hours long

[ajspiano]

Is this correct?? Am I completely mistaken, ajspiano and all>?>

Looks good to me, the more you do this kind of thing the more you will refine exactly what you should do - and the effectiveness of your process will increase.

The critical thing is that you know what you want to work on, and have an idea of what you want to achieve with those pieces, and that you follow your plan (rather than get distracted with one piece for the whole day). Its not imperative that you learn 20 pieces all at once, but it is a REALLY good idea to set a goal for a series of piece and practice with purpose on them.

Now, if you don't acheive what you set out to depite going through all the sessions it can be frustrating, but thats where you have to take control of that situation and just question yourself on each particular element "why didnt I get there today? was it a reasonable expectation or should I have done a smaller section?" - "how will I approach it next time?"  ..that kind of thing.

.........

As far as the repertoire knowledge..  unfortunately you're not going to walk into that over night, but you can listen to lots of music, and follow on scores (IMSLP) and get an idea for different pieces and the figures they contain - even if you're not going to learn them right now..  This could be 1 session on future days, or something you do once or twice a week.

[qpalqpal]

Yes, I understand. If I get all this wrong, it means I will learn something when I improve . After all, failure is mandatory for improvement.

And yes I get you with the listen to pieces and following their scores. I think I do that every so often and ts very fun. Also, I think that when the time comes to play the ballade, I should hopefully have a teacher

[davidjosepha]

What I want to know is, how can one possibly get through so much repertoire so quickly? I can't imagine learning 100 pieces a year...I probably learn 10-15, and I have several hours of focused practice a day.

[qpalqpal]

A couple of hard pieces, as well as some simpler pieces. Bernhard's method too.

If you are only learning the difficult sonatas, then that's more than reasonable. On the other hand...

[j_menz]

On anyone's list there should be pieces that are well within one's technical capabilities. Obviously, as one improves there is more of that material around, but it's never really too early to get into that habit.

There is sometimes an assumption that the only pieces worth spending time with are the ones that are just a bit harder than comfortable.  Whilst there certainly is merit in doing such pieces, there is much you can learn, and much pleasure to be had, from playing stuff that is comparatively "easy".

[qpalqpal]

On anyone's list there should be pieces that are well within one's technical capabilities. Obviously, as one improves there is more of that material around, but it's never really too early to get into that habit.

There is sometimes an assumption that the only pieces worth spending time with are the ones that are just a bit harder than comfortable.  Whilst there certainly is merit in doing such pieces, there is much you can learn, and much pleasure to be had, from playing stuff that is comparatively "easy".

Amen! For example, Horowitz, Traumari? Easy, yet he plays it

[davidjosepha]

A couple of hard pieces, as well as some simpler pieces. Bernhard's method too.

If you are only learning the difficult sonatas, then that's more than reasonable. On the other hand...

Well, based on the rate I see people's signatures here change, most people don't seem to get through much more than that either.

There is sometimes an assumption that the only pieces worth spending time with are the ones that are just a bit harder than comfortable.  Whilst there certainly is merit in doing such pieces, there is much you can learn, and much pleasure to be had, from playing stuff that is comparatively "easy".

I play exclusively for pleasure. I play exactly what I want to play, no matter how easy. But even with easy pieces, I have trouble getting them "perfect." Like, it'll take me a lot longer to learn to play a hard piece vs a very easy one, but regardless of difficulty, it seems to take a certain amount of time before I really feel comfortable with a piece to the point of considering it "finished".

[outin]

I play exclusively for pleasure. I play exactly what I want to play, no matter how easy. But even with easy pieces, I have trouble getting them "perfect." Like, it'll take me a lot longer to learn to play a hard piece vs a very easy one, but regardless of difficulty, it seems to take a certain amount of time before I really feel comfortable with a piece to the point of considering it "finished".

I feel exactly the same. I think it's just being a perfectionist.

[davidjosepha]

Perhaps the best thing to do to avoid wasting time while the piece "sinks in", put it on the backburner and start working on new music?

[qpalqpal]

Amen!!! That's what I was about to say. Okay do that. Bernhard says it too

I think over practicing a piece can get it to fell repetitive and also might make it worse. So definitely do that. Have some urgency

[ajspiano]

I feel exactly the same. I think it's just being a perfectionist.

Yes.

But.

In my experience at least there are levels of perfection that you don't realise are there until you 'find' them. And you may be required to work for months/years on much different music to find those elements - and without even knowing what you're looking for (no teacher ever told me about them [but perhaps I was unlucky]).


..once you do grasp one or more of those elements from one particular piece, in a way that you are plainly aware of what you did (not always the case when you perfect something)..   that's when you start to learn things faster, because you actually know what you're trying to learn and what to look for in future pieces

....as opposed to crawling your way into the dark bottomless pit of piano playing.

^which is how I sometimes like to refer to the infinite number of ways you can think/feel/move in relation to the piano.

[danhuyle]

Learning 100 pieces per year? I haven't even touched that many pieces yet.

In university they teach less than 10 pieces per year.

Is there a method to be able to pull this off?

[qpalqpal]

I'm doing ten in 4 months, and I have one and a half hours a day

[davidjosepha]

I'm doing ten in 4 months, and I have one and a half hours a day

Assuming you're trying to make a comparison, the works you are working on are quite short, leaving much fewer notes to learn, so naturally you will take less time to learn them. I remember going through Clementi sonatinas and other works once a week when I was younger, but after pieces started getting longer and had more notes in a period of time, I started slowing down the speed I learned them significantly.