Chopin Scherzos and Ballades

[mr_drm]

I have set a goal to learn the Chopin scherzos (scherzi?) and ballades over the next few years. This is actually a bigger goal for me than for some. I have played a few Beethoven sonatas (the last was 81a) and a few Chopin waltzes and nocturnes, but nothing as difficult as the ballades.

For anyone who has played all or some of them: is there any sense in ordering the scherzos and ballades by level of diffuculty or progression, or should I just start with my favorites? I'm leaning toward the first ballade and scherzo 2, to start.

I would appreciate your thoughts!

[danhuyle]

The order I learned the Ballades and Scherzi
- Ballade no1&3
- Scherzo No2,3,1,4
- Fantaisie Op49
- Ballade 2 & 4

That's just the technical side of things. The note learning is easy and it's not the note learning where the difficulty is. The difficulty for these pieces are seen AFTER you've learned the notes (like many other high demand piece).

For the interpretation, you pick the one you like most and work on that.

[cmg]

The order I learned the Ballades and Scherzi
- Ballade no1&3
- Scherzo No2,3,1,4
- Fantaisie Op49
- Ballade 2 & 4

That's just the technical side of things. The note learning is easy and it's not the note learning where the difficulty is. The difficulty for these pieces are seen AFTER you've learned the notes (like many other high demand piece).

For the interpretation, you pick the one you like most and work on that.

It's typical of this forum that no one has bothered to thank this responder for his thoughtful post.

Okay, so I will.  Thanks.  The best quote is:


 "The difficulty for these pieces are seen AFTER you've learned the notes (like many other high demand pieces)."

Not everyone is 16-years-old here and lacking in basic social skills.  There are actual adult pianists giving you help.  You might pay attention.  You might say "thank you."

[mr_drm]

The order I learned the Ballades and Scherzi
- Ballade no1&3
- Scherzo No2,3,1,4
- Fantaisie Op49
- Ballade 2 & 4

That's just the technical side of things. The note learning is easy and it's not the note learning where the difficulty is. The difficulty for these pieces are seen AFTER you've learned the notes (like many other high demand piece).

For the interpretation, you pick the one you like most and work on that.

Thank you, Dan. I appreciate very much your suggestions and thoughts, and taking the time to share your insights from playing these pieces.

This will be quite a long slog and I won't bore people here with the tedium of every detail. I just went through the Ballade no. 1 tonight, selecting the sections to work on first. I suppose I'll divide the piece up, making a bunch of little etudes, initially, eventually bringing the parts together.