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Topic: Is this normal? (Listening to the same piece over & over & over…)  (Read 1624 times)

Offline matthew from florida

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Sometimes when I discover, or re-discover, a new piece, it somehow gets stuck in my head and I listen to it over and over, hundreds or perhaps even thousands of times for a period of many weeks. I memorize the whole thing and mentally play it back to myself when I don’t have access to a media player. I look it up on Wikipedia and learn what I can about the piece. I go through You Tube and listen to different performances and pick out a favorite which usually becomes the only one I listen to. I download the music sheet and read along as the music is played. I imagine myself playing it.

Unfortunately all of these pieces are far, far beyond any piano skill I could hope to achieve, so I never have a chance of playing them, though I may pick out some easy sections to mess around with just for the fun of it.

Just yesterday I got hooked on a new one: Liszt Transcendental Etude #4. I’ve already picked out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93SToONMyk0[/youtube]"]this recording by Berezovksy as a favorite.

Before this one I was hooked on the Alkan Sonata Op. 33 and Hamelin’s performances. Before that it was both https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prnW7UA-K8E[/youtube]"]Lizst’s Mephisto Waltz no. 1 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEnfZjqMSy0[/youtube]"]la campanella. Before that it was Chopins opus 38 and then opus 39 before that. Before that Lizst Mephisto Waltz 1 (again). I think the Chopin Etudes (esp. 1, 4, & 12) before that. On and on…

Does anyone else experience this… or am I a bit crazy? I’ll stay hooked on each piece for weeks, or in the most recent case of the Mephisto Waltz, it lasted some 3-4 months.

Offline j_menz

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or am I a bit crazy?

No, just a bit obsessive. I do something similar, but usually with groups of pieces, and not for as long, and I tend to listen to different performances of the piece not just the one.

Oh, and picking the Berezovsky Mazeppa pushes you much closer to crazy.  ::)
"What the world needs is more geniuses with humility. There are so few of us left" -- Oscar Levant

Offline matthew from florida

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I might have slightly overstated how obsessive I am... don't want to make it sound like I listen to nothing else at one time, but almost  :o

If there is a different must see performance of the Mazeppa btw let me know ;D

Offline bronnestam

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I sincerely believe that if you can keep a piece so totally in your head, you can also learn to play it. After all, the technical issues are just a small part of it - what really matters is that you have a clear idea in your head on how to play this piece. And you already have that, right?  Take your time and work with very small sections at a time. The feeling when you start to create this piece with your own hands is incredible. So what if it takes years. All these pieces are written for human beings.

I can also get slightly obsessed from time to time  ;)  and I love that feeling. 

Offline lloyd_cdb

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I might have slightly overstated how obsessive I am... don't want to make it sound like I listen to nothing else at one time, but almost  :o

I do the exact same thing. No shame in it. I've tried making bigger playlists so I don't listen to the same song. I end up just hitting repeat 30 times in a row.
I've been trying to give myself a healthy reminder: https://internetsarcasm.com/
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Watch the Preliminaries of the Chopin Competition

The Preliminaries of the 19th International Chopin Competition are underway in the Chamber Music Hall of the Warsaw Philharmonic. From April 23 to May 4, 163 pianists from 28 countries are performing their best Chopin etudes, nocturnes, scherzos, and mazurkas. Watch all performances online and form your opinion about who is worthy of a place in the final stages of the competition this October. Read more
 

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