How do I know if a piano piece is too difficult for me?

[psm357]

Hi guys! Sometimes when I started to play a new piano piece, I realize that I cannot catch the tune of this piece when I am playing it. Does it means this piece is too difficult for me? I can make myself play out the whole piece, one note at a time, but I cannot seem to catch the tune, hence the notes feel separated. Thanks for answering my question!

[chechig]

As I dont have a teacher for the moment, It helps me a lot to listen to the piece played by a good pianist. I heard the piece many times and it helps to interpretate the sheets and to catch the speed, the tune. Sometimes is difficult at the begining to know if it's your level. It happened to me recently with one piece, after a week of practice I realized it was a waste of time and I started to get frustrated, and there is not point for that, so I gave up for the moment. You have lists in internet that tell you the level of some pieces, quite useful.

[okanaganmusician]

What a great question!

From your original post, when you allude to "catching the tune", it sounds like you are sort of attempting to learn it by ear?  Yes, you might have the score in front of you but it seems like your method of learning the song initially is to sort of get a feel for how the melody goes?

Try sight-reading the piece.  Perhaps just start with one hand, and go extra slowly.  Do you have any success with that?

Learning a new song is all about breaking it down into manageable bits and using whatever "tools" you have in your arsenal for conquering each of those bits.

If your goal is to play the entire melodic section at once, so you "know how it goes", it's not surprising that you may find the piece challenging.  This doesn't mean, however, that it is too hard for you!

Once you confirm that your strategy for tackling the piece is the correct one, you'll have a good indication whether or not it's more difficult than most pieces you are used to!

[psm357]

What a great question!

From your original post, when you allude to "catching the tune", it sounds like you are sort of attempting to learn it by ear?  Yes, you might have the score in front of you but it seems like your method of learning the song initially is to sort of get a feel for how the melody goes?

Try sight-reading the piece.  Perhaps just start with one hand, and go extra slowly.  Do you have any success with that?

Learning a new song is all about breaking it down into manageable bits and using whatever "tools" you have in your arsenal for conquering each of those bits.

If your goal is to play the entire melodic section at once, so you "know how it goes", it's not surprising that you may find the piece challenging.  This doesn't mean, however, that it is too hard for you!

Once you confirm that your strategy for tackling the piece is the correct one, you'll have a good indication whether or not it's more difficult than most pieces you are used to!

Hi, thanks for your reply!

What I mean is when I listened to a piano piece being played (for example on youtube), I will 'catch the tune' and know what the person is playing on the piano. However, when I play the exact same piece by myself, I kind of cannot hear the same tune, it is like the notes are different and the piece that I am playing is not the same as the one the person is playing on youtube. So I am wondering if this is because that the piece is too hard for me, cause this does not happen when I play really simple pieces (like grade 1 and 2). Thanks for answering my question!

[lojay]

While you may be playing the right notes, you may not be hitting the notes in the right time.  Other problems could be a lack of pulse, lack of direction/phrasing, improper voicing, and/or lack of proper rhythmic emphasis.


So, are these pieces too hard for you?

I think only you can answer that.

My advice is that if it takes you hours to sight read through a few measures, put that piece aside for now unless you really intend to polish the piece and have someone guiding you with the proper motions and positions; however, it seems like you can actually hit the notes in a reasonable time frame, so try to focus more on phrasing and rhythm.

Try counting out loud and if you're playing something melodic try singing it out loud.