Interesting pieces for 1 year self taught student

[marcuse]

Hello fellow piano players!

I am a self taught piano player (19 years old) and have almost been playing for 1 year.
Currently I can play things like Chopin nocturne op 9 no 1 and no 2 and (learning) nocturne no 20. Also traumerei (schumann) and fur elise.

I can also play little parts of la campanella (only begin), andante spianato and the grande polonaise brillante just because I like the way they are played and sound.

Now I'm a big chopin fan and have listened to almost all his works so often but I do not know many other composers and I wish to broaden my horizon. And I know that bach, brahms, beethoven etc. etc. have written miracles but I have no idea where to start!

So can you recommend (challenging) pieces for a student of my level?

Many thanks!

Eric

[nufan]

Schumanns Kinderszenen contains some other beautiful pieces (apart from Träumerei, others like Haschemann etc are short but tricky). Concerning Bach, I would recommend preludes and some of the two-voice inventions for starters, just don't start with the fugues. :-) In terms of Beethoven, the sonatinas, bagatelles and some of the variations should be doable. Of course, they don't compare to his  beautiful sonatas, but are very nice pieces indeed.

I also like Mendelssohn-Bartholdy's Lieder ohne Worte (songs without words) a lot, ranging from simpler ones such as the venetian gondola songs (op 19 no 6 & op 30 no 6) to rather challenging pieces.

[justanamateur]

Wow, you took one year to learn what I took seven years to learn...  *jealous look*

nufan above covered most of the main ones; there's also, in my noob opinion, the Chopin mazurkas (most should be manageable at your level), Czerny Op. 849 (OK, not exactly interesting), the sonatina album (Kuhlau, Clementi, etc.), nearly all Mozart sonatas (except harder ones like #3 and #19), Beethoven's early sonatas (the three WoO sonatas, and the sonatas with opus numbers up to Op. 13 ('Pathétique')), etc. Rachmaninoff's transcription of Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebee is way easier than it sounds, and anything marked as 'for children' by great composers (like Tchaikovsky) will be manageable and sound great at the same time.

For more night pieces like Chopin nocturnes, you may also look into the first movement of Beethoven's Moonlight sonata (though the third movement will have to wait) and Debussy's Clair de Lune. Field is nice too.

[outin]

Wow, you took one year to learn what I took seven years to learn...   *jealous look*

nufan above covered most of the main ones; there's also, in my noob opinion, the Chopin mazurkas (most should be manageable at your level)...

We only know what pieces he has played, we don't know the level he plays them. One year, self thought...My guess is you play them a bit differently

To the OP I would say: If you don't have exceptional natural gift for piano playing, it's best to forget about Campanella and back up a little in your repertoire. Google for graded repertoire lists (or use the sheet music section on this site) and find pieces that are around grades 3-5.

Also seems to me that if you have the determination to learn Chopin Nocturnes by yourself, it would really be worth it to get a teacher and really learn HOW to play the piano. You're young and a good foundation could take you so far...

If you like Chopin, try the posthumous waltz in a minor and the easiest preludes: 28-7, 28-4, 28-6, 28-20, 28-9

[chapplin]

The question to me is, do you want to perform these pieces you are going to learn to a group of musicians or for friends/family who do not judge?

Do you want to learn these new pieces to advance in your playing or are you happy with whatever you achieve/ just play for the sake of playing?

If anything tilts towards becoming better/advancing your skills as a musician and pianist or perform for other musicians to create any sort of reputation: I would play less technically challenging repertoire than La Campanella and less challenging pieces in terms of touch and other more "musical" aspects, that requires experience at the piano to some extent.

Don't ever go back so far that you think it's boring. But there are pieces that will be challenging, even though they don't look very hard. Nocturne no 20 is a good start I would say, even though every piece will be played differently by a professional, advanced, intermediate or a beginner. When I first started playing the piano I was looking for challenging pieces aswell, and I played alot that was "above my level". It didn't occour to me at the time that it would harm me a few years from then.

However, I havn't heard you play and you might be a musical progeny. How should we know from just writing? I'm just asuming you are an ordinary human being in love with music.

Here are some pieces that you might wanna look at;
Brahms op 118 no 3, sounds pretty hard- fits right under your fingers really nice, very comfortable to play.

Liszt Consolation no 3, a good start to learn polyrythms which you will find a little bit everywhere. It's beautiful and a very good piece to practice control of touch.

Bach prelude and fugue c minor (book 1) good finger technique practice in the prelude, and a good fugue to start with, only 3 voices (I think) and they are all pretty clear, a good introduction to the WTC in general.

I generally stay away from introducing people to play Scriabin at such an early level but if you want you can look at some of his preludes from op 11, some are real virtuosic works and are clearly out of alot of peoples league but some are very romantic and beautiful and not so hard to overcome. Pretty short works aswell.

Gershwin prelude no 2, if you want something different.

[marcuse]

nufan above covered most of the main ones; there's also, in my noob opinion, the Chopin mazurkas (most should be manageable at your level), Czerny Op. 849 (OK, not exactly interesting), the sonatina album (Kuhlau, Clementi, etc.), nearly all Mozart sonatas (except harder ones like #3 and #19), Beethoven's early sonatas (the three WoO sonatas, and the sonatas with opus numbers up to Op. 13 ('Pathétique')), etc. Rachmaninoff's transcription of Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebee is way easier than it sounds, and anything marked as 'for children' by great composers (like Tchaikovsky) will be manageable and sound great at the same time.

For more night pieces like Chopin nocturnes, you may also look into the first movement of Beethoven's Moonlight sonata (though the third movement will have to wait) and Debussy's Clair de Lune. Field is nice too.

Thanks! I'm currently learning Chopin mazurka op. 6 no. 3 which I find very interesting and fun to play. I will also look at some Mozart sonatas later on. Flight of the bumblebee seems very fast but I will check it out anyway!

Also seems to me that if you have the determination to learn Chopin Nocturnes by yourself, it would really be worth it to get a teacher and really learn HOW to play the piano. You're young and a good foundation could take you so far...

If you like Chopin, try the posthumous waltz in a minor and the easiest preludes: 28-7, 28-4, 28-6, 28-20, 28-9

You're right and I'm currently searching a good piano teacher in my region! With some luck I'll have lessons in no time.
I'll take a look at those pieces, thanks!

The question to me is, do you want to perform these pieces you are going to learn to a group of musicians or for friends/family who do not judge?

Do you want to learn these new pieces to advance in your playing or are you happy with whatever you achieve/ just play for the sake of playing?

Of course will I be playing some of these pieces for just friends and family, but I will play them for some experienced musicians as well.

And I wish to learn new pieces not only because I love learning them, but also because I wish to advance my playing!

However, I havn't heard you play and you might be a musical progeny. How should we know from just writing? I'm just asuming you are an ordinary human being in love with music.

Haha, I will upload some nocturnes to the audition room soon, so then you can judge for yourself. I'm definitely in love with music though.

Here are some pieces that you might wanna look at;
Brahms op 118 no 3, sounds pretty hard- fits right under your fingers really nice, very comfortable to play.

Liszt Consolation no 3, a good start to learn polyrythms which you will find a little bit everywhere. It's beautiful and a very good piece to practice control of touch.

Bach prelude and fugue c minor (book 1) good finger technique practice in the prelude, and a good fugue to start with, only 3 voices (I think) and they are all pretty clear, a good introduction to the WTC in general.

I generally stay away from introducing people to play Scriabin at such an early level but if you want you can look at some of his preludes from op 11, some are real virtuosic works and are clearly out of alot of peoples league but some are very romantic and beautiful and not so hard to overcome. Pretty short works aswell.

Gershwin prelude no 2, if you want something different.

Very nice suggestions, I'll be listening these a lot coming days and probably end up practicing all of them eventually!

Anyway thanks for all the replies!

[musicman99]

In addition to the previous post talking about The Well-tempered Clavier, I would suggest learning the prelude in B flat major from book 1. It's a piece that's good for practising finger dexterity. I should probably leave the fugue for later, but it's not one of the hardest.

[prestoconfuocco]

Well, you can keep on with chopin's nocturnes, and try out some preludes, waltzes and polonaises too. (The easier ones, though.) But if you want to broaden you horizon:
Listen to Tchaikovsky's "The Seasons", there are many pieces in that collection that can fit your level, and that are really fun to learn. (Tchaikovsky in general is great.)
You should also try out parts of Debussy's "Children's Corner".
Another idea is trying out some of Beethoven's easier sonata movements (Usually the second ones, but be careful, because some are much harder than they sound!)
Those are the first things that come in mind. Good luck!