Tips for Chopin's "Valse Brillante"

[faa2010]

Hello,

I am starting to learn and practice Chopin's "Valse Brillante" op 18.

I have played the next pieces:
Chopin's Waltz op 69 no 2, Minute Waltz, Nocturne op 9 no 2, Nocturne in C sharp minor, Preludes op 28, no 4,7,15 and Cantabile in B flat major.
Debussy's "Claire de Lune" and "Arabesque no 1"
Bach's Inventions 1,4,7,10,13
Ponce's "Intermezzo" and "20 songs of..."
Villanueva's "Valse Poetico"

Also I am planning to learn Beethoven's "Sonata 19, Op. 49 No. 1"

I am not sure if I can handle the piece, but I want to learn and play it in 7 months.

Do you have any advice for the Valse Brillante?

[mjames]

7 months is plenty of time! I haven't played this one yet but I do have some experience with long waltzes (op. 42....9 PAGES!). My advice would be to take it slowly, play it in chunks, and pay close attention to your finger legato, and refrain from using the pedal in the beginning. Oh and don't only work on the waltz, pick another nice and short work to keep you occupied while you work on the big guy!

[j_menz]

9 PAGES!

Someone's in for a shock down the track.

[faa2010]

Thanks, your tips are helping me.

I am just worried that I am playing the first part, first with separated hands and then with Hands together, and there is a great difference because with SH my playing is more accurate with fingering and tempo but it decreases when I play with HT.

That makes me feel worrier because I think that I cannot learn another part of the piece until I have right the current one.

What do you think?

[faa2010]

Update:

Until October, I have played 4 pages from the 10 pages I have.

God, I think I am very slow with getting the piece, but I hope to have it around February.

Besides, I am working in both my 5-8 hour job, practicing solfege and also I am learning and practicing other piano pieces (I can understand if you say it shouldn't be any excuse because the people who studies piano sometimes study all 24 hours if it is necessary):

Bach:
Invention 7
Invention 13

Clementi:
Sonatina op 36 no 3

Beethoven:
Happy Sad

Schumann:
Little pieces 5 and 10

Debussy:
Debussy Arabesque

Felipe Villanueva:
Valse Poetico

Manuel M Ponce:
20 piezas

On the other hand, what it has helped me is to divide the piece so if I see parts that are "repeated", I can have confidence in getting them.

[quantum]

Watch a Viennese Waltz being danced.  Although the Chopin waltzes weren't specifically designed as dance music, it will give you an idea of the characteristics and physical motions referenced in the music. 

[amytsuda]

Wow, you are learning a lot of things! Are you planning to perform Op 18 in February? Then, you may want to re-prioritize other pieces. You can definitely learn it. I think I was playing those 2-Part Bach Inventions and Mozart Sonatas when I went through this Waltz (a bit too long time ago to remember exactly) after 4-5 Waltz. But I only had 3 pieces at one time, e.g. one invention, one Mozart movement, and one Waltz, something like that, and I was a kid with nothing else to do in life then. I don't know how you can handle so much while working!!! 

I still don't know what's the best way to learn those longer pieces. When I ask my teacher, he simply says I just have to go step by step, pick first section, hands apart, do rhythms, hands together, add pedals, and them move to the next section, etc.

I never have such patience. When I was a kid too, I never had that patience. So I normally just painstakingly go through the whole thing no matter how slow and how messy it is, and randomly start picking the most difficult sections. And play the whole thing again, and then, move to the next annoying section, etc. I also spend quite a lot of time, listening to the piece, just looking at the score, before I actually try the piece on piano. It sounds like my approach is wrong though, based on everything I read on this forum or based on what teacher says (yeah, I know, I just lack patience....).