Help on the long path to Chopin Ballade 1, Scherzo 2, and many more!

[waltzifyer]

Hi all. So my nursing home idea is still going on; I got a fake book for that. Today I'm here to ask something different.
I've fallen in love with Chopin's 1st ballade, 2nd scherzo, and many other works. However, I know that if I try to learn them at the stage I'm at now, I'll permanently damage my technique, never get a passable rendition(s), amongst other things. So I'm here to ask, after doing a bit of research, what are some other pieces to help me along the way?
So far, I have completed all the same repertoire as I said last (chopin 10 3, 17 4, bach invention 8 and 13 etc), and here is my repertoire plan. The sets of pieces are in no order themselves, however the pieces inside them are the order I'm thinking of learning them (always open for advice about that). As far as his concertos go, I'll be playing various Mozart concertos before I touch a romantic one.

Etudes (for boosts in technique, and getting to know the virtuosic side of Chopin):
10/9
25/2
25/2
10/11
10/5
10/12
10/2 (my fingers hurt just looking at it)
25/12

Nocturnes (for practicing legato, rubato, phrasing, and voicing the melody):
C minor Posthumous
15/3
C# minor Posthumous
32/1 or 9/2 (interchangeable)
72/1
9/1
55/1
 
Waltzes (for balance, time awareness, and overall gracefulness):
A minor Posthumous
64/2
70/2
64/1

Will polonaises help? I've done the military polonaise. Also, are mazurkas of any help?

Thanks to all of you in advanced!

[amytsuda]

I am not a piano teacher so am not qualified at all to comment. But since I like Chopin and "played" so many of pieces, and I see no one is responding, I thought to throw my cents. From my experiences, I am not sure if it is the amount of repertoire that prepares you to play Chopin Ballade 1 or Scherzo 2 (both of which I "play") without developing bad habits. It's really the quality of instructions you get from your teacher and how s/he ensures that you are learning them correctly, and how you practice them correctly.

I can give you an example. I took a piano lesson from age 6, but all my teachers didn't play piano. I was sent around and ended up with a retired music history prof who doesn't play piano. What he did was simply put a bunch of music in front of me and made me go through countless of repertoires without correcting any of my technique. Before I learned Chopin Ballade and Scherzo, I already "learned" Waltz 34/2, 34/3, 42, 64/1, 64/2 69/1, Posth, Etudes 10/3, 10/12, 25/1, 25/7, Nocturne 9/1, 9/2, Posth, 2 Impromptus, some Preludes, all Bach 2-part and 3-part inventions, Partitas 1 and 2, Preludes and Fugues, 5-6 Mozart Sonatas, 5-6 Beethoven Sonatas, all Schubert Impromtu Op 90, and 100s of Czerny... And I played everything horribly and developed permanently damaged techniques. And that was the end (and 30 years later, i am re-starting with a right teacher from the scratch to fix my technique one by one).

I had a classmate in high school who started at age 10, didn't do any of those, jumped almost right into Chopin Scherzo, Listz, etc, and he had a teacher who would work patiently with him as if each section is a practice piece, spent months on one piece, and played like a pro with incredible tones and musical expressions with no tension. I thought he can't play anything but I was shocked (and he can only play a few things....)

I know those are two random extreme stories. I guess I am just trying to help everyone never follow my path.... So I advise you to work with your teacher to get there....

[pianist1976]

I know that what I'm going to say is not what usually self-taught people want to hear but as you asked for advice, I'll follow:

Tracing a self-taught path is, at least to me, one of the worst ideas one may have at piano. I don't also think that playing only the works of a single composer (do you suffer a chopinitits atack? :-) ) is a wining idea.

My advice: look for a competent teacher and let him/her show you a personalized path adequate to you. There's no preestablished path to earn the capabilities to play a piece, although it appears to be some few agreements among teachers around the world. Anyway, at this early learning stage, the teacher is the one who must guide you and foresee which pieces you need in order to grow as a pianist and a musician. Based on your actual playing, capabilities, progress, etc.

You'll also need lots of patience and commitment. It usually take years practicing several hours a day to achieve the level needed to play decently Chopin's 1st ballade (well, it's not that difficult to do a botch job on this one but on that case I don't even bother to discuss).

Regarding repertoire, Chopin, for example, made his pupils play Bach preludes and fugues, Cramer etudes, Clementi Gradus, Mendelssohn lieder ohne worte (some of the few contemporary compositions he tolerated, LOL), Mozart, Clementi and Beethoven sonatas... and he only allowed his most advanced pupils play his etudes. I don't mean that Chopin as a teacher is the only way but I thought it could be useful as a reference. I don't think anyone can play well Chopin by playing only Chopin.