How difficult is this piece?

[olivialeonie]

Hi!
I am playing the Piano Sonata in C minor (Kv. 457) 1st movement by mozart right now,
and i would like to know how difficult that piece is, I want to know if I have improved since april, I played Clementis Sonatina 1 op. 36 back then, and now i want to look if i have improved over the summer!

Hope you can help!

[chopinlover01]

The score doesn't seem particularly hard. But, as with all Mozart, the tricky part is in playing it well. You need to be very accurate with your notes, and have fast fingers. If you aren't good at fast runs and maintaining accuracy in a piece the whole way through, you'll have trouble with this piece.

[ianw]

According to www.pianosyllabus.com that's a huge jump,  from grade 3 for the Clementi piece to Grade 8 for the 1st movement of the Mozart.

[olivialeonie]

Oh that's Great! That means I have improved over the summer because I don't think that it is so difficult to play! I am really happy! I have done a good job! Thank you so much!

[cwjalex]

are you serious?  it's really obvious that mozart sonata is much more difficult than that clementi piece.  it seems strange that you claim that it's easy to play yet don't seem to recognize this and are unable to gauge your own progress.  can you record yourself playing it? 

[outin]

The grading of pieces is just general. People have different strong points and weak points. I find some pieces quite easy that would be graded 7, while at the same time struggling with others that are only graded 4... And also it's a different thing to be able to play a piece through than play it really well. Real progress is not something you can tell from just the grades of pieces one plays.

[cwjalex]

The grading of pieces is just general. People have different strong points and weak points. I find some pieces quite easy that would be graded 7, while at the same time struggling with others that are only graded 4... And also it's a different thing to be able to play a piece through than play it really well. Real progress is not something you can tell from just the grades of pieces one plays.

i agree with everything you said ( wow i can't believe i said that ) but the two pieces in question are so drastically different that i have a hard time believing it's just a personal difference in difficulty.  have you learned that clementi sonata?  it's very basic and i think a grade 3 is extremely generous and would have thought it was closer to a 1 or 2.  my reading skills are garbage and i can sight read that piece.  the mozart sonata on the other hand, though i haven't learned it is obvious to me by looking at the score and listening to it that it's in the 7+ range.

[hfmadopter]

Hi!
I am playing the Piano Sonata in C minor (Kv. 457) 1st movement by mozart right now,
and i would like to know how difficult that piece is, I want to know if I have improved since april, I played Clementis Sonatina 1 op. 36 back then, and now i want to look if i have improved over the summer!

Hope you can help!

Someone can learn a Mozart piece hitting all the notes and it doesn't come off sounding like Mozart. His runs are unique and require a certain touch with trailing accents. Really what is to be gained from learning Mozart is exactly that and then you take that new found technique with you in dealing with other composers works or even into some forms of pop. Mozart is a part of rounding out your technique and the funny thing is you can learn what is needed in one of his lower grade pieces. I suggest that you listen to some of the better ranked musicians who have played Mozart sonatas over the years and learn to understand that Mozart feel in his works before you judge if you actually are doing well with it yourself. Plenty of youtube coverage out there. You could start here : https://search.yahoo.com/search?p=mozart+kv457&ei=UTF-8&fr=moz35

[outin]

i agree with everything you said ( wow i can't believe i said that ) but the two pieces in question are so drastically different that i have a hard time believing it's just a personal difference in difficulty.  have you learned that clementi sonata?  it's very basic and i think a grade 3 is extremely generous and would have thought it was closer to a 1 or 2.  my reading skills are garbage and i can sight read that piece.  the mozart sonata on the other hand, though i haven't learned it is obvious to me by looking at the score and listening to it that it's in the 7+ range.

Yes, I've played that Clementi piece...I hate classical sonatinas so I found it extremely difficult  

But both those pieces can be played beautifully with superb skill or hacking through the notes...The OP's idea of improvement is slightly twisted IMO.

[cwjalex]

Yes, I've played that Clementi piece...I hate classical sonatinas so I found it extremely difficult  

But both those pieces can be played beautifully with superb skill or hacking through the notes...The OP's idea of improvement is slightly twisted IMO.

i see...i dunno i just have a hard time taking the OP seriously and my cynical side can't shake the feeling that he/she is just seeking praise.

[olivialeonie]

I am sorry if i made you think that I only want to be praised. I have played the Piano for 4 years now, and until now I always thought that I sucked at playing the piano, so maybe ithe clementis song was easier for me than i thought! You can't be better in something if you don't believe in yourself, and I have never done that! And my teachers said that I can play the Mozart sonata very well. But he never tells me if i have improved in something! So I just wanted to know if i had or not, and i didn't ask people to praise me, i just wanted to know if yes or not.

[hfmadopter]

I am sorry if i made you think that I only want to be praised. I have played the Piano for 8 years now, and until now I always thought that I sucked at playing the piano, so maybe ithe clementis song was easier for me than i thought! You can't be better in something if you don't believe in yourself, and I have never done that! And my teachers said that I can play the Mozart sonata very well. But he never tells me if i have improved in something! So I just wanted to know if i had or not, and i didn't ask people to praise me, i just wanted to know if yes or not.

That's fair ! Still keep the phrasing in mind that I mentioned in my earlier post. That is what makes Mozart Mozart and you are either doing that correctly or not. However , if your teacher says you are doing well you probably are doing well.

[dcstudio]

Forgive us Olivia for doubting your motives... it's just that we have all seen posts on PS that made no sense.  There was once a post from a student claiming to have learned the Hungarian Rhapsody #2 and was asking if the Fantasy Impromptu should be their next piece...this student was worried that because the FI was "so much harder" than the HR #2--that maybe someone could suggest something else.  That was a ridiculous post -- in your case:

After 8 years of piano you should be playing the Mozart... it's the Clementi that people are finding odd.  However, it's quite possible that your teacher chose to assign an easier piece in an effort to boost your confidence level--you did mention that you have always thought you sucked--and it must have worked because now he has assigned a much more difficult piece. I would guess you are now more motivated to practice?  Maybe you even like your piano lessons?   you are becoming a serious piano student... YEA 

In your post you sound excited and happy about playing.... and that's always a good thing.