Thank you so much for the piece recommendations! Yikes~ So many approachable piece. I started no 3 two hours ago, and now I am not even sure if I should continue!
Yea, you saw though the heart of my worries: memorizing. I really like the repetition of the arpeggios in both pieces. Not too much worries on memorizing. Yet I will like to ask my teacher for suggestion on the piece in particular.
I am sure that I will perform an etude. Is there any suggestions in general about practicing habits and sight reading techniques or memorizing advices?
This piece that I will have to decide must be performed less than a month. I am worried that I don't have enough time to fully master. =/
The main thing I can say is that, you have to spend just as much time with the score AWAY from the piano as the time on it.
Another reason I picked out Op 25 no 1 is that the motion you need to use is pretty damn obvious.
There's a good number of Chopin Etudes essentially use the same movement over and over with subtle variations. Once you get "IT" the etude magically becomes easy at least technique wise; however, the more difficult etudes, it's not obvious what you have to do unless someone shows you. For example, the notorious Op 10 No 2 etude (don't you dare choose this), has a distinct movement that most people miss because they are too focused on the fingering of the chromatics.
On memorization a previous poster, Robert Henry gives good advice:
Let me address this issue as it applies to music. So many students ask 'how do I memorize?' or they will say 'I've practiced this piece for a month now and I have the notes, so this week I will work on memorizing the piece.' I have never understood these statements.
The instant one hears a piece for the first time (in fact, BEFORE the first hearing, when one simply knows the type of piece and the composer/country/period), one can begin to form ideas as to the structure and harmony of the piece, and also how the emotional content of the piece is presented, and in what order all this occurs. Then when one looks at the score both at and away from the piano, one should constantly be analyzing the piece; this analysis includes melody, intervals, voicing, horizontal harmony, harmonic progressions, voice leading, structure, rhythmic patterns, dynamic outline, fingering, pedaling, which techniques to use, and we all know I could go on and on with layer upon layer of awareness.
Memorizing is not a separate process that is initiated at the tail end of learning a work; rather, it begins when we first learn of the piece's existence. It is the difference between studying and simply practicing a piece of music. REAL study (my definition of memorization) requires intense concentration, and for the artist, this process begins at the very first instant and never stops. One should be mentally exhausted when at the end of a practice (study) session. It's like wringing out a wash-rag until the last drop of water finally is drawn from it. Your brain should be out of juice as well. If one is studying the music they are working on, then memory no longer becomes an issue.
https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=3858.msg34965#msg34965
Topic: Performing an Etude in less than Month? Just Started?