Going Back to Playing Piano

[shiningsnow]

Hi everyone,

I've recently decided to pick up the piano again after having dropped piano for quite a few years. However, without a teacher or anything like that now, I don't have too much of a direction on what to do.

It's been around 5 years since I played a ton of piano; I've still touched it here and there. Last I remember, I played Chopin's Waltzes Op. 18 and Op. 34/1 a year or so before I quit. I think I was going through the Moszkowski Etudes and also began learning Grieg's Piano Concerto before having to stop for personal reasons.

If it also helps, I was also able to complete the Certificate of Merit program in California (level 10) for the title, spending a bare minimum amount of time playing piano to get my repertoire down (I think all that did was help me not get out of shape, though outside of that it didn't feel like it meant very much).

Recently, I was thinking of continuing along the Moszkowski Etudes before looking at the Chopin Etudes. Any opinions on if this progression is suitable or not, and any suggestions on what specific pieces I could also look at (I really enjoyed playing Classical/Romantic-era pieces)?

[chopinlover01]

Etudes are nice, but I wouldn't just play pieces that are made first and foremost to address technical issues; or rather, to put them in musical context.
Pieces that are good to get back into piano with are typically slow, more lyrical ones. I'd recommend some of the Chopin mazurkas, probably whichever one you like. The Schumann Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood) are good, particularly the first and Traumerei, the seventh.
The Chopin Raindrop prelude is definitely your level, if you're still able to play the waltzes you mentioned roughly at all.
If you want a challenge, the Chopin Etudes op 10/6 is a good go. It lacks the technical virtuosity of the middle section of 10/3, so you may be better off if you want something less technical but still want to play a Chopin study.