Hi Marijn, thanks for your reply. I guess the reason why there are many huge leaps of levels between one piece and the other is mainly because I excluded a ton of music and only selected what I liked. I do intend to complete the whole thing with other stuff (namely the whole Burgmuller 109 and some ABRSM pieces, which I'm already studying) but I do understand your suggestion to do a lot of Bach (of which I also have already played a couple of pieces). Somehow I feel that it is easier to play stuff that I like and I'm kind of afraid of feeling less motivated if I start tackling pieces that I don't particularly like but let's also see how it goes when I finally see the teacher. Just two days more to go! Thanks again for your advice!
If you plan to study with a teacher then you should really take advantage of what this teacher can teach you. In what you propose, you are hampering this teacher's ability to guide you toward your growth before even starting. Why are you asking a panel of strangers to advise you on what the professional you just hired should be advising you?
Amateur pianists are baffling, in no other skill would a student go in with an idea of telling a teacher what they should be taught.
HEY JOEthis is what you wrote about tied notes"Hi all,Bach's Little Prelude in C Major BWV 939 starts with 3 tied whole notes. So, I'm thinking in this case to NOT restrike at all but rather to play that opening whole note octave loud enough to last.Is that correct?"IF YOU HAD TO ASK THIS QUESTION YOU ARE A BEGINNER QUIT HANDING OUT ADVICE--YOU ARE NOT EXPERIENCED AT READING MUSIC JUST SOMEONE WHO IS TRYING TO SOUND SMART BUT FAILING MISERABLY!!!! YOU NEVER RESTRIKE TIED NOTES DUMBASS THAT'S WHAT TIED MEANS IN EVERY CASE
Are you not capable of controlling your mouth? Do you not know of civility have any mentor or adult not loved you enough to teach you this ? Thanks.
I'm not sure Joe was trolling here. Infact I think he/she gave accurate advice.There's a difference between busting a "troll" somebody who's clearly writing inaccurate posts to get a reaction, and insulting somebody that may have a lot of experience in one area, and be slightly baffled by a piece of music. It's not unusual.
Hi kalospiano,I am quite familiar with the pieces in your list. My opinon which you asked for:1. It is not in an accurate progressive order of difficulty but only a very crude one. 2. I would consider this a dream list of pieces to play in the future. Chopin and Debussy didn't compose any elementary pieces. Bach inventions would generally come after AMB notebook. Even the Clementi is a RCM grade 3 piece and the Schumann a RCM grade 6.3. Some teachers spend a year using method books before assigning repertoire such as this. There's only a few pieces on the list that are appropriate for someone only playing a year. 4. There are much easier pieces by Beethoven, Kabalevsky, Mozart, Handel, Schumann and Bach. I would make a new list with these composers.I hope I have been helpful, Joe.P.S. Play the entertainer and not the Maple Leaf Rag.P.P.S. Based on your tastes I think you might enjoy the Chopin waltz in A minor and it is considerably much more accessible than either the Nocturne or Fantaisie.
Thank you also keypeg for your perspective.I hope nobody will get offended if I say that it seems to me that some people on this forum are a little bit too judgmental and fast at jumping to conclusions and making suppositions about other people....
sorry dcstudio, I'm not at all matching your description
I truly believe that some members don't respond not because they don't know the answer but because of all the negative cross talk.
My teacher yesterday, instead, maybe also because of lack of time, simply made me take the sheet music and asked me to read, correcting me on the hands position and on the errors as I was playing ("that's e-flat, not natural") but not really offering much insight about the piece itself and its structure.Do you think that could be some "alarm sign" about the quality of the teaching, or should I just stop worrying and chill?
iI might be looking too much forward in time, since yesterday it was only my first lesson with the teacher, but, as I was practicing the Solfeggietto yesterday, I remembered a video that I had seen some time ago:This is honestly what I imagined as a great lesson.The woman in the video ......My teacher yesterday, instead, maybe also because of lack of time, simply made me take the sheet music and asked me to read, correcting me on the hands position and on the errors as I was playing ("that's e-flat, not natural") but not really offering much insight about the piece itself and its structure.Do you think that could be some "alarm sign" about the quality of the teaching, or should I just stop worrying and chill?
If she explained everything first she would not be able to objectively assess your skill level.
, as I was practicing the Solfeggietto yesterday, I remembered a video that I had seen some time ago:This seems to be so much detailed!
Hi Adodd. This might be just an impression of mines and I might be wrong, but I feel that you have kind of a negative attitude towards me, and I'm not sure why, as I don't think I've ever done anything to offend you or anybody else in this forum. There's no need to always assume the worst when somebody says something. Even feeling sorry for my teacher? I'm just expressing some concerns here because I want to identify potential problems as soon as possible since I'm an adult and I feel I don't have time to waste."you weren't hitting the right notes". Of course: I was sight reading! That's one of my weakest points. I was recognising the wrong notes as soon as I was playing them, since I've already listened to the piece multiple times. It's just that, while sight reading, it was hard for me to hit the right note the very first time I was playing it."you watched the youtube video already, prior to your lesson". Dude, I watched that video MONTHS ago. I didn't even know that my teacher would have made me play the Solfeggietto. It just came back to my mind while I was practicing the piece. I didn't remember the structure of the piece when I was studying it with my teacher since I had casually seen the video much earlier in time.
Adodd, I don't have time to waste so I simply and humbly made a question to the more expert people in this forum just to understand if it was a good idea to continue with the current teacher or not.
I just wish it had been a bit more respectful, that's all.