Learning only Chopin pieces for a year

[shostglass]

So the idea for this "project" came up two weeks ago, when one of my friends who is a violinist suggested (more like challenged me ) that i should choose a composer, and stick with that composer for an entire year. So i said your really funny and ignored it like it was nothing. But then he said i'm not joking so I said fine i will take up the challenge. So i took the idea to my teacher and was told I will let you do that but you need too choose a reasonable amount of pieces and i'm not gonna be vary happy if your choose to back out. So i decided on all these pieces because they all seemed like they were in  progressive order.

Waltz in f minor op.70 no.2
Prelude no.10
Prelude no.13
Prelude no.14
Prelude no.15
Prelude no.11
Etude op.25 no.7
Waltz op.64 no.2
Nocturne op.32 no.1
Mazurka op.69 no.1
Mazurka op.69 no.2
Etude op.25 no.10 (octaves are no problem)
Nocturne op.37 no.2
Mazurka op.69 no.3
Berceuse op.57
Prelude no.12
Barcarolle op.60
Btw im gonna have the whole summer dedicated to this.

[briansaddleback]

Cool.

[adodd81802]

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[pianoman53]

How old are you, and how far did you get in your studies?
It matters.

If you're a sort of advanced, and have had a fair share of other composers, I'm not fundamentally against it. Though, if you have like on or two sonatas, and just pieces from here and there, it's not a good idea.

[adodd81802]

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[visitor]

 Learning only Chopin pieces for a year

oh wow. I'm so sorry. I wonder what you did to merit such punishment.

[mjames]

oh i wanna learn the barcarolle, but i can't double trill for crap...

[pencilart3]

oh i wanna learn the barcarolle, but i can't double trill for crap...

lol I couldn't before etude 25/6 and after that it's like "What? Just double trilling without moving around? EASYYY"

I intend to learn and record 10 nocturnes this summer. That should be enough for me. I would not, however, suggest learning only pieces by Mr. Chopin. And if even I don't recommend it, I don't think anybody will

[mjames]

lol I couldn't before etude 25/6 and after that it's like "What? Just double trilling without moving around? EASYYY"

...................


op.25 no.6 is even more impossible

[briansaddleback]

...................


op.25 no.6 is even more impossible

yeah that's like saying I am afraid of heights I can't stand on the top of my ladder but after I forced myself to scale Half Dome , yeah standing on my ladder has gotten better

[pencilart3]

Haha Brian that's a funny comparison, but a good one. Pretty much what I did XD

[shostglass]

How old are you, and how far did you get in your studies?
It matters.

If you're a sort of advanced, and have had a fair share of other composers, I'm not fundamentally against it. Though, if you have like on or two sonatas, and just pieces from here and there, it's not a good idea.

I understand and possibly agree with this point. There's lot of factors that can affect the answer. There's certainly nothing wrong with playing to your strengths, we know many pianists that exclusively perform certain styles or even a small collection of composers.

But we obviously do not know their background and chances are they were very proficient in a number of styles before promoting their image.

Lol i thought i was gonna get these. I've been doing music for ten years but formally i have been playing piano for six, and i can do my scales at a reasonable speed in sixteenths , and all that technical crap and i always practice dohnanyi (even though its like eating vegetable) . I think i can get most of this done within a year (even though the barcarolle looks a little intimidating)

[pianoman53]

It's not about getting things done. It's about getting a good base. If you'd apply to a music conservatory (or any competition except the Chopin, which then would need much greater repertoire anyway), you'd need more varied repertoire.

So just go through your repertoire, and see if you really have a solid base to stand on.

[tenk]

If it had to be one composer, I would recommend Bach. I've spent just under a year on Bach nearly exclusively (Inventions, Sinfonias, WTK, Goldberg Variations), and personally it has done wonders for my development. The gains in finger and hand independence, harmonic understanding, and control that I have made far outdo my progress from the previous year, which was almost exclusively Chopin