Choice of repertoire and technical development

[malabdal]

Hi everyone,

Is there a particular piece in your repertoire that you hold so dearly due to how much improvement it had on your piano playing? I am thinking of pieces that for you felt like the greatest nourishment for both your technique and your music understanding ... a piece after which you felt tremendous progress and potential for more complex repertoire ... that is a piece that opened a whole new world to you.

I would also like to hear about why you think such a piece (if it exists) had this impact on you.

 

[josh93248]

There were a lot when I was starting out.

My progression went something like a bunch of tiny beginner pieces, a bit of Rameau 2nd grade, then I started going in leaps and bounds, Fur Elise, Bach's Toccata in D minor then Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata 1st movement then Chopin's famous E flat major Nocturne and a couple easy etudes, finally I reached my white whale.

The 3rd Chopin Ballade in A flat major. I learned a lot attempting this piece but it also broke me when I realised how far from really being able to do it properly. Still, it's sort of impressive I could have a serious try at this piece and get most of the first half sounding... interesting... After 2 and a half years of playing.

I was all passion and not that much cohesion or rigour but I did really try and sometimes I sounded good despite it all back then.

Now I'm working my way through a lot of easier pieces, trying to be extremely thorough and methodical but still passionate. I don't have any big pieces in particular that seem comparable to the Ballade atm. I may attempt something crazy though, just to see what happens. Perhaps Liszt's Transcription of the Tannhauser Overture... We'll see though...

[brogers70]

One piece that helped me a lot was Brahm's arrangement of the Bach Chaconne for left hand alone. The obvious thing it helped with was just facility with the left hand. But it also helped a lot with freeing up the arm and gaining confidence in making large movements quickly. The left hand has to cover so much territory in rolled chords and arpeggios that it's impossible to do without having a very loose arm and just going for it. Also the rapid chords at the end of the major section helped with the ability to reposition the fingers for an upcoming chord on the fly. All those technical improvements transferred almost automatically to the right hand. And it's a wonderful piece of music.

[piulento]

Don't have any pieces in mind that helped me as dramatically as you describe haha
But some pieces that I personally felt that really helped me out are Schubert's impromptu op. 90 no 4, Debussy's prelude from 'Pour le Piano' and 'Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum' and just about anything by Scarlatti.

[visitor]

For shoring up application of high technical demands in romantic rep i got the most out of
Tchaikovsky op 10 Dumka
For technical and help w ensemble and playing w conductor and group on concert stsge
Addinsell warsaw concerto

[tbsurf]

The piece which really advanced my playing is William Bolcom's "Graceful Ghost Rag."  It took a long time, working on and off, probably more than a year until it sounded pretty good.  I just loved it, and am still fascinated by its many interesting harmonies and other elements.  When I first started on it, it was by far the hardest music I had attempted.  I smile thinking about it now! 

[louispodesta]

One piece that helped me a lot was Brahm's arrangement of the Bach Chaconne for left hand alone. The obvious thing it helped with was just facility with the left hand. But it also helped a lot with freeing up the arm and gaining confidence in making large movements quickly. The left hand has to cover so much territory in rolled chords and arpeggios that it's impossible to do without having a very loose arm and just going for it. Also the rapid chords at the end of the major section helped with the ability to reposition the fingers for an upcoming chord on the fly. All those technical improvements transferred almost automatically to the right hand. And it's a wonderful piece of music.

1)  I also use this great piece for all of the above reasons.  However, simple can sometimes become simplistic.

2)  That means (and you do not suggest this) that one size fits all.

3)  Accordingly, this is why it is so important to have a teacher (very rare!) you has the big three.

4)  The big three (my own personal term) is that they have a modern (Taubman/Golandsky/Mark) technique background, and

5)  They have a very large repertoire.

6)  And most importantly, they have the ability to play this music for a fee in front of an audience.

In terms of the OP: Well, certainly any of the "Big Dogs" at any of the worlds major Music Conservatories have all of these qualifications/attributes.  I think not!

[louispodesta]

Correction:

Under item#3, the last part of the sentence should read;  "who" has the big three.

My apologies, sometimes my ASPY gets ahead of me.

[beethovenfan01]

Schubert's Impromptu in C minor, Opus 90, No. 1. It opened so many doors for me--balancing the dynamics between hands, developing my touch to get the singing tone Schubert is so famous for, handling complex rythms, bringing out melodies over complex accompaniments, finishing a very long piece ... I consider it my first truly advanced piece of repertoire.

[vaniii]

My philosophy would be contradictory to the prevailing thought here.

(I believe) Generally, technique is not a status that is achieved by playing a piece.  It is the toolkit used to realise any piece of music.

1. "Facility": the ability to traverse the instrument, with minimal effort.
2. "Understanding": this can either be the ability to read music, or hear it, and understand fully the musical vocabulary (i.e. time, rhythm, harmony, melody and tone)
3. "Ability": to execute all the above unabated; or less so.

---

In all honestly, the biggest improvements to my technical development were:

- Learning all cannon scales and arpeggios fully.
- Learning harmony and standard progressions.
- Learning to count evenly, even when I did not think I needed to.
- Learning to read music accurately and fluently on my first play-through; this dramatically cut my practice time.
- Not trying to 'recreate' great performances from CD recordings.
- Playing pieces that inspired something in my musical voice; that is, actually saying something when I play, rather than trying to impress my audience.

Once all these concepts were sufficiently automatic, I picked up Chopin Nocturne Op. 72.  I had played it when I was younger, but this time, so many years later, I read, played and heard a completely different piece of music.

I actually understood it, but more importantly, I was able to communicate with my audience, without any resistance from my own person.