Piano Forum

I have mixed feelings on the above. On the one hand, I'm certain my teacher would have discouraged me or flat out denied me if I had asked him before working on Chopin etude opus 10 no 1. I finished the piece at a slow tempo in four weeks and brought the piece to him after I had only played piano for about 4 months. It was a game changer in our lessons. We went from working on "baby" pieces to staples of piano repertoire. He began to take me more seriously as a student because he became aware of the almost absurd amount of time I put into it. However, I approached opus 10 no 1 from a position of ignorance, not because I intentionally wanted to prove something. He told me to work on etudes over the winter break, so I did just that!  Somewhere on here is a very detailed analysis of my study of the Chopin Etude as well as a recording.

Having said all of that, I can think of many occasions where my teacher's guidance away from certain pieces has actually helped me grow. He generally does this in a very specific way, because he knows that if he presents it as a challenge than my tendency is to "Prove" something. I'm a poor Latino kid from foster care in an Ivy league college;  I always feel like I have to prove something! Most recently we discussed Chopin's Ballades and he told me in a very eloquent way that I would get the most out of the Ballades if I learned some nocturnes, etudes, and waltzes first. He was absolutely right! I can see already how these other pieces have filled in the gaps that I would have if I tried to jump right in.

Ultimately, op 10 no 1 was a game changer that I pursued largely on my own, but I pursued it in accordance with my teacher's advice, not in spite of it. I think attitude is critical and you have to temper your ambition with the good sense and experience of your teacher. This depends too on your goals. If you intend to play piece X, and that is your aspiration with piano, then by all means, skip to those pieces that interest you. But I am considering taking on a career in music after only 8 or so months of lessons. If I'm going to catch up to everyone else, I have to build skills and get the absolute most out of every piece I play. I, for the most part, trust my teacher to guide me through that.