which grade are u in?

[karnta]

I have just joined this board for a while. I love to read these forum because there are so many useful topics and opinions. By the way, I'd love to know about other members like
How old r u?
Which grade r u guys?
Which board do u exam? and so on...
in case you want to expose yourself

for me, I'm 24 with PC of TCL

thank you

[lenny]

i jumped in at the deep end and learned a chopin etude as my 1st serious piece, although i cant play it very well yet!

i guess its hard to grade me then...

[chopinisque]

I don't really want to expose myself... indecent exposure and all...

Anyway, I passed grade 6 ABRSM last year.  Oh and about the age... 16 and a half.  But I'm really a terrible musician...

[pseudopianist]

I'm 17
I'm around grade 8 (They don't have exam like that over here in Sweden but I'm somewhere around 7+ and and I've been playing for almost 2 years.

[Bassman]

I'm 15 years old in Kentucky.

I've been seriously playing the piano for about 9 years.  I finished all of "Alfred School of Music Books" about 5 years ago. 

Presently I am working on

    Rachmaninoff's Prelude in G minor
    Beethoven Piano Concerto #1
    Tchkovskeys???  Piano Concerto #1 (w/ orchestra)
    Just finished Patitique Sonata by Beethoven and I Got Rhythm by Gershwin.

I don't like to brag but I would consider my self a fairly good musician.

[klick]

16 from Canada

I am RCM 6, and got 84 on my Rcm 5. Got 99% on my Lvl 1 Theory.

Been playing for 3 years.

I think im good for my experience but i don't know.......I don't like to compare my self to others becuase it makes me feel like ill never be that good, and puts me down.

Currently Learning

Little Prelude in D Minor - JS Bach
Sonata in A Majour - Scarlatti
Sonitina in G Major - Dussek
Sonitina in F Major - Diabelli
Roundup - Previn

and some more boring Lvl 6 songs that no1 cares about. 


Klick

[canardroti]

do you know where i can find the grade of each piece?
I just finished playing the Scherzo no2  in Bb Minor op31  by Chopin. which is the hardest piece i can play at the moment.. what grade would  that piece be?

[rachmaninoff_969]

I would say that I am a fairly accomplished musician.  I began late but the piano came naturally to me.  At the age of 14 (my first year playing) I concertized Bach's two-part inventions in a church near my home.  In my second year I began to uncover the brilliance of Beethoven playing his first piano sonata, and later in the year his "Pathetique" sonata.  I continued to work through the standard repertoire (usually 6 hours/day...I just loved practicing it and still do)...by my fourth yr. (age 17) I had received my gr. 5 theory from the RCM along with my gr. 5 history, and my gr. 10 piano.  The following yr. I completed my performer's ARCT with a 94% on the exam, and today at age 20 (my 7th yr.) I am studying composition and piano performance at McGill University in Montreal.  I am currently reworking Bartók's first piano concerto, and just recently performed the Tchaikovsky first for the first time.  In the past two years I have played the Mendelssohn g minor concerto, the Tchaik (as mentioned), Beethoven#2, Rimsky-Korsakov, Mozart K. 488, and Saint-Saëns "Africa" fantasy for piano and orchestra.  Following my reworking of the Bartók, I plan to learn the remaining movement of the Rach 2 (1st).  As for solo repertoire, I have been discovering the music of Gottschalk, playing a large number of his solo piano repertoire.  Known to you is probably "the Banjo" which is still one of my favorites.  As for better known repertoire, I am attempting Mussorgsky's Pictures at and Exhibition, although am finding that this guy did not know how to write for piano.  I think I will get a copy of Horowitz's re-scoring of the piece.  I continue to play Bach (I start with him every day).  I can play the entire second book of the WTC, his 2nd and 5th partitas, and and working on the 5th French Suite.  As for Beethoven, well I have played exactly half of his sonatas, and am still going!  I have the Waldstein and Appassionata under my belt but still have no. 30, 30 and 32 plus the Hammerklavier ahead of me...eek!  Well, that's about it...so grade...I don't know...I guess you could call me an amateur pianist/composer (I concertize fairly often and play many of my own compositions).  If there are any real piano enthusiasts who want to discuss interesting repertoire via e-mail...please e-mail me.  andrew.schartmann@mail.mcgill.ca
Cheers!

[shasma]

I'm 17
I'm around grade 8 (They don't have exam like that over here in Sweden but I'm somewhere around 7+ and and I've been playing for almost 2 years.

you can take the ABRSM exams in sweden as well (instrumental grades as well as music theory) just ask your teacher (in case you are interested) he/she should know...

isn't ABRSM grades avaible for almost all countries?

[pseudopianist]

you can take the ABRSM exams in sweden as well (instrumental grades as well as music theory) just ask your teacher (in case you are interested) he/she should know...

isn't ABRSM grades avaible for almost all countries?

Really? I had no idea. :O Maybe I should give it a shot

[shasma]

yeah you should if you've only been playing for 2 years and already at grade 8, you seem to be really serious about it. i haven't taken the grades myself, it costs i think about 400-700 SEK. it's not that expensive but for me, taking lessons in piano is almost more than my family can afford so the grade exams are out of question for me.

i'd advice you to look here https://www.musikskolan.nacka.se/ and then click on "Grade". and of course once again ask your teacher. he/she should be able to prepare you for the exam next year since i think the last entry date this year has already pasted.

[pseudopianist]

yeah you should if you've only been playing for 2 years and already at grade 8, you seem to be really serious about it. i haven't taken the grades myself, it costs i think about 400-700 SEK. it's not that expensive but for me, taking lessons in piano is almost more than my family can afford so the grade exams are out of question for me.

i'd advice you to look here https://www.musikskolan.nacka.se/ and then click on "Grade". and of course once again ask your teacher. he/she should be able to prepare you for the exam next year since i think the last entry date this year has already pasted.

Sightreading exam? I'm sooooooo screwed. I'll ask my teacher if he knows anything about this. Thanks.

[chopinisque]

Hej and halla.  Grade 8 in 2 years?  Wow!  And to think some people here think I'm great because I passed grade 6 in four.  I kowtow to you.  Take the exam.  It'll look very good on your CV at the least.  Not to mention the fact that grade 8 gets all the fun pieces.  Be careful of the aural though.  Sight singing and analysing a piece on the spot are really nasty if you're not lucky. 

[pseudopianist]

Hej and halla.  Grade 8 in 2 years?  Wow!  And to think some people here think I'm great because I passed grade 6 in four.  I kowtow to you.  Take the exam.  It'll look very good on your CV at the least.  Not to mention the fact that grade 8 gets all the fun pieces.  Be careful of the aural though.  Sight singing and analysing a piece on the spot are really nasty if you're not lucky. 

I barely grade 8-ish, I wouldn't say I'm that good but I do practise a lot.

I'm pretty lousy at sightreading/singing but analysing a piece I think I could pull of, theory is what I best at. I analyse piece also for fun and so I can remeber them better in my mind.

I'll start working on some sightreading tho it will probaly take my a while to do it at grade  8 standard. :O

[shasma]

Be careful of the aural though.  Sight singing and analysing a piece on the spot are really nasty if you're not lucky. 

omg sight SINGING?! i hope it's pieces like twinkle twinkle little star... 
what's meant with analysing a piece?

oh and pseudopianist; i'd advice you not to jump onto grade 8 on the first try, btw i think you have to pass grade 5 in music theory before being able to take the higher grades? not too sure about this. never taken the exams but they sound scary...

grade 8 in 2 years.. isn't that what bernhard thought was reasonable for a serious pianist? i've been playing for about 9 years and i think i'm barely grade 8... lol... i guess i play for fun

[pseudopianist]

omg sight SINGING?! i hope it's pieces like twinkle twinkle little star... 
what's meant with analysing a piece?

oh and pseudopianist; i'd advice you not to jump onto grade 8 on the first try, btw i think you have to pass grade 5 in music theory before being able to take the higher grades? not too sure about this. never taken the exams but they sound scary...

grade 8 in 2 years.. isn't that what bernhard thought was reasonable for a serious pianist? i've been playing for about 9 years and i think i'm barely grade 8... lol... i guess i play for fun

I doubt I'd be able to pull it off if I did it right now. I need so more practising.
Passing grade 5 in theory I could do without a trouble, I'm a theorygeek.

I think most people can reach grade 8 in a few years if they just practise their ass off.
But think of it like this, during your 9 year you have gotten to know your piano much more than I have. Your tone should before 10 times better than mine.

[chopinisque]

Take the grade 5 theory first then.  From experience, I can tell you that I could do it with my eyes closed, so to speak.  That would be my knack of mathematics speaking though.  But if you're good at theory, go ahead.

If your teacher thinks you can, take grade 8 straight away.  But go to competitions before that to take away your fear. 

Not Twinkle twinkle I'm afraid.  It means they'll show you a piece of paper with a four bars of notes.  The examiner will play a chord with the first note embedded within and then you'll have to go lalala while he/she accompanies you on the piano.   It's hell.

[fred smalls]

I dont know for sure if anyone will know what im talking about, but, I am in grade 10 piano in Canada (RCM) and i was wondering what grade(s) that would translate into in Europe. Some pieces I am learning to give an idea of grade ten in Canada are:

1. Bach: prelude and fugue in E Major (Book 1)
2. Beethoven: Pathetique Sonata
3. Beethoevn: Concerto No.1
4. Chopin: Waltz Op. 42 No.1, A-flat Major

So yeah, if you can give a translation that would help.

[kilini]

I have no clue.
But I just learned Invention 1.
Working on,
Pathetique and Moonlight Sonatas.
Fantasie Impromptu. (Yes, yes, I'm crazy).

[Nana_Ama]

I have just joined this board for a while. I love to read these forum because there are so many useful topics and opinions. By the way, I'd love to know about other members like
How old r u?
Which grade r u guys?
Which board do u exam? and so on...
in case you want to expose yourself

for me, I'm 24 with PC of TCL

thank you

I'm 15 years old, but I have been playing piano for a mere 2 years.  I am somewhere between piano grade mid-6 and early 7 ABRSM ( is that right).  um... I'm currently working on Blumenlied by G. Lange, Invention #1 by Bach, and the first movement of the K. 545 sonata by Mozart.  I don't plan to stop playing.  Occaisonally I play for my church.
I like this forum too! hehe 

[Etude]

15 years old.

Grade 8 ABRSM 

[jlh]

23 years old.

Graduating with BM Piano this semester.

Never took a board exam except for juries in college.

Went through levels 1-3 and then onto standard rep.

[MattL]

Im 14 been playing for 7 1/2 months. From Hemet, California

Don't know really what you mean by "grade" but I have
learned Op. 3 No. 2 by Rachmaninoff
Half of Chopin's First Ballade (working on it)
Liberstraum No. 3 by Liszt

And thankfully my mom finally signed me up for lessons.
Took her a while 

[jlh]

Im 14 been playing for 7 1/2 months. From Hemet, California

Don't know really what you mean by "grade" but I have
learned Op. 3 No. 2 by Rachmaninoff
Half of Chopin's First Ballade (working on it)
Liberstraum No. 3 by Liszt

And thankfully my mom finally signed me up for lessons.
Took her a while 

Wow, no lessons and after 7.5 months you're doing those?  Don't be surprised if your teacher assigns a few pieces you might consider too easy for you at this point.  Just realize that there are technical and musical issues that must be addressed right away, or you may be headed for trouble.  Good luck with your new teacher!

[jas]

I'm 20 and I've been playing about 6 years. I'm diploma level, but I haven't got round to sitting it yet, I'm too busy at uni. (Or if I was going to be totally honest it might be because of how horribly disorganised I am. But I don't talk about that. )

Jas

[thierry13]

I'm 15 years old taking lessons for allmost one year ( playing for one year and a half), And I'm playing Chopin's revolutionary, Rach's c-sharp minor prelude, some chopin nocturne, and I'm now beginning Mazeppa ( Liszt's TE etude), and it is really not beyond my abilities. I'm thinking of schumann's toccata soon too. But i'm a poor sight-reader (for bach's prelude at least). I could say I have a fairly good theory. So i don't know wich grade I'm in piano or theory!

[bachmaninov]

I'm 15 years old taking lessons for allmost one year ( playing for one year and a half), And I'm playing Chopin's revolutionary, Rach's c-sharp minor prelude, some chopin nocturne, and I'm now beginning Mazeppa ( Liszt's TE etude), and it is really not beyond my abilities. I'm thinking of schumann's toccata soon too. But i'm a poor sight-reader (for bach's prelude at least). I could say I have a fairly good theory. So i don't know wich grade I'm in piano or theory!

uhh... You've been taking lessons for less than a year, and you are trying to play Mazeppa and Schumann Toccata (if your hands even big enough?)......Well...erm...don't mean to sound rude but, HOW IN THE BLUE HELL WOULD YOU DO THAT?!

-I've been playing piano since 1st grade, and im currently a Sophmore in High School, in Austin, Texas. I just finished learning Chopin's "Ocean Wave" Etude, 1st movement of Beethoven's "Waldstein" Sonata, Bach "Presto" from Italian Concerto in F and Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 12. I am curretly learning Prokofiev's Tocatta and "Soaring" from Fantasiestuke by Schumann.

[hodi]

I'm 15 years old taking lessons for allmost one year ( playing for one year and a half), And I'm playing Chopin's revolutionary, Rach's c-sharp minor prelude, some chopin nocturne, and I'm now beginning Mazeppa ( Liszt's TE etude), and it is really not beyond my abilities. I'm thinking of schumann's toccata soon too. But i'm a poor sight-reader (for bach's prelude at least). I could say I have a fairly good theory. So i don't know wich grade I'm in piano or theory!

i simply don't believe u.  i think even the greatest pianists didn't play mazeppa at their first year of piano. even saint saens, a great child prodigy, could "only" play all of beethoven sonatas at the age of 12 (and he started at the age of 2!)

[Tash]

ah you can learn anything you want in the first year, doesn't mean it'll sound bril. and you can learn for 12 years and it still doesn't mean it'll sound bril!woohoo slow and steady wins the race!
anyway i'm celebrating getting my Cmus certificate yesterday at the AMEB award ceremony YAY, and hopefully this time next year i'll be receiving my Amus!

[thierry13]

I don't say Mazeppa will sound as good as the one of Cziffra or Arrau, but I have the technique to play it right now without collapsing. I don't say I will be able in two weeks, same a month. I would say 3 months to get a convincing performance of it. And I'm far to play the 32 beethoven sonatas. And I'm only thinking of schumann tocatta soon to prepare for feux-follet and rach prelude op.23 no.9 soon.

Believe me or not I don't ****** care... I'm habituated.

[bachmaninov]

I don't say Mazeppa will sound as good as the one of Cziffra or Arrau, but I have the technique to play it right now without collapsing. I don't say I will be able in two weeks, same a month. I would say 3 months to get a convincing performance of it. And I'm far to play the 32 beethoven sonatas. And I'm only thinking of schumann tocatta soon to prepare for feux-follet and rach prelude op.23 no.9 soon.

Believe me or not I don't ****** care... I'm habituated.

Ok... that's a mouthful

1. What pianist performs a piece just to get through it without collapsing...?
2. I truly doubt ANYONE on this forum can "convincingly perform" any of Liszt's Transcendental Etudes
3. Feux-Follets is one of the most difficult pieces for the instrument
4. You suck at lying
5. Having the technique to play Mazeppa - Toccata for somone who has been taking lessons for less than a year would be a physical impossibility (Your hands haven't grown into the demand to your repetoire at this point)
6. I have been playing piano for 9 years and I find enough challenges in Prokofiev's Tocatta - than to you playing for 1 year and even thinking about Schumann's Tocatta

(So let's say some how, some way, you are really are learning these pieces... so what!? Are you learning to play the piano simply to attempt these difficult pieces. And what kind of a teacher would give their student these options? If this is all true, then you are truly the most immature "performer" i've ever heard of. I actually thought twice about why I am wasting the energy responding to this. It's just that i've heard so many dishonest achievments on this forum, the least you can do is be honest. It is the honest people, who can admit that they have just started piano, and seek advice... who belong on this forum. But you Mr. Mazeppa-Feux Follets - Do not belong here.

[nomis]

I'm 18 years old and have been playing since I was 15 and passed my Grade 8 ABRSM last December. Some people think it is an outstanding achievement, but I think otherwise. I did quite badly on sight-singing and sight-reading, as I didn't (and still don't!) know how to sing intervals, and I never really concentrated on sight-reading hence only a pass in grade 8, without merit or distinction.

I began playing some easier well-known classical pieces such as Fur Elise and Minuet in G, but I've always had an affinity for Video Game Music, which I contribute most of my early progress towards. I still continue to play it, although on a somewhat lesser degree than I used to but nevertheless, it remains enjoyable.

[hodi]

I don't say Mazeppa will sound as good as the one of Cziffra or Arrau, but I have the technique to play it right now without collapsing. I don't say I will be able in two weeks, same a month. I would say 3 months to get a convincing performance of it. And I'm far to play the 32 beethoven sonatas. And I'm only thinking of schumann tocatta soon to prepare for feux-follet and rach prelude op.23 no.9 soon.

Believe me or not I don't ****** care... I'm habituated.

i have to say that you are a very bad liar... playing mazeppa/feux follets/schumann tocatta and rach no.9 after 1.5 years of studying the piano? (and only 1 year with a teacher) and play it perfectly? let us here a recording of yours.

[thierry13]

Damn I did'nt say I could play all those, I said I would TRY schumann's toccata to PREPARE FOR playing Feux-follet and rach prelude no.9, why would I PREPARE TO it if I could play it right now? And I don't PLAY schumann's toccata, I said I was thinking of trying it to prepare for feux-follet. And I did'nt say I could play them perfectly, I said it would not be like Cziffra's recording for sure, but it would be DESCENT. So if you think I'm a bad liar, I think you're one bad reader. Or maybe you're just trying to take what i say and interpret it your way to insult me?

[thepiboy]

Hey, I started piano 26 months ago,a complete rookie at piano. My first year was crap. I stayed at grade one. But then, for NO reason, I just exploded and accelerated at piano at mindblowing speeds.

Right now, I'm learning how to play Beethovens Opus 27 N.2 Sonata quasi una Fantasia, Movement Three (also known as moonlight sonata), which is diploma level (higher than grade 8 ) So far, I can play 3 pages out of 12.

My piano teacher is amazed. He still can't get his head around the fact that i'm only 14 years old and can play the piano to such a standard - nor can I!

I have only done the exams up too grade 2, but am around grade 7/8 standard. I can sight read pretty well as well

The reason why people get good at piano is Right method of practice, decent teacher, and choosing to play pieces that require you to learn a new 'technique'.

The only bad thing is that my piano lessons are soooooo expensive. 7 pounds 50 for 20 minutes. One lesson every school week. All in all, I have done about 68 school weeks (since I started piano) . 68 * 20 = 1360 minutes =

Twenty Two Hours and Twenty Four Minutes of Piano Lessons! About ONE DAY of Piano Lesson. Doesn't sound like much does it?

[bachmaninov]

*** I did'nt say I could play all those, I said I would TRY schumann's toccata to PREPARE FOR playing Feux-follet and rach prelude no.9, why would I PREPARE TO it if I could play it right now? And I don't PLAY schumann's toccata, I said I was thinking of trying it to prepare for feux-follet. And I did'nt say I could play them perfectly, I said it would not be like Cziffra's recording for sure, but it would be DESCENT. So if you think I'm a bad liar, I think you're one bad reader. Or maybe you're just trying to take what i say and interpret it your way to insult me?

Note that any time you post, you prove yourself a bigger idiot than you already are.

-Why the heck are you PREPARING FOR Feux-Follet? Why are you even THINKING ABOUT Feux-Follets? At your age, and amount of piano you have, you should be trying your very best at pieces like the 1st movement of Moonlight Sonata, if you can even play that... I am not going to post on this topic anymore because you aren't fooling anyone but yourself, learn from it.

(Just to prove that I am reading your bullshit carefully, you spelled DESCENT wrong

*Decent

[dreamaurora]

Ability to play pieces does not indicate accurately the grade you are in now. I have met so many people that claimed they can play this and that, but then when I asked them to sit down with me and go through with me the pieces in detail, all they could do was just playing the notes or trying to mimic recordings. And more importantly, there are many other aspects of musicianship that go into a grade, if you claim yourself to be a grade 8, then you will have to master scales, aural, sight reading, sight singing,  theory, musicology, and practical musicianship up to grade 8 standard.

 I have no doubt that within a short period time of 1 or 2 year a person can attemp a post grade 8 repertoire, as long you are willing to slog it off, notes can be learned, BUT playing them with flare and correct musicianship is what separate the true earnest and meticulous music students from grade-jumping wannabes. And one last thing for those who always seem to claim they have higher grade than they are, you know, it is always easy to think that you sound much better than you really are.

[thepiboy]

I know what you say, but I prefer to learn a piece well, rather than to do it just to boast.

I am good at most aspects of piano.

Listening, Theory, Expression. The most important one is flair* (notice the spelling)

And I'm not a grade jumper, I just happened to come across the higher level pieces via classical music, and pieces that I knew. I'm still going to take all the grades though.

The only thing that I can't do is sight singing. I just started to delve into this aspect of music the other day.

It just so happens that most of my favourite pieces are high grades. Such as Clair De Lune. (extremely hard)

What annoys me is when people never play a piece right. Such as using the wrong dynamics and speed. It ruins the feel of the piece entirely.

My rule of thumb is:

If what you do makes the piece sound good, do it. If not, don't bother.

Piano Playing is about accurate, musically good playing.

[thierry13]

Note that any time you post, you prove yourself a bigger idiot than you already are.

-Why the heck are you PREPARING FOR Feux-Follet? Why are you even THINKING ABOUT Feux-Follets? At your age, and amount of piano you have, you should be trying your very best at pieces like the 1st movement of Moonlight Sonata, if you can even play that... I am not going to post on this topic anymore because you aren't fooling anyone but yourself, learn from it.

(Just to prove that I am reading your bullshit carefully, you spelled DESCENT wrong

*Decent

I can play the Moonlight sonata's first movement pretty well at sight read, so my teacher asked me if I wanted to learn the third movement like my... second or third piece since i'm studying piano, something like that, and she said it would not be so hard for me, and I think my teacher knows more what she's saying than you and me both
And I'm not trying to fool anyone. I don't try to play rach 3 or Sorabji or any concerto, only Mazeppa. I don't said this to fool anyone or nothing, someone asked : in wich grade are you ? So I said what pieces did I learned and wich pieces were I learning.

By the way, english is not my primary language, so try to understand sometimes I can do mistakes

[dreamaurora]

Thierry13, I think only after you are officialy certified, meaning you actually pass the exam for that particular grade ( and ALL the exam components, including aural, sight singing, and sight reading ),  then you can safely say what grade are you in.

You know, have it ever occured to you that your teacher may be wrong? I attempted Chopin Ballade no 3 after 2 years study with my first teacher, and managed to finish it. He gave glowing assessment of my playing. But when I moved to my new teacher, who is a respected performer, he pointed out all my mistakes, habits, bad fingerings, etc, and I have to swallow my pride and restarted from scratch again. Sure, I may not exactly play very difficult piece now, but at least now I'm sure that I'm more thorughly developed as a music student. And anyway, the way you phrase your words, I really don't know whether you really mean what you say or you are just trying to boast, but if you learn piano just for leisure, I guess you will be doing just fine.

[musik_man]

ah you can learn anything you want in the first year, doesn't mean it'll sound bril. and you can learn for 12 years and it still doesn't mean it'll sound bril!woohoo slow and steady wins the race!

Agreed.  When I first started 4 years ago, I quickly moved to pieces beyond my skill level.  I was learning Mozart's Rondo Alla Turca after 6 months.  I could hack my way through it after a few months, but that was with a rediculous amount of practice.  Having only one poorly done piece for several months of work is depressing.  Quite honestly, If I had kept learning like that, I'd have burned out a couple years ago.  Actually, to be honest, I had a 6 month burnout period that ended with the start of this school year.

The first piece that I learned after coming back was a transcription of Haydn's Gypsy Rondo.  It was easier than the last pieces that I had learned before my burnout(Mendy's E minor Scherzo and Bach's Italian Concerto 1st mvt,)  and it was alot of fun.  It only took a couple weeks to get all the notes under my fingers and most of them at full tempo.  Since then I've not really worked on any pieces much beyond my current level. 

Getting a new piece under my fingers every couple weeks makes playing much more enjoyable, than learning a new piece twice a year.  And quite honestly, the pieces I'm learning are every bit as enjoyable as Feux Follets, Mazzepa, Gaspard, Islamey.  In fact, I think many of the "virtuoso" pieces are really lacking musically.  I'd much rather listen to Beethoven's Waldstein or a Chopin Nocturne than Ravel's Gaspard.  It makes no sense to strain myself to learn pieces that I enjoy less to impress others.  Especially once you factor in that the average person will be blown away by a good rendition of a Nocturne or a Rag.  They aren't going to be anymore impressed by Liszt's B minor Sonata, particularly when you miss 1/4 the notes.  And if you're playing for people who are experienced musically, they won't be impressed by a crappy performance of a hard piece.

If you're obsessed with playing faster, faster, faster, go to the "Beautiful Easy Pieces" thread that Bernhard started.  Take a couple of those and play them.  I think you'll find that a nice easy piece is just as emotionally filling.

[thierry13]

Thierry13, I think only after you are officialy certified, meaning you actually pass the exam for that particular grade ( and ALL the exam components, including aural, sight singing, and sight reading ), then you can safely say what grade are you in.

You know, have it ever occured to you that your teacher may be wrong? I attempted Chopin Ballade no 3 after 2 years study with my first teacher, and managed to finish it. He gave glowing assessment of my playing. But when I moved to my new teacher, who is a respected performer, he pointed out all my mistakes, habits, bad fingerings, etc, and I have to swallow my pride and restarted from scratch again. Sure, I may not exactly play very difficult piece now, but at least now I'm sure that I'm more thorughly developed as a music student. And anyway, the way you phrase your words, I really don't know whether you really mean what you say or you are just trying to boast, but if you learn piano just for leisure, I guess you will be doing just fine.

I'm really not playing piano for leisure ( if it's really what I think it is,not sure).I'm playing piano to play pieces I really like, and maybe one day become a performer. I really loved Mazeppa, so I'm trying to learn it. I like the moonlight sonata 3rd mvt, but not so much to be a priority, so I didn't learned it. I'm pretty aware of all the phrasings, fingers to use when I play, one of the first things I look when I play. I played chopin's nocturne no.20 as a first concert piece, not because it was fast, because I loved it. I could have played Moonlight's 3rd movement, a chopin study maybe. But I prefered to play the nocturne, not because I were'nt ready to play the other pieces, just because I loved the nocturne a lot more. And the only reason I want to learn feux-follet is to get a better technique in double note. The only real piece I like in double notes is rach's prelude no.9. Great one. So I'm really not playing to play faster and faster, or for leisure like you say, I'm playing to play the pieces I like!

[dreamaurora]

I think you need to be aware of how to pace yourself, which is an art in itself. I have many pieces that I really love, and many of them are difficult. I love Faure Ballade, Chopin Etudes, Debussy's Images, etc. Now, I could have just go ahead and jumped into them, why not,  I should be playing pieces that I truly love. However, piano learning does not work that way. There is a plan you have to follow. Even the most gifted of the pianists have to go through the basics. You need to be well developed in other aspects of piano playing, and this needs time and patience. 

When you go to conservatories, trust me, no respectable teachers are going to allow you to work only on difficult pieces. In fact, all my friends in conservatories told me during their first few years, all the teachers assign them are simple Mozart, Scarlatti, Chopin, etc. This is to build a strong repertoire foundation and also to develop their musical understanding progressively. Of course, some of the more egoistic make a big hoohaa over it because they are not allowed to play pieces they really like. But, if you can't appreciate and understand the simpler pieces, how can you understand the more difficult pieces. I think it may be good for you to visit a conservatory and play for a teacher, so you can get a constructive feedback on how to build yourself up as a student.

[dolce cantabile]

Hmmm...I wonder how come you guys are able to play pieces that are beyond Grade 8 in a year. I wish I had you guys' talent. I have completed Bach Invention no.1 in a month but still not note perfect and not up-to-speed....

[zalmanesd]

15

Never had a grade before (wonder how to get one w/o teacher/which one to take).

Playing Rach 2 very badly.
Playing some Chopin etude...
Some Beethoven sonata...
Some Bach P&F..
...Just like most students.

Played for about 5-6 years w/o teacher.

[canardroti]

Hmmm...I wonder how come you guys are able to play pieces that are beyond Grade 8 in a year. I wish I had you guys' talent. I have completed Bach Invention no.1 in a month but still not note perfect and not up-to speed....

. This Grading thing completely blows my mind sometimes, some pieces of Grade 8 that i find  much easier than pieces grade 5-6 for instance.  I do not know what's the grade for Bach's invention Number 1 , however  it's mind boggling how the left and right hand are tricky to play together, but quite easy to play hand separately. Anyway,  my point is, don't rely too much on this grading system..

[hodi]

this grading system sucks.. i don't know why everyone pay so much attension to this thing i never heard of "ABRSM" or something like that

[vivacegirl]

yea, i've never heard of it either. but i'm 14, and right now i'm working on chopin's nocturne in dflat major

[faulty_damper]

They don't use grades in college.  They go by the freshmen, sophomore, junior, senior sort of thing.  I guess am a senior or a sophomore or something.  I really don't know since I changed my major.

[lagin]

Grade nine, almost ten, RCM (Canada)
Age 19