What piece are you practising now?

[leigh anne]

Hello! How are you guys doing today?
Me, well curiosity got the lead in posting a new topic here in piano street and well I wonder, what piece are you practising or planning to practise now? 😀

[lelle]

I have been reading and playing three polonaises by Chopin: C sharp minor op 26 no 1, and A major and C minor from Op 40. Not really practicing them in depth, but I'm a proficient enough sight reader to play a lot of what's in the score immediately from the page, and the trickier spots start sorting themselves out after a couple of days of play throughs. It's been a lot of fun!

[leigh anne]

I have been reading and playing three polonaises by Chopin: C sharp minor op 26 no 1, and A major and C minor from Op 40. Not really practicing them in depth, but I'm a proficient enough sight reader to play a lot of what's in the score immediately from the page, and the trickier spots start sorting themselves out after a couple of days of play throughs. It's been a lot of fun!

Nice! Well as for me I am not practising anything (yet) cause I gotta fix the pieces I have long forgotten... 😅

[bwl_13]

I've just started work on the Waldstein sonata about 2 weeks ago, only the first movement so far.

Other than that I'm polishing Op. 90 and Chopin's second Scherzo.

Why don't you let us know what you're practicing?

[leigh anne]

I've just started work on the Waldstein sonata about 2 weeks ago, only the first movement so far.

Other than that I'm polishing Op. 90 and Chopin's second Scherzo.

Why don't you let us know what you're practicing?

I'm not really practising anything right now. I just went back to all the pieces I know to make them better and so whenever I play them I wont be pressing wrong notes. I am currently working on my way of playing plus my sight reading so I am not practising a piece yet. But I will be soon. 

[bwl_13]

I'm not really practising anything right now. I just went back to all the pieces I know to make them better and so whenever I play them I wont be pressing wrong notes. I am currently working on my way of playing plus my sight reading so I am not practising a piece yet. But I will be soon. 

Yes of course, but that's still practicing. What pieces are the ones you already know?

[nightwindsonata]

- Il Lamento from Franz Liszt's 3 Concert Etudes
- Sonnet 104 from Liszt's 2nd Year of Pilgrimage
- Liebestraum No. 3 from Liszt's 3 Nocturnes
- Piano Concerto in G by Ravel
- Etude Op. 25 No. 6 by Chopin

When I have time, I also work on Beethoven's Op. 111 Sonata and Medtner's Canzone Matinata, but the Liszt pieces are really high priority, since I am performing a 50-minute program of all Liszt several times this fall, the first of which is in mid-September (2 months earlier than I thought lol).

[leigh anne]

Yes of course, but that's still practicing. What pieces are the ones you already know?

I'm working on two at a time, and I'm starting with Nocturne in E flat major and Rondo Alla turca while I am looking for the 1st and 2nd movement. I only found that it has 1st and 2nd recently. 

[jamienc]

Appassionata for August lecture recital and complete Chopin Etudes for April recital.

[kc_gracie]

I am trying to clean up pieces I have learned and what to relearn from over the years (maybe a recital in the future?).

- Chopin Ballade No.1 and 4
- Beethoven Sonata Op.111
- Bach/Corsellis Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor
- Bach/Busoni Chaconne

I am currently learning (and spending most of my time on)

- Liszt Apres une lecture du Dante

I have a few pieces I want to learn that I am strongly considering in the near future, but I am struggling to pick one (Medtner Sonata Op.38 No.1, Janacek Sonata, Liszt Ballade No.2, Bach Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue). However, seeing these posts, I really want to rework the Waldstein sonata. That is literally top 10 piece for me. So good.

- KC

[azural]

I'm learning all 24 Shostakovich op 34 preludes, even though I bounced off them when listening a while ago, maybe they're more fun to play than hear

[lelle]

I'm learning all 24 Shostakovich op 34 preludes, even though I bounced off them when listening a while ago, maybe they're more fun to play than hear

You're learning them just in case they're fun to play, even if they're not fun to listen to?

[bwl_13]

You're learning them just in case they're fun to play, even if they're not fun to listen to?

I've also got questions about this. Why are you learning them if you don't enjoy listening to them?

[stringoverstrung]

Hello,

Working on Schumann Sonata 1 fourth Movement while maintaining the other 3 movements.
Then we have a Scarlatti  sonata + Barcarolle of Chopin as well.
Attempting some exercises from Brahms.

Regards,
Gert

[brogers70]

I've also got questions about this. Why are you learning them if you don't enjoy listening to them?

I find lots of mid-late 20th century music hard to listen to unless I spend the time with it required to perform it. For me, the idioms are unfamiliar enough that until I make myself live with them for a few months by practicing, I just don't understand or enjoy them. But once I've invested the time, it's totally different.

[bwl_13]

I find lots of mid-late 20th century music hard to listen to unless I spend the time with it required to perform it. For me, the idioms are unfamiliar enough that until I make myself live with them for a few months by practicing, I just don't understand or enjoy them. But once I've invested the time, it's totally different.

I see. That makes sense for sure. I guess it's just a bit foreign of a concept to me, although I don't play lots of music from that time period or style.

[gbina]

One of my students and I are studying and practicing Bach's Goldberg Variations.  We are enjoying this endeavor together.

[faa2010]

Currently I am with:

Bach - Prelude and Fugue no 2 in c minor
Beethoven - Sonata op 2 no 1 in f minor
Chopin - Étude op 10 no 3 (Tristesse)
Debussy - Pagodes

I hope to start later:
Tchaikovsky - Romance in f minor op 5
Castro - Mazurka Melancolica
Chopin - Étude op 10 no 1 (Waterfall)
Paul Cantelon - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

[roncesvalles]

I've just been reunited with my piano after three months of not playing.  I'm working on two pieces and doing a little dabbling in two others.

1. Bach's Sinfonia #9.  I've mostly avoided Bach, but I'm wanting to develop my contrapuntal playing, first with a few Sinfonias, and next year or sooner with the WTC, depending on my progress.  I really have to work out fingering in Bach.
2. Emile-Robert Blanchet (a pupil of Busoni), Etude 1 from Treize Etudes Pour la Main Gauche.  My left hand is much better than my right, and I'm fascinated by left hand repertoire.  I want to learn a selection of these or maybe the whole set, because they're easier than a lot of the repertoire--I'm kind of taking a stepping stone approach.  This is an etude of thirds with accompaniment, but it's a bit of a finger twister, with double finger crosses for the thirds (fingered 23, 14) while the fifth finger plays a slower accompaniment figure.  Written nonlegato, I'm practicing the piece staccato and focusing on articulation--once the basic choreography is down, the piece isn't challenging, but making it sound good is more difficult.

Things I'm working on a little bit at a time:
1.  Mozart K545 first movement.  This is sort of where my right hand is technique wise right now.  I'm really working on refinement and attention to detail with this one, controlling the tone.  There are really only a couple trouble spots, but it's hard to be enthusiastic about this piece, because unless it is played with finesse and understanding, it loses all its interest, and I'm not making it elegant just yet.
2. Scriabin Op. 11 C minor Prelude (20?).  I've played about 8 preludes from this set in the past--it's a bit of a push piece though.  I've never really worked on right handed octaves, so I'm just learning a couple bars at a time, in no rush.   I played hands separate last night, but the trick will be negotiating jumps in the left hand while not losing track of the right.