When should I start learning a chopin ballade?

[sypie121]

Hi,
Id love to play the chopin ballades 1 and 4. 4 looks hard af though so Ill probably wait before attempting that one.

Some pieces Ive learned are:

beethoven pathetique

chopin op 10 nr 12 and 5

Ravels le tombeau de couperin everything besides the toccata and rigaudon

Chopin waltz op 64 nr 2 and 1

What would be good pieces to prepare the technique for ballade 1 and 4 and do you think Itd be a good idea to learn ballade 1 now?

[psipsi8]

Nothing can stop you but it will take long imho. Best way to tell if you're ready is to sight-read the piece.  Good luck!
BTW I had learned no.4 - not perfectly however - like 20 years ago - when I was already playing advanced pieces, then stopped playing the piano as I was moving around a lot.  Still I was not too embarrassed to sneak in to the music faculty on the university grounds on weekends or evenings and practise since I had no piano at home. I still remember the immigrant cleaning lady standing still and admiring my playing of Ballade no.4 so my playing obviously wasn't that bad.
Started playing the piano again about 8 months ago and have for the most part regained my skill, which included pieces more advanced than those you mention. Am learning Ballade no.4 again but it's a slow process. Although I have some "memory" of it. Which is why I chose it even though it's arguably the hardest of the ballades.

[bbqduckie]

My old piano teacher used to say this about when she usually assign:
Ballade no 3 - after 3+ chopin etudes at least one with arpeggios, a few nocturnes, a couple full length beethovens, or first year university studying piano.
Ballade no 1/2 - 4-5 etudes, a couple listz etudes, and a big enough hand. There are tons of technical  difficulties with either of these pieces not describable with standard beethoven stuff or even chopin's own etude.
She told me dont worry about #4.

[essence]

Which ever one you love the most. They all have very difficult passages. Balance, tone, singing are problems, in a way to fast loud parts are easy.