Fast but easy pieces, please recommend

[ShiroKuro]

I am trying to improve my speed, and am working on the Tarantella that's in the movie "Legend of 1900."  The arrangement I have is nice, but incredibily simple (one note per hand throughout) However, the MM is 138, which is a good challenge for me right now.

Can anyone recommend other pieces like this, fast (MM 100-140) but without lots of  (or any) chords and not too intricate in the melody?  I'm interested in classical or contemporary, but not ragtime or syncopated, things that are fun to play and which basically only present a challenge in the area of speed/tempo.

If you are familiar with Mozart's variations on Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, that's the sort of thing I'm looking for (except that is something like 10 pages long, so something a little shorter would be good)

Thanks for any suggestions!   

[LVB op.57]

chopin-minute waltz

[BoliverAllmon]

shostakovich's lyrical waltz isn't too fast, but you are having to grab chords pretty quickly. Also the melody is in thirds for  parts of it.

boliver

[Graf Zahl]

What about the Flight of the Bumble-Bee in the Rachmaninov-transcription?

[BoliverAllmon]

What about the Flight of the Bumble-Bee in the Rachmaninov-transcription?

I thought we were talking easy?

[shasta]

Fast but easy:

CPE Bach's little C minor Solfeggietto

JS Bach's C minor prelude from book 1

Bartok's Romanian Folk Dances  <-- the last one, I think "Maruntel", in particular...

[anda]

Bartok's Romanian Folk Dances  <-- the last one, I think "Maruntel", in particular...

that's not an easy one... maybe the 5th dance

[anda]

schubert - impromptu op. 90 no.2 eb dur

[pseudopianist]

schubert - impromptu op. 90 no.2 eb dur

Agreed

[Waldszenen]

The finale of Beethoven's Pathetique though it contains many slow parts.

[shotkong64x]

L'orage - Friedrich Burgmuller

sorta fast, really furious peice.  extremely easy.

[hodi]

mendelssohn's spinning song :-)
(not really easy to play it good)

[berrt]

D'aquin: Le Coucou - slightly above beginner-level.

bye
Berrt

[Etude]

Bach WTC book I: Prelude 21

Beethoven op. 2 no. 1 4th movement

[lostinidlewonder]

Bachs Lute Prelude BWV999.
https://www.ibiblio.org/pub/multimedia/mutopia/BachJS/BWV999/Bach_Prelude_BWV999/Bach_Prelude_BWV999-a4.pdf
Not the best score but it has the notes and its free.
https://www.ibiblio.org/pub/multimedia/mutopia/BachJS/BWV999/Bach_Prelude_BWV999/Bach_Prelude_BWV999.mid
if you want to hear it, played pretty slowly though.

[ShiroKuro]

Thanks for all the suggestions!  I am making a list, and now trying to see which pieces I already have and haven't noticed, and which ones I want to get! Thanks again.  And certainly, ifanyone has more, keep them coming!   

[keys]

Solfeggietto by C. P. E. Bach. I LOVED this piece.  It fits the hand really well, so much fun to play. 

[vivace]

How about MacDowell's "Alla Tarantella"? Find it on this site, listed as Etude Op. 39 No. 2   

https://www.sheetmusicarchive.net/single_listing.cfm?composer_id=39

Printed under the title of the edition linked above is: "Speed, Lightness of Touch". There you go--focus is on speed! Fun to play, musically entertaining, and is rather short.   

[fred smalls]

Ok! Heres a good piece to learn that sounds hard  is very fast  and not that difficult
Liszt: Prelude to the Transcendental Etudes: Etude No.1

Now, do me a favour, tell me where i can get the music for that piece from Legend of 1900. I want to see if its really as hard as that movie makes it out to be, it didn't look intensly difficult(?)
(It is the one he shows the jazz pianst up with, right?) Also, who is it by?

[fred smalls]

I think i read the topic wrong
Does anyone know where to get the original arrangment for the piece in that movie?
Also, maybe the first etude would be a bit tricky, try some of the Czerny exercises in the book that comes before "The Art of Finger Dexterity" (can't remember its name, maybe someone will help me out ). They might not be musically that interesting but they will help your technique!

[ShiroKuro]

Fred, sorry for the late reply.

The piece from Legend of 1900 that I was talking about is not used in the piano duel . It's called "Tarantella in 3rd Class" by Ennio Morricone.

Do you remember the scene where he's in 3rd class and someone says (in Italian) "hey, play us a Tarantella?" and 1900 says "hey Piasan, what's a tarantella?"  The guy hums a bit, and 1900 takes off at  200 miles per hour. The arrangement I have is slightly simplified for the first half, mainly by making the LH just dotted quarter notes, two per measure. Then the second half is more like that performed in the movie, the RH and LH are constant quarter notes, at odds with each other (sounds fantastic!)

The book that I got this in says that this piece appears on the CD soundtrack sold in Italy (so it probably is not available on the US edition CD).  By the way, I am in Japan, and this piece is in a Japanese music publication, so I'm not sure that you could get it all that easily... Have you looked at scores for the soundtrack, it might be in one.

If you like the stuff from the piano battle scene, look for "the Crave" by Jelly Roll Morton, which is one of my all time favorite pieces (and I am certain that it's in all the soundtrack score books).

[fred smalls]

Ok. Thanks for your help The Crave is a really cool piece isn't it? I like it more when 1900 plays it with octave glissandos

[steinwayguy]

Liszt's Mephisto Waltz isn't too bad.

[fred smalls]

Liszt's Mephisto Waltz isn't too bad.

Please.
This is asking about pieces like Solfeggietto not Mephisto Waltz. Don't suggest Mephisto Waltz as an easy piece, that is plain stupid.
Thanks

[fred smalls]

BTW, i forgot, 

[offenbach]

What about Beethoven's "God Save the King" variations? It's fun, and much like the Mozart Twinkle Twinkle, but shorter. Hope this helps.

O

[lfischer]

3rd movt of Moonlight sonata?

[ShiroKuro]

A lot of the pieces being suggested here are pieces I have in different collections, but maybe don't know or haven't played. So that's very helpful (thanks again everyone)   It's kind of funny when you book a book with 20-50 pieces in it, and you know about 15 of them! So this thread has turned out to be helpful in that regard as well. 

But I don't know the Beethoven "God Save the King" piece... does it have a different name? I'll have to look for and see what it is.

[thierry13]

Liszt's Mephisto Waltz isn't too bad.

Why not the sorabji piece Ludwig van Rachabji posted in the sorabji topic ? That wouldn't be too bad   

[yebanqinsh]

Forget about what I said

[chopinfan_22]

Chopin's Prelude Op. 28 No. 3 isn't too bad. It's good for the left hand. Also try his Waltz Op. 64 No. 2. It starts off slow, then has it's moments of speed.

[stagefright]

I thought we were talking easy?

Polka Italienne by Rachmaninov

[Tash]

the 3rd movement of khachaturian's sonatina is about grade 8 (AMEB syllabus, thus around the mozart variations)- it's fast, exciting and will knock the socks of anyone who listens to it!

[debussy symbolism]

Greetings.

I recomend Schumann's Fantastic Dance. It is a very lovely and beautifull piece.

Hope this helps.

[queenrock]

Anyone heard of Csikos Post by H. Necke, it's pretty easy and sounds really really good when it's played really fast and really loudly.

[adagio]

I recommand : Tarentelle by Scharwenka, Op. 62, no. 12.
This is a nice piece of music.
Regards.

[nanabush]

I second the third mvmt of Khacthataurian [sry for spelling] sonatina.  It's very fast, not overly difficult, quite lengthy [page wise]. 

I'd also like to suggest the first movement.  I playd this for grd 9 rcm, and I also tried out the third movement.  The third seemd harder to perfect, but the first movement was more of a workout (octaves, some thirds).  Both are excellent fast, showy pieces, not overly diffficult, not too easy.  Give these a shot, or at least listen to them, u'll love them.

[Tash]

oh yeah the 1st movement is lots of fun! it's very playful and nice to play

[sauergrandson]

Aragonaise, from "Le Cid" Massenet

[sauergrandson]

Uhm.... Upps......   How could I.....?   SCARLATTI IS YOUR MAN!!!!!!!    EASY, but seems difficult.

[piazzo23]

Debussy´s Dr Gradus ad Parnassum form his Children´s Corner.
You can memorize it and play it at incredible speed in one day.

[justliam]

Dr Gradus took me a week and a half at an hour a day lol, but yeh I guess it is pretty easy compared with how it sounds

[pacific_pianist]

I recommand : Tarentelle by Scharwenka, Op. 62, no. 12.
This is a nice piece of music.
Regards.

I'd like to congradulate this person for actually posting a RELEVANT RESPONSE. The original post asks for EASY pieces. And then all these bone heads start suggesting Chopin Waltz's Liszt I mean c'mon! The whole point of trying to learn how to play fast is to have EASY music so you are not STRUGGLING. 

[cuberdrift]

I thought we were talking easy?

The author mentioned in the league of the Twinkle Star variations by Mozart. And the Bumblebee isn't exactly harder than that. I took on both before.

[andrewuk]

Albert Pieczonka's Tarantella  (fairly easy, but impressive if played well)

Dizzy Fingers by Zez Confrey (fast-moving RH, but LH is easy with no big jumps)

[johnlewisgrant]

Bach, G Major Prelude (no. 15), Well-tempered Clavier, Book 2:
https://soundcloud.com/johnlgrant/bach-prelude-15-g-major-well-tempered-book-1


C Sharp Major Prelude (No. 3) Book 1:
https://soundcloud.com/johnlgrant/bach-prelude-3-c-sharp-major-well-tempered-clavier-book-1

Not sure about "easy".  That's a relative term!   The C Sharp Major Prelude is actually the easiest of these two quite well-known pieces.  All those sharps actually make it easier under the fingers.   The G Major prelude is harder, in fact, to play fast, not only because of the sustaining notes (under which the runs are played), but also because the more white keys (ironically), the more difficult it is to play evenly.

You might find these two preludes "hard," depending on your level.  Still, really slow practice, and either of these pieces can be mastered by anyone.  At least, that's MY take.

[pacific_pianist]

you know... i have always thought the C# Major prelude sounded easier than it seems... so maybe I will give it a try. Yes the G Major sounds like the arpeggios on the white keys might be hard. Also you need a supple wrist in the LH all those triplets. Thanks for the ideas.