Thanks guys, I've printed the Ditson score out, and will have a proper look tomorow, I'm finding this hard lol, hope I can pull it off. I suppose the key is just to keep going

The key is not to get flustered by technical problems, Wayne. There's a resource here and you've plenty of time.

Thnx man

Wayne...I'm with you. Step by step anything is possible...even very challenging music

Love it! We in it together lol, we're in with the "in" crowd

Wayne, I apologise if I put you into a spin. To suggest trialling the ditson fingering for only an hour might have caused a bout of panic, maybe a sense that there’s so much to do you should quickly pass on to the next task? I meant only that within an hour you would probably begin to see that there was another way of doing things.

It’s impossible to overstate the importance of good fingering. It’s a foundation stone. You’ve got that much time you should take however long is required to get it right.

Don’t paniiiic!!!

Lol, no probs I reckon I'm stickin' to my own fingering, I find it more comfortable

- I can understand that. Anyway, time for me to ditch the dogma. A touch of sustain and it can still sound good.

Looking forward to hearing it!

My Alfred Masterworks edition of the complete Songs Without Words, edited by Maurice Hinson, arrived. I like the explanatory and interpretive information Hinson gives about the Songs, but it turns out that, for Op. 30 No. 3 at least, in most places I prefer the fingering I got from the Peters edition edited by Theodor Kullak that I found on imslp. Kullak gives more fingering in essential places, and it's subtler, in particular in using finger 4. The one place I might prefer Hinson is in a measure of descending first inversion RH chords. Kullak gives a varied fingering that I suspect is meant to improve legato. Hinson gives a straight-forward series of 125, and achieves legato with pedal. But I'll give the Kullak fingering a try, because so far in all the places where I've thought "that's an odd fingering", his fingering has turned out to be very clever and efficient.

On the other hand, Hinson gives explicit pedal suggestions, which I shall probably adopt.

And, oh look, the Kullak-edited Peters edition is available to buy. (I appreciate imslp as a resource, but I dislike playing from flimsy printed-out sheet music and having unattached sheets of paper floating all over my piano. I like my music corralled in a book. Yes, I could put the print-outs in a notebook, but what a pain, and it's never as compact as a printed book.) It seems sort of silly to have not one, but two, editions of the Songs Without Words when almost all of them are much too hard for me and, unlike the Beethoven Sonatas or the Bach Preludes and Fugues, they're not my dream aspirational pieces. But I think I will buy this edition anyway.

Okay, I'm sure I'll be slapping myself later, but I have chosen Op. 102 n. 3. I don't know how fast I'll be able to get it, but I'm gonna give it a go.

Meanwhile, I have fallen in love with 53-3. That's gonna be my next project piece!

I got the Dover edition. It has no suggested fingerings or commentary, if anyone was wondering what was going on in that one. It does have pedal markings.

Book 1, op. 19b (1829–1830)
No. 1 Andante con moto in E major - Dipsy
No. 2 Andante espressivo in A minor - ragnhildK
No. 3 Molto allegro e vivace in A major - Evelyn S
No. 4 Moderato in A major - Devrie
No. 5 Poco agitato in F-sharp minor - Ganddalf
No. 6 Andante sostenuto in G minor - Recaredo

Book 2, op. 30 (1833–1834)
No. 1 Andante espressivo in E-flat major - Valencia
No. 2 Allegro di molto in B-flat minor
No. 3 Adagio non troppo in E major - PianoStudent88
No. 4 Agitato e con fuoco in B minor
No. 5 Andante grazioso in D major - Beric
No. 6 Allegretto tranquillo in F-sharp minor - LimeFriday

Book 3, op. 38 (1836–1837)
No. 1 Con moto in E-flat major - dire tonic
No. 2 Allegro non troppo in C minor - ROSSY
No. 3 Presto e molto vivace in E major
No. 4 Andante in A major -
No. 5 Agitato in A minor
No. 6 Andante con moto in A-flat major - Sam S

Book 4, op. 53 (1839–1841)
No. 1 Andante con moto in A-flat major - IreneAdler
No. 2 Allegro non troppo in E-flat major - Ganddalf
No. 3 Presto agitato in G minor
No. 4 Adagio in F major - WiseBuff
No. 5 Allegro con fuoco in A minor - Sam S
No. 6 Molto Allegro vivace in A major

Book 5, op. 62 (1842–1844)
No. 1 Andante espressivo in G major - ZRTF90
No. 2 Allegro con fuoco in B-flat major
No. 3 Andante maestoso in E minor - ZRTF90
No. 4 Allegro con anima in G major
No. 5 Andante con moto in A minor - LimeFriday
No. 6 Allegretto grazioso in A major

Book 6, op. 67 (1843–1845)
No. 1 Andante in E-flat major - timmyab
No. 2 Allegro leggiero in F-sharp minor - dire tonic
No. 3 Andante tranquillo in B-flat major - timmyab
No. 4 Presto in C major
No. 5 Moderato in B minor - Pavel.K
No. 6 Allegro non troppo in E major

Book 7, op. 85 (1834–1845)
No. 1 Andante espressivo in F major
No. 2 Allegro agitato in A minor - Wayne33yrs
No. 3 Presto in E-flat major
No. 4 Andante sostenuto in D major - Rupak Bhattacharya
No. 5 Allegretto in A major
No. 6 Allegretto con moto in B-flat major

Book 8, op. 102 (1842–1845)
No. 1 Andante un poco agitato in E minor - Greener
No. 2 Adagio in D major - FarmGirl
No. 3 Presto in C major - AimeeO
No. 4 Un poco agitato, ma andante in G minor - LadyChen
No. 5 Allegro vivace in A major
No. 6 Andante in C major - Greener

Anymore takers?

Can we do more than one? If so, I have also in the past played 53/5. I could work that back up again in addition to 38/6.

Sam

Since it's proving difficult to get all the pieces covered, I think we may as well open it up so participants can take more than one. There's been a few people wanting more than one, so go for it guys

Sam 53/5 is yours

I could manage another one.I've taken a shine to op 67 no 3 in recent weeks so I'll give that a go if you like.

That's great, thnx, I'll edit the list

Could you put me down for 38,1 as a second piece?

Done it, thanks

I'm torn in several directions but I'll settle on Op. 62 No.1, Wayne.

Hi Wayne, Have you considered writing the list in a collaborative editor? Thus, each participant can sign up directly, and everyone would have a single point where they can see and edit the list.

I might consider doing a second one too! I'm just not sure which ones are possible for me to learn in 2-3 months. wrt a lot of what's left, I don't think I have a chance. :P It is sooo tempting though. I like 38/3 and 38/5, which i'm sure are too difficult---I'm also liking 85/1. Maybe someone else will choose some of those and relieve this temptation?

I also want to add another piece. What I have to decide for myself is if I should choose one of the "unplayable" ones or take a piece I already know reasonably well.

At the present stage I go for one of the "safe" options, Op.53 no.2.

I thought about this too. A simple option, Wayne permitting, would be to allow any of us to copy paste the most recent list with his own update/ammendment which becomes the new latest list. Any abuse of the system -like me rubbing out Sam S's name against 38,6 and substituting my own - would be immediately apparent.

I love 85/1 as well - but Valencia - if you want it - it's yours! So.... for a second piece - I'll go for Op 62 No 5. Thanks

Could you kindly jot me down for 102 #1.

I'm ok doing it this way, but thankyou.

I'll update the list soon peeps, cheers

Hi Wayne, just to clarify. I would still like to keep Op 102 no.6 and no.1 will be my encore

Not replacement.

thx

Book 1, op. 19b (1829–1830)
No. 1 Andante con moto in E major - Dipsy
No. 2 Andante espressivo in A minor - ragnhildK
No. 3 Molto allegro e vivace in A major - Evelyn S
No. 4 Moderato in A major - Devrie
No. 5 Poco agitato in F-sharp minor - Ganddalf
No. 6 Andante sostenuto in G minor - Recaredo

Book 2, op. 30 (1833–1834)
No. 1 Andante espressivo in E-flat major - Valencia
No. 2 Allegro di molto in B-flat minor
No. 3 Adagio non troppo in E major - PianoStudent88
No. 4 Agitato e con fuoco in B minor
No. 5 Andante grazioso in D major - Beric
No. 6 Allegretto tranquillo in F-sharp minor - LimeFriday

Book 3, op. 38 (1836–1837)
No. 1 Con moto in E-flat major - dire tonic
No. 2 Allegro non troppo in C minor - ROSSY
No. 3 Presto e molto vivace in E major
No. 4 Andante in A major -
No. 5 Agitato in A minor
No. 6 Andante con moto in A-flat major - Sam S

Book 4, op. 53 (1839–1841)
No. 1 Andante con moto in A-flat major - IreneAdler
No. 2 Allegro non troppo in E-flat major - Ganddalf
No. 3 Presto agitato in G minor
No. 4 Adagio in F major - WiseBuff
No. 5 Allegro con fuoco in A minor - Sam S
No. 6 Molto Allegro vivace in A major

Book 5, op. 62 (1842–1844)
No. 1 Andante espressivo in G major - ZRTF90
No. 2 Allegro con fuoco in B-flat major
No. 3 Andante maestoso in E minor - ZRTF90
No. 4 Allegro con anima in G major
No. 5 Andante con moto in A minor - LimeFriday
No. 6 Allegretto grazioso in A major

Book 6, op. 67 (1843–1845)
No. 1 Andante in E-flat major - timmyab
No. 2 Allegro leggiero in F-sharp minor - dire tonic
No. 3 Andante tranquillo in B-flat major - timmyab
No. 4 Presto in C major
No. 5 Moderato in B minor - Pavel.K
No. 6 Allegro non troppo in E major

Book 7, op. 85 (1834–1845)
No. 1 Andante espressivo in F major - Valencia
No. 2 Allegro agitato in A minor - Wayne33yrs
No. 3 Presto in E-flat major
No. 4 Andante sostenuto in D major - Rupak Bhattacharya
No. 5 Allegretto in A major
No. 6 Allegretto con moto in B-flat major

Book 8, op. 102 (1842–1845)
No. 1 Andante un poco agitato in E minor - Greener
No. 2 Adagio in D major - FarmGirl
No. 3 Presto in C major - AimeeO
No. 4 Un poco agitato, ma andante in G minor - LadyChen
No. 5 Allegro vivace in A major
No. 6 Andante in C major - Greener

I would love to be able to learn a second one, but I am being sorely challenged by my current one, reportedly the easiest of them all.

I'm currently stuck in the middle, trying to memorize the descending series of first inversion chords. I think I'm going to have to learn them one by one. First just one chord. Then two chords, over and over. Then three chords, over and over and over. Then four chords...

I don't understand how people who memorize easily do it.

And memorization, hard as it is for me, isn't even the biggest of my challenges on this.