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Joined: May 2001
Posts: 36,804
Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member
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"How long is too long?" There's no time limit, if you love it.
Yes, there may be no time limit but for most people time itself is limited.
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 5,921
5000 Post Club Member
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How long is a piece of string? Totally depends on the piece and the pianist.
(This from the gal who's been working on 10/12 for the past eight years or so. Not continuously, of course. I'll drop it for awhile and bring something new back to it in a couple of months. I've grown into it. Not that my playing would impress anyone but my nearest and dearest but I've done much more with it than I ever thought I would and have derived a great deal of satisfaction from the quest.)
Slow down and do it right. ![[Linked Image]](https://www.pianoworld.com/forumpicts/MOYD12/MOYD_789012.gif)
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Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 18
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OP
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Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 18 |
Thank you all for the warm and insightful responses. I honestly wasn't expecting such positive energy. I enjoy the Op 10 No 1 a great deal, and I have decided that I'll work on it as long as my hands feel OK and I'm not too consumed in any particular measure/section. My strongest motivation is that I'll be able to play the piece sooner and hold it with me when my technique develops. Even the first page is quite exhilarating when I can connect with the keys correctly.
I was hoping I could get some suggestions on what to logically play alongside the piece in an attempt to strengthen my technique in a more progressive manner (as opposed to such an apparently large leap with the 10/1). I was thinking maybe the etude 10/3 or waltzes 64/1 or 64/2, but I'm not entirely sure.
Last edited by xphotography; 02/11/13 06:55 AM.
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 5,921
5000 Post Club Member
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5000 Post Club Member
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and I do manage to make it sound fast, if not like a cheetah racing, at least like an elephant charging. (That's me. An elephant charging, trunk rampant.) 
Slow down and do it right.
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Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 1,485
1000 Post Club Member
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1000 Post Club Member
Joined: Jul 2008
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and I do manage to make it sound fast, if not like a cheetah racing, at least like an elephant charging. (That's me. An elephant charging, trunk rampant.) Keep at it. Before you know it, you'll sound like a rhino charging. -Daniel
Currently working on:
-Poulenc Trois pièces
-Liszt Harmonies du Soir
-Bach/Brahms Chaconne for Left Hand
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 5,921
5000 Post Club Member
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5000 Post Club Member
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 5,921 |
and I do manage to make it sound fast, if not like a cheetah racing, at least like an elephant charging. (That's me. An elephant charging, trunk rampant.) Keep at it. Before you know it, you'll sound like a rhino charging. -Daniel I'm aiming for velociraptor.
Slow down and do it right.
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Joined: May 2001
Posts: 36,804
Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member
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Yikes! 10000 Post Club Member
Joined: May 2001
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I was hoping I could get some suggestions on what to logically play alongside the piece in an attempt to strengthen my technique in a more progressive manner (as opposed to such an apparently large leap with the 10/1). I was thinking maybe the etude 10/3 or waltzes 64/1 or 64/2, but I'm not entirely sure. There are hundreds or thousands of pieces you could choose to help with your technique because any piece near your level(same, slightly above, slightly below)will help your technique. NONE would be logically related to Op. 10 No.1 because that piece works on a very specific and very advanced technique. If you simply choose pieces from various musical periods at appropriate levels you will get pieces that will help your technique and musicianship. I suggested various musical levels because certain musical periods tend to have somewhat different technical requirements. For example, music from the Classical period has an emphasis on scale and arpeggio technique. I would suggest choosing pieces from different periods based on which pieces you love and not worry about some grand plan of technical improvement. My suggestion would be scales and arpeggios=10%, Chopin Op. 10 No.1=15%, variety of other pieces(not just one or two)= 75%. Your biggest technical improvement will come from not spending too much time on Op. 10 No.1.
Last edited by pianoloverus; 02/11/13 09:09 AM.
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Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 3,652
3000 Post Club Member
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3000 Post Club Member
Joined: Feb 2005
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I was hoping I could get some suggestions on what to logically play alongside the piece in an attempt to strengthen my technique in a more progressive manner (as opposed to such an apparently large leap with the 10/1). I was thinking maybe the etude 10/3 or waltzes 64/1 or 64/2, but I'm not entirely sure. There are hundreds or thousands of pieces you could choose to help with your technique because any piece near your level(same, slightly above, slightly below)will help your technique. NONE would be logically related to Op. 10 No.1 because that piece works on a very specific and very advanced technique. If you simply choose pieces from various musical periods at appropriate levels you will get pieces that will help your technique and musicianship. I suggested various musical levels because certain musical periods tend to have somewhat different technical requirements. For example, music from the Classical period has an emphasis on scale and arpeggio technique. I would suggest choosing pieces from different periods based on which pieces you love and not worry about some grand plan of technical improvement. My suggestion would be scales and arpeggios=10%, Chopin Op. 10 No.1=15%, variety of other pieces(not just one or two)= 75%. Your biggest technical improvement will come from not spending too much time on Op. 10 No.1. In reading through this thread I was going to say that you should find other pieces that work other techniques. The danger of spending a lot of time on any one etude is that the technical requirements are very specific and playing piano well requires a broad technical ability. Then I get to PL's post above and he has succinctly stated everything I wanted to say. So +1
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Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,093
1000 Post Club Member
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1000 Post Club Member
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It has totally driven me insane that a fellow student for the past 3 and a half semester's has only played two pieces. Plays them at every studio class, I would almost argue favoritism. Despite these works being large(Schumann's Carnival and Bartok's sonata) I have gotten tired of hearing them.
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Joined: Nov 2009
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....I was going to say....Then I get to PL's post above and he has succinctly stated everything I wanted to say.
So +1 Make that 2. 
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Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 121
Full Member
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Full Member
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 121 |
I haven't played any Chopin etudes, but my understanding was that they are mostly quite hard. In my mind, it's not strange at all to take a several days to learn a section to tempo, beginning at a slow pace. You're probably the best judge of if it's too hard for you, but I'd say that if you feel like you're learning from it, your wrists aren't burning, and you're entertained while playing it, it's worth spending time on. Especially if it's a beautiful piece that you'd love to play well. Could you learn something shorter and easier concurrently? It might make you less likely to get burnt out.
I think spending a bit of time learning a piece is often what's needed to do justice to it and play it nicely. Cheers to hard work and due diligence.
Last edited by mermilylumpkin; 02/11/13 04:23 PM.
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Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 9,395
9000 Post Club Member
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9000 Post Club Member
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 9,395 |
I haven't played any Chopin etudes, but my understanding was that they are mostly quite hard. Some of the world's great pianists didn't dare to play some of them in public, is how hard they are. Getting down to the level of people who aren't among the world's greatest pianists, like myself and presumably the OP, most of these etudes are just ridiculous to attempt before reaching a very advanced general technical level, IMO. But that shouldn't stop a person from working on them, if it is fully understood that the chances are quite high that they will not be mastered. I've worked on the one in question, op. 10/1, on and off for around 40 years, and still can't play it reliably at half tempo, just as an example (that 20-30 years as I mentioned in an earlier post wasn't facetious). But I think I've learned a lot from flailing and failing at it, not least of which is that what it initially seems to be about is not what it is really about.
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