I wish classical pieces notated the chords in the score the way rock/pop/jazz charts do; it would make sight-reading a lot easier

I think I just need to go through and write jazz-style chord notations in the measures (Eb, Eb/D, C7, etc) and then I'll be able to play it. I wish classical pieces notated the chords in the score the way rock/pop/jazz charts do; it would make sight-reading a lot easier

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I think I just need to go through and write jazz-style chord notations in the measures (Eb, Eb/D, C7, etc) and then I'll be able to play it. I wish classical pieces notated the chords in the score the way rock/pop/jazz charts do; it would make sight-reading a lot easier

The nature of classical music is to "notate notes", not chords. Every note is important. Play the notes, and the harmony will take care of itself.

I usually wind up penciling in the chords to help me remember where the piece is going and to understand how the piece is put together. I can learn it a lot faster that way.

The constantly changing voicings is what makes it tough, but part of playing this music is mastering every note and chord, and usually memorizing the entire piece.

Where is exactly is 'heck'?

And if the OP's reading skills were stronger, memorization wouldn't necessarily be a requirement.

No kidding. OP should go away until he has world-class technical / reading chops or at least a performance degree. Boo! Hey OP, you suck!

....Adim7.... |

*you could argue for Cdim7 too, I think. Tomay-to, tomah-to.

Where you go if you don't believe in Gosh.

F

I think the hard part for me is two part. A) the chords in e.g. the second line are not ones I can sight-read (dense clusters, unusual flats like Cb and way about the bar in the LH) and B) The harmony is not moving in a way that is easy for me to quickly grasp.

Once I have a mental model of what I'm playing both in the small ("oh, this is an Eb second inversion, this is an F major etc. etc") and in the large ("The harmonies go I-III-II" or whatever) then it should be reasonably straightforward to learn but puzzling that out is the hard part. I am happy to hear that the harmonies repeat at least some, and I know Chopin likes to do things like voice 1-3-7 in one spot and 1-5-7 in another so the chord is the same just a minor difference in voicing - that's not always completely obvious just glancing through the score.

I think I just need to go through and write jazz-style chord notations in the measures (Eb, Eb/D, C7, etc) and then I'll be able to play it. I wish classical pieces notated the chords in the score the way rock/pop/jazz charts do; it would make sight-reading a lot easier

Where is exactly is 'heck'?

"Heck" is not what I typed. Apparently the word I used is way too dirty for the folks that run this site.

If classical composers ever started notating like that, I would stop playing classical music.

I'm curious why? I'm not advocating for getting rid of the staves and the notes, just addiing additional notation above the staves the same way pop music puts guitar chord symbols. Classical harmony can move very quickly (several chords per bar) so maybe it would be unwieldy in practice but I don't why it would be so very dreadful. What about it rubs you the wrong way?

I'm curious why? I'm not advocating for getting rid of the staves and the notes, just addiing additional notation above the staves the same way pop music puts guitar chord symbols. Classical harmony can move very quickly (several chords per bar) so maybe it would be unwieldy in practice but I don't why it would be so very dreadful. What about it rubs you the wrong way?

That is why jazz musicians are so admired, and even envied by classical musicians. Improvisation is truly an amazing talent, and few in the classical word can pull it off, without sounding - well, too "classical".

Maybe what rubs people the wrong way (and this is only a guess) is the idea of approaching a piece of classical music as you would a piece of pop music. In jazz, for example, the performer and composer are one. Give a talented jazz pianist a fake book, and he's good to go. It's like giving a painter a canvas with only the broad outlines of scene, and then saying, "OK, make it your own." That is why jazz musicians are so admired, and even envied by classical musicians. Improvisation is truly an amazing talent, and few in the classical word can pull it off, without sounding - well, too "classical".

But in classical music, there is no broad outline on a relatively empty canvas. The picture is already complete. Every stroke, every color is already there, and it's the artist's job not to add or subtract, but to restore it and make it live again. So I think the whole idea of notating chord progressions suggests that you may still be thinking in terms of a framework, within which you can "play" (as opposed to play). But as I said earlier, in classical music, every single note counts, and every note must be played. There is no note that is simply extraneous, unless you are bold enough to second-guess Chopin.

Maybe you should ditch Chopin for a while and try some Bach. Bach's music, (especially his fugues, which are very linear in nature), might move you away from your more "vertical", chordal way of thinking. I think you'd find your chord notations meaningless. You would begin to focus on the melodic and thematic aspects of music, rather than the harmonic. I came to love Bach at a young age by listening to one of his greatest organ works, the "Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor". Beginning with the Passacaglia's foreboding introduction of the theme (on the pedal board), Bach takes you on an amazing journey of endless variations, with "the theme" exiting and re-emerging, but omnipresent. I doubt you'll be thinking much about chord progressions. But more like, "So where's Waldo now?"

But in classical music, there is no broad outline on a relatively empty canvas. The picture is already complete. Every stroke, every color is already there, and it's the artist's job not to add or subtract, but to restore it and make it live again.

As I said I personally am not worthy of "riffing on" the Nocturnes but I don't think it is stylistically inappropriate to do so. They all did. The idea that the sheet is holy writ from which one must not deviate is a fairly modern idea.