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Another thought on this ....

The approach I would suggest is to let your playing do your talking for you on this issue.

Try to stop "wishing" you can move to more interesting pieces and start performing at a high level on the pieces you are assigned. Your instructor/teacher will take notice of your fine playing and move you along at a pace corresponding to the skill level you have demonstrated.

If I were your teacher, I would say to you .... "Do not TELL me how good you are, SHOW me."

The same relationship exists between a coach of a basketball team or a football team and a player.
If you think you should be playing more, SHOW me .... don't TELL me !

Good luck to you.


Last edited by dmd; 01/17/17 11:40 AM.

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Why don't you work through those pieces you really want to play very slowly i.e. one to five measures a week or fortnight, depending on the difficulty of them for you.

Then, when you encounter a technical problem, have your teacher help you find a simple piece that is similar in technicality but a lot easier to master. You can then work through the simple piece until you have it down well, and then return to the more advanced, better loved, piece and continue in a similar manner for as far as you like, or can go.

This way, you get to know those difficult pieces you want to play, and at the same same time see more value in the simpler pieces. You may also, by comparing the simpler pieces to the difficult one, grow to appreciate the beauty (and, often, hidden complexities) of those simple pieces.


Last edited by pianopi; 01/17/17 11:44 AM.

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Originally Posted by ARpiano
PS. Just to understand, the piece I'm studing with the teacher are Clementi Sonatinas 1-6 and some Bach (pieces from Anna Magdalena and Little Preludes).

I haven't read through all the replies yet, but as a "beginner", you really are quite far along. These are not easy pieces. You really should be pleased with your progress and not grumbly as you come across. How long did you think it would take?

Originally Posted by ARpiano
He just pointed out I need to aim at interpretation/musicality and dynamics, I'm still not used to play freely and with control the piano/forte and combinations of them.
This is because you have advanced so quickly in a short amount of time. It should be taking you weeks to work on a piece. Professional pianists can take up to a year or more to perfect a piece before performing it. The harder the music, the longer it will take to get something at a performance level or close to that.


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Originally Posted by ARpiano
He just pointed out I need to aim at interpretation/musicality and dynamics, I'm still not used to play freely and with control the piano/forte and combinations of them.

I say that building your musicality takes as much time as building your technical skill. It's very good that your teacher is focusing on that right from the beginning (my teacher did too).

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Hi ARpiano and welcome.

It sounds like you have discovered how different it is just knowing something mentally vs. trying to execute it. Knowing it mentally is only one step. Then you have to practice. As Shinichi Suzuki said, knowledge plus 10,000 times equals ability.

Whatever you are working on, try to get it right a lot of times before you move on. That will help you master it more quickly. If f/p is a challenge than try isolating a small section that has a f/p issue, like one or two measures, and work on getting that section right maybe 10 times a day. The more correct repetitions you do, the more accurate you will be, and the faster you will master the easy material and move on to harder stuff. Remember, your knowledge about music might be pretty advanced, but your hands are beginners and you have to take the time to teach them how to play well.

The Clementi sonatinas are in the same style as Beethoven sonatas, and the Anna Magdalena material is in the same style as bigger Bach pieces like the Sinfonias and Partitas. So if you are feeling bored you could listen for inspiration to the Beethoven sonatas and the Bach Sinfonias and Partitas and see if you can hear the pianists doing some of the same things you are working on, like f in one hand and p in the other. And know that you are engaged in the same project. The simple pieces are just a way to develop that skill without having to worry about too many notes or too much length at the same time.



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Originally Posted by pianopi
Why don't you work through those pieces you really want to play very slowly i.e. one to five measures a week or fortnight, depending on the difficulty of them for you.

Then, when you encounter a technical problem, have your teacher help you find a simple piece that is similar in technicality but a lot easier to master. You can then work through the simple piece until you have it down well, and then return to the more advanced, better loved, piece and continue in a similar manner for as far as you like, or can go.

This way, you get to know those difficult pieces you want to play, and at the same same time see more value in the simpler pieces. You may also, by comparing the simpler pieces to the difficult one, grow to appreciate the beauty (and, often, hidden complexities) of those simple pieces.


OK but the OP mentioned Chopin etudes. My understaning is that those etudes don't have any easier parts because the point of them is to exercise a particular technical difficulty. But maybe I'm mistaken.

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Again, thank you all for the support and the advices I'm getting.
Honestly I think part of my doubts are the result of the fact I really don't know other musicians, never had a conversation like this, I feel a bit lonely in this "piano world", but here I'm reading many comments from other fellow music lovers, and that gives me much motivation, thank you! smile

Originally Posted by hreichgott

It sounds like you have discovered how different it is just knowing something mentally vs. trying to execute it. (...)

The Clementi sonatinas are in the same style as Beethoven sonatas, and the Anna Magdalena material is in the same style as bigger Bach pieces like the Sinfonias and Partitas. (...) The simple pieces are just a way to develop that skill without having to worry about too many notes or too much length at the same time.


I discovered it the hard way ahah
Anyway great point of view!

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