I really don't think I'm ready to play a piano concerto at the moment since Im probably not good enough for one. For someone who has never played a concerto before what would be a good one to start out with?

well, what pieces have you been working on?

Haydn's Piano Concerto is always a good one to start with.
http://www.piano.ru/scores/haydn/concertos/ha-con-d.pdf

Bach invention no. 1 and 14
Mozart Sonata in C Major
MacDowell Alla Tarantella
Im about to start Pieczonka's Tarantella

i think a lot of people start with a mozart concerto

which sonata in C major?

most people start off with this mozart concerto
http://vkgfx.com/scores/mozart/moz-con-23.pdf

Most people?

The A major Concerto No 23 (KV488) is one of the most refined, most elegant and most mature of the Mozart concerti. I've not known anyone who has attempted it as his or her first concerto.

Regards,

Agreed.

For the record, I am learning it as my first concerto. I feel out of my depth, but my teacher insists on it.

BruceD is right. No. 23 is much harder than people assume. I would not suggest it for a first concerto.

I started out with the Haydn Concerto in D major. Lots of musical jokes in the third movement. Have fun!

Matt

The Haydn D major is indeed an excellent first concerto and the third movement (Hungarian Rondo) is perhaps the most accessible of the fast movements. This is the one my son started with as well.

I'm with Bruce on the Mozart. One does not usually jump from the sonata in C to one of his mature concerti.

The "1st concerto" of Mozart definitely should NOT be the K.488, rather K.414.

If you want to play with other instruments, I would suggest one of the K. 107 concertos of Mozart. These are available from Schott with all the parts very inexpensively, and can be played with two violins and a cello or bass. They are arrangements of sonatas by J. C. Bach.

For Haydn, I would suggest the concertos in G or F, which can be played with a string quartet, as can Mozart's K. 413, 414, 415, and 449. But these are all more difficult.

opps, sorry my mistake. I agree that you should start off with the Haydn Concerto in D.

I'm about to learn my first concerto as well- I'm deciding between Mozart No.18 K456 in Bflat, or the 3rd 'Youth' Concerto Op. 50 in D by Kabalevsky. My teacher said that the Kabalevsky would suit me, as he intended it to be for a student's first concerto. Maybe you should research it?

My first Concerto was the brahms D minor concerto. I am now about to do the Mozart 18 or the beethoven 2nd.

I agree with Bruce and others that K. 488 should NOT be the first. Earlier Mozart or, as suggested, the Kabelevsky Youth would be a good first. I've used it with several students to good advantage and it's fun to play as well.

My first concerto was the Liszt Eb when a junior in high school. Really enjoyed playing it too. So many wonderful concertos--so little time!

Damn, that's quite a choice for a first concerto! How great (or little) was the effort? I'm considering learning this concerto, being something of a Brahmsian myself.

Brahms really fit my strengths as a pianist. That is why I choose that one at the time. My teacher was like that one or Mozart D minor. Because it fit my strengths it was not difficult for me to pull it off. I had alot of fun learning it to.

My first was Beethoven's Emperor!

I've played Brahms 1 as well and recently got the score for the second. It looks horrendous!

Emperor I bet that was fun. That is my favorite Concerto.

My first concerto is also the Emperor (this semester). However, I started work on both the Prokofiev 3rd and Liszt 1st this semester until deciding I didn't really want to play the Prokofiev and realized I didn't have enough time to learn to the Liszt.

My first concerto was Rubinstein D minor, which I think it was a good one because it was not technically extreme and was pretty straight forward musically. Howevver, I think Mozart and Haydn are better firsts.

My first Concerto was Robert Schumann's. My 2nd was Mozart no. 21 in C Major.