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I have this problem with chopin. I can never seem to play his music the way I like. That is, When I finish a chopin piece I just don't like the way I play it. My mom plays chopin, and tonight I played her some preludes. She thought it was good, but to me it sounded/felt mediocre. does anybody else have a compsor that they simply can't fully grasp. It frustrates me sometimes cause I love his music, but damn it's hard for me to nail down . Is this common with any of you guys?

Well, you're obviously your own worst critic (common in most people so don't worry). But honestly this could be one of many things. I have this feeling sometimes when I play Liszt... it just doesn't sound right at times. But I think it's because I compare myself to recordings of other pianists and say "I have to be exactly like that!". But I've learned over the little time I've spent on the piano that the best person to compare yourself to is good 'ol you. And if you are not pleasing yourself, just practice more. You don't get a bulls eye every time when you're starting.

Good luck

Chopin needs night and day devotion, some major emotions - maybe even a few tears with some of his pieces!

You can't cultivate that intensity! Don't get me wrong, I can play emotionally, but his is just... just plain TOO DEEP. And too bloody heart-wrenching...

You're not alone, BachEnthusiast!

I feel with you bach enthusiast! Only in my case, I always feel "uncomfortable" playing Mozart. I truly love and enjoy his music, but whenever I play it, it seems as though something is missing.

I've found that it usually helpes to tape record yourself when playing. This can give you more insight and a wider perspective than someone elses opinion of your playing can.

When I first started learning Beethoven, it sounded very rigid and clinical - because I was trying to play it 'classically'. But my teacher got me past that by treating it like a romantic piece, and then toning down the rubato, still leaving the nuances - it's a great way of doing it. For Chopin I would be as exagguratedly expressive as possible and then tone it down - imagine you're actually singing the notes as a song and not playing them.

I feel ya. Though the main concern for me with Chopin is to actually get the notes right...but yeah I agree with Ronel Augustyn. Just so much emotion in his music.

Bach, how old are you? The reason i ask is, if you're at a young age, maybe it has to do with maturity of your emotions to incorporate into your playing. I'm not saying that if you're young you cant have maturity while playing music, but most of the young people i see play on a more technical basis.

Just judging by the quality of his posts (and knowledge of Bach) I'm almost certain that that isn't the 'problem'

Bach!

The Prelude in C Minor, WTC I has frustrated me a lot, because I know I play it well - in fact, my teacher has stopped commenting on it, even though she listens to it every week, because I really do play it well. But I just feel like - well - like I play it like a student! It's just not "mature" yet, though I've been working on it for two or three years.

It's all about maturity, I suppose, even though I'm not quite sure what 'maturity' really means or how to achieve it. As Kreisler said, "it takes 10% of the time to get the piece 90% of how we want to perform it, and 90% of the time to get it that extra 10%." The remaining 90% of the time is spent analyzing the music, really learning to understand it and to musically demonstrate this understanding through performance. That process of maturing one's understanding and performance of a particular piece of music takes a long time, and it's worth it.

For me its Mozart. I can play his stuff, but it just doesn't sound like I want it to. One thing that might help is to take an easy work of Chopin's and learn it so you feel comfortable. Then, try to play it not worrying at all about the notes, but concentrating on playing it beautifully (even if your interpretation doesn't match 100% with Chopin's intentions). The point being, try to play it with your own emotions and feelings. If you can pour your feelings into a piece, then you can really make it come alive - and that might help to give you more of a connection with Chopin and his music.

Well you know what they say, "play Chopin like you would play Mozart, and play Mozart like you would Chopin."

Yeah, I feel your pain. I always feel something is missing when I play Debussy--too much una corda? too little una corda? staccatto? legato? detached?. O well, I'll just have to admit that he's not my composer (even though he write beautiful music).

For me it's Brahms. I find his music too thick and I can't balance it right. I've tried different things of his, but they don't seem to come out right to me anyway.

I agree with Maxw - Sing the melody. Keep the melody going in your head and try to match it while you're playing and see if that helps.

John

My advice, for what it's worth, is to listen to the piece played through in your head. Understand the nature of great art and don't let hte technicality snag you. Don't lose the vision and reveal the soul. What images and moods come to mind as you play? You must become the music, the vision, the soul. If this can find accord you will play Chopin.

I agree, after I learned Chopin pieces, I am never happy about it. It never reaches the perfect level that I want it to be...but usually I am glad when it is performed and done though.

I don't compare to recordings, ever.

I'm actually pretty amazed that the Chopin pieces I play sound as good as they do. Because my Rondo Alla Turca still sucks.

Chopin's easier for me, I tend to forget the notes once I learn them and focus on the emotions.

Beethoven's harder for me...Partly because I think 'passion' should be put into beethoven, not necessarily 'emotion' like you would for chopin. So, that takes me out of my comfort zone....Plus Beethoven isn't a push-over on his accompaniment like sometimes chopin can be...