http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTEMuSGow7s
It is true what people say. While I am making excellent progress, I am going to need to practice a lot more if I am to make my goal in time. Life has a bad habit of getting in the way of piano practice, though.
I’ve got the first section of K545 memorized, but that doesn’t mean I can play it up to speed. Still, progress is tangible.
I’ve started adding some structure to the pieces I learn. I try to always have 2 pieces, a long term project (something that’ll take a few weeks–right now K545), and a short term project (something that can be learned in a week or so). On top of that I always practice my scales (I now have 12!) and try to do something from Alfred’s if I’m not too tired. An Alfred piece can be learned over the course of a day, but I usually don’t spend that much time on it because I dislike them.
Handel’s Impertinence was my last short term project. So now I’m looking for a new one. I think… something from anime…
December 24, 2008 at 3:25 am |
I started piano 4 days ago, and I started the Revolutionary Etude 3 days ago, it’s not easy but not impossible =) Plus it’s really easy to memorize, the only difficulty is to hit the right keys while playing so fast and also to manage to play that fast
Good luck
January 21, 2009 at 11:00 am |
It’s funny because this comment ended up in the spam box for wordpress. It’s like they can measure facetiousness XD
December 26, 2008 at 5:37 am |
This is a brave expedition! I hope the final aim is to play the piano really well, which you’ll measure by demolishing the revolutionary etude, rather than to just win a steak. Piano is somewhat more rewarding than that.
I took a few lessons as a little tike, then stopped for about 15 years. At uni I started playing again, music I’d heard on the radio or in concerts and really liked. Like you, I have a tendency to attempt music far beyond my ability. My take on it is if I’m learning technique from every bar of a new piece – it’s the most efficient way to learn. Though my repertoire is narrow.
Unlike you I can’t afford a teacher (or steak), so it’s just IMSLP.org and me. I’ve been really enjoying Alkan, Sorabji, and Godowsky recently, there are recordings on youtube of people like Hamelin and Berezovsky making us feel silly.
Currently my ‘blue sky’ goal is to learn the Godowsky Passacaglia, and the Alkan minor key etudes, something I might achieve in a decade! I’m damn close to knocking over Danse Macabre (Liszt) because it’s so damn awesome!
Enough boring stuff about me.
Finally, if you’re aiming to become a musician, rather than *just* (ha!) a very skilled typist, you should explore singing, composing, improvisation, piano construction, and read a few books from the library by noted people (start with Wikipedia). It seems you’re doing pretty well as it is, so maybe you already know that!
Keep it up – aim to get through Mozart as quickly as possible. Music gets interesting from the 1850s on!
January 4, 2009 at 2:42 am |
hey!
my name is renny norman and i played the revolutionary in two years without background and i am sure you can do it too. i just thought i’d wish you the best of luck and you can e-mail me if you want to ask anything: 15508@oakham.rutland.sch.uk
seeya!
April 18, 2009 at 12:06 pm |
which comment? mine?