I am sort of waffling about whether to do the 40P challenge or to focus that part of my practice time on sight reading. There are benefits to both — and as @Nightowl says, the goal is quantity over quality, which fits with either approach …

But I’m really grateful that this has been discussed here. I read about the 40P challenge years ago at PW but had forgotten about it. But now it’s really gotten me thinking about my approach and also I think I’m in a better position (in terms of how I practice etc.) to implement something like this (whether I do 40P or sight reading)

I have a few more days to decide. 😅

Whew, that was a long walk from the other thread I posted in. Turns out I was in the wrong place. But I believe I've arrived at the right spot now for this challenge.

Since it's a 40-piece challenge, then that's what I'll aim for. From what I can discern, it should be easier for a beginner like me since my level 1 pieces will be shorter than those of more advanced players.

I'm excited to get started!

  • BBartK

  • Post #11
  • Edited

OK, I'll be the first to open the list. Here is what I've been working on for the last week. It's Handel's Passacaille (Passacaglia) from the Suite in G minor. I only had time to do the first half. I had a few hesitations at the beginning because I was nervous in front of the camera but I think the rest went well.

Quick Study List for 2025

  1. George Frideric Handel, Passacaille (variations 1-8).

Wow, you've set the bar sky high with that piece @BartK! Never mind, I can easily fly under it to find something on my level.

This is a perfect demonstration of how much the perception of "easy/quick study piece" varies between beginners and advanced players.

"Don't let's ask for the moon, we have the stars." (Final line from Now,Voyager, 1942)

    I made a book. I love making books.

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    • Kaydia

    • Post #15
    • Edited

    Nightowl Wow, you've set the bar sky high with that piece @BartK! Never mind, I can easily fly under it to find something on my level.

    No worries, I've lowered the bar with a 1-page piece that's in middle C position! 🤣

    So my first of 40 pieces that I've finished is "A Canyon Deep" by Edna Mae Burnam. It's the first one in her Pieces to Play, Book 2, which is a supplement to her Step by Step, Book 2 course. There are 8 pieces in the book. I may try to work through all of them in order.

    (edit: forgot to start my list)

    1. A Canyon Deep by Edna Mae Burnam

        Congratulations Kadya! The first person with a first piece! 😊

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        ... feeling like the pianist on the Titanic ...

        Kaydia I have Edna Mae Burnam's Dozen A Day All Year Round technical exercises. I only got part way through level 2 of the original books. I remember the exercises as being lots of fun and never boring with a variety of challenges. I bought a compendium of all the books last year and need to figure out a way to shoehorn it in to my practice routine.

            First I was so happy. Then less happy. No actually, more happy!

            One of my quick studies is Memory (from Cats). I have this lovely arrangement by Sharon Aaronson, that is just a bit polyphonic. I tried to play this piece years ago, and it was so hard! Just the polyphonic element that I liked so much, gave me trouble.
            Now I played it again, and I discovered that at a slow tempo, I can actually manage to read both staffs simultaneously and play these polyphonic elements. I have never deliberately practised this! But I could!
            Oh, this is going great, I thought, soon this piece will be ready to put on my 40 pieces list. Such a nice arrangement. Such a pity it is so short though.

            I started to look for more pieces arranged by Sharon Aaronson, and I found A time for us, by Rota. Gorgeous! No quick study for me though. Rather the opposite.

            And then I found out that I have a version of this Memory that is longer than 32 measures. A grand total of 94 measures - okay, 30 measures are a repeat. But some of the measures in between are more difficult than those that are repeated. So it won't be an easy peasy quick study. More a still rather easy but not so quick study.
            But how nice! And yes, I am happy. 😊

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              Kaydia No worries, I've lowered the bar with a 1-page piece that's in middle C position! 🤣

              Nice work! 😁

              Animisha We are in synch - I'm also working on Memory, from the Alfred's Hits book.🙂

              "Don't let's ask for the moon, we have the stars." (Final line from Now,Voyager, 1942)

                    lilypad I have Edna Mae Burnam's Dozen A Day All Year Round technical exercises. I only got part way through level 2 of the original books. I remember the exercises as being lots of fun and never boring with a variety of challenges. I bought a compendium of all the books last year and need to figure out a way to shoehorn it in to my practice routine.

                    I have the Preparatory book and Book 1 in the A Dozen A Day series. I haven't done anything with them. I haven't looked online yet to see if anyone demonstrates each technique. It's nice to hear they're fun, though.

                      Pallas When you say polyphony, are you referring to multiple voices in counterpoint?

                      Yes, but in this case, it is just a second voice that sometimes plays a little melody.

                      For instance, here in m15-17, LH plays not just the accompaniment, but it plays a little melody of its own. This is an example of what I call for "just a bit polyphonic". If you look at the melody in m13, there are five quarter notes in a first up then down pattern (F G A G F). Then look at the accompaniment in m 15, starting with the second note, there is the same pattern but upside down (B A G A B). It is this kind of finesses that I am very much in love with.

                      Nightowl We are in synch - I'm also working on Memory, from the Alfred's Hits book.🙂

                      Yes, that is the one! 😊

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                          Re the 40P challenge… I think I posted somewhere that I was going back and forth about whether I’d do the 40P challenge or do a sightreading challenge…

                          Well, so far I’m having a hard time with the pieces I’ve chosen. Not because they’re too hard, but because I don’t like them enough to want to play them more than once. 😅 So all the pieces I’ve played have ended up as sightreading pieces that I’ve worked on in one practice session and then not returned to for the next practice session.

                          I’ve sort of been assuming that once I find a piece I like a little more, I’ll work on it over a few practice sessions before moving on, but I’ve yet to find that piece. 🤪

                          Ah well, the sightreading practice is great though.

                          Right now, I’m sort of thinking maybe I’ll sightread through the book I’m using right now and then pick something different and shift to a more 40P style approach.

                          This Wednesday, I’ll have my first lesson after winter break, so I plan to talk to my teacher about this again.

                          Just finished a 3-day quick study of Michael Head's "The Quiet Wood" from "The Best of Grade 1 Piano".

                          I have a stack of around 14 books that I used for sight reading last year (a motley collection of graded piano exam repertoire books, Piano Adventures popular and jazz supplement books and a few books from individual composers). If I liked a piece enough when I was sight reading it, I'd flag it for later quick study. I have 60 pieces flagged, so I don't think I'll get through all of them. So I guess next year the ones I don't get to will be even quicker studies.

                            No commitment yet. I'm busy practicing music with a group until the summer so my music is not limited to piano pieces.

                            The assumption for learning 40+ pieces is to add variety to your playing which is ok. I met people (self-learners) who learned to play a few pieces they like listening to but way above their level. They're happy repeating the same pieces over & over. The people who have a teacher would get into a new piece when piece they're working on reached a certain level.

                            I can easily read through 10 or 15 absolute beginner pieces out of an Alfred's or Faber 1 book but they are way below my level. Otherwise I'd be learning 1 Bach Prelude & Fugue in 3 - 4 weeks which is something I enjoy playing but slightly above my level. 1 piece a month would only add up to 12 pieces a year.

                            Got a second piece done now. "Stained Glass Window In A Church" by Edna Mae Burnam. It calls for playing 'Softly and sweetly'. I'm not a graceful person. More like a bull in a china shop. But I did my best to conjure up some soft, sweet notes. 😇

                            1. A Canyon Deep by Edna Mae Burnam
                            2. Stained Glass Window In A Church by Edna Mae Burnam

                            I also have two pieces to report!

                            1. J.S. Bach - Arioso from cantata 156 (lesson piece)
                            2. John Thompson - Hide and seek (quick study)

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                            4 days later

                            Wow Bart, a five minutes piece at that level... that's placing the bar at a completely new height 😃 Nice hands too - love how gracefully you turned the page! (yeah, I know, that's literally the least important aspect of this exercise, but I just couldn't help noticing 😋!)