It is all going very well with my 40(ish) pieces. So very nice to work with something else during my evening session!

  1. J.S. Bach - Arioso from cantata 156 (lesson piece)
  2. John Thompson - Hide and seek (quick study)
  3. Erik Satie - Petite prélude à la journée (quick study)
  4. J.C. Bach - Prelude in A minor (quick study)
  5. Andrew Lloyd Webber - Memory, from Cats (quick study)
  6. Sarah Konecsni - Bells in the mist (quick study)
  7. To be revealed in the next recital (lesson piece)

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

    Your technique is excellent and it's obvious that you've thought with a lot of care about how to play the piece. If you have a teacher I think they are doing an excellent job and if you are self learning it's even more impressive because I think many who learn without a teacher don't play with such good technique.

      Animisha Very well played. It started very easy on one hand and got more are more advanced. Didn't expect this one to be a 40-ish piece study. If you keep goin like this, you will end up with 84 pieces by the end of the year. Be careful Animisha, you are risking a speeding ticket 🏎️

          pianoloverus I'm assuming your comment is for Animisha; if you click "Reply" at the bottom of her post (next to the "Like") it'll tag her when you respond and link your reply to her post 🙂

              WieWaldi Didn't expect this one to be a 40-ish piece study.

              WieWaldi, you are correct! The thing is, I found the easier first page when I still was a beginner, and I liked it very much, but I could never play it well enough. Now with the short studies idea, I resurrected that piece, and found that there were two more pages. Of course, I could not just play the first page... So it was a bit too much for a short study, but still, very enjoyable to learn.

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

                pianoloverus If you have a teacher I think they are doing an excellent job

                Thank you so much Pianoloverus. For years I have been a student at Piano Career Academy and the two teachers there have taught me all I know about how to play the piano.

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

                  twocats Thank you for clarifying that. I think sometimes I have been hitting the reply that's in the dark blue box to the right of a post. Am I correct in assuming that will not tag the person I am replying to?

                      pianoloverus Correct 🙂 If you click that button on the right, it's a generic reply:

                      But if you want to reply specifically to a person (like I did above), you can click the reply underneath their post:

                        pianoloverus I think sometimes I have been hitting the reply that's in the dark blue box to the right of a post. Am I correct in assuming that will not tag the person I am replying to?

                        Yes, that's correct! When the person is tagged, the reply will have their name @name at the beginning of your reply. And if you want to quote, just highlight the text and a "quote" button will pop up. On mobile you can highlight by holding your finger for a couple of seconds over the text.

                          5 days later

                          You might have been wondering where I have been since I haven't posted a new piece for 2 weeks. Well, I bit off more than I can chew. 😆

                          So, my next piece is the Schubert-Liszt Ständchen. Yes, the famous one but not exactly the one that concert pianists play. Liszt actually wrote an alternative "Ossia più facile" which simplifies some of the accompaniment and ends before all the immitative counterpoint and all the decorative cadenzas start. It's a pretty cut down version and it looked fairly easy on paper, or so I thought. Well, now I know that when Liszt writes "più facile" he is trolling you and you shouldn't believe him. 😄

                          It's not yet as good as I would like it and I still have some hesitations but I decided that quick studies should not take more than two weeks so it is what it is. I may come back and actually learn the full version properly one day.

                          Quick Study List for 2025

                          1. George Frideric Handel, Passacaille (variations 1-8).
                          2. Enrique Granados, Danzas Españolas, no. 2 Oriental
                          3. Scott Joplin, Maple Leaf Rag (without trio)
                          4. Schubert-Liszt, Ständchen (ossia più facile)

                            BartK Well, now I know that when Liszt writes "più facile" he is trolling you and you shouldn't believe him. 😄

                            Ha ha, I love this comment! 😆 Reminds me of those books of "Easy" piano pieces, which turn out to be anything but easy!

                            That is a beautiful piece and you did well to get it to that level in 2 weeks... at my current playing level it would probably take at least 2 months (but I don't stray out of my ability zone, it would just be frustrating)! Thanks for posting an imperfect recording - the occasional hesitations reassure me that advanced players share similar struggles to early beginners like me. That said, there was some lovely playing there and you also coped with page turns very deftly - something I've deliberately swerved when choosing a recital piece! 🙃

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

                              BartK Gorgeous Bart. That is one of my all time favourite pieces, and your rendition actually brought tears to my eyes. I now have hope I might be able to play it too, hopefully 10 years from now. Love how the hands keep crossing over. Thanks for being an inspiration 🙂

                                  • BBartK

                                  • Post #91
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                                  Sophia BartK Gorgeous Bart. That is one of my all time favourite pieces, and your rendition actually brought tears to my eyes. I now have hope I might be able to play it too, hopefully 10 years from now. Love how the hands keep crossing over. Thanks for being an inspiration 🙂

                                  Thanks! I'm glad you liked it.

                                  The hand crossings are the tricky part because they interfere with the melody and you have to do some clever finger and pedal work. And the part with the echo one octave higher (which I didn't play) is even harder. Like I said, this piece looks simple on paper but it's not easy.

                                  I have to pick something easier now...😆

                                      Thank you @Nightowl for starting this thread. Along with the recitals that was my favorite part of PW. I'm glad to see that the challenge has so many participants. I'm looking forward to listening to all the recordings over the next few days.

                                      I finally managed to update my January list. I have a tendency to procrastinate, unfortunately. I want to explore RCM level 8 repertoire this year. I would possibly manage level 9 as well. However, last year was pretty much a disaster as far as piano goes. I had started a lot of pieces and then put them aside. Because of this, I've decided that rather than adding 20 or more pieces to my “unfinished” list, I'd rather pick slightly easier pieces and complete them. My plan is to learn 6 RCM 8 pieces every 3 months. I would also like to clean up my “not completed” list a bit. In addition, I would like to prepare 4 pieces for recitals. Another goal will be to record some pieces by Ukrainian composers, most of them will be rather easy, but ideally there should be a few that are a bit more difficult.

                                      I have not yet decided how I will choose my “quick studies”. For the last couple years I've been studying what was just on reddit “piano jam”, unfortunately it seems to be dead. I'm pretty sure I'll come up with something though.

                                      Here is my list so far:

                                      1. Naoko Ikeda, Shooting Stars in the Summer (Soundcloud)
                                      2. W. Gillock, Hail the King (Soundcloud)
                                      3. L. Kuzmenko, Mysterious Summer's Night (Soundcloud)
                                      4. Anon., Burlesque in G Major (Soundcloud)
                                      5. P. I. Tschaikovsky, March - Song of the Lark, "Seasons", op. 37a no. 3 (Soundcloud)
                                      6. L. v. Beethoven, German Dance in C Major, WoO 8 No. 1 (Soundcloud)
                                      7. F. Schubert, Valse Sentimentale, op. 50 no. 13 (Soundcloud)
                                      8. W. Gillock, The Spinners (Soundcloud)
                                      9. J. Hisaishi, A Town with an Ocean View (Soundcloud)
                                      10. D. Scarlatti, Sonata in F minor, K 185 (Soundcloud)
                                      11. N. Mordasov, Jazz Miniatures, No. 2 - Twilight (Soundcloud)

                                      Happy practicing to everyone!

                                        BartK Great playing! All four pieces you've chosen so far are beautiful. I wonder which one is your favourite?
                                        I like the last one, but it goes neck and neck with Granados' Oriental 🙂

                                            Greta99
                                            Already 11 pieces in one month?! 😲

                                            I think you can choose harder pieces given how well you played those. Amazing performances!

                                                Gooseberry Great playing! All four pieces you've chosen so far are beautiful. I wonder which one is your favourite?
                                                I like the last one, but it goes neck and neck with Granados' Oriental 🙂

                                                I like all the pieces I chose and they are all fun to play. 🙂

                                                  @BartK Lovely!! Which score (version) did you use?

                                                  P.S. yes, re the trolling! I have met my share of pieces that look easier on paper! 😅

                                                    BartK Thanks! I'm glad you liked it.

                                                    Sorry, a little off topic, but I suddenly realized why I got so emotional listening... it was one of my dad's performances 🙂
                                                    As I said, off topic, but it just proves how music can play on our emotions so deeply it can make us was cry literal tears 😃

                                                      ShiroKuro Lovely!! Which score (version) did you use?

                                                      Henle. They printed the ossia just below the main version.