Top 10 Most Difficult Piano Pieces - Lord Vinheteiro

Nightowl · 2025-09-22T00:57:48+00:00

I recently watched an interesting video by Lord Vinheteiro, where he played extracts from his "Top 10 Most Difficult Pieces"; link attached: [ This man's p...

Nightowl

Simonb I wondered about the stats for USA students passing music diplomas each year. A quick online search resulted in this AI response:

"There are no readily available statistics for the total number of students taking piano diplomas each year in the USA, as "diploma" can refer to various professional certifications or academic degrees, making it difficult to track consistently. However, data from 2022 shows that 1,440 doctoral degrees in music were awarded in the US, with a large portion of those being in music performance. "

The population of the USA was around 333 million in 2022, so 1,440 equates to about 0.00043% of the USA population in that year. I'd say that's pretty elite. Looking at Lord V's details on Wiki, he played piano from the age of 8 and attended the Arts Institute of Sao Paulo University. He dropped out of his music course and trained to become a vet instead, but later chose to pursue a music career anyway. So, he is not an elite pianist, but he seems very skilled nonetheless.

Simonb

Hi Nightowl

I don't know how a doctoral degree would compare to a music diploma, but my suspicion is that it's probably equivalent to the highest diploma standard over here in the UK. Maybe even higher. As you say very elite.

We agree!

Cheers

pianoloverus

Nightowl So, he is not an elite pianist, but he seems very skilled nonetheless.

That depends on your definition of "very skilled". To a beginner or low intermediate he might seem skilled but I can assure you that the overwhelming majority of qualified teachers would agree with my assessment of his playing. Your analysis using the AI statistics seems wrong because those were people who received doctorates. Lord V Dropped out to become a vet and did not even receive a bachelor's degree in piano performance no less a doctorate.

Jane

Clickbait candy, certainly.

One can't compare the Revolutionary etude with etude op. 10, no. 2 ... as just one example.
Or how about Islamey?
Or Chopin's 4th Ballade?
Or Godowsky's revisions of the Chopin etudes?
Or Gaspard?
Or the Schumann Toccata?
Or some of the Scriabin sonatas?
Or the Hammerklavier?
Or....

Edited to add another list...

Simonb

Hi Jane

Thanks for sharing that video. I recently bought a recording of Marc-Andre Hamelin playing Haydn sonatas to help me with one I'm learning. It was really interesting to hear him talk about those incredibly difficult pieces.

Cheers

Ornstein

Respect for the Grande polonaise brillante being included, that actually is in the top 3 of most difficult Chopin pieces outside the sonatas. It's kind of interesting he made the list of usual meme pieces for the casual audience but he snuck in an approaching-legit non-casual choice.

I don't think he's too bad but it's clear he's not at the Stravinsky or Reminiscences of Don Juan sort of level of technique so it'd probably ruin his video idea to not be able to include footage of the crazy spots. But I do respect he didn't cherry pick specific excerpts to portray that he is able to play them, if he can't.

pianoloverus

Simonb I don't know how a doctoral degree would compare to a music diploma, but my suspicion is that it's probably equivalent to the highest diploma standard over here in the UK. Maybe even higher. As you say very elite.

We agree!

But since Lord V did not receive a doctoral degree and, in fact ,did not even receive a bachelor's degree in music performance, I don't see why this is relevant in discussing his skill.

Nightowl

Simonb Yes, and one day you will move into that elite group - something to be very proud of. 🙂 However, you already play brilliantly, which proves that even somebody who does not hold a doctoral degree or music diploma can play at an advanced level (like Lord V does, IMHO).

MRC

I'm guessing that these are simply the ten hardest pieces that Vinheteiro has himself played. Even if we're only talking about "popular" composers here, where's Rachmaninoff？

Jane mentioned a few of the pieces that might be in "the top ten most difficult" list, and the video she posted (much more interesting than the Vinheteiro one) gives us some more possible candidates. You could add:

Stravinsky 3 movements from Petrushka
Prokofiev 2nd piano concerto
Liszt Feux Follets
Albeniz Iberia
Messiaen Vingt Regards

and a load of less well-known stuff by the likes of Ligeti, Sorabji, Boulez, Xenakis and others.

pianoloverus

MRC My strong suspicion is that he has not really most of these pieces in their entirety but just chose some of the easy parts of the pieces to "play".

WieWaldi

Nightowl

Sophia If my playing could be that really, really terrible, I'd sign up for that today

Me too!

Me three!

WieWaldi

pianoloverus I must apologize in behalf of all of us beginners, that we don't share the same knowledge about music as you do. You must understand, we are not that experienced and lack of any qualification when it comes to judging the value, the difficulty or any other attribute of music. Only professionals like you with many decades of intesive musical studies should be allowed to talk about this topic. Apologize again. Thank you for opening my eyes. From now on, I know all music from people like Hans Zimmer must be trash, because they lack any qualification and of course they don't owe a diploma nor any other academic degree.

Simonb

Hi pianoloverus

I wasn't commenting on his skill level (and I haven't throughout this thread), I was agreeing with NightOwl that anyone who has a doctoral degree or a high level diploma has reached an elite level.

pianoloverus

Nightowl Yes, some of his videos are very amusing. Perhaps he doesn't play at virtuoso level but he's entertained millions with his work.

Some may find his videos entertaining, but that's not what my post is about. His choice of pieces is all wrong , he plays some easy snippets from each piece , and those snippets are filled with technical and musical errors . He positively does not play at a virtuoso level or anything approaching that degree of skill. So it's not "perhaps".

Nightowl

pianoloverus Some may find his videos entertaining, but that's not what my post is about. His choice of pieces is all wrong , he plays some easy snippets from each piece , and those snippets are filled with technical and musical errors.

Would you care to elucidate on this point? From previous posts I understand that you have decades of piano experience, so you would surely have no problems playing these "easy" snippets - perhaps you could upload a video to show everyone how they should be played. That could be highly educational for beginners like me, who can only dream of playing such lovely music one day.

pianoloverus

Simonb I wasn't commenting on his skill level (and I haven't throughout this thread), I was agreeing with NightOwl that anyone who has a doctoral degree or a high level diploma has reached an elite level.

OK, we can agree on that. But in the post I commented on Night Owl started talking about Lord V who does not even have an undergraduate degree no less a doctorate.

Simonb

Hi Nightowl

Thank you for your kind words. You may perceive my playing as brilliant, but I can assure you it's not.
I will never reach that elite level, I have neither the talent, or the time, even though I'm retired.

If I manage to pass the ATCL diploma (their lowest) I've just started working on, I will be very happy and I'll call it quits after that. By then I will have been having lessons for over 5 years, I'll be nearer 70 than 60, and will have achieved more than I'd ever hoped when I re-started lessons in 2022. My only real ambition then was only to pass grade 7. I know my limitations!

Cheers

Nightowl

WieWaldi Thank you for opening my eyes. From now on, I know all music from people like Hans Zimmer must be trash, because they lack any qualification and of course they don't own a diploma nor any other academic degree.

There are probably dozens of famous musicians who don't have a diploma/degree in music. Some of them can't even read music, they play by ear and develop their own personal playing techniques over many years. Just because someone takes a different path to acquire their skills, it doesn't make their skills less valid.

Sophia As usual, you speak a lot of sense. Lord V seems to be blessed with an abundance of confidence so I doubt that any harsh words about his playing would hurt his feelings too much, but it seems wrong to criticise him so harshly when he clearly puts a lot of work and time into producing those videos, which are basically light entertainment with a smattering of musical education thrown in. He's probably well aware that he never attained virtuoso level but millions of people enjoy his playing and he is clearly capable of playing music of many genres - maybe it's a case of being a Jack of all trades, but master of none (despite him seeming like a Maestro to beginners like us). Anyway I'll continue watching his channel.

Nightowl

pianoloverus Night Owl started talking about Lord V who does not even have an undergraduate degree no less a doctorate.

So what?!? He never claimed to have one! Just because he lacks that formal qualification that does not mean his playing is "terrible"! At least he has the courage to put his work into the public arena - something you have never done on this forum, to my knowledge.

WieWaldi

pianoloverus But in the post I commented on Night Owl started talking about Lord V who does not even have an undergraduate degree no less a doctorate.

I absolutely agree with you. How in the hell can a random YouTube guy without undergraduate degree no less a doctorate post videos about piano. And on top very successful videos, if I am allowed to mention this. This video above alone has over 160 thousand views in only 6 days and generated over 1000 comments. Life is so unfair, why does a guy that plays as terrible as LV (without any degree in music, no less a doctorate - just saying) have over 7 million subscribers. While the good ones, the experienced ones, the advanced ones, the ones with many decades of music study have... not so many?

Sophia

@pianoloverus I apologize in advance for being direct. But your attitude irritates me a little. Sorry again to be blunt. We have yet to see a single recording of yours, yet you talk like you have sole knowledge on any topic here. I would be more impressed if I had seen recordings of you. When (just a few examples!) HeartKeys, SimonB, rsl, Shiro, or MRC chime in with their knowledge, I know to listen to them because we can all hear what they are capable of.

You, I know nothing about and I don't tend to take your words as seriously. Funny enough though, I almost always agree with what you are saying. But since I'm only a beginner and can't possibly know anything at all, that's probably a worthless opinion as well, is it now 🙃

Please do let's all be nice to each other, and above all, let's be nice when we talk about random strangers (Lord V) who are not here to defend themselves. It's okay to say that we don't agree with their choices, it's NOT okay to say that someone's playing is really, really terrible, no matter their level. I'd be heartbroken if someone said that to or about my playing... Such talk is simply not acceptable.

« Previous Page Next Page »