Is Clair de Lune too hard for me?
-
I posted this question on Piano Tell, but I think many of you here may have helpful advice, so I wanted to ask here as well.
A few weeks ago, my piano teacher and I looked at Clair de Lune and she said she thought I was more than ready to tackle it. I now have a new teacher (that’s how the uni music school works) and she agrees, so last night I started working on it. But I’m worried it’s too hard..
I was looking at the score for Arabesque No 1 and Reverie and they both look easier than CdL… and the patterns look quite similar to other things I’ve played.
So here’s my question: would playing either (or both) of these pieces, Reverie and Arabesque No 1, before starting CdL make CdL much easier to learn?
When I spent some time last night working on CdL, I felt like it was much harder to read through than I’d anticipated. One thing that felt challenging was making fingering decisions, especially in the section that starts in measure 27 …
It’s not that I felt the piece is beyond me, but more that it felt like I would have to devote so much time to it that I couldn’t really work on much else… which is not how I want to spend my piano time.
OTOH maybe I just need to spend a little more time with it (I was exhausted last night and didn’t get to the piano until after 9pm, so that didn’t help). Maybe working through fingering choices for a few key sections would make the rest of it easier to get through.
Anyway, so my core question right now is, would Reverie and/or Arabesque No 1 act like stepping stones to Claire de Lune? And if yes, which one would you recommend to start with?
Or is it possible that neither of these pieces would necessarily prepare me for CdL because CdL has challenges that are a bigger jump? (metaphorically speaking, not literal keyboard jump!)
TIA for any comments or advice any of you can share!
-
IMO, Clair de Lune is not much harder (if any) than Arabesque No. 1, some might even find Clair de Lune easier. I think Reverie is harder than either of them. Fingerings shouldn't stop you from working on a piece, and I think fingerings for Clair de Lune are easier to come up with than either of the other two. They can always be worked out and your teacher should be able to contribute to that. I am a big believer that one should be working on a piece that is just beyond one's current ability. The struggle is real but it is how one grows.
So here’s my question: would playing either (or both) of these pieces, Reverie and Arabesque No 1, before starting CdL make CdL much easier to learn?
They might but I don't think it's because they are easier. If someone asked me to prepare one of these three for a student recital next month, I'd pick Clair de Lune. But everyone is different.
-
Trust your teachers.
What grade have you passed & how long ago?
I'd add, the bars are quite repetitive regarding fingering...
And the fingering on the free music I limked on the other thread works wellthanks for the comments everyone!
What grade have you passed & how long ago?
I have never taken any grade exams, so I don't have a sense of my level. I've been playing for over 25 years, but I started as an adult.
Although, one piece I'm close to finishing is apparently an ABRSM grade 6, and that piece is easy for me. The internet AI says CdL is grade 8, so that should be do-able in theory...
Clair de Lune is not much harder (if any) than Arabesque No. 1, some might even find Clair de Lune easier. I think Reverie is harder than either of them.
this is interesting because just looking at the score, CdL looks harder to me...
re fingering
They can always be worked out and your teacher should be able to contribute to that.
Yes, but I don't want to spend my whole lesson working out fingers for the whole thing, if it's a piece within my level, I ought to be able to do the bulk of it myself.
OTOH, learning this would probably push me forward...
Anyway, I'll see how I do during tonight's practice.
Hello! It looks like you're interested in this conversation, but you don't have an account yet.
Getting fed up of having to scroll through the same posts each visit? When you register for an account, you'll always come back to exactly where you were before, and choose to be notified of new replies (either via email, or push notification). You'll also be able to save bookmarks and upvote posts to show your appreciation to other community members.
With your input, this post could be even better 💗
Register Login