Is Clair de Lune too hard for me?
-
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.
-
-
Re fingering, I spent an hour at the dining table adding numbers to various notes (on the third(?) day of practising it) copying from the free music link; then another hour playing it & pausing to add more.
Worth the effort.I spent an hour at the dining table adding numbers to various notes
Wow! I can't do that kind of thing away from the keyboard!
And one of my concerns with CdL is that it won't just be a matter of figuring out the fingering, because I won't know what fingering to choose...
Anyway, as I said, I'll look at it this evening and see what I think.
-
You are more than capable of learning it.
I have never played it. But, I'm pretty sure I could learn it. I have been so focused on Chopin over the past year that I feel like I should move on to a different composer.
-
You are more than capable of learning it.
I have never played it. But, I'm pretty sure I could learn it. I have been so focused on Chopin over the past year that I feel like I should move on to a different composer.
-
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 wellAnd the fingering on the free music I limked on the other thread works well
This one, right?
https://vmirror.imslp.org/files/imglnks/usimg/5/5a/IMSLP664379-PMLP2397-SheetMusic_29267.pdf
I wish it were bigger, but it’s very helpful!
I think I’ll use my Henle score and use this one tonight in some fingering away from the keyboard.
Also I just realized it suddenly seems much easier if I turn my iPad sideways, bc the score is larger and easier to see
-
Yes.
I'd be surprised if the linked music and the Henle have many differences in fingering. There's usually an accepted best way for fingers.(e.g. no matter how big your left hand, arpeggios will need a certain finger next over your thumb in preparation for the continued run.
Although the lowest note may be played with 5 or 4 if hands are big and it helps flow.And in the right hand for thirds, where all hand sizes will find a run easiest with the same fingering depending on how black notes fall, and what's to be played next)
Ventosa viri restabit
-
You are more than capable of learning it.
I have never played it. But, I'm pretty sure I could learn it. I have been so focused on Chopin over the past year that I feel like I should move on to a different composer.
-
Yes.
I'd be surprised if the linked music and the Henle have many differences in fingering. There's usually an accepted best way for fingers.(e.g. no matter how big your left hand, arpeggios will need a certain finger next over your thumb in preparation for the continued run.
Although the lowest note may be played with 5 or 4 if hands are big and it helps flow.And in the right hand for thirds, where all hand sizes will find a run easiest with the same fingering depending on how black notes fall, and what's to be played next)
Yes.
I'd be surprised if the linked music and the Henle have many differences in fingering. There's usually an accepted best way for fingers.I’m going to sit down (at a table, not at the piano) and compare the two scores. It might be that the one you linked just has more fingering written in.
Anyway, practice went much better last night. I just focused on the first 15 measures. Oh, and as I wrote about, I turned my iPad sideways so that the score was much bigger. That might seem silly but I feel like the Henle score I have is rather cramped and it just made it feel hard to read.
As soon as I could see it better, it became much easier to read-play and that made a huge difference in subjective feeling of “difficulty.”
I also decided not to work in the part that starts in measure 27 (where the LH from chords to 16th notes). I’ll work on that with my teacher. Or maybe I’ll work on it this weekend, turning the iPad sideways makes everything feel easier
Anyway, thank you again everyone for encouraging me. I may yet decide this is too hard and put it away, but I’ve done that with a lot of pieces, and then when I come back to them, they are much easier the second time around. CdL is only 72 measures. If nothing else, I will aim to get through the end of it before putting it aside.
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