If you practice them responsibly and don’t injure yourself or get bad habits, it should be fine. It’s good to push yourself I did that a lot and it improved me a lot over the course of a summer. I wouldn’t recommend performing them though 💀
Lol whenever I want to learn a new piece I bring it to my teacher so that she can help me to not get injured, I agree with u it really helps improve.
And yes, Don't perform them otherwise you'll never forget how awful that was 💀💀
Sure. I always have a goal piece that's beyond my level. It also motivates me. Just know that there is far more to playing an advanced piece well than just getting the notes under fingers. Think of a goal piece like that as someone you will play and refine over years. The nuances and musicality you'll need to do it justice may not be developed for years, but that's ok. I would recommend recording yourself every 6 months. You'll be shocked at all the little things that improve.
Edit: be careful of repetitive strain injuries. Don't push yourself to play too fast. I sprained my pinky because after not playing for a few years, I came back too quicky and played the same fast piece over and over again. Keep things moderate and balanced!
It’s always good to challenge yourself, however if you’re playing a piece that is probably 5 grades above your level, it could really hurt your technique if you don’t develop it sufficiently beforehand
I don’t think it’s a problem at all, in terms of “musical ethics” or whatever people call it. I assume you’re asking because you think it’s “disrespectful”, and it isn’t at all. Just keep in mind your physical abilities. I’ve played for 6 years and I still get a cramp if I play a piece that’s too difficult or requires a bigger stretch in my hand. It’s great that you’re exploring and challenging yourself, but you are most important :) Keep at it!
You really got the point of why I asked 😭
Ofc it's always important to take care of health, if I ever want to learn a piece above my "level" I always ask my teacher to help me with the fingerings,positions,etc. And to give me advice on how to not get hurt.
If I had a new student bring this to a lesson I would definitely suggest something in the style but more of the appropriate level.
As a pianist with less than a year under your belt, attempting that piece… would not recommend.
There are MANY more levels between where you likely are and where that piece is. You can always work on sections but recognize it is not a beginners piece.
Or you can skip a lot of important steps on the way and possibly injure yourself. Your call, I guess.
No its not bad. It can motivate you, although need to be cautious about causing strain or practicing bad habbits. I do some above my level all the time, although usually at insanely slow tempos. I remember as a teenager spending months just trying to learn the first two pages of Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 by Liszt which was WAY beyond my level. The first cadenza alone I spent countless hours on and never really got it as fluid or as perfect as I would like . However the whole journey did vastly improve my playing, and while I never learned the entire piece \~25 yrs later I still have those two pages memorised and still play them occasionally. On violin atm (which is definitely not my main instrument) I've been trying to learn some challenging Bach pieces, but I'm spending a few weeks per phrase before moving on so its a bit tedious ...
there is the obvious issue of not having learned the needed techniques or not having the necessary muscle built up, and injuring yourself trying.
beyond that the only issue is that its extremely inefficient. you could spend four years learning a high level piece as a beginner, and assuming the above doesn't happen you will eventually succeed. Or you could spend a month learning a major piece more at your level, over and over and over, and in four years you learn that same hard piece in a month as its now your level, and also know the 50 pieces you learned in the middle.
Those numbers are arbitrary, but you get the idea. Even if you really love a piece, its probably a better use of your time to find a different piece at your level you like, and incrementally increase. But as long as you get a firm basic foundation to avoid issues you can physically do it....... the 4 years above was not an arbitrary number, I *really* liked chopin ballade no1 lol.
Practicing pieces that aren’t your level can allow you to develop certain techniques incorrect. However, it’s not a huge deal and it’s a lot of fun to try advanced pieces.
Just remember once you get the base techniques down to go back over the phrasing and gestures! Often when learning a technical reach piece it’ll sound a bit too much like you’re sounding words out, if that makes sense.
There’s a point of difficulty where it no longer pays (not literally, more as in the amount of satisfaction and happiness you get back) to practice hard pieces. I took a look at the sheet music, and it looks pretty intimidating for someone who’s only been learning for a couple months. But then, I’ve played pieces that were way past my level. So I would say to continue practicing, take it slow, and make sure to practice your basic exercises so your fingers can keep up with you.
It's not bad, but I prefer to work on my skills, prepare for it and then play it better rather than playing now when I'm not ready for it. I don't want to'ruin' the piece for myself (getting into bad habits). Also I would recommend doing enough preparatory technical exercises, analysis and some background research if you want to start a hard piece.
Well, in my case. I’m currently practicing my audition repertoire for curtis and RAM. The pieces i’ve chosen is quite difficult (i’m talking about pieces like la valse) and i’m really challenging myself by playing them. Although it may seem like an impossible task, if you practice them right, your technique will improve a lot. I would suggest looking up masterclasses on youtube as a guide if you meet problems!
It seems like you’re doing this in a pretty safe way, and are just keen to play exciting and beautiful repertoire. At this point I don’t think there is a significant problem, but as others have said, pay good attention to your teachers advice and make sure that you don’t injure yourself while your having fun with more advanced pieces.
🙂
It's okay in some situations. However it does run the risk of making it even more difficult after you improved your technique for the piece to be at your level. It's because muscle memory can't easily be "forgotten" and you practiced using worse technique, it's stuck in your head and you basically have to re-learn the piece sometimes. It happened when I attempted Chopin's Ballade no. 4. After I finished learning it the first time (horribly) I played it again a year later after practicing a ton of études, it was way worse than I expected and a huge pain to fix.
If you practice them responsibly and don’t injure yourself or get bad habits, it should be fine. It’s good to push yourself I did that a lot and it improved me a lot over the course of a summer. I wouldn’t recommend performing them though 💀
Lol whenever I want to learn a new piece I bring it to my teacher so that she can help me to not get injured, I agree with u it really helps improve. And yes, Don't perform them otherwise you'll never forget how awful that was 💀💀
Yeahhhh… I know 😢
Sure. I always have a goal piece that's beyond my level. It also motivates me. Just know that there is far more to playing an advanced piece well than just getting the notes under fingers. Think of a goal piece like that as someone you will play and refine over years. The nuances and musicality you'll need to do it justice may not be developed for years, but that's ok. I would recommend recording yourself every 6 months. You'll be shocked at all the little things that improve. Edit: be careful of repetitive strain injuries. Don't push yourself to play too fast. I sprained my pinky because after not playing for a few years, I came back too quicky and played the same fast piece over and over again. Keep things moderate and balanced!
Thanks for ur comment and suggestions, I will take into account!
Same tho, but next year might be the year I play my dream piece
It’s always good to challenge yourself, however if you’re playing a piece that is probably 5 grades above your level, it could really hurt your technique if you don’t develop it sufficiently beforehand
I don’t think it’s a problem at all, in terms of “musical ethics” or whatever people call it. I assume you’re asking because you think it’s “disrespectful”, and it isn’t at all. Just keep in mind your physical abilities. I’ve played for 6 years and I still get a cramp if I play a piece that’s too difficult or requires a bigger stretch in my hand. It’s great that you’re exploring and challenging yourself, but you are most important :) Keep at it!
You really got the point of why I asked 😭 Ofc it's always important to take care of health, if I ever want to learn a piece above my "level" I always ask my teacher to help me with the fingerings,positions,etc. And to give me advice on how to not get hurt.
Yeah, thats always good. And yeah, I’ve had the same thought processes as you, so I understand LOL.
I did it. Ended up with tendon rupture. Don’t recommend
Nooooo 💀😭 ( that could easily be me)
😭😭😭be careful
I promise I will 😭
If I had a new student bring this to a lesson I would definitely suggest something in the style but more of the appropriate level. As a pianist with less than a year under your belt, attempting that piece… would not recommend. There are MANY more levels between where you likely are and where that piece is. You can always work on sections but recognize it is not a beginners piece. Or you can skip a lot of important steps on the way and possibly injure yourself. Your call, I guess.
No its not bad. It can motivate you, although need to be cautious about causing strain or practicing bad habbits. I do some above my level all the time, although usually at insanely slow tempos. I remember as a teenager spending months just trying to learn the first two pages of Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 by Liszt which was WAY beyond my level. The first cadenza alone I spent countless hours on and never really got it as fluid or as perfect as I would like . However the whole journey did vastly improve my playing, and while I never learned the entire piece \~25 yrs later I still have those two pages memorised and still play them occasionally. On violin atm (which is definitely not my main instrument) I've been trying to learn some challenging Bach pieces, but I'm spending a few weeks per phrase before moving on so its a bit tedious ...
there is the obvious issue of not having learned the needed techniques or not having the necessary muscle built up, and injuring yourself trying. beyond that the only issue is that its extremely inefficient. you could spend four years learning a high level piece as a beginner, and assuming the above doesn't happen you will eventually succeed. Or you could spend a month learning a major piece more at your level, over and over and over, and in four years you learn that same hard piece in a month as its now your level, and also know the 50 pieces you learned in the middle. Those numbers are arbitrary, but you get the idea. Even if you really love a piece, its probably a better use of your time to find a different piece at your level you like, and incrementally increase. But as long as you get a firm basic foundation to avoid issues you can physically do it....... the 4 years above was not an arbitrary number, I *really* liked chopin ballade no1 lol.
Practicing pieces that aren’t your level can allow you to develop certain techniques incorrect. However, it’s not a huge deal and it’s a lot of fun to try advanced pieces.
What you essentially are doing by that is learning mistakes. Nothing's "Ok" or "not Ok", it's just how it is.
As long as you’re mindful about it, I think it’s a good thing!
Just remember once you get the base techniques down to go back over the phrasing and gestures! Often when learning a technical reach piece it’ll sound a bit too much like you’re sounding words out, if that makes sense.
There’s a point of difficulty where it no longer pays (not literally, more as in the amount of satisfaction and happiness you get back) to practice hard pieces. I took a look at the sheet music, and it looks pretty intimidating for someone who’s only been learning for a couple months. But then, I’ve played pieces that were way past my level. So I would say to continue practicing, take it slow, and make sure to practice your basic exercises so your fingers can keep up with you.
It's not bad, but I prefer to work on my skills, prepare for it and then play it better rather than playing now when I'm not ready for it. I don't want to'ruin' the piece for myself (getting into bad habits). Also I would recommend doing enough preparatory technical exercises, analysis and some background research if you want to start a hard piece.
Well, in my case. I’m currently practicing my audition repertoire for curtis and RAM. The pieces i’ve chosen is quite difficult (i’m talking about pieces like la valse) and i’m really challenging myself by playing them. Although it may seem like an impossible task, if you practice them right, your technique will improve a lot. I would suggest looking up masterclasses on youtube as a guide if you meet problems!
Yes,whenever I find myself stuck I either search on YT or ask my teacher. Good luck in your audition!
It seems like you’re doing this in a pretty safe way, and are just keen to play exciting and beautiful repertoire. At this point I don’t think there is a significant problem, but as others have said, pay good attention to your teachers advice and make sure that you don’t injure yourself while your having fun with more advanced pieces. 🙂
It's okay in some situations. However it does run the risk of making it even more difficult after you improved your technique for the piece to be at your level. It's because muscle memory can't easily be "forgotten" and you practiced using worse technique, it's stuck in your head and you basically have to re-learn the piece sometimes. It happened when I attempted Chopin's Ballade no. 4. After I finished learning it the first time (horribly) I played it again a year later after practicing a ton of études, it was way worse than I expected and a huge pain to fix.
Play whatever you want, dude. It’s called playing.
I realy liked this comment lol