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I've started learning another Debussy piece - Girl with the Flaxen Hair. This is a tough one for me -- 6 flats in the key signature! So I've been working on the first page for a few weeks, playing very slowly, trying to figure out notes and timing, etc. Last night after I finished playing it through, my husband yells in from the other room, "Hey, that actually sounded like music that time!". Arghhh!

But I know how he's feeling. It even sounded bad to me for the first several days of the learning process, although I know I will love it when it's done.

So does anybody else sometimes hate the way a piece sounds when you first start working on it?

Almost always! But don't you love when things finally start to come together and the piece becomes familiar. It's neat when you look at a piece and feel certain you'll NEVER get it and then one day you realize you can actually play it - even if it's not polished.

Haha, do I know it. Most of the time, I work on a piece by myself before I've listened to it so I have no idea at all what the piece sounds like. The first day or so of practice, I usually end up thinking - arghh, this piece sucks and is so unmusical. Maybe I'll be better off practicing something else that actually sounds good. But surprise - when my teacher comes and plays the whole thing for me, the piece actually sounds quite good - very good, in fact, and nothing at all like my pathetic attempts

You ought to brush up on theory, you'd be a heck of a lot more at ease before a score.

My thoughts are that it might be good to work through a couple of books of pieces in all keys. I find that it's not as much theory as it is having a good understanding of the "feel" or "geography" of each key.

For someone working on pieces at the level of the Debussy piece, I'd recommend the following books:
William Gillock "Lyric Preludes in Romantic Style"
Robert Vandall "Complete Preludes"
The Gillock book should be easier than what you are working on. I think the last few preludes in the Vandall book would be close in difficulty to what you are working on.

Oh, and in regards to the OP question, it is often a challenge to make something sound musical. A good test of whether I am really getting an etude is if I can make it musical in spite of the best efforts of the composer.

Rich

Debussy is like that. Because the chords are so different and dense, the reading it tough and so there's a greater learning curve with them. But it's great for your reading skills, and just keep plugging away. It will turn into a beautiful piece, but they always start out pretty rough and slow-going. I've got a student working on this right now and it's the same issue with him.

Ah, hubbies. Bless their little hearts.

I have had similar frustrations on several occasions. Usually it's something involving a strange chord modulation (if I'm even using that term right, which I'm not sure I am) where the notes played slowly sound just plain WRONG, and I have to keep staring at the sheet music to make sure I'm hitting the right notes... but when I get it up to tempo, all of a sudden it sounds, well, nice and it starts to make musical sense.

I remember when I started back up playing piano again and I was learning Haydn's sonata in C. I was being very careful and playing it meticulously slow. One day my husband says, "That must be the longest song in history. Can you play it any slower?" I took the hint and tried it up to tempo and played it quite fast and pretty well. I learned it was because of my slow, meticulous practice that I was able to play it fast.

I can agree with your comment on the importance of "feel". It's starting to feel a little more familiar already. And thanks for the book suggestions. (I did want to learn that Vandall Prelude that was in the November ABF Rectical.)

I am in the process of learning scales, and we're going over some theory in my lessons. I was really afraid of tackling this piece, but my teacher seemed to think I could handle it. (Why does he keep telling me that pieces he has me work on "will be good for me"?? And I also wonder if he's regretting this assignment now, after last night's lesson. )

You understand! Thank you for the encouragement, Morodiene!

I wouldn't be too upset at your husband. I say exactly that to my wife all the time. Of course, I'm referring to my own playing.

Ted

Debussy is a bit of a slog at first as has been pointed out here but it is extremely rewarding due to the colour in his chording (awesome and ahead of his time..)

Keep plugging away That's exactly what the teacher mentioned earlier in the thread did until it started to come a bit quicker and easier

Concerning the keys with several flats or sharps. Though they are often tougher to read (particularly the sharp keys which often require numerous double sharps), on the piano, they fit more naturally under the fingers. B / Cb major, Db / C#, Gb / F# all use all of the black keys and only two white keys, which in melodic passages is taken by the thumb most of the time. Thus your longer fingers are almost always with the black keys, while your shorter ones (particularly the thumb) are almost always on a white key.