Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Do you have pieces you did a 180 on?

Do you have a piece that you didn’t care for that much when you started to learn it—maybe your teacher assigned it or it was in your method book—but that you came to enjoy over time? Or really wanted to play but were disappointed when you did learn it?

What was the piece? Can you identify why you like it now and didn’t before, or liked it early on but don’t now?



I did not care much for “Love’s Greeting” (Salut d’amour) in Alfred’s AIO Book 2, but came to like it very much. When I first started learning it, I struggled with the fingering on the initial chords. But those soon became easy and as the rest of the piece came under my fingers, I started to really enjoy playing the piece.

In general, I find I like pieces more as I learn them, but that is not universally true. A few I come to find boring as they become better learned.

Almost all of Mozart. Not sure why, I'd have to ask my 8-year-old self. But I couldn't stand learning the pieces before, and now I enjoy them very much. (Clarification: I always enjoyed listening.. it was the learning process I couldn't stand.)

Generally, it takes a long time, days to months and in some cases a lifetime of playing the piece. As a beginner, I play the same pieces all the time as well, of course, adding new stuff from the method book as I try to grow as a pianst/musician of one year.

It is hard to think of anything that is not awesome.

Song of the Volga Boatmen in the John Thompson Modern course for the piano is only part of the whole piece. I learned to play it when I was 7 - now 50 years later, it is still a very moving 8 measures. I hope to learn the whole piece some day.

When people here say that they don't like some music or teachers say some students say they want to learn new tunes not the tunes/pieces in the John Thompson books, for example, I just don't understand how anyone could think that. Technically, of course, I understand, if it is over your ability, but making music is never anything but awesome.

Oh yes, 180 degree change -- Mozart K545 Rondo. (Dee dee dee, Dee dee dee..). I hated playing it when I started, but I learned so much from it, that I now play it for fun. It can be so playful and silly. It is a kick.

I might be working on that piece/those pieces right now. German Dances, Beethoven ....yuk.
Maybe I'll change my mind sometime...we shall see.

Maybe it isn't all the way to 180, but pretty much everything sounds better played competently than it does played haltingly at half tempo with a few wrong notes thrown in.

Ah!

A topic I know all about.

I found I only liked happy pieces. With happy and dreamy pieces I will pick them up VERY quickly. Playing major chords and such like.

Liebesträum, for instance I played a simple arrangement of this. I thought wow and bought some a slightly more compliated piece. Learnt that quickly and considering starting the original.


I did not like minor chord unhappy pieces. Marche Slave, I felt harsh and didn't like to play. Same with sombre waves of the danube... I initially really hated this piece. But its grown on me considerably.

That's a big part of it, for sure. It's just fun to play something, even if you wouldn't want to be stranded on a desert island with that as your only piece.

The lack of a power source for my DP would concern me a lot more than lack of pieces!

And an AP will quickly go out of tune!