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Hi all! I've decided to return to more 'directed' piano study after 10 years of lessons and then 15 years of general enjoyment playing (meaning now I'm actually practising, instead of messing around), and I was so excited to find this very active forum!

So some questions:
Since it's been a while since I've really played, I thought I'd start with a relatively easy piece, and so I've learned Beethoven's Minuet in G over the last month. Right now I can play the entire piece, and now it needs some phrasing, pedal and tempo work, and so I've been listening to mp3 and youtube performances to hear other people's interpretations. So I realized that I must have the only score out there that in measure 9 (at the end of the section) goes from D down an octave to low D instead of up an octave to D above middle C. And, even worse, in the 4th measure of the trio, the right hand plays G-F#-G-A-B-C, where everyone else is playing G-F#-G-A-B-C#! I know there are different editions of sheet music, but how do I know if I have the best or most official one? Or if these are simply errors?

Also: the tempo marking is quarter=120, which is far faster than any recording I've found, and seems far too fast for a 'stately' minuet. There are other oddities, such as a number of stacatto sections in the trio, and excessive pedaling.

The book I am using is called Piano Classics, 90 Timeless Pieces from the Masters. Do I need to get my music from somewhere else? Thoughts on how I should be playing this piece? Thanks!

Hi smgl,

Welcome to the forums.

I think I have the piece you are talking about in the Alfred book: Beethoven Dances for the piano.

Sometimes you just need to look at different editions to decide what is right. If you can find an Urtext edition - these are editions that musical scholars have researched to make sure they are the closest to the composers version - then you may be more sure of the notes.
This is listed as Minuet WoO 10 No 2 in my book. Metronome mark is quarter = 104.

First off, the lead in measure is not counted, so I think you are talking about measures 8 and 19. The first two beats of measure 8 in the left hand are D below middle c the D above middle C. In m 19 the C is sharped and in measure 20 the first C is sharped and the second is natural.

Hope this helps.
Rich

smjl,
Hi and Welcome.

I think I have that book at home so I will check it out tonight. It's hard to say with out having it on front of me.

One thing about metronome markings is that an editor that puts those things in. So, it may not be exact and alot of that stuff (dynamic markings etc.)is up to interpretation-at least that's what I have been told. When I was working on fur elise I wasnt sure how fast to play it so I got a couple of recordings and they both seemed to go to the extreme. One was painfully slow - the other was too fast and sounded rushed. I opted for somewhere in the middle.

Rich--thanks for the tip on Urtext. When I had a teacher I never worried about publishers etc, so I guess I'll just try to start with a trusted score, and then listen to as many recordings as possible!

Kymber--your story reminds me of when I was a teenager playing Fur Elise...I played it (probably agonizingly) slowly. I probably thought it was dramatic and soulful that way. Now I prefer it a bit faster and less soulfully 'mopey'.