Gertrude's Dream Waltz & Scales

[decleaf]

Hi I just started taking piano lessons 6mths ago. Currently I am trying to play Gertrude's Dream Waltz by B. I find it quite difficult even though it says on the sheet that it is suitable for "Grade 2" students..... Should I put this aside or is this piece all right for beginners?

Also, my current piano instructor is not teaching my scales or any of those "boring" finger exercises... Is this bad? Is playing scales an absolute necessity in order to be a apt piano player?

[Chris]

Hmm. Well, I've got some bad news for you. First of all, that piece is not actually by Beethoven. There are a couple of pieces out there wrongly attributed to Beethoven.

Secondly, yes, I think you should be doing scales and finger exercises. Almost from the first day, my piano teacher had me playing scales and also exercises from Hanon's Virtuoso Pianist.

Scales are good to practice, for one thing, because they come up so often in actual pieces that when you do get to a passage like that, you already know how to finger it and have already practiced it. They are also nice because they force you to think about key relationships and other things in music theory.

As for the finger exercises, I found them very helpful to me as a student. They allowed to me to pull some harder techniques out of the context of a piece and just focus on them. Plus, they really helped me build up a lot of strength in my fingers that I didn't have even a fraction of before. So, I think you should be doing at least some of these.

[Peter]

Originally posted by decleaf:
Hi I just started taking piano lessons 6mths ago. Currently I am trying to play Gertrude's Dream Waltz by B. I find it quite difficult even though it says on the sheet that it is suitable for "Grade 2" students..... Should I put this aside or is this piece all right for beginners?

Also, my current piano instructor is not teaching my scales or any of those "boring" finger exercises... Is this bad? Is playing scales an absolute necessity in order to be a apt piano player?

Regarding scales, I think they are essential for every student - moving on to a professional level, there are artists who do not regularly practice scales and those who do. As a teacher I insist my students practice them as they are the foundations of technique, but not necessarily within the first 6 months - it really depends on age and aptitude.

Concerning your piece, grade 2 standard seems a little advanced for only 6 months study. However you must be guided by your teacher, not us here.

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'Man know thyself'

[decleaf]

Ah... I see you mentioned Hanon. This word comes up so very often when I research on scales and piano finger exercises. Could you elaborate what is this about?

[decleaf]

And also .... how does one classify pieces by "grades" ? Are there certain technical specifications for each level of grade? I find it a little strange that music pieces can be categorised by grades... I think it is not doing justice to the music piece....

[Chris]

Originally posted by decleaf:
Ah... I see you mentioned Hanon. This word comes up so very often when I research on scales and piano finger exercises. Could you elaborate what is this about?

I'm not sure I can elaborate more than saying they are finger exercises. There are 60 exercises divided into three parts. If you want to see for your self, click http://www.sheetmusicarchive.net/sin...?composer_id=7here</a>.

[Peter]

Originally posted by decleaf:
And also .... how does one classify pieces by "grades" ? Are there certain technical specifications for each level of grade? I find it a little strange that music pieces can be categorised by grades... I think it is not doing justice to the music piece....

The point is unless you have the technical ability appropiate for the piece you won't do it musical justice! I don't know which country you are from, but in the UK the music exams are graded 1-8, then after that are the professional diploma qualifications. An example of Grade 1 would be a simple minuet in a key with one sharp or flat. Grade 8 could be a first movement of a classical sonata (not too difficult) such as Beethoven Op.2nr1. In fact there are very few movements from Beethoven sonatas that a player below grade 8 should attempt if they are to do the music justice.

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'Man know thyself'