I've been playing for 10 years (now 20), and am starting to wonder whether I'm progressing as fast as I should.

I have started learning Chopin's Etude's from Opus 10, but in an arbitrary order.

I can play The first 2 (3?) sections of no3, up until the chromatic 5th's (diminished?), and most of no6, but I'm struggling with the middle section.

I've been learning Op10No3 for 12 weeks now, and Op10No6 for about 5 weeks.

The strange thing is I don't find these pieces hard to play, just hard to memorise as I have poor sight-reading skills.

With Jazz it's so much easier, because I only need to read it or listen to it once, and I can remember the tune, and it's just a matter of brushing it up until it sounds great.

So the question is, am I actually making good progress or am I going about learning these pieces wrong? Should I start with Op10No1 or is there some lead-up pieces i should be studying (yes I know Etude's are supposed to be lessons in themselves)?

Hey you are from Auckland too!
Welcome to the forum.
I think best way to memorize is read the pieces away from the piano.
You can listen to a recoring while doing this.
Try to remember the structure and the dynamics.

Hey do either of you guys know anything about the New Zealand School of Music and Victoria University? I'd appreciate any info. I might be going there next year! Thanks guys.


About progressing. Playing the Chopin Etudes is a life-long pursuit. So the earlier you get
them in your system the better. Don't expect anything too fast!

I think each person progresses at different speeds. And remember, you can progress in
different areas.

For example, you can progress in musicality (bringing out the emotions of the music)
faster than technicality (hands and wrists and fingers) and the other way around.

I suggest just taking an honest approach, asses where you are and always play
relaxed and you should be fine. Robert Schumann once said its good to have
simple pieces you can really master. So be sure to have a couple of those around as well.
I recommend Grieg Lyric Pieces, Bach Suites, Mozart or Haydn Sonatas,
or maybe an easy Chopin nocturne or something. There's lots of options in that
regard. Don't get too bent out of shape on one thing, stay mobile! Ph.D students have
to maintain three concert programs (sometimes more) in their final year. Imagine
having three hours of piano music to maintain. Sheesh!

-Justin


Another thing is , if you're stuck in one area... work on another! You can do Ear Training
(like sight singing, rhythmic dictations, etc..) or you can go swimming and work on
relaxing your arm weight or something? I dunno. The idea is stay away from stagnation!