Re:Touch Pianist
by denotational on Friday September 08, 2023 @02:50PM
(#37437754)
Whilst the first movement is fairly technically straightforward, the last movement is pretty tricky and requires solid technique; I certainly wouldn’t characterise it as “easy” even if it’s not the hardest piece in the repertoire.
If anything, the issue is that as a whole, the piece is fairly technically demanding, but the first movement is simply enough for most intermediate pianists to sight-read, so something that seems approachable soon becomes impossible for anyone below a certain level.
I can buy that it's technically demanding to do the last movement well, in the correct tempo, but learning it to a standard a relative beginner will be happy to achieve was not hard for me. But that may well be another distinction that makes it frustrating for a teacher to try to teach to a beginner, because, yes, it will likely be noticeably flawed.
This is what makes it fantastic, but learning to play it is mostly learning a few phrases and recognizing the shifts, which I can imagine would drive your teacher nuts until you're at a stage where you can pick up the changes rapidly enough sight reading to not have to remember every transition.
I'd guess - as a very mediocre piano player - that it's as a result low "bang for the buck" for a beginner on top of annoying to your teacher.
Upside is once you get even just relatively mediocre at sight reading it's fairly simple to work your way through yourself.