How to Practice the Piano: Selecting Repertoire

Posted by MaryO on August 5, 2015

Great blog post! Thanks, Andrea 🙂

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🎵 Mozart: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik ~ Daily Listening Assignments
Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (Serenade No. 13 for strings in G major), K. 525, is a 1787 composition for a chamber ensemble by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The German title means “a little serenade”, though it is often rendered more literally but less accurately as “a little night music.”
🎵 Offenbach: Can-Can Daily Listening Assignments
Today’s listening assignment is Can-can from “Orpheus in the Underworld” by Jacques Offenbach. This piece is very often in early method books because of the descending C Major scale. Can you find it?
🎵 McCartney: The Beatles ~ Daily Listening Assignments
Today’s is a cheat post, partly because I ran out of time. I’ve watched this video several times in the past few days. It’s a great overview of the Beatles music. And, yes, I have books of their music arranged for piano, if you want to play anything.
💤 Day of Rest ~ Daily Listening Assignment
Sunday, a day of rest.
🎵 Mozart: The Magic Flute ~ Daily Listening Assignments
‘The Magic Flute’ (German name: Die Zauberflöte) is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s final opera, and it contains one of the most well-known arias in music. But what is ‘The Magic Flute’ all about?
🎵Beethoven: Ode to Joy ~ Daily Listening Assignments
“Ode to Joy” was written in the summer of 1785 by German poet, playwright, and historian Friedrich Schiller and published the following year in Thalia. A slightly revised version appeared in 1808, changing two lines of the first and omitting the last stanza.
🎵 Pachelbel: Canon in D ~ Daily Listening Assignments
Today’s assignment is a very popular piece by Johann Pachelbel called Canon in D. A canon is a technique that employs a melody with one or more imitations of the melody played after a given duration (e.g., quarter rest, one measure, etc.). The initial melody is called the leader, while the imitative melody, which is […]
🎵 Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C-sharp minor ~ Daily Listening Assignments
Today is the anniversary of Grieg‘s Birthday in 1843 so… “In the Hall of the Mountain King” is a piece of orchestral music composed for the sixth scene of act 2 in Henrik Ibsen’s 1867 play Peer Gynt. It was originally part of Opus 23 but was later extracted as the final piece of Peer […]
🎵 Grieg: In the Hall of the Mountain King ~ Daily Listening Assignments
Today is the anniversary of Grieg‘s Birthday in 1843 so… “In the Hall of the Mountain King” is a piece of orchestral music composed for the sixth scene of act 2 in Henrik Ibsen’s 1867 play Peer Gynt. It was originally part of Opus 23 but was later extracted as the final piece of Peer […]
🎵 Pop Goes the Weasel – Daily Listening Assignments
Today’s Daily Listening Assignment is a little different. Pop Goes the Weasel was chosen today because somehow, somewhere someone chose today as National Pop Goes the Weasel Day.
🇺🇸 Today is Flag Day!
National Flag Day is celebrated annually in the United States on June 14. This day commemorates the adoption of the United States flag on June 14, 1777. On National Flag Day, Americans show respect for the U.S. Flag and what it represents. Our independence and unity as a nation is represented by our flag. The […]
🎵 Wagner: Bridal Chorus ~ Daily Listening Assignments
The “Bridal Chorus” from the 1850 opera Lohengrin by German composer Richard Wagner is a march played for the bride’s entrance at many formal weddings throughout the Western world.
🎵 Dvorák: Largo ~ Daily Listening Assignments
Today’s piece is slow and easy-going. The name “Largo” itself means slow. Antonin Dvorák wrote this as a part of his Symphony No. 9 in E minor, also known as From the New World, Op. 95, B. 178, or just the New World Symphony.
🎵 Ravel: Bolero – Daily Listening Assignments
The other day, a student and I were looking at a piece with a l-o-n-g crescendo marking on it and she wondered how long the longest crescendo was in any piece. For those who don’t remember, crescendo means to get louder and decrescendo means to get softer. The sample below gets louder, then softer.
🎵 Mendelssohn: Wedding March – Daily Listening Assignments
Since we had the Bridal Chorus a couple days ago, it’s time to march the bride and groom back up the aisle with the Wedding March by Felix Mendelssohn.
🎵 Haydn: Surprise Symphony ~ Daily Listening Assignments
Joseph Haydn’s music contains many jokes, and the Surprise Symphony includes probably the most famous of all: a sudden very loud (fortissimo chord) at the end of the otherwise soft (piano) opening theme in the variation-form second movement.
🎵 Confrey: You Tell ‘Em, Ivories
You Tell 'Em Ivories by Zez Confrey. This is a more advanced piece but I really like it. Some students may have heard this since it’s an alarm tone on my phone. My dog, Mimi, recognized this music as her signal to go out for a walk!
🎵Rossini: William Tell Overture ~ Daily Listening Assignments
Today, we’ll be listening to the end of the William Tell Overture by Gioachino Rossini. This piece, originally the overture to an opera, has been arranged for piano and is in several method books, including Piano Pronto Movements 1 and 2. It’s also in Bastien Book 4 and Piano Maestro.
🤫 Cage 4′33 ~ Daily Listening Assignments
What can I say about John Cage’s 4′33″? Pretty much anyone can play this anytime. It consists of the pianist going to the piano, and not hitting any keys for four minutes and thirty-three seconds. (He uses a stopwatch to time this.) In other words, the entire piece consists of silence or rests.
🎵 Happy Birthday ~ Daily Listening Assignments
Happy Birthday is a song that I like to have each of my students learn at various levels appropriate to their level. When a friend or family member has a birthday, it’s great to be able to sit down and play.

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How to Practice the Piano: Selecting Repertoire

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