# Amateur pianists: what do you enjoy playing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 21, 2012, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-pianists-what-do-you-enjoy-playing/644771 "2012-12-21T19:32:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-pianists-what-do-you-enjoy-playing/644771/1 "2012-12-21T19:32:00Z")
I recently bought myself a digital piano after a few years not having a piano at all. I played for about 30 years, mostly classical pieces: Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Clementi, etc. Plus some ragtime and some standards, which I’m completely out of practice with. What do you play? It can be genres, pieces, styles, whatever. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-pianists-what-do-you-enjoy-playing/644771/2 "2012-12-21T19:40:34Z")
I don’t play piano; I play guitar. But if I started piano - and I contemplate it from time to time - I would want to play [boogie-woogie like Meade Lux Lewis](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0UudZ746nI)(youtube link)… ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-pianists-what-do-you-enjoy-playing/644771/3 "2012-12-21T19:47:20Z")
I’m a shitty pianist. I never took lessons outside of an Intro to Piano class in college (that I dropped mid-way through). My technique is solidly sloppy with my left hand pretty much limited to playing root-bass-notes. I am also a relatively mediocre guitar player who plays in a band that plays all original music. My piano playing time is dedicated to trying to figure out how to play on the piano what I already know how to play on guitar. It’s work … but it’s fun. ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-pianists-what-do-you-enjoy-playing/644771/4 "2012-12-21T19:49:34Z")
I did two degrees in musicology, but my playing level really puts me more in the amateur/dilettante category. My favorite “just for fun” pieces are from the Bach sinfonia and inventions, and a few harpsichord pieces by Rameau and Couperin. Also, I could play the few Macdowell woodland sketches in my comfort level all day long…\<3 ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-pianists-what-do-you-enjoy-playing/644771/5 "2012-12-21T19:51:40Z")
> [@antonio107](#): > > I did two degrees in musicology, but my playing level really puts me more in the amateur/dilettante category. My favorite “just for fun” pieces are from the Bach sinfonia and inventions, and a few harpsichord pieces by Rameau and Couperin. > > Also, I could play the few Macdowell woodland sketches in my comfort level all day long…\<3 I have “To a Wild Rose.” Such a pretty piece. I’ve never heard the others, as far as I know. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-pianists-what-do-you-enjoy-playing/644771/6 "2012-12-21T20:07:33Z")
Whenever I sit at the piano, I tend to end up playing something blues-countryish. That’s the style I’m most comfortably with, for whatever reason. I grew up playing classical music (Chopin and Bach are my favorites), and I have knowledge of jazz and took lessons in that direction, too, but my voice is distinctly blues-country. Chuck Leavell or Ian Stewart (Rolling Stones) is probably the most similar to my style, although I had not really listened to them until many years later. And I’m so out of practice these days, it would take me a good bit of woodshedding to really get my chops back down. (I do still play from time to time, and lay down tracks for friends, but I generally cheat a bit and record parts at 80% of tempo, as, while I can hear the [improvised] parts in my head, my fingers can sometimes trip a bit over themselves, and my rhythm has gotten a bit shaky.) ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-pianists-what-do-you-enjoy-playing/644771/7 "2012-12-21T20:34:27Z")
I’ve been learning for the better part of this year. So far mostly classical pieces, but I’ve been working on “Mad World” for a bit now. I also quite want to do some video game music–Kid Icarus, Legend of Zelda. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-pianists-what-do-you-enjoy-playing/644771/8 "2012-12-21T21:17:22Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > I have “To a Wild Rose.” Such a pretty piece. I’ve never heard the others, as far as I know. That’s the easiest one of the bunch, and quite pretty. Thanks to this thread, I’m digging out my collection. I also play “a deserted farm” (which I had to orchestrate in my undergrad), and “to a water lily.” Such fun on a lazy day! ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-pianists-what-do-you-enjoy-playing/644771/9 "2012-12-21T22:00:30Z")
I’m a \*very \*amateur pianist–I have trouble live-reading both hands at the same time, and I get frustrated fairly easily unless I really like the song I’m learning. But I’ve found it fun to learn several pieces of Final Fantasy piano sheet music (by Nobuo Uematsu). “To Zanarkand” is a particularly beautiful piece… it’s not really technically complex, but it’s very emotional/open to interpretation in terms of tempo/glissandos etc. An incredibly rewarding piece to tackle. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-pianists-what-do-you-enjoy-playing/644771/10 "2012-12-21T22:00:32Z")
Bach, Brahms, Schubert, Chopin, Debussy - I love it all. One of the things I love about the Canadian institution, the Royal Conservatory of Music - there are anthologies available for every grade level, as well as further recommendations in the Syllabus for each instrument. It means that once you figure out you are playing at a Grade 8 level (as in my case, for example), it has suggestions for pieces of an equivalent difficulty throughout the various periods of music. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-pianists-what-do-you-enjoy-playing/644771/11 "2012-12-21T22:06:10Z")
> [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](#): > > Bach, Brahms, Schubert, Chopin, Debussy - I love it all. > > One of the things I love about the Canadian institution, the Royal Conservatory of Music - there are anthologies available for every grade level, as well as further recommendations in the Syllabus for each instrument. It means that once you figure out you are playing at a Grade 8 level (as in my case, for example), it has suggestions for pieces of an equivalent difficulty throughout the various periods of music. Nice. I find it hard sometimes to figure out what new music to tackle exactly because I don’t really know what level I am. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-pianists-what-do-you-enjoy-playing/644771/12 "2012-12-21T22:21:32Z")
Here’s a link for the [piano syllabus](http://www.frederickharrismusic.com/FHMCsite/capricorn?para=showPage&docId=catShowProd§ion=**&prodCode=S29&fromCatCode=CA25SYLLABI&actionType=show&treePath=&categoryDesc=Official%20Syllabi%20of%20The%20Royal%20Conservatory%20of%20Music&fromTree=Y&pageNum=&level=1&code=CA25SYLLABI) and the [popular selection list](http://www.frederickharrismusic.com/FHMCsite/capricorn?para=showPage&docId=catShowProd§ion=**&prodCode=S34&fromCatCode=CA25SYLLABI&actionType=show&treePath=&categoryDesc=Official%20Syllabi%20of%20The%20Royal%20Conservatory%20of%20Music&fromTree=Y&pageNum=&level=1&code=CA25SYLLABI). The Celebration Series direct link is being a pain in the butt right now, but you can click to it from [here](http://www.frederickharrismusic.com/FHMCsite/capricorn?para=showPage&docId=catListProd§ion=CARESOURCES). It’s well worth having a look in your local library to see if they have any of these. Then, as I say, find what grade is more or less your level and you’ve got enough repertoire for a few years of fun… ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-pianists-what-do-you-enjoy-playing/644771/13 "2012-12-21T23:16:45Z")
I took ten years of lessons as a child. Beethoven was by far my favorite. I had some simplified arrangements of Scott Joplin songs that were a lot of fun, too… but with Beethoven I was playing the “real” thing. edit: Pathetique sonata was my very very favorite ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-pianists-what-do-you-enjoy-playing/644771/14 "2012-12-21T23:30:33Z")
> [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](#): > > It’s well worth having a look in your local library to see if they have any of these. Then, as I say, find what grade is more or less your level and you’ve got enough repertoire for a few years of fun… They aren’t in the library, but I found an overview that showed pieces from every level. I wonder if this is just a feature of being self-taught, but I regularly play pieces up to Level 10 but find pieces down to level 3 or 4 as being too hard. [This](http://www.frederickharrismusic.com/wcm/ContentMgr/images/Celebration_Series_Perspectives%20Sampler.pdf) is what I was looking at. (It’s a .pdf.) I know there are things that other people consider easy that I think are quite hard which is no doubt partially a feature of being self-taught. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-pianists-what-do-you-enjoy-playing/644771/15 "2012-12-21T23:32:25Z")
The one song I have memorized and can usually play pretty well even when rusty is “Linus and Lucy,” the Charlie Brown theme song by Vince Guaraldi. ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-pianists-what-do-you-enjoy-playing/644771/16 "2012-12-21T23:33:26Z")
I find the rcm grading system quite misleading, if truth be told. I find the baroque pieces in grade 8, for example, to be a lot easier than the Oscar Peterson pieces, or romantic repertoire generally. ---
**Author:** ![BTEzra04](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9f8e36/32.png) [@BTEzra04](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BTEzra04)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2012, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-pianists-what-do-you-enjoy-playing/644771/17 "2012-12-22T00:39:12Z")
I shouldn’t be an amateur–I should be working on the stuff of the masters–but college has made it a tad difficult to finish the lessons I took for ten years. Still have the books, but…yeah, on hold 'til I have the money and the stable living locale for a gorgeous digital piano of my own. To answer the question in the OP: Most of what I play now is pop-oriented stuff. This time of year, I’m very partial to the Carpenter’s “Merry Christmas Darling,” sheet music I have. During the year, you’re likely to find me playing Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera material. I also love fooling around with arrangements of 60’s and 50’s music. I still appreciate some more traditional stuff, like Mozart though. He’s such a fun composer 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/278dde/32.png) [@Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Runs_With_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2012, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-pianists-what-do-you-enjoy-playing/644771/18 "2012-12-22T04:07:15Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > I’m a shitty pianist. I never took lessons outside of an Intro to Piano class in college (that I dropped mid-way through). My technique is solidly sloppy with my left hand pretty much limited to playing root-bass-notes. > > I am also a relatively mediocre guitar player who plays in a band that plays all original music. My piano playing time is dedicated to trying to figure out how to play on the piano what I already know how to play on guitar. > > It’s work … but it’s fun. Good gravy, you are MY EXACT DOUBLE! ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2012, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-pianists-what-do-you-enjoy-playing/644771/19 "2012-12-22T10:25:38Z")
I don’t play the piano, but I remember once going to Theatre rehearsal and heard one of the younger actresses play [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Su8LXNS16A), flawlessly, learned by ear, only weeks after the movie had come out. I was way impressed. ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2012, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-pianists-what-do-you-enjoy-playing/644771/20 "2012-12-22T10:29:21Z")
I love Mendelssohn’s Songs Without Words and Mozart Sonatas. Non-classically, I find Yiruma’s pieces very pleasant to play - I’m currently learning[River Flows In You](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-4wUfZD6oc). And when I just want to tinker away at something easy, I like a lot of Howard Shore’s stuff, like Lord of the Rings. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amateur-pianists-what-do-you-enjoy-playing/644771.md?page=2)