Level 1 Piece #01: 1:37 Long and Short by Bartok Piece #02: 2:52 Minuet in F by Mozart Piece #03: 4:27 Etude in C Major Op. 125 No. 3 by Diabelli Piece #04: 4:53 Minuet by Alexander Reinagle Piece #05: 5:34 Waltz Op. 39 No. 13 by Kabalevsky Level 2 Piece #06: 6:45 Melody in C by Le Couppey Piece #07: 7:22 The Sick Doll by Tchaikovsky Piece #08: 8:29 Sonatina Op. 36 No. 1 by Clementi Piece #09: 9:15 La Candeur Op. 100 No. 1 Burgmüller Piece #10: 10:08 Minuet in G by Bach Level 3 Piece #11: 11:59 Melody Op. 68 No. 1 by Schumann Piece #12: 12:47 Arabesque by Burgmüller Piece #13: 14:05 Etude Op. 299 No. 1 by Czerny Piece #14: 14:43 Prelude in E Minor by Chopin Piece #15: 16:47 Prelude in C Major by Bach
@matticawood great pieces, iam humbly speaking a self taught pianist from the age of 15yrs old, iam 53yrs old now, I love playing Mozart and Beethoven sonatas, I fairly recently managed to teach myself to play the Mozart Sonata k332 f major, 3 movements to go with my Mozart sonata k331 theme and 6 variations and the 3rd movement rondo alla turca, ( learning menuetto and trio making good progres) goes with my sonata C major k545, and the Moonlight sonata 1st and 2nd movements and the sonata pathetique, I also love playing ragtime pieces by Scott Joplin like the Entertainer and maple leaf rag 🍁, music and being able to play the piano is a wonderfull God given gift to have, greetings from wales uk 😀
the sick doll, sonatina no. 36, and minuet in G are my literal start of piano. i started learning with a teacher that gave me these but then switched to learning on my own. i got chills thinking how similar are the ways to learn piano, no matter alone or with a teacher.
we are BLESSED to have you, it seems quite unrealistic to me that someone puts this much effort in helping people that maybe just cant afford a teacher/course or whatever.. youre just the best🙏🏻
as a self taught beginner who has had absolutely no classes, in 3 months my progression has been weird in that i have been playing only chopin pieces (op 28 no 2,no 4,no 7, no 20; op 7 no 2;op 17 no 2) and i'm thinking about learning nocturne op 37 no 1. Now i know i'm not ready but i absolutely love this nocturne
I’m only 5 minutes in, but this video is extremely polished . The editing makes everything so clear and clean , it’s apparent that a lot of effort has been out in . Cheers mate
I'm tentatively thinking about buying a piano (Assuming I meet another semi-long term goal I've set for myself, as an incentive), but I'm doing a lot of reading and studying on what would actually go into learning the piano in advance of that so I know what I'd be getting into, and that includes A LOT of your videos. It is humbling in the best kind of way watching your videos. The ease with which you explain all these topics and freely share so much of what you've put together while still having some of your own content behind paywall is extremely tasteful with how you balance it. If I do end up buying a piano I will definitely be looping back to your content and buying in 👍
Burgmüller really has some great pieces for beginners, I think his Pastorale in G major is great too! It practices chords, plays with dynamics, the melody changes from right hand to left hand for a bit and it has those little embellishments with the acciaccaturas ☺️ I think Chopins waltz in A minor is beautiful too and suited for beginners, though it‘s probably a step above all the pieces mentioned in the video. But definitely a good occasion to practice trills and arpeggios!
These are really good suggestions, thanks! But I think it would have been nice if you had played each so we could hear them and decide which ones we'd like to learn.
I was 50/50 about playing them….and I’m still unsure 😂 but in the end I thought it was best if you read it without having listened to them (or I at least leave that as an option). 😊 You are welcome for the music though 😂
You could do a follow-up video demoing these tunes? I think it would be useful to know how they should sound when played properly! Either way thanks for making this list, I’m finding it very helpful working my way through these pieces
For beginners I can recommend looking in the ABRSM / RCM / Trinity grades 1-3. There are a variety of pieces and you can learn them for fun obviously without taking any tests.
I just found your videos and I want to thank you. I am learning by myself. Its not the easiest thing. There is no local teacher where I live and dont want to drive 35 miles one way. You are amazing, you explain things so well and it is obvious that you love playing. I have been playing for over a year but not able to practice as much as I need to, so i keep making mistakes. But thank you, you are a great teacher and player. I will keep watching and follow your lead.. Phyllis Brown.
Gorgeous video... That is something I really needed. People have been recommending me playing Prelude by Bach, and I was sure there must be pieces, that are more beginner friendly. Thank you so much for this video...
I've seen countless piano tutorials, and cannot believe I just found your channel. Great content and amazing quality. Surprised this channel doesn't have subscribers in the millions.
Thanks, Matthew, enough material for a beginner like me to self-teach in this rainy summer. Bach's prelude in C major is quite easy, I always play it for warming up, but I've been struggling with his/Petzold's Minuet in G, which is still to hard for me in the middle part (where the LH gets more active). So, I'm now starting with the easier ones from your list that I've never heard (of) before.😊
With the minuet try 2-3 notes at a time (enough so that it’s super easy) and then repeat several times. Then add to it. I think there’s some value in constantly asking yourself “does that feel easy? Am I ready to try and add a few notes to it?” - it often feels tricky if you are trying to play to much of it at once 😊 But I hope the other pieces here will help as well! 😊
After watching your reactions videos I often heard you say “I feel he’s hands still have tension” or “he’s struggling because this piece is too advanced for his current stage” or “ he’s not reading 📖 the music he’s memorised it”, so I’ve been waiting in the shadows for a video that guides us when it comes to which pieces to learn that’ll assist in technique and also understanding the music while gradually growing the skill. 😂 thank you very much , appreciate your channel . I’m all the way in South Africa 🇿🇦.
Thank you Matthew for this and many other helpful videos. It is simply a pleasure to watch and learn from you. Keep it going! Greetings from Macedonia.
Thank you Matthew as an older adult learner about a month in, this is very much appreciated. Though piece 1 with the staccato/legato co-ordination is causing my inflexible fingers and brain to cry. 😂
Awesome video full of amazing info! And a huge need for beginners 🙂 I'll definitely try these out along with your sightreeding book which I already bought but didn’t have time to practice much yet. Only one note (ba-dumm-tss), it would be nice to hear you play these compositions to a, know what they sound like b, what they SHOULD sound like 😀
I am a big fan of yours. You’re such a good teacher. I’ll love to see a video of yours teaching different ways in which we can practice our scales. Btw, loved the video!!!
This is excellent. Thank you! I'm taking lessons AND working on this system here. It's really helping me to "get my reps" in. And of course, I'm working on scales, chords and inversions. Subbed!
As someone who is trying to learn to play piano, this was a very interesting video for me. Now I have some reference songs I can practice. I just need to ifnd some good examples on how to play them now. Thanks a lot.
I got a guitar but after that found a nice video with songs i wanted to learn on piano... when i was 1 week into Maple Leaf Rag i stopped playing guitar to play piano daily and now you come around with this.. guitar wants some time too man 😂
An interesting choice of Diabelli's Etude, with its lots of chords, for Level 1. Playing chords correctly requires quite some technique, and my teacher still doesn't allow me play them even after 1 year of learning piano. I heard that excessive tension while playing chords is indeed common among beginners, so it's a bit surprising to see this piece so early in your list... Otherwise, a nice list! I would personally recommend more minuets by Bach, Petzold, etc. and sonatas by Cimarosa - they aren't overly complex, still reasonably demanding for a beginner, and at the same time musically enjoyable (I think it's important to choose pieces that you wouldn't start hating after repeating them 1000x times!).
@@matticawood if a time machine is ever invented, I'm going back to when I was 5 and I'm going to learn the piano then before my brain filled up with lyrics to every song I've ever heard 😂 This video is going to be SUPER useful for those just starting out. The different levels make it really easy to sort of "jump in" if you've already been learning some things, but need more direction. I also highly recommend your sight reading book! I've been doing a couple exercises every practice since I got it and it's really helping to improve my sight reading!
Really curious to know from you as a piano teacher who sees a lot of people learn, how long would you anticipate an adult learning piano for the first time to take to get up to the level of skill of playing all 15 pieces shown? I know it varies, but what sort of range would you be thinking for someone who is quite dedicated to practicing?
I may do an intermediate one 😊 the better a player gets, the more specific the pieces would be to that players unique strengths and weaknesses though. So I may do i selection of intermediate pieces that tackle certain problems 😊
Did i miss the mention of the treble clef for the left hand? Not one to be negated as it can be a mind melter. The phrases got a quick pass too. The arcing lines over bars that group notes into sentences or phrases, grouping expression.
How about focusing solely on familiarizing with the scales, chords and scale chords + inversions and experimenting with these without learning actual pieces? (The main goal is to make ideation/composing fluent using the piano). Would this be a good idea or would learning pieces too bring this about more efficiently?
One thing I’m wondering is how many of these pieces would you recommend a beginner learning to performance standard? It seems like it would take around two years to learn all of them that well.
The idea behind this video is that a lot of beginners miss out on fundamental learning because they jump to pieces that they aren’t going to fully understand or develop the technique for. Also, as a player gets better at the piano the pieces that I would suggest would start becoming much more specific to the players strengths and weaknesses. For example, if you have tension I might suggest one piece, if you have great technique but lack musicality I might suggest another etc. 😊
I would say the same for any cadenza…but block the notes into small segments (4-8 notes at a time) and practice them at speed, then practice multiple segments together at a slower speed. Concentrate on coordination and phrasing, a cadenza is supposed to sound like an improvisation so you want to drag out the slower sections and push the faster sections with lots of rubato 😊
@@matticawood Aight, thanks man. You think i can learn Cziffra HR2 this summer and Hamelins Cadenza? Focusing on Cziffra atm, completed Lassan on to Friska now.
I have started to learn the "Mozart Minuet in F", i thought it would be a piece of cake but i could not be more wrong :/ I am finally having some good sensation with the first part of it (i mean the 8 first measures) after three sessions of 20min i would say... But i had to stop looking at the sheet music, and focus on my hand and the keyboard in order to achieve this result (so i've learn it by heart). Do you think i should forbid myself to do that ? The first two sessions i forced myself to read the notes each time, but it felt like i was doing 0 progress. I could almost not remember a single note of the piece after those 2 sessions, that was a really weird sensation. Like if my brain was so focused on the note reading that there was no power left for anything else xD Also i did not listen to the music beforehand, i guess it didnt help but i wanted the "challenge" to discover it by myself. I dont know what to think about that... 😅
Im glad you are giving the minuet a try 😊 Firstly, at the early stages, don’t look at your hands. The only way you will get good at reading music - is by reading the music, so try to follow it on the page the best you can. Secondly, it’s good that you didn’t listen to it…this means that you are relying on your reading and working it out rather than copying what you have heard. This will allow you to learn more from the piece. Thirdly, if you are finding that you are not seeing much progress…you are likely trying to read too much of it at once and not repeating small enough sections. Play one bar, then repeat it lots of times (not just 3-4 times - I mean like 20-30 times) keeping your eyes on the page. Then add another 2 beats to the piece and repeat lots of times with the extra notes. 2 sessions of 20 minutes may feel like a lot of time while you are doing it, however, keep going…so far that’s less than 1 hour of practice on the piece. Spend another 5-10 sessions of 20 minutes working through the piece systematically and you will see results. Just try to be patient and try not to take shortcuts, it’s about building the skills 😊
@@matticawood How can you answer so fast, you must be some kind of wizard xD I think you are spot on when you say that 20min felt like a lot of time. Its not that i wanted to cheat, but it felt silly to play over and over again while still doing some mistakes here and there, on such a small set of notes. So i actually started to ask myself if i should not try to do it another way. And also i think i understand better what you mean by "understanding the music" because i was really looking for clues to know how it was supposed to sound good. To be fair, at some point i was even starting to think that baby mozart could have made a mistake with this piece :p It is nice though, now i will be able to work on this an the other pieces without having to ask myself those kind of questions! So again, thank you so much for your help ❤ I am aware of this privilege, and i cant wait to see your channel properly grows 😉
A metronome indeed is the best way. However, depending on how difficult you are finding playing in time, I would try and do some exercises that involve simple rhythms first. Try playing C-D-E-F-G for example with one note per click at 60bpm. If that is easy then try playing quavers (eighth notes) against the click (two notes per click). Then try writing a simple one bar rhythm of crotchets (quarter notes) and quavers (eighth notes) and play it with the metronome. Then once you have built your rhythm playing up, try small sections (a bar or two) of a piece of music (hands separately if required). Over time your rhythm playing will become great, it just needs some systematic practice 😊
If you were more intellectual or theory heavy or research heavy or could source relevant clips from popular media to prove your points. I think you’d become my main channel for educating me about music
It’s a tough balance to strike between ensuring most people can grasp what I’m talking about and including a good amount of information…but I would say I have a lot of videos that are relatively “theory heavy” 😊
As an absolute beginner i think that you are giving too much information too quickly. Maybe you should have broken it down to 3 videos of 5 pieces in each with short demo’s. Having said that you seem to really want to help beginners and thank you for that.
No beginner is going to take onboard information about 15 pieces all at once, the piano takes time and practice to learn. That’s why I provided an “estimated time to learn” with each of the pieces. The idea would be to take the first piece, go and learn it over a period of time and then come back for a second piece that is achievable etc. For absolute beginners it would take some time (and several pieces) to reach level 3 pieces and by that point they would understand my brief run down of what the challenges are for that piece of music 😊
at 16:34 in bar 17 there is a 3 over 2 polyrhythm. how can you give these works to beginners SELF TAUGHT? here's another one who doesn't even know what he's talking about
Just because we’re self taught and beginners at piano, doesn’t mean you should assume we’re all beginners at music. I know what a polyrhythm is because I’ve played them in other contexts.
@@SpinesAndSplines I didn't think they had to be done in order, I saw a polyrhythm and a video for those who start playing today and I said to myself what the fuck does he say?
At the beginning of the video I said; “here are 15 pieces in 3 levels that get progressively more difficult”. If someone is starting from the absolute beginning, then they should start with piece 1. If they’ve played other stuff before, then they can jump in at a more appropriate point. The pieces weren’t intended to all be pieces that you learn on day 1. - that wouldn’t help that many people actually progress 😊
I agree, play what you want and stick to it and you will eventually be able to play the notes (given enough time). …but if the piece is too difficult then it may be painfully slow to learn, you may end up with a lot of tension and bad habits that will take a lot of time to unlearn and you may not really understand the music or be able to interpret it yourself. 😊
European English, apposed to American English…the video is in English so European English would be British English. I assume other counties refer to the notes in there own languages? 😊
I very muck disagree, having gone through 13 pieces prior that cover a lot of varying techniques and understanding of music..the prelude in E minor is a very achievable piece by that point. The difficulty with the piece is one of musicality, and this is a great way of starting to learn it. I would perhaps understand more if you’d had said any of the Bach pieces were beyond beginners due to the difficulty interpreting the music. “Ignorant” is also an odd choice of word…meaning I somehow lack understanding of what students are capable of?
Appreciate that you took the time and effort to reply, Bach is alot more straight forward than chopin on the other side depends what you mean by "achievable " being able to press the button at the right time or playing competently with the right phasing and conveying convincing performance that can touch other people all the pieces that you suggested are physically possible no beginner will get carpal tunnel but this music is not a rhythm game, Also "musicality" is a vague word and every one can interpret it differently please if you help beginners pls explain what you mean by that instead,
No problem! Musicality isn’t that vague, it is a word that has a relatively clear definition relating to playing with sensitivity and having a focus on the quality of sound. I disagree that Bach is more straight forward. Bach requires a lot of understanding to be able to interpret the music and then express that interpretation without much direction written within the music, whereas composers like Chopin in the romantic period used more clear directions to show what quality of sound they were looking for. So it really depends on what you find more challenging… While Chopin is definitely challenging for trying to express the music, if the barrier for playing a piece of music is that you should only play it when you are able to convincingly perform it in a way that touches other people, then you would never be able to play any piece. That is something that is learned through learning pieces such as the Prelude in E minor. 😊
"Musicality"is Very vague may not for you but i always see that word being thrown around also what do you mean by "quality of sound" thats also sounds dubious do you mean clarity? dynamic??, articulation? Not having clear direction doesn't make it harder thats means that you have to figure it out for yourself and it wont be difficult for experienced musicians but we talking beginner pieces the prelude is not suited for beginners like the prelude when you get to the moment you learn to convicingly perform chopin you are not a beginner i think you underappreciate romantism if you actually think that prelude in Em is piece that you learn through it how to touch people i think you dont respect chopin at all or even the whole romantic period where the music comes from the heart with expression while Bach is very strict and exposed like Mozart because pedal is not reliable with this style of music Bach is extremely hard with contrapuntal music while his regular music easier than romantic style. 😊
All of the above would need to be considered (articulation, dynamics, phrasing, balance etc.). It’s a legitimate term that’s used to describe focusing on the quality of sound of which these are all a part of. You could argue the same point about the term “technique”, that is vague because it could be in reference to tension, evenness, agility, a particular common pattern like arpeggios? As a player myself I am very much more of a romantic player than a baroque player by quite the margin. I imagine that should be evident from the types of things I talk about in videos and my focus on how things are played and how chords feel. Not having clear direction most certainly makes musicality and interpretation much harder for beginners, for the exact reason you just said - “you have to figure it out for yourself”. The prelude in E minor is a good balance of not too difficult for technique and note learning after learning 13 other pieces…but a reasonable amount of musicality and interpretation that’s required. I, myself could endlessly read into the piece of music and find a lot in the piece. That doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be looked at by someone earlier in their playing career though - they too can learn from it. I get the sense that you maybe don’t believe anyone should learn any pieces that require sensitivity or emotion at the beginner level - for what reason? They aren’t going to damage their playing by learning a romantic piece (or blanket “Chopin pieces”), unless it is a more technically demanding piece, there is only a wealth of learning they can get from it.
Level 1
Piece #01: 1:37 Long and Short by Bartok
Piece #02: 2:52 Minuet in F by Mozart
Piece #03: 4:27 Etude in C Major Op. 125 No. 3 by Diabelli
Piece #04: 4:53 Minuet by Alexander Reinagle
Piece #05: 5:34 Waltz Op. 39 No. 13 by Kabalevsky
Level 2
Piece #06: 6:45 Melody in C by Le Couppey
Piece #07: 7:22 The Sick Doll by Tchaikovsky
Piece #08: 8:29 Sonatina Op. 36 No. 1 by Clementi
Piece #09: 9:15 La Candeur Op. 100 No. 1 Burgmüller
Piece #10: 10:08 Minuet in G by Bach
Level 3
Piece #11: 11:59 Melody Op. 68 No. 1 by Schumann
Piece #12: 12:47 Arabesque by Burgmüller
Piece #13: 14:05 Etude Op. 299 No. 1 by Czerny
Piece #14: 14:43 Prelude in E Minor by Chopin
Piece #15: 16:47 Prelude in C Major by Bach
i honestly have no clue how you dont have more subscribers. You are amazing dude
Thank you! I appreciate that 😊
Its just a matter of time.. 👍
fr RUclips ALGORITHM WHAT ARE YOU DOING ?? STOP HIDING THIS GEM
@matticawood great pieces, iam humbly speaking a self taught pianist from the age of 15yrs old, iam 53yrs old now, I love playing Mozart and Beethoven sonatas, I fairly recently managed to teach myself to play the Mozart Sonata k332 f major, 3 movements to go with my Mozart sonata k331 theme and 6 variations and the 3rd movement rondo alla turca, ( learning menuetto and trio making good progres) goes with my sonata C major k545, and the Moonlight sonata 1st and 2nd movements and the sonata pathetique, I also love playing ragtime pieces by Scott Joplin like the Entertainer and maple leaf rag 🍁, music and being able to play the piano is a wonderfull God given gift to have, greetings from wales uk 😀
He talks too much.
the sick doll, sonatina no. 36, and minuet in G are my literal start of piano. i started learning with a teacher that gave me these but then switched to learning on my own. i got chills thinking how similar are the ways to learn piano, no matter alone or with a teacher.
we are BLESSED to have you, it seems quite unrealistic to me that someone puts this much effort in helping people that maybe just cant afford a teacher/course or whatever.. youre just the best🙏🏻
This is great, thank you :)
No problem! Thanks for the super, I appreciate it 😊
You are a real one for posting all the scores for free, much appreciated!
as a self taught beginner who has had absolutely no classes, in 3 months my progression has been weird in that i have been playing only chopin pieces (op 28 no 2,no 4,no 7, no 20; op 7 no 2;op 17 no 2) and i'm thinking about learning nocturne op 37 no 1. Now i know i'm not ready but i absolutely love this nocturne
Aye you got it. Just put in the work and if you want it enough u can do it.
@@smoochboy5721 thank you! I will try my best to learn and play this nocturne as beautifully as i can
I’m only 5 minutes in, but this video is extremely polished . The editing makes everything so clear and clean , it’s apparent that a lot of effort has been out in . Cheers mate
I'm tentatively thinking about buying a piano (Assuming I meet another semi-long term goal I've set for myself, as an incentive), but I'm doing a lot of reading and studying on what would actually go into learning the piano in advance of that so I know what I'd be getting into, and that includes A LOT of your videos.
It is humbling in the best kind of way watching your videos. The ease with which you explain all these topics and freely share so much of what you've put together while still having some of your own content behind paywall is extremely tasteful with how you balance it.
If I do end up buying a piano I will definitely be looping back to your content and buying in 👍
I no longer need to use my pocket money to get a teacher when I already have one in youtube
Burgmüller really has some great pieces for beginners, I think his Pastorale in G major is great too! It practices chords, plays with dynamics, the melody changes from right hand to left hand for a bit and it has those little embellishments with the acciaccaturas ☺️ I think Chopins waltz in A minor is beautiful too and suited for beginners, though it‘s probably a step above all the pieces mentioned in the video. But definitely a good occasion to practice trills and arpeggios!
Your Channel is completly underrated! You are awesome!
Thanks! I’m glad you like the videos 😊
This video is exactly what I was looking for!
I’m glad I could help! 😊
These are really good suggestions, thanks! But I think it would have been nice if you had played each so we could hear them and decide which ones we'd like to learn.
I just realized you gave us links to the sheet music!! You're the best!!
I think the idea is we have to learn to read them. 😵💫 I will if you will…..
I was 50/50 about playing them….and I’m still unsure 😂 but in the end I thought it was best if you read it without having listened to them (or I at least leave that as an option). 😊
You are welcome for the music though 😂
You could do a follow-up video demoing these tunes? I think it would be useful to know how they should sound when played properly!
Either way thanks for making this list, I’m finding it very helpful working my way through these pieces
The time and effort you take to bring piano to the masses is highly appreciated indeed. Thank you sir.
Thank you. I've definitely got to find a piano teacher around me.
Been working through these pieces. They are fantastic for learning, and, more importantly, they are all tons of fun!
For beginners I can recommend looking in the ABRSM / RCM / Trinity grades 1-3. There are a variety of pieces and you can learn them for fun obviously without taking any tests.
I just found your videos and I want to thank you. I am learning by myself. Its not the easiest thing. There is no local teacher where I live and dont want to drive 35 miles one way. You are amazing, you explain things so well and it is obvious that you love playing. I have been playing for over a year but not able to practice as much as I need to, so i keep making mistakes. But thank you, you are a great teacher and player. I will keep watching and follow your lead..
Phyllis Brown.
Love the attention you are paying to newer learners,
Well done mate
Gorgeous video...
That is something I really needed. People have been recommending me playing Prelude by Bach, and I was sure there must be pieces, that are more beginner friendly.
Thank you so much for this video...
I've seen countless piano tutorials, and cannot believe I just found your channel. Great content and amazing quality. Surprised this channel doesn't have subscribers in the millions.
Thanks, Matthew, enough material for a beginner like me to self-teach in this rainy summer. Bach's prelude in C major is quite easy, I always play it for warming up, but I've been struggling with his/Petzold's Minuet in G, which is still to hard for me in the middle part (where the LH gets more active). So, I'm now starting with the easier ones from your list that I've never heard (of) before.😊
With the minuet try 2-3 notes at a time (enough so that it’s super easy) and then repeat several times. Then add to it. I think there’s some value in constantly asking yourself “does that feel easy? Am I ready to try and add a few notes to it?” - it often feels tricky if you are trying to play to much of it at once 😊
But I hope the other pieces here will help as well! 😊
After watching your reactions videos I often heard you say “I feel he’s hands still have tension” or “he’s struggling because this piece is too advanced for his current stage” or “ he’s not reading 📖 the music he’s memorised it”, so I’ve been waiting in the shadows for a video that guides us when it comes to which pieces to learn that’ll assist in technique and also understanding the music while gradually growing the skill. 😂 thank you very much , appreciate your channel . I’m all the way in South Africa 🇿🇦.
Thank you Matthew for this and many other helpful videos. It is simply a pleasure to watch and learn from you. Keep it going! Greetings from Macedonia.
Thank you, I’m glad you enjoy the videos 😊
Thank you Matthew as an older adult learner about a month in, this is very much appreciated. Though piece 1 with the staccato/legato co-ordination is causing my inflexible fingers and brain to cry. 😂
Awesome video full of amazing info! And a huge need for beginners 🙂 I'll definitely try these out along with your sightreeding book which I already bought but didn’t have time to practice much yet. Only one note (ba-dumm-tss), it would be nice to hear you play these compositions to a, know what they sound like b, what they SHOULD sound like 😀
Your channel is amazing! It’s crazy how little subs u have with your content most videos just do it without showing but u teach us thank you.
I am a big fan of yours. You’re such a good teacher. I’ll love to see a video of yours teaching different ways in which we can practice our scales. Btw, loved the video!!!
This is excellent. Thank you! I'm taking lessons AND working on this system here. It's really helping me to "get my reps" in. And of course, I'm working on scales, chords and inversions. Subbed!
This was exactly what I've been looking for. Thank you!
Thanks Matthew. Bought both your books . Their GREAT!
Thanks! I’m glad you are finding the books useful 😊
As someone who is trying to learn to play piano, this was a very interesting video for me. Now I have some reference songs I can practice. I just need to ifnd some good examples on how to play them now. Thanks a lot.
As a beginner, this is perfect for me. Can't wait to work through these pieces. Fantastic channel. Subscribed!
I love your videos Matthew. They are so helpful to me as a beginner piano player.
I got a guitar but after that found a nice video with songs i wanted to learn on piano... when i was 1 week into Maple Leaf Rag i stopped playing guitar to play piano daily and now you come around with this.. guitar wants some time too man 😂
Your editing is great man
Thanks! 😊
Excellent stuff as always Matt! I just bought your sight reading book right now. Looks like exactly what I’m after. Keep up the great work!
Ty very much for the vid. It helps a lot with where to start
No problem, I’m glad it can be helpful 😊
Hi Matthew, thanks for the videos, love your content ❤
This is very useful 😊
An interesting choice of Diabelli's Etude, with its lots of chords, for Level 1. Playing chords correctly requires quite some technique, and my teacher still doesn't allow me play them even after 1 year of learning piano. I heard that excessive tension while playing chords is indeed common among beginners, so it's a bit surprising to see this piece so early in your list...
Otherwise, a nice list! I would personally recommend more minuets by Bach, Petzold, etc. and sonatas by Cimarosa - they aren't overly complex, still reasonably demanding for a beginner, and at the same time musically enjoyable (I think it's important to choose pieces that you wouldn't start hating after repeating them 1000x times!).
Great stuff as always! Even though I'm an intermediate player myself, I like recommending things to people :)
Feel free to share the video with the beginners you know 😉
Thanks Matthew.
This is a great video, and I wish I had seen it 2 years ago when I started trying to learn self-taught lol
If a Time Machine is ever invented, maybe il go back and make it for you 😉 Hopefully it will be useful to those starting out!
@@matticawood if a time machine is ever invented, I'm going back to when I was 5 and I'm going to learn the piano then before my brain filled up with lyrics to every song I've ever heard 😂
This video is going to be SUPER useful for those just starting out. The different levels make it really easy to sort of "jump in" if you've already been learning some things, but need more direction.
I also highly recommend your sight reading book! I've been doing a couple exercises every practice since I got it and it's really helping to improve my sight reading!
I love love love your videos
Thank you! 😊
Thanks a lot, very useful information! 👌
No problem! 😊
Exactly what I needed.
Thanks sir
No problem! 😊
Great video thanks
Thanks! 😊
Very interesting! Thank you? Question: Do your levels 1, 2, 3 correspond with the ABRSM grades?
Really curious to know from you as a piano teacher who sees a lot of people learn, how long would you anticipate an adult learning piano for the first time to take to get up to the level of skill of playing all 15 pieces shown? I know it varies, but what sort of range would you be thinking for someone who is quite dedicated to practicing?
Can we get an intermediate to late intermediate list?? To further hone in on techiques and execution
I may do an intermediate one 😊 the better a player gets, the more specific the pieces would be to that players unique strengths and weaknesses though. So I may do i selection of intermediate pieces that tackle certain problems 😊
Did i miss the mention of the treble clef for the left hand?
Not one to be negated as it can be a mind melter.
The phrases got a quick pass too. The arcing lines over bars that group notes into sentences or phrases, grouping expression.
How about focusing solely on familiarizing with the scales, chords and scale chords + inversions and experimenting with these without learning actual pieces?
(The main goal is to make ideation/composing fluent using the piano).
Would this be a good idea or would learning pieces too bring this about more efficiently?
The progression looks good! I wish you would have shortly played those pieces. An important part of learning a piece is to like it.
Can you make a video like this for harder pieces 😅 like Liszt
A Liszt of pieces 😉
One thing I’m wondering is how many of these pieces would you recommend a beginner learning to performance standard? It seems like it would take around two years to learn all of them that well.
Would of been better if you played a snippet of the pieces. Cause i love your playing style.
can we get a list of harder pieces or would that not be considered beginner anymore?
The idea behind this video is that a lot of beginners miss out on fundamental learning because they jump to pieces that they aren’t going to fully understand or develop the technique for.
Also, as a player gets better at the piano the pieces that I would suggest would start becoming much more specific to the players strengths and weaknesses. For example, if you have tension I might suggest one piece, if you have great technique but lack musicality I might suggest another etc. 😊
How can I get a paper copy of these pieces. Would like to learn them.
Im leaning Hamelin HR2 Cadenza. Do you have any tips for fingering, etc? Just to make my life easier.
I would say the same for any cadenza…but block the notes into small segments (4-8 notes at a time) and practice them at speed, then practice multiple segments together at a slower speed. Concentrate on coordination and phrasing, a cadenza is supposed to sound like an improvisation so you want to drag out the slower sections and push the faster sections with lots of rubato 😊
@@matticawood Aight, thanks man. You think i can learn Cziffra HR2 this summer and Hamelins Cadenza? Focusing on Cziffra atm, completed Lassan on to Friska now.
Im playing the tune by Clementi after 9 lessons. I do already play clarinet 18 months so know a little.
I have started to learn the "Mozart Minuet in F", i thought it would be a piece of cake but i could not be more wrong :/
I am finally having some good sensation with the first part of it (i mean the 8 first measures) after three sessions of 20min i would say...
But i had to stop looking at the sheet music, and focus on my hand and the keyboard in order to achieve this result (so i've learn it by heart).
Do you think i should forbid myself to do that ?
The first two sessions i forced myself to read the notes each time, but it felt like i was doing 0 progress.
I could almost not remember a single note of the piece after those 2 sessions, that was a really weird sensation.
Like if my brain was so focused on the note reading that there was no power left for anything else xD
Also i did not listen to the music beforehand, i guess it didnt help but i wanted the "challenge" to discover it by myself.
I dont know what to think about that... 😅
Im glad you are giving the minuet a try 😊
Firstly, at the early stages, don’t look at your hands. The only way you will get good at reading music - is by reading the music, so try to follow it on the page the best you can.
Secondly, it’s good that you didn’t listen to it…this means that you are relying on your reading and working it out rather than copying what you have heard. This will allow you to learn more from the piece.
Thirdly, if you are finding that you are not seeing much progress…you are likely trying to read too much of it at once and not repeating small enough sections. Play one bar, then repeat it lots of times (not just 3-4 times - I mean like 20-30 times) keeping your eyes on the page. Then add another 2 beats to the piece and repeat lots of times with the extra notes.
2 sessions of 20 minutes may feel like a lot of time while you are doing it, however, keep going…so far that’s less than 1 hour of practice on the piece. Spend another 5-10 sessions of 20 minutes working through the piece systematically and you will see results. Just try to be patient and try not to take shortcuts, it’s about building the skills 😊
@@matticawood How can you answer so fast, you must be some kind of wizard xD
I think you are spot on when you say that 20min felt like a lot of time.
Its not that i wanted to cheat, but it felt silly to play over and over again while still doing some mistakes here and there, on such a small set of notes.
So i actually started to ask myself if i should not try to do it another way.
And also i think i understand better what you mean by "understanding the music" because i was really looking for clues to know how it was supposed to sound good.
To be fair, at some point i was even starting to think that baby mozart could have made a mistake with this piece :p
It is nice though, now i will be able to work on this an the other pieces without having to ask myself those kind of questions!
So again, thank you so much for your help ❤
I am aware of this privilege, and i cant wait to see your channel properly grows 😉
Do you have any tips, I’m struggling to play on time terribly ?
Metronome
A metronome indeed is the best way. However, depending on how difficult you are finding playing in time, I would try and do some exercises that involve simple rhythms first.
Try playing C-D-E-F-G for example with one note per click at 60bpm. If that is easy then try playing quavers (eighth notes) against the click (two notes per click). Then try writing a simple one bar rhythm of crotchets (quarter notes) and quavers (eighth notes) and play it with the metronome. Then once you have built your rhythm playing up, try small sections (a bar or two) of a piece of music (hands separately if required). Over time your rhythm playing will become great, it just needs some systematic practice 😊
If you were more intellectual or theory heavy or research heavy or could source relevant clips from popular media to prove your points. I think you’d become my main channel for educating me about music
It’s a tough balance to strike between ensuring most people can grasp what I’m talking about and including a good amount of information…but I would say I have a lot of videos that are relatively “theory heavy” 😊
You can't go wrong with Burgmüller
I propose to learn the pieces by heart
I learn Fantasie Impromptu in my 2nd year, i learned the whole piece somehow but its like horrible handwriting. Atleast i learned polyrhythm
but i want to play sonata no.3 chopin...
As an absolute beginner i think that you are giving too much information too quickly.
Maybe you should have broken it down to 3 videos of 5 pieces in each with short demo’s. Having said that you seem to really want to help beginners and thank you for that.
No beginner is going to take onboard information about 15 pieces all at once, the piano takes time and practice to learn. That’s why I provided an “estimated time to learn” with each of the pieces. The idea would be to take the first piece, go and learn it over a period of time and then come back for a second piece that is achievable etc. For absolute beginners it would take some time (and several pieces) to reach level 3 pieces and by that point they would understand my brief run down of what the challenges are for that piece of music 😊
at 16:34 in bar 17 there is a 3 over 2 polyrhythm. how can you give these works to beginners SELF TAUGHT? here's another one who doesn't even know what he's talking about
You don’t think polyrhythms are appropriate having learned 13 other pieces and played for the best part of a year? 👀
Just because we’re self taught and beginners at piano, doesn’t mean you should assume we’re all beginners at music. I know what a polyrhythm is because I’ve played them in other contexts.
@@SpinesAndSplines I didn't think they had to be done in order, I saw a polyrhythm and a video for those who start playing today and I said to myself what the fuck does he say?
At the beginning of the video I said; “here are 15 pieces in 3 levels that get progressively more difficult”.
If someone is starting from the absolute beginning, then they should start with piece 1. If they’ve played other stuff before, then they can jump in at a more appropriate point. The pieces weren’t intended to all be pieces that you learn on day 1. - that wouldn’t help that many people actually progress 😊
once i looked at your subscribers and likes / views on this video I got kinda mad at youtube..
to clarify: you deserve way more attention!
I’m European and I never heard of the word “quaiver”
The Answer is simple-Just learn what you want to learn whether its advanced or beginner,stick to it and you will be able to play it❤
I agree, play what you want and stick to it and you will eventually be able to play the notes (given enough time).
…but if the piece is too difficult then it may be painfully slow to learn, you may end up with a lot of tension and bad habits that will take a lot of time to unlearn and you may not really understand the music or be able to interpret it yourself. 😊
"If you're Eurpopean"... Europe is not a contry, and nobody outside of UK uses english note names.
European English, apposed to American English…the video is in English so European English would be British English. I assume other counties refer to the notes in there own languages? 😊
420 exercises? 😏
😏
No Beethoven is so cruel
Absolutely ignorant suggesting prelude in Em, no beginner should play chopin
I very muck disagree, having gone through 13 pieces prior that cover a lot of varying techniques and understanding of music..the prelude in E minor is a very achievable piece by that point. The difficulty with the piece is one of musicality, and this is a great way of starting to learn it.
I would perhaps understand more if you’d had said any of the Bach pieces were beyond beginners due to the difficulty interpreting the music.
“Ignorant” is also an odd choice of word…meaning I somehow lack understanding of what students are capable of?
Appreciate that you took the time and effort to reply,
Bach is alot more straight forward than chopin on the other side depends what you mean by "achievable " being able to press the button at the right time or playing competently with the right phasing and conveying convincing performance that can touch other people all the pieces that you suggested are physically possible no beginner will get carpal tunnel but this music is not a rhythm game,
Also "musicality" is a vague word and every one can interpret it differently please if you help beginners pls explain what you mean by that instead,
No problem!
Musicality isn’t that vague, it is a word that has a relatively clear definition relating to playing with sensitivity and having a focus on the quality of sound. I disagree that Bach is more straight forward. Bach requires a lot of understanding to be able to interpret the music and then express that interpretation without much direction written within the music, whereas composers like Chopin in the romantic period used more clear directions to show what quality of sound they were looking for. So it really depends on what you find more challenging…
While Chopin is definitely challenging for trying to express the music, if the barrier for playing a piece of music is that you should only play it when you are able to convincingly perform it in a way that touches other people, then you would never be able to play any piece. That is something that is learned through learning pieces such as the Prelude in E minor. 😊
"Musicality"is Very vague may not for you but i always see that word being thrown around also what do you mean by "quality of sound" thats also sounds dubious do you mean clarity? dynamic??, articulation? Not having clear direction doesn't make it harder thats means that you have to figure it out for yourself and it wont be difficult for experienced musicians but we talking beginner pieces the prelude is not suited for beginners like the prelude when you get to the moment you learn to convicingly perform chopin you are not a beginner i think you underappreciate romantism if you actually think that prelude in Em is piece that you learn through it how to touch people i think you dont respect chopin at all or even the whole romantic period where the music comes from the heart with expression while Bach is very strict and exposed like Mozart because pedal is not reliable with this style of music Bach is extremely hard with contrapuntal music while his regular music easier than romantic style. 😊
All of the above would need to be considered (articulation, dynamics, phrasing, balance etc.). It’s a legitimate term that’s used to describe focusing on the quality of sound of which these are all a part of. You could argue the same point about the term “technique”, that is vague because it could be in reference to tension, evenness, agility, a particular common pattern like arpeggios?
As a player myself I am very much more of a romantic player than a baroque player by quite the margin. I imagine that should be evident from the types of things I talk about in videos and my focus on how things are played and how chords feel.
Not having clear direction most certainly makes musicality and interpretation much harder for beginners, for the exact reason you just said - “you have to figure it out for yourself”.
The prelude in E minor is a good balance of not too difficult for technique and note learning after learning 13 other pieces…but a reasonable amount of musicality and interpretation that’s required. I, myself could endlessly read into the piece of music and find a lot in the piece. That doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be looked at by someone earlier in their playing career though - they too can learn from it.
I get the sense that you maybe don’t believe anyone should learn any pieces that require sensitivity or emotion at the beginner level - for what reason? They aren’t going to damage their playing by learning a romantic piece (or blanket “Chopin pieces”), unless it is a more technically demanding piece, there is only a wealth of learning they can get from it.