{"id":1485,"date":"2020-05-01T06:16:29","date_gmt":"2020-05-01T11:16:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aprendamos.org\/fermin\/?p=1485"},"modified":"2026-09-14T21:24:25","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T19:24:25","slug":"what-pieces-can-i-play","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aprendamos.org\/fermin\/en\/what-pieces-can-i-play\/","title":{"rendered":"What is my \u00ablevel\u00bb? What pieces can I play?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

These are two questions that jump with the desire to want to touch something new.<\/span> When we are beginners and don’t have a person to guide us, it’s not always easy to know what’s next.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are some tips that may help you find the answer.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Your abilities: know them, accept them, and go for more!<\/span><\/span><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

You know better than anyone what your technical skills are in the execution of your instrument.<\/span> Perhaps you have skill in reading, making scales, double stops, arpeggios;<\/span> maybe some bow techniques are a bit difficult for you: staccato<\/em>, sautill\u00e9<\/em>, chopping.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you look at a score or listen to a work and feel like performing it, do you cover the techniques required?<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Can you read the rhythm?<\/span><\/span><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Every melody has a rhythm.<\/span> If you can read it, you are more likely to be able to play the piece.<\/span> Understanding rhythm will allow you to play the piece in less time.<\/span>
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3. Can you read the height of the notes?<\/span><\/span><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

It helps a lot that you know the name of the notes you are going to play.<\/span> If you can read them, you increase the probability of being able to play what you read.<\/span> It also helps if you can sing what you want to play.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Calmly analyze fingering.<\/span><\/span><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

We call fingering<\/em> to the system we choose to place fingers for each note.<\/span> Most of the time, fingering should be comfortable and easy.<\/span> If it is not, you may need to change it.<\/span> There are times when fingering is not comfortable or easy, but it is not impossible either.<\/span> If you can modify the fingering of a piece, it is more likely you can play it<\/strong>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. If you listen: read;<\/span> If you read, listen.<\/span><\/span><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

You may have found a score you want to play.<\/span> Look for audios and\/or videos to help you know if you can play it.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If what you have found has been an audio or a video of a piece that sounds interesting to you, look for the score and check that you know how to do the required techniques.<\/span> On this site there is a post on how to search for scores on the internet<\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. Frustrations?<\/span> Do not stay with the first work you find.<\/span><\/span><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

The repertoire for any instrument is VERY wide.<\/span> Do not be disappointed if you found a work that you still cannot interpret (by techniques or notes that you do not know, rhythms with some difficulty, etc.).<\/span> There are many, many pieces that, whether you like it or not, will help you reach the level to achieve your goal.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>7. Be a free and creative person.<\/span> Modify the piece.<\/span><\/span><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

For example: you are a violinist and you discover that the piece you want to play uses double stops<\/em> and you have not yet performed that technique.<\/span> Then remove the bottom note and play only the top note of that passage with double notes.<\/span> You can also modify the rhythm, the ornaments, etc.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It does not matter if you modify a little the piece that you are going to interpret.<\/span> There may already be different versions of that composition, and yours could be a new contribution (How many versions are there so far of Greensleeves<\/em>?).<\/span> BUT remember<\/strong>: that you modify a work should not be the excuse for not studying and being able to touch it as it is written.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

8. Use the Methods to know your level.<\/span><\/span><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

A Method<\/em>, in music, is a manual that helps you play an instrument.<\/span> It generally begins with simple techniques that become progressively more difficult.<\/span> I suppose there are Methods for your instrument.<\/span> Get to know them and use them as a map<\/strong>: locate which pieces you can easily touch and which pieces represent a challenge or considerable difficulty.<\/span>
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Here’s a list of free download methods<\/span><\/span>: http:\/\/imslp.org\/wiki\/Category:Methods<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What advice would you give to someone who is looking for new pieces to play?<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

These are two questions that jump with the desire to want to touch something new. When we are beginners and don’t have a person to guide us, it’s not always easy to know what’s next. Here are some tips that may help you find the answer. 1. Your abilities: know them, accept them, and go […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3033,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,59],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","category-scores"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aprendamos.org\/fermin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aprendamos.org\/fermin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aprendamos.org\/fermin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aprendamos.org\/fermin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aprendamos.org\/fermin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1485"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.aprendamos.org\/fermin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1485\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3379,"href":"https:\/\/www.aprendamos.org\/fermin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1485\/revisions\/3379"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aprendamos.org\/fermin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aprendamos.org\/fermin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aprendamos.org\/fermin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aprendamos.org\/fermin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}