Hey guys, I`m working on my first Rachmaninoff ever--his Prelude from his 23rd opus, number 5. It`s been great fun to play and to listen to, but the thing is, I`ve been playing it since mid-October of this year, and I`ve yet to master even the 3rd (out of 6) page. I`m a sophomore in high school, I`ve been playing since 4th grade, and I`m currently self taught. I`ve probably gone about half of the time I`ve been playing without a teacher. And as you can see, my musical tastes are developing quite nicely, luckily. So uh, since I have no teacher (and the teachers I`ve had have taught me no technique whatsoever), or any friends remotely interested in anything besides popular or jazz piano, I would appreciate it if you could just give comments about this piece. Anyone who`s played it, please lend me some hints, ways to master the harder parts, just generally how it should be played, all that, etc. And if you guys don`t mind, could I have an appraisal? Am I doing ok for my amount of experience? Am I doing the right thing? Is it right for me to be having trouble with this piece? Thanks, and have a great Christmas.

Hello. I wanted to respond to your article about the rachmaninoff prelude. GET A TEACHER. im serious. i tried learning this piece on my own (im 13) it took me about 4-5 months. then i got a really good teacher, and it took me like 3 weeks to beable to play it perfectly starting from scratch. so seriously, get a teacher

Alex...you`re only 13?!?! And you can play that? I know someone who`s taken piano for years and she`s still workingon it!

Is this the one in G minor?

IT is the g minor prelude. It is one of the more difficult prelude, but if you want to start and easy rachmaninoff prelude do the c sharp minor. it is extremly easy. But if you want to go a step up do the b major one, it isnt as hard as the g minor though.

and if youre planning to start a concerto soon...................... do macdowell 1 or saint saens no 2. Those are some of my favs

yup, gotta love rachmaninoff. i just started on that prelude, and i totally love it! if you`re going to try to learn that on your own, make sure you have a tape or something of someone playing it- that helps a lot. good luck!

if its ur 1st ever rachmaninov then mayb u shud start with somethin a bit easier (and not 2 famous) like his Op. 3 set. They`re good pieces and they`re relatively easy.

I`m gonna agree with lana....yes, pieces like Polichinelle and Elegie (both Op. 3) are RELATIVELY easy compared to other Rachmaninov.