I`ve heard some people saying that if you try to learn a piece that is too difficult for you, that it can be detrimental to your learning progress and affect how well you play it when you finally are ready for it. Is there any surefire way to tell if you are stepping out of your skill level? Responses would be appreciated...I`m in the process of choosing 4 works for music school audition

methinks that when u look at a piece that is to difficult 4 u then u shall know =)
But 4 me difficult meens :
fast
lost of cordes (bothe hands)
and mooving yer hand (like for a walz)

hope this helps u

The way I see it, you`ll know if a piece is difficult when the dynamics (p,mp,f,mf,ff, etc.) keep interchanging. It`s pretty hard to keep it on different levels if you are a soft or hard piano player. Also, I find pieces with excessive octaves very difficult, because you`d keep stretching your fingers and it sometimes gets tiring that you can`t go on with the rest of the song.
Hmm... oh, yeah, grace notes that are included in a piece that is incredibly fast gets me tangled up. Youd` have to play the notes distinctly and clearly to get the melody of both the base note and grace note. But even if these things make the piece difficult, it makes it fun and interesting. That`s all!

I`ve experienced stepping out of my skill level by not practicing daily exercises (i.e. Hanon) and not being able to challenge myself enough. A piece that is too difficult usually has a very fast tempo, many sixteenth notes, 4-6 sharps or flats, different pedal movements, accents on certain notes, and fluctuating time sigatures.

well... no piece is EVER too difficult/........... as long as youR willing to work hard you can do any piece.....as long as you give it time..
jen

Working on a piece that surpasses your technical skill level is a bit of a waste of time. For example, if you start piano today and decide to start with a chopin etude you could probably learn it in 10+ years. However you could also start much easier and work your way up and learn the chopin etude in less time.

Its better to ease your way up.

Thanks for the tips, guys. On a side note, I was asking this question before I get too deep into Hungarian Rhapsody #2, and I think I`m within my bounds to learn it, however I don`t understand how best to execute the arpeggios (not sure if that`s the correct term) in measures 24 and 61. Why are the notes smaller than all the others? And if the time signature is 2/4, how can there possibly be dozens of 16th notes in one measure?

Really? Exactly how many sixteenth notes are in each measure? There are supposed to be 8 sixteenth notes, (on either right hand or left hand side) since the time signature is 2/4, and four sixteenth notes equal one count. I don`t know about why the notes are smaller than the rest of them... I`ve seen them before, but never knew about them.

I count 41 16th notes, 6 8th notes, and 1 32nd note in measure 24. 59 16th notes in measure 61. Also, there is a fermata over a quarter rest (it`s in brackets also for some reason) for the left hand.

Woah...I`ve never heard or seen anything like that...sounds very interesting, though. I wish I could learn how to play it. Hmmm... maybe you have to increase the speed or something. I`m sorry...I really don`t know

If you want, I have a recording of it that I could send you. It`s Vladimir Horowitz - Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2.

the small notes are there just because theres soo much of the notes too fit in one bar thing...but those notes should be very fast because theres so much of them in one bar.......and a tip on learnin pieces like that.. if you dont already know...... drill it bar by bar...(dont move on to the next bar intill the bar is perfected).....

JEN