How To Pick the Next Great Piano Piece to Play

There's always a remarkable feeling when we've successfully learned a piano piece that has challenged us, made us learn new things, and we were able to play it and share it with others. It's worth celebrating especially if you had to perform in a recital or concert of some kind. That excitement and feeling of accomplishment lasts for some time and it's fun to soak it all in and relax in the glow. 

But then...there's a bit of a quiet. The pressure is off, you feel a big fidgety because, well...what in the world are you going to learn to play now?! You are ready for a new challenge and you are probably ready to learn a piece that will make you learn some new techniques so you can keep increasing your abilities. 

Sometimes you already know what you want to learn next whether it be a piece, concerto, sonata, or even a new style of playing such as jazz or blues. 

Other times, you just have no idea what you want or what you may need to learn so you'll continue on your path of playing the piano well. 

Here's a checklist that you can use and incorporate in your own way to help you select the best piano music that you need to learn to stay challenged, keep growing, and have fun at the same time.

• Go back and review what types of technique you learned and played well in your last piece.

• Did you learn new articulations such as accents and staccato notes? 
  
• Did you learn to count a new Time Signature such as 6/8?
  
• Did you learn how to play 8th notes that were slurred together?

​

• Go back and review what types of technique you had difficulty with. 
  

​

• ​Did you have a hard time playing the articulations with the correct notes?
  
• Was it easy for you to switch from playing quarter notes to 8th notes without slowing down?
  
• Could you remember where your new notes were on the keyboard?

With each of these, you will see how well you succeeded in some areas and where you still need to work in other areas. When choosing your next piano piece, make sure that it includes some of each: reinforce what you just learned in your last piece successfully and include similar things that you still need to work on so you'll get even better at them while you learn this new piece. 

Go back and think about the style of piece that you played and how you liked or didn't like the type of sound that it had. 

• Was your last piece a classical piece or a jazz, rock, or blues piece? 
• Was it in a Major or a Minor Key? 
• What was your emotional response to the piece?

When you identify the type of music and the type of sound that you like in a piece, you'll know to pick something similar enough so that you'll connect to it emotionally; yet different enough that you'll have new experiences in your feelings and discover new types of music that you like to listen to as well as play. 

• Don't be afraid to ask your piano teacher or a friend for some recommendations on what you'd like to learn next on the piano. Your teacher will have an extensive knowledge of different types of pieces from different genres that you will like to learn. 

• Also, take some time to listen to different types of music. If you love classical more than any other kind, then do a search for some Beethoven Piano Concertos, Chopin, Bach, any of the great composers. Get to know the different styles of each of them while you're exploring. If you like Jazz more then do the same, but search out some great Jazz pianists and instrumentalists and spend time listening to them as there are different styles of Jazz just as there are different styles of Classical and/or Blues music. 

• Last but certainly not least - play what you like and what you are drawn to. Now remember that sometimes you just aren't going to love a piece or an exercise that you have to learn, but, you'll still learn new things that will enable you to play more of the music that you do really connect with and love to play. 

Stay Tuned to PianoLessonsOnTheWeb.com to learn much more and achieve your dream of playing the piano!