How to Choose Piano Repertoire

As we progress in our piano playing, we’ll need to make important decisions about which pieces to learn. Here are a few key points to bear in mind.

Will I enjoy playing this piece?

It sounds obvious, but make sure that the pieces you choose to learn are ones you will enjoy playing. You will then be more motivated to practise!

Is the piece at the right technical level?

Choose pieces which are at the right technical level. If something is too difficult, you may struggle to enjoy playing it fluently and musically. While, it can be a good idea to have one piece to learn which is a little more challenging and develops your technique, it’s important to also have some easier pieces you can learn fairly quickly and perform confidently.

Explore different genres of music

Don’t be limited to one style of music. Experiment with playing classical, jazz, popular pieces… and why not try out some improvisation too? Playing music in different genres will really help your musicality to develop.

Will this piece teach me something new?

It’s good to look at pieces that will help you learn a new aspect of piano technique or music theory. For example, if you’ve played lots of pieces in C major, why not look at a piece in G major or F major. If you are confident playing slow pieces, try something slightly quicker.

Don’t forget to keep playing pieces you’ve already learnt

Spend some of your practise time going back over pieces you’ve already learnt. You may find if you haven’t played a piece for a while you need to go over it slowly a few times or practise hands separately, but it’s good to revisit old pieces so they remain in your repertoire.

I hope these suggestions are useful for choosing your piano repertoire. Please do leave your comments below and sign up to my mailing list to receive details on the latest blog posts.