How Do You Know When Music Is Too Hard? Part 2
CEFR Level B2-C1
Questions to Ask If You Think a Piece Is Too Hard for You
How do you feel about it day to day? Do you always feel frustrated or does that come and go?
Are there any sections that feel easy? About what percentage of the entire piece are those sections?
Is the piece hard overall or only in specific spots? For example, if it weren’t for the transitions between phrases, could you play it faster or more smoothly?
Is there a commonality among the parts that are hard? As a piano example, do you have to move both hands and you keep ending up a note off?
Are the hard parts working a technical aspect that you’ve been avoiding because it’s hard?
Do you just not like how the piece sounds?
These questions might get you thinking about other things to ask yourself. Hopefully, they help you come up a path forward.
I don’t have a formula for how to use those questions when deciding whether or not to continue learning a piece. I think your answer will come to you through the process of questioning.
I do, however, have some ideas for what you might try, depending on your answer to each question.
If you are constantly frustrated and dread practicing a piece, I suggest working on something else. If your feelings vary by the day, then I suggest that you keep working on the piece, but maybe make it a secondary piece and put most of your focus on something you enjoy more.
If there are enough sections that are easy(ish) and you feel motivated by those sections, then maybe keep working on the piece. How many sections are “enough”? That’s up to you.
If the piece is overall hard, then maybe work on a different piece for a while.
If there are commonalities between the hard parts, then work on technique with relevant skills. If you have a teacher, they can help with this. For example, I once had a piece where one hand played legato while the other played staccato and then they switched. I could only get the articulation right about half the time. The transition between which hand was which articulation was the sticking point. My teacher showed me how to play scales with one hand legato and the other staccato. As I got better at playing scales this way, I got better at playing repertoire that uses that skill.
I know it’s satisfying to have a tidy checklist that gives you a formula for making a decision. The reality is, humans and music are more complex than that. What the right answer for me is as someone with 30 years of overall music experience, but only a few years of piano experience, and who plays for personal enjoyment will be different than it is for someone with only a few years of music experience overall who wants to enter music school, and that will be different than someone with 30 years of instrument-specific experience whose job relies on their learning a variety of repertoire.
At the end of the day, music should be enjoyable. Especially if you’re playing as a hobby, music should be fun. We have to do a little bit of the hard stuff to get the most enjoyment out of playing music, but it shouldn't be so hard that you avoid practicing.
I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other tips for deciding if a piece of music is too hard for you.
*Florence Price