My favorite moments from Chopin's 1st Ballade

[@PierreLM]

Very interesting ! I've always viewed the beginning as starting in C minor, but never that it actually starts on a Neapolitan chord, which indeed seems to be the case with the added 2nd. This type of videos where you break down a piece and goes deeper into into it, including harmonically speaking is really enjoyable !

[@Michachel]

Firmly believe that anyone who says #1 is the best hasn’t listened to #4 enough

[@gmfrunzik]

True, but the 3 sonata is a lot more amazing

[@魚-c3d]

Firmly believe that anyone who says #4 is the best hasn't listened to #1 enough

[@c_danzu3186]

I feel like #1 is a lot easier to appreciate. I can't decide, which is "better", but with #1 it's a lot easier to see what makes it great, so that's probably why so many people call it their favorite.

[@re4ltalk_arts794]

Onfg I LOVE the 4th ballade. Also the fact that the 1st one has become hella overplayed really annoys me, I genuinely enjoy this piece, but now... thank you tik tok/reels.

[@sskuk1095]

Actually, those were the results of a community poll from 3 months ago.

[@willy9t]

Thanks!

[@ryanabshier]

Thanks for the super chat!

[@angelaknebel4156]

Am attempting to learn this myself at the moment, am up to Meno Mosso Theme Two, took a while with the Sempre Piu Mosso section just before!!!! A great analysis, so helpful and interesting 🎵🎹🎵🎹🎵🎹🎵🎹🎵🙂🙂🙂🤗🤗

[@ryanabshier]

Awesome. Hope you enjoy the journey of learning it. It's such a wonderful piece

[@sskuk1095]

Video suggestion: Since you have talked about sonatas by Beethoven and Mozart, I'd love to see a video on Schubert's Impromptus (Including the D. 946 series).

[@ryanabshier]

Here's a video I did on the Gb Major impromptu, but it's mainly focused on the key change from the publisher: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z2q4q6eaj7tkZsU But beyond that I haven't done a video exclusively about the impromptus (or really much on Schubert at all). Great suggestion!

[@sskuk1095]

@@ryanabshier Yes, I've seen that one and shared it with a friend. I liked it a lot and this is why I am asking for more. I've recently finished D. 946-1 and adore 946-2, but also like all the other Impromptus. (I'm going through my Schubert phase right now, it's like puberty, pretty much every classical pianist has to experience it at some point.)

[@EElgar1857]

I've listened to this piece for decades, and I still learned a lot! 😁

[@ryanabshier]

Thanks! Glad I could add some new details. It's pretty crazy that a piece like this has literally hundreds of things to talk about. I just pick 4-10 different things I find most interesting. But you could spend 2 hours talking about moments and still have more to get to.

[@TonyHuang-e2l]

About the 1 vs 4 debate: No 1 is melodically more beautiful, but no 4 is wayyyyyyy deeper emotionally and also much harder to play well (not just technique, but interpretation). Chopin wrote the 4th near the end of his life after his 2 closest ties to his home country of poland died, so it is probably the most spontaneous, pure representation of his genius. That being said, Schumann did say that Chopin told him that the first ballade was his own personal favorite: he certainly spent a lot of time and effort composing it. I've played and listened many recordings of both, and I think there's really no saying which is *objectively* better: if you have a preference you probably haven't fully appreciated the other one yet.

[@JoelAbshier]

"Welcome to advanced piano music" And with that one cheat, playing this piece became obtainable to me

[@ryanabshier]

Lol. How much time are we taking about here. With enough time, anything is playable

[@JoelAbshier]

@ryanabshier I'll give you 30 minutes to teach me 😉

[@bags7351]

I played this piece last year and I totally agree with you that the middle section is the hardest section to learn.

[@ryanabshier]

It's so unassuming and easy sounding when you hear it. Not one of those moments you realize is going to take tons of practice until you get to it.

[@rpropro]

Your channel is amazing! I love the sound of your digital piano. Which model is that?

[@ryanabshier]

Thanks for kind words. I believe it's a Yamaha P-65 (i can't check right now). However, I don't necessarily recommend it. It has a decent sound sample so I think it works well for my videos (I directly plug in the audio jack so you're hearing the pure sounds). But in the room it's actually not great. The main issue is the keys are SO loud. The speakers are only decent.. Again, I have it set up so you can't hear it that, only the direct sound sample. Maybe I can convince Yamaha to send me a new keyboard to promote for them, haha. This one is over 15 years old at this point so I don't really recommend it.

[@rpropro]

@@ryanabshier Thanks for the info 😀, wow 15 years, that's a lot of time. I own a Casio digital piano but I think I like Yamaha's sounds more. Your channel is a treasure for piano learners in YT. Hope you can keep it for a long time. Thanks for all the content you post.

[@JoeRichter1]

I really enjoy these videos. Thanks!

[@willy9t]

Great vid! I Love the breakdown of the theory behind these classic pieces. I need to study advanced theory and modulation more in depth. Are any more Brahms' pieces in the future? I really liked that breakdown of the Eb intermezzo. My favorite uptempo one is the rhapsody in Bm op. 79.

[@ryanabshier]

I'd love to do a video about Handel variations. It's a big piece I've played and feel like I could talk about 73 different aspects about it. I should probably just pick a topic and go.

[@DMajor402]

very nice video and I'd like to see more videos like this

[@ryanabshier]

Thanks! What pieces are you working on these days?

[@DMajor402]

@@ryanabshier I've been working on Khachaturian toccata, Beethoven 1st sonata and Liszt etude op.1 no.9 in A-flat major

[@DMajor402]

@@ryanabshier and I just started Chopin fantaisie impromptu

[@maxgregorycompositions6216]

Chopin's greatest piece is the b minor Sonata.

[@Luqueix]

🫦😂

[@HC-lf2gn]

I've been trying to learn it for a few weeks now, I'm on the 7th page now and it's definitely one of the most challenging pieces I've ever played! But it's also my favourite piece 😂

[@ryanabshier]

Awesome. It's a journey but so rewarding. I find most of it very challenging, but not frustrating. It's seems to fit the hands pretty well (all except the 8 horrible measures I mentioned 🤣).

[@HC-lf2gn]

@ryanabshier I just got past those 8 horrible measures and I agree they're a nightmare to play consistently well 😭

[@erezsolomon3838]

"Chopin's greatest piece" is a stretch considering it's not even his best ballade

[@Calisthincenjoyer]

A lot of his waltzes and nocturnes are better than the 4th but i swear on god nothing can come close to the 1st.

[@erezsolomon3838]

@@Calisthincenjoyer that's just your opinion

[@infinityx5510]

@@Calisthincenjoyerpersonally i like the 4th and 3rd the best

[@vanek_9397]

I'd say the title should be "Best moments from Chopin's perhaps best piece" I really love first ballade and I totally agree it's one of the greatest pieces of Chopin. However I can't say it's the best. From a composer's view the 4-th deserves to be the best one. Moreover Chopin was a genius of miniatures and I could say that preludes are the best or for example nocturnes (beloved C-minor nocturne and a few of his best preludes are just gems). "Perhaps" is the word that's just missing in the title

[@Michachel]

@@erezsolomon3838 on god #4 is the best

[@BRNRDNCK]

This is objectively not Chopin's greatest piece

[@ryanabshier]

@@BRNRDNCK I mean, I gotta call the video something. But I don't think there is an objective best piece right?

[@BRNRDNCK]

@@ryanabshier Fair, and it's close to the best so not a big stretch. But I do think the fourth ballade is his objectively best piece.

[@ryanabshier]

@BRNRDNCK its a tough choice. You know I did a poll a few months ago and with hundreds of answers the 1st ballade got 50% of the vote. The 4th got about 30% (the other 2 obviously did much worse). I was actually expecting the opposite even though I like the 1st a little more. I guess a lot of people really click with the 1st. I do feel, personal preference aside, the 4th may be deeper and simply take more listens to fall in love with. But either way, both are up there in the top pieces ever.

[@BRNRDNCK]

@@ryanabshier Interesting poll results. I think the first is more accessible and I recommend it to friends to sell them on Chopin. But the fourth is deeper and more spiritual with more sophisticated counterpoint and harmony. I think the fourth is possibly the GOAT piece of music for any genre, which basically breaks the rating scale, but yea, they're both 10/10.

[@justintimetoclashandbrawl3348]

@@BRNRDNCKsame