Hi! My piano teacher is letting me choose a new piece (with her approval) that I will play at my recital. (May 2006) I'm currently halfway through playing Maple Leaf Rag (Also playing at my recital) and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for a piano piece by Debussy that would be good for me difficulty-wise. I really like Clair de Lune, but it looks too hard for me, so I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions.

Thanks in advance!

If you can play Maple Leaf Rag, you can handle Clair de Lune ;) . And the recital's not until May 2006, that's plenty of time to practice. I say GO FOR IT! Your teacher will guide you. Otherwise, have a look at Debussy's Arabesques.

When I read this thread title, I thought "of course, Claire de Lune!" But if you still find that piece too hard... maybe you can try one of his preludes La fille aux cheveux de lin (The Girl With Flaxen Hair). It should be a tad easier.

umm... yeah, some of the preludes could work; danseuses de delphes, des pas sur le neige, la fille aux cheveux de lin or minstrels from the first book, or maybe bruyeres or canope from the second (the 2nd book pieces all go into 3 staves at some point btw). others, just from the top of my head; danse bohemienne, reverie, valse romantique, or anything from childrens corner.

clair de lune is a good piece to learn, but i would advise against playing it for a recital; as it is such a well known piece it has to be 100% perfect; a single wrong note and it will be picked up- i played one of his preludes 'la cathedrale engloutie' in a recital a few months ago, and that was ripped to shreds because it is also a famous Debussy work. i'd choose something less famous.

Otherwise, have a look at Debussy's Arabesques.

His Arabeque no.1 is beautiful. If you can handle The Maple Leaf Rag, this piece will be good for a follow-up for that.

Thanks for the suggestions, and I 100% agree with what Thorn said. I'd love to learn Clair de Lune, but most of the students know it as someone plays it every year, and our teacher has a pass-the-song-twice-in-a-row-without-mistakes-memorized session we have to go through before we can play it for recital. I know I'll have a hard time with that (especially during the trio x_x ).

I've gone through searching the titles Thorn mentioned, but I definately think that I'll be requesting Arabesque No. 1. It's just so pretty. :)

Have fun learning Arabesque No.1. Tell us how it goes. ;)