Hardest Works for Piano

michaelwilliams We're talking about lots of arpeggios, obsessive key signature changing, big chords, funky time signatures and rythm, and rare quarter notes lots of beams. Usually quick songs. Confusing fingering.

The Top Ten

1 Lizst's 12 Transcendental Etudes

Look these up on YouTube and you will see why this is first enough said

Amazing to listen to but horrible to play, lol.

Good luck learning these. It gets pretty technical. - michaelwilliams

I love Mazeppa

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2 Beethoven's Sonatas

Very unique and probably the most played sonatas, especially moonlite. - michaelwilliams

Moonlight 3rd movement is the hardest

Obviously moonlight mov.3 is the hardest

Ridiculous to say that "moonlight mvt III" is the hardest. Sure it is quick and fiery and beautiful, but when you listen to a work as profound as the fugue from Op 106 in Bb major (the hammerklavier) it becomes easy in comparison. The late works were often half an hour to 45 minutes and they were utterly ridiculous. The fugue at the end of op. 106 is unbelievably difficult to play, same with the fugue at the end of op 110. The difficulty in these pieces which truly are among the most difficult to play ever is that they are extremely long, profound, and the interpretation can and does take years to finalize. The hardest song to play is Op106, followed by op 111, op 7. Although much different is absurdly difficult.

Please explore Beethoven's Sonatas beyond "Moonlight" (Which was a name given by a poet, not Beethoven. It is the C#m sonata) They are truly magnificent pieces of music, sure you can teach a 20 year old to play many of them, but to play them musically and powerfully is ...more

3 Chopin's Etudes

brilliant melodies. Very musical. All of over the place though and clef changes. - michaelwilliams

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4 Death Waltz - John Stump

Oh mi gawd you guys have not seen this work before have you...? It is LITERALLY impossible! You should go YouTube it...

5 Lizst's Paginini Etudes

Again, good luck learning these. It'll take take you months even years, it depends at your skill at the piano. - michaelwilliams

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6 Hungarian Rhapsodies - Liszt

Technically difficult AND musically difficult.

Love these but they are brutally hard to play

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7 Chopin's Waltzes

I agree. I attempted playing "Minute Waltz" and people kept pointing out that my fingers don't stretch out far enough for the bass part.

8 The Well-Tempered Clavichord

Miss a note and the whole structure crumbles. wonderful polyphony to bring out.

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9 The Disappearance of Hatsune Miku - Marasy8
10 Gaspard de La Nuit - Maurice Ravel

Most difficult piece worth learning - Charlesman01

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The Newcomers

? Liszt - Sonata in B Minor

The Contenders

11 Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No.3

Lovely and God inspired!

12 Necrofantasia

SO. CONFUSING! You should at least take a look at the sheet music, or the arrangements people on YouTube have created.

13 Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 - Franz Liszt

Crazy. Period

14 The March of the Black Queen - Queen

In My top 5 favorite songs Queen is the best band in the world underrated song

15 Flight of the Bumblebee

Pretty cool

16 Bad Apple - Touhou
17 Schumman's Symphonic Etudes

tougher reproiture, especially since the etudes are all variations of one etude in the beginning. - michaelwilliams

18 Brahm's Etudes

what's interesting about these is that he's burrowing melodies from other composers and spicing it up a bit with technique. - michaelwilliams

19 Scriabin Etudes

This list is ridiculous. These etudes are the hardest pieces I have so far seen on the list - but where is Gaspard de La Nuit? Etc etc. Crap crap crap list! What is this site?

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20 Mozart's Sonatas

quick and lighthearted, altough dynamics and fingering are a issue into perfecting these. - michaelwilliams

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