I focussed a lot on the technicalities of playing in this video because most people think (and potentially why these pieces were chosen) that the hardest pieces to play are difficult because of how difficult they are to physically play. The most important part and the real challenge with playing any music is how you play it and what a piece of music is trying to convey emotionally. There are a lot of pieces that are technically less challenging but much more difficult to play due to interpretation and conveying that interpretation 😊
True. None of these pieces are close to be being the “hardest” in the piano pedagogy. Bach fugues from the Well Tempered Clavier might not sound that hard but the voicing (distinguishing the different themes of the fugue ) takes work to do well. Try some of the Ligeti etudes like 13 “The devils staircase”. That’s virtuoso.
Rousseau actually had a pinned comment on this video as it was meant to be a joke. Obviously, these pieces are just what sounds ‘the most difficult’ to the uneducated audience. There are so many other more underestimated pieces and composers - be Islamey or Gaspard de la nuit. You should react to Twoset Violin’s B2TSM Music Video next :)
It’s not that it’s difficult per say, it’s just very fast paced, involved, and not meant for piano, so you’re playing multiple scores meshed together which is never simple
Something else to bear in mind: There is a lot more that goes into mastering a classical piece than simply playing the notes. I think some people manage to play the right notes of a concert piece and then declare they've learned it without taking into account voicing, phrasing, dynamics, managing multiple lines of melody, tone, smoothness of technique, evenness, appropriate rubato, etc. The reality is that properly learning an advanced piece can take many months. Playing a piece is one thing; playing it WELL is another. A lot of the challenge of performing classical repertoire is the musical side of things, not just the technical side.
Thats what im trying with Fantasie Impromptu, I dont Just want the "fast notes", But a beautiful MUSIC. U cant Imagine how deep and beautiful Fantasie Impromptu actually is.
The hardest piece I have played is by far Liszts transcription of the 4th movement of Beethovens ninth. Then I would go with Rach 3, Goldberg Variations, Douze Grande Etude No.5 and Alkan Concerto for Solo Piano.
hardest pieces pieces i’ve played is prokofiev 6th sonata, beethoven 3rd concerto, liszt mazeppa/chasse neige, and some rachmaninoff etude tableaux. feel like i need more practice to get to your level! learning liszt hungarian rhapsody 12 and saint saens no 2. (rachmaninoff 1st concerto for next year) 😎
Very interesting insights for those of us who aren't pianists. Chopin has always seemed to me like it must be quite daunting to play. The rubato, the emotional expression, and the way it flows. It's not improvisation, but it almost feels like it sometimes when listening. Like there are more things you'd have to be mindful of than if you were playing something more structured like Beethoven, or Bach.
Chopin is a very expressive player and writer, which can be difficult to express. Where to use rubato and bring out certain parts can be easier though if you are a naturally expressive player and can understand what he’s trying to do theoretically. Bach is very technically difficult, especially with pieces like the preludes and fugues, because there are multiple interwoven melodies that are hard to distinguish between etc. so it’s more technically challenging. Composers like Mozart or Beethoven are kind of between the two, where there is a lot of expression needed, but because of the period they were still more constrained by theoretical norms and playing them accurately to how they would have been played is the challenge..more so than those a bit later in the romantic period!
actually chopin is easier to play for me! chopin gives you a nice and expressive melody, and as long as you play the appropriate dynamics and rubato it will sound nice. and that's easy since there are dynamic markings + most of it is pretty straightforward. as a pianist however, bach is my worst enemy. he mostly wrote for harpsichord which has no dynamics, so you have to kind of invent them to make the piece musical (even though it wasn't written to be that way) while taking into account the counterpoint. and you also can't do rubato because of the strict tempo. another thing is that if you fudge a few chords in chopin's pieces, no one will notice, but if you even accent the wrong note in bach or beethoven's pieces, it's glaringly obvious.
@@claryyy well Bach is obviously difficult, but you’re talking about Chopin like all his pieces are nocturnes. Try to play the 4th ballade or one of his sonatas and you will see how difficult it is.
@@Lucmercurius true, i haven't had much experience with his sonatas but i think my previous comment applies to most baroque/romantic music. it's just the fact that most baroque music wasn't composed for the pianoforte :/
@@Lucmercurius I do think that on average, it is harder to get a Bach piece ready for performance than a Chopin piece. But it really depends on what piece of course. What I will say is that Bach requires a certain attention to the score and precision of interpretation that Chopin doesn't normally demand.
As someone who is able to play fantaisie impromptu I have to be honest with you it's really not too difficult you just have to be a little patient with the polyrhythms but then it's very manageable
Same, I can play Fantasie Impromptu at a reasonable level and I am a good, but truthfully average (at best) pianist. I wouldn’t even consider learning the vast majority of Chopins etudes. I don’t think F.I. Is a top ten hardest piece, even when played properly.
The Moonlight Sonata thrid movement you said break it into chords so you can play and that's what I started to doing and it's going well and i'm getting there, you gave me a good big hope and confidence so thanks!
The hardest pieces Iʼve played were Chopinʼs Op. 64 No.2 and Ballade no. 1. Yeah, they may not be difficult for professional pianists, but learning to play them perfectly was quite a challenge for me)
I don't see how op. 64 no.2 and Ballade no.1. are even in the same ballpark...Anyone who can learn Ballade no.1 shouldn't take more than few days to learn the former.
There's a piece that Cziffra transcribed based on his performance, that he titled "Fantasy on William Tell". The piece that he transcribed to is a bit different from his performance, since he added more notes to the transcription, making it more difficult than it already was, to the point of it being very close to virtually impossible. There's a synthesia video on UA-cam that plays what was transcribed, and you'll see just how insane the piece is.
you are actually so talented at piano wtf. im assuming you have perfect pitch but rousseau is crazy and you're able to break down his hardest pieces (there are harder ones, he just made that video since everyone knew those songs) but yeah man you earned my subscription
Thank you! I appreciate that and I’m glad you enjoyed it 😊 I don’t have perfect pitch, but I do have pretty good relative pitch! I did make a video not that long ago where I tried to learn perfect pitch in 24 hours 😂
As a non pianist i would guess stuff like Ravel's piano pieces would be some of the most difficult with all the craziness and dynamics. All that stuff is amazing to listen to, majorly hypnotic, you just get lost in this blank state while listening to his piano works.
You explained exactly what I thought the first time I listened to op 10 n 1. Since the previous year I performed the 3rd movement of moonlight sonata I thought that op 10 n 1 would have been the same thing. I realized I was wrong when I first attempted the waterfall etude
I’d say the hardest piece I’ve tried is either 1. Étude No. 4 in E major (Liszt Arpeggio 1838) from Études d'exécution transcendante d'après Paganini 2. Feux follets from Douze grandes études Both are relatively short, but the first is just really difficult to play at 60bpm, with the technical difficulties, lightness, dynamics, (the intended speed, though there’s debate). The second one just has a painful amount of fingering, and takes ages to learn. Both are definitely not the hardest, (some pieces are hours long, which is probably why they’re what I consider hardest). But they are definitely not pieces you can just play and say your done with, You may be able to do that with most other pieces (Reminiscence De Juan, hope I spelt that correctly). But some pieces are harder than others to different people, what may seem hard to another (Mazeppa) may not be to you
@@ryzikx Is it really a prefernce though? The only thing that really separates Mazeppa from the other Transcendental Etudes(which are obviously all difficult) is the diversity of required techniques and jumps. Meanwhile with Feux Follets it's very hard to find double note passages that rival it.
Chopin - "Ocean Etude", Sibelius - Humoresque No. 6 (not piano but rlly good), Debussy - Sonata in G Minor for Piano And Violin, any Rachmaninoff piece, Tchaikovsky - Piano Concerto No. 1, Chopin - Ballade No. 1, Chopin - Waltz opus 64 no.2, (try listening to these pieces maybe they can top La Campanella)
I love that Chopin piece Fantaisie.. always hearing it in keyboard demo song 😂 Flight of bumblebee I guess is always amongst the top ten. Oh boy, look at that left hand for the Little red riding hood piece, a killer!
In Vivaldi summer, I think you forgot to mention the difficulty in ascending thirds. Although the octaves, scales and arpeggios are easy (with extensive practice of course), there is that passage with ascending thirds that could tend to be very difficult to play, especially evenly with musicality. I also think that moonlight sonata 3rd movement isn't given enough credit here either. Being a sonata as a whole, you have 2 previous movements that are very demanding in terms of phrasing and musicality. By the time the performer has reached the 3rd movement, the hands are tired, having played 2 previous movements. I also think that the 3rd movement has some tremendous difficulties throughout the midsections of the piece like the rapid Alberti bass which has to be played piano with a melody in the right hand that should also be brought out without the left hand overtaking it. Not to mention, the piece is a whole 7 MINUTES with a continuous stream of difficulties. Other than that, I love that you're bringing attention to video's like these and giving your professional opinions. I love what you do and I can't wait to see your channel grow.
Thank you, I appreciate that! I definitely missed the thirds, I should have mentioned those! The moonlight has a lot of varied demands if including the other movements 😊 although when compared to some of the other Beethoven Sonatas (particularly the later ones), I would say the time investment is a little less because the technical difficulty is already there if you are able to play scales/arpeggios really well 😊 I agree that to play it well, there is a lot of challenges with musicality (and that’s the most important part) and fatigue over the course of the movements, I suppose it depends on strengths and weaknesses…phrasing, shaping and musicality is probably a strength of mine 😊
@@matticawood Thank you for your input :) In this context, I agree that the other Beethoven sonatas propose a much greater difficulty. Each of his various virtuosic compositions have their respective difficulties and challenges. So when you put this sonata into perspective with his other repertoire, your point makes 100% sense. Thank your for your time and understanding, keep up the amazing work!
Couple of things i would like to point out: *ascending thirds are a bit tricky but the section with them is really short *1st and 2nd movements of moonlight sonata are very easy and wont tire you *3rd movement is not _that_ difficult and repeats a lot *"7 minutes of difficulties" is not impressive when you are comparing it to like 40 minutes long monsters *moonlight sonata should be nowhere near such a list, as it is dwarfed in difficulty by most other sonatas. Even hammerklavier (Beethovens hardest sonata) is never listed as one of hardest pieces
@@blackhole3407 Note that the Rousseau himself states that those were not REALLY the most difficult pieces ever; they were just the most difficult pieces on his channel. Though I'm kinda lost on why Flight of the Bumblebee was included there but Ballade no1 was not....
These are the most difficult songs that people have heard somewhere. Yuja Wang’s performance of the adaptation of Flight of the Bumblebee is the most technically difficult piano piece I have ever seen played. There are many songs like that, but people want the hits. Enjoy this channel very much. Keep up the great work👍
Most of these songs have one big reason for being difficult, they are very fast with enough things going on where if something is screwed up it wont sound good. They're all very precise
Real I’m learning moonlight sonata 3rd movement and fantaisie impromptu by Chopin and I can confirm with fantaisie you have to be super accurate or if you miss a note you’ll think you messed up
To be honest, Erlkönig, Feux Follets, Etüde Op.25 No.6, Prelude Op.28 No.16 in B flat minor *and finally* Moment Musicaus No.4 should have definitely been up there too
everyone focuses on the main bit of the moonlight 3rd movement but what makes it hard is later in the left hand the alberti bass introduces chords that need rapid alternation which is difficult
For me I would say the most insane pieces for piano are Alkan's Etude de concert Le Preux, Alkan Concerto for Solo Piano, Alkan Op 39 Etude No. 1 "Comme Le Vent", Liszt Totentanz for Solo Piano, Liszt Transcendental Etude No.5 "Feux Follets", Mereaux's Grande Etudes Op.65 particularly No.45 "Scherzo Alla Napolitana", No.60, No.24 and No.15.
I'm not a pianist, but here are the most complicated pieces for me (I am a clarinetist): 1. The Bees: Antonino Pasculli; 2.Mozart Concerto for Clarinet; 3. and Paganini's arrangement.
I ve been watching rousseau since about 440 subs I think and this guy's singlehandedly made me love this instrument and now i don't even think of any others instrument that's this fun and exciting to hear now i have a dgx230 and i do Anime music covers, it gets the job done, wish i could afford a p45 to start my journey already , to an uneducated audience these pieces looks difficult and they're are definitely, to play with emotions, and expressions
This was in fact the first time I’d seen it 😂 I’ve spent more time playing and learning piano than watching others decide which pieces are the most difficult 😊
Excellent video, and I'm glad you at last got to Liszt. But how could you not include Alkan (Quasi-Faust, Festin d'Aesop, etc.)? And what about Ravel, especially Ondine. Well...there's only so much time and you have your own tastes. Anyway, thanks for the video, especially the tasty graphics and your impressive piano technique.
man im learning fantasie impromptu after a 4 year break from piano in college. The last difficult piece I played was that Rachmaninoff Prelude in C# minor. I think Fantasie is definitely harder but its going well so far
Honestly, I don’t think that there actually is a “hardest piano piece” or even a top 10 list that one could make, because they all get so difficult that it eventually just comes down to each person’s opinion on which is harder, and there’s no real way to accurately measure that since it’s different for everybody. If there was an actual hardest piece, I’m guessing it would be something by Liszt, whether it’s his Beethoven transcriptions or his original Paganini Etudes, he wrote stuff that was borderline impossible while still making it sound good and musical.
The uploaded of the original video (Rousseau) said in his comment that the title was actually a joke. These are popular pieces and sounded difficult for non-pianists, but they’re far from being the most difficult ones.
In my opinion, I think its either feux fellits “if im saying that correctly” etude no,5 by Franz liszt or Bela Bàrtok’s 2nd concerto, They both are pretty difficult.
Probably some of the hardest parts are when it comes to interpretation. Something I struggled with for a while was getting the dynamic voicing of the melody correct especially when the melody was on my 4th and 5th fingers whilst playing with other ones
i personally think what makes these piano pieces rather difficult is your mental process while playing them (that's what truly makes piano difficult at all) there's a lot going on even if they're simple things its just all at once that some may get confused and lost but hey that's what practice is for (and the rage during practice)
16 year old pianist getting ready to play moonlight sonata movement 3 for a competition. I’d say that the difficulty in the piece lies in endurance. You really have to have good technique to play that piece well, especially since in many recordings the song goes for 7+ minutes. Well not the most difficult piece of all time, it definitely is a great goal for any aspiring pianist. My personal choice for most difficult is scarbo from Gaspard de nuit
I feel like most things by Animenz could rival jus about this entire list sure they’re hard but the list is more that I’d just classical concerto pieces which as I say are hard and have stood the test of time but aren’t still in top today as people are lead to or like to believe
I definitely agree with you, I can't say from first hand experience if I could play these pieces or not, I never tried any of them (I'm about a level 4 or 5 pianist, I took some lessons as a child for a few years, but although I've continued playing and practicing, I haven't had lessons for years). However, I do know some that are surprisingly challenging, such as Bach's "Prelude in C minor". It's not all that impressive for the non-pianist but it's quite deceptive.
Not sure if these would be "top 10 most difficult", but they certainly exceed my capabilities!. . . Liszt (Reminiscences de Norma), Weber/Godowsky (Invitation to the Dance), Schumann (Coda from Fantasie in C), Strauss/Godowsky (Wine, Women, Song), Wagner/Liszt (Tannhauser)
A lot of M.-A. Hamelin's compositions are extremely difficult, but I would like to choose "Étude No. 9: after Rossini (1987)", "Étude No. 12: Prelude and Fugue (1986)", "Barcarolle (2013)", "Pavane Variée (2014)" and "Two Short Studies (1979/1980)" as Top 5 of Hamelin's hardest compositions...
Im only 12 years old I just started to play Fantaisie Impromptu and actually it takes time for me to learn it but first it's harder to learn then easier to learn.While learning the piece, the chords are played only once, but another note is played between the notes, I don't know what it's called but this is what makes this piece difficult.
I always recommend trying to think vertically if you find this the most difficult. So either left hand for a note, right hand for a note, or both hands for a note…that helps cooordinate so things happen at the right time and then when it’s comfortable you can think about musicality 😊
Nice video… I was going to call out the Vivaldi as it’s not a piano piece… but then tHen you went on to ALL the pieces I am trying to master, as a 53 year old who’s been playing for 49 years. Obviously LOADS of things are harder (Prokofiev,Stravinsky. Scriabin, 50% of Liszt’s output, Cziffra’s arrangements), but these are a really good representation of the quite mainstream, tuneful, really genius compositions. My own personal favourite is Chopin Op.10 No.4 - so glad you included that. It is true genius, both approachable and impossible, and very cleverly pulls together the techniques he had introduced in. Is 1 to 3. I am not as good as you as I have smaller hands, so I find the middle bit of La Tristessa really difficult. Also Op.10 No.1. I wouldn’t put Fantasie Impromptu in here, though. I don’t think it’s that difficult and personally I really hate it - it’s very repetitive. I would swap Chopin Study in Bb Minor - No 16, in the vein of Op. 10 No4…. Although it’s a Prelude it’s a perfect Study, that has such musicality that you can play it again and again forever, and unless you really are a superhero, you will NEVER fully master it, because even if you get the notes, you can always play it faster. They talk about the minute waltz, but can you play Op28 No16 in one minute….? Now there’s a challenge….
I would love to play piano, but was given tiny hands and a form of dyslexia thar prevents me from being able to read music. But I will happily play vicariously through you!
@@matticawood The part AFTER the thirds/sixths re about 0,0001% as difficult as the thirds/sixths and you were like "hey this is peanuts, no problem" 😄
Me sorprende como da corazones y responde todavía en este video, por cierto definitivamente estás no son las piezas más difíciles, de hecho Rousseau lo hizo a forma de meme y dejó las que el considera las piezas más difíciles (de verdad) en la descripción
Firstly, there is no such thing as “wrong fingers”, there is just convenient and more naturally placed fingers. Fingers are just suggestions from other pianists that found them the easiest way to play it, but they can be different for everyone depending on hand size and the way your hand naturally moves most efficiently. All concert pianists generally make their own decisions about fingers. Secondly, these were one of the two finger patterns suggested by the edition I used anyway 😊
I may be only 15 and im trying to learn moonlight sonata 3rd movement and its pretty hard but I know that there are harder ones. But the 3rd movement isnt only abt chords, it has many hard things like fast jumps between lov and high notes (if My english triggers or smth pls notice that i'm from finland and My english is pretty bad)
Your English is great 😊 it’s definitely not an easy piece so you are doing great if you are learning it and all Beethoven sonatas require skill to learn! There are many more pieces that are less predictable and trickier though, depending on how far along in your playing career you are; there are many techniques that are learnt for this in many other pieces along the way, whereas some pieces have unique techniques and challenges that you don’t often come across 😊
@@matticawood Ay thanks mate 😁I have played for abt 9 years, and now that I think, it aint even that hard. it may sound hard and hard to learn, but when you learn the basics of the song it aint even that hard.
0:40 explains how scales are easy then immediately completely ignores fast scales of thirds and sixths, which are like 1000 times harder, right there in the video 😝
I focussed a lot on the technicalities of playing in this video because most people think (and potentially why these pieces were chosen) that the hardest pieces to play are difficult because of how difficult they are to physically play.
The most important part and the real challenge with playing any music is how you play it and what a piece of music is trying to convey emotionally. There are a lot of pieces that are technically less challenging but much more difficult to play due to interpretation and conveying that interpretation 😊
Many people have their own opinions on these pieces
Some you might think it not really difficult but sometimes to other it might be hard
It depends on our level
moonlight sonata 1st movement moment
True. None of these pieces are close to be being the “hardest” in the piano pedagogy. Bach fugues from the Well Tempered Clavier might not sound that hard but the voicing (distinguishing the different themes of the fugue ) takes work to do well. Try some of the Ligeti etudes like 13 “The devils staircase”. That’s virtuoso.
Rousseau actually had a pinned comment on this video as it was meant to be a joke. Obviously, these pieces are just what sounds ‘the most difficult’ to the uneducated audience. There are so many other more underestimated pieces and composers - be Islamey or Gaspard de la nuit. You should react to Twoset Violin’s B2TSM Music Video next :)
Definitely! I can see why 😊 these are difficult pieces, but there are a lot of under-appreciated pieces that are super difficult!
Il check it out! 😊
If you can, you should definitely make a video about these pieces. There are real good stuff in that list
B^2TSM is best MV
True fact
They are popular. As well as the Scriabin sonatas
"That's not difficult". My good man, i would break my fingers if i play the first piece.
I woudnt
But it does look difficult
@@OnlyPlaysGg yea u won't break ur finger but would damage it
It’s not that it’s difficult per say, it’s just very fast paced, involved, and not meant for piano, so you’re playing multiple scores meshed together which is never simple
P R A C T I C E
Something else to bear in mind: There is a lot more that goes into mastering a classical piece than simply playing the notes. I think some people manage to play the right notes of a concert piece and then declare they've learned it without taking into account voicing, phrasing, dynamics, managing multiple lines of melody, tone, smoothness of technique, evenness, appropriate rubato, etc. The reality is that properly learning an advanced piece can take many months. Playing a piece is one thing; playing it WELL is another. A lot of the challenge of performing classical repertoire is the musical side of things, not just the technical side.
I definitely agree!! Most of the work and the most important work is musicality and caring about why and how we want it to sound. 😊
Thats what im trying with Fantasie Impromptu, I dont Just want the "fast notes", But a beautiful MUSIC. U cant Imagine how deep and beautiful Fantasie Impromptu actually is.
And also those Points are why some Performances get famous and some dont
@@matticawood yeah. Technique is the minimum. I'm a classical guitarist
As Lang Lang would say, let the music breathe. ua-cam.com/video/77Q1UXwSt9Q/v-deo.html
The hardest piece I have played is by far Liszts transcription of the 4th movement of Beethovens ninth. Then I would go with Rach 3, Goldberg Variations, Douze Grande Etude No.5 and Alkan Concerto for Solo Piano.
That’s quite the selection of hard pieces! Nice choices! 😊
hardest pieces pieces i’ve played is prokofiev 6th sonata, beethoven 3rd concerto, liszt mazeppa/chasse neige, and some rachmaninoff etude tableaux. feel like i need more practice to get to your level! learning liszt hungarian rhapsody 12 and saint saens no 2. (rachmaninoff 1st concerto for next year) 😎
oh plus most of the chopin etudes. im 16 btw :)
You are actually so good
@@matticawood hardest piece is definitely etude 6 of liszt
Very interesting insights for those of us who aren't pianists. Chopin has always seemed to me like it must be quite daunting to play. The rubato, the emotional expression, and the way it flows. It's not improvisation, but it almost feels like it sometimes when listening. Like there are more things you'd have to be mindful of than if you were playing something more structured like Beethoven, or Bach.
Chopin is a very expressive player and writer, which can be difficult to express. Where to use rubato and bring out certain parts can be easier though if you are a naturally expressive player and can understand what he’s trying to do theoretically. Bach is very technically difficult, especially with pieces like the preludes and fugues, because there are multiple interwoven melodies that are hard to distinguish between etc. so it’s more technically challenging. Composers like Mozart or Beethoven are kind of between the two, where there is a lot of expression needed, but because of the period they were still more constrained by theoretical norms and playing them accurately to how they would have been played is the challenge..more so than those a bit later in the romantic period!
actually chopin is easier to play for me! chopin gives you a nice and expressive melody, and as long as you play the appropriate dynamics and rubato it will sound nice. and that's easy since there are dynamic markings + most of it is pretty straightforward.
as a pianist however, bach is my worst enemy. he mostly wrote for harpsichord which has no dynamics, so you have to kind of invent them to make the piece musical (even though it wasn't written to be that way) while taking into account the counterpoint. and you also can't do rubato because of the strict tempo.
another thing is that if you fudge a few chords in chopin's pieces, no one will notice, but if you even accent the wrong note in bach or beethoven's pieces, it's glaringly obvious.
@@claryyy well Bach is obviously difficult, but you’re talking about Chopin like all his pieces are nocturnes. Try to play the 4th ballade or one of his sonatas and you will see how difficult it is.
@@Lucmercurius true, i haven't had much experience with his sonatas but i think my previous comment applies to most baroque/romantic music. it's just the fact that most baroque music wasn't composed for the pianoforte :/
@@Lucmercurius I do think that on average, it is harder to get a Bach piece ready for performance than a Chopin piece. But it really depends on what piece of course. What I will say is that Bach requires a certain attention to the score and precision of interpretation that Chopin doesn't normally demand.
As someone who is able to play fantaisie impromptu I have to be honest with you it's really not too difficult you just have to be a little patient with the polyrhythms but then it's very manageable
But to make it sound like actual music with dynamics, prhasing and all of that is hard
So, it’s difficult !
Its not easy but not the most difficult
Same, I can play Fantasie Impromptu at a reasonable level and I am a good, but truthfully average (at best) pianist. I wouldn’t even consider learning the vast majority of Chopins etudes. I don’t think F.I. Is a top ten hardest piece, even when played properly.
@@ajbrewer1777 fantasies impromptu isn't even top 30
The Moonlight Sonata thrid movement you said break it into chords so you can play and that's what I started to doing and it's going well and i'm getting there, you gave me a good big hope and confidence so thanks!
The hardest pieces Iʼve played were Chopinʼs Op. 64 No.2 and Ballade no. 1. Yeah, they may not be difficult for professional pianists, but learning to play them perfectly was quite a challenge for me)
They are both challenging! I’ve done these as well and I would say that the Ballade is probably harder than a few of the ones on this list 😊
@@matticawood I agree.
I'm currently learning Ballade no. 1 and it's a pain in certain sections (especially the coda) but it's so much fun to play as well :)
I think they‘re also hard for pianists
I don't see how op. 64 no.2 and Ballade no.1. are even in the same ballpark...Anyone who can learn Ballade no.1 shouldn't take more than few days to learn the former.
There's a piece that Cziffra transcribed based on his performance, that he titled "Fantasy on William Tell". The piece that he transcribed to is a bit different from his performance, since he added more notes to the transcription, making it more difficult than it already was, to the point of it being very close to virtually impossible. There's a synthesia video on UA-cam that plays what was transcribed, and you'll see just how insane the piece is.
Il definitely check it out! When it’s tough, the best thing to do is add notes! 😂
you are actually so talented at piano wtf. im assuming you have perfect pitch but rousseau is crazy and you're able to break down his hardest pieces (there are harder ones, he just made that video since everyone knew those songs) but yeah man you earned my subscription
Thank you! I appreciate that and I’m glad you enjoyed it 😊
I don’t have perfect pitch, but I do have pretty good relative pitch! I did make a video not that long ago where I tried to learn perfect pitch in 24 hours 😂
Perfect pitch probably not but he is really good at playing by ear. Like really good. Also tHEYRE PIECES NOT SONGS AHHHHHHH
Ik no one's asking but Rousseau is actually a girl, not a guy
@@zenosama-tm3bsreally?? lmao i had no idea
@@mr.trollincidents3588 yea, I recall learning that years ago when her la campanella vid originally came out and I saw people mentioning it
Hey man, stumbled onto your video randomly. Awesome content. I’ve always loved Chopin’s pieces, and I appreciate the knowledge. Insightful
Thank you! I’m glad you liked it! 😊
As a non pianist i would guess stuff like Ravel's piano pieces would be some of the most difficult with all the craziness and dynamics. All that stuff is amazing to listen to, majorly hypnotic, you just get lost in this blank state while listening to his piano works.
this guy deserves more respect
Thanks! 😊
You explained exactly what I thought the first time I listened to op 10 n 1. Since the previous year I performed the 3rd movement of moonlight sonata I thought that op 10 n 1 would have been the same thing. I realized I was wrong when I first attempted the waterfall etude
When it sounds like an arpeggio it sounds like it should be easy…and then…it’s really not 😂
Yes exactly 😅
This video was so fun and easy to understand even though I'm just getting into piano right now. Amazing video!
Im also a pianist and I know how scales and arpeggios are not just there for love and charity its there to help us play difficult pieces
I’d say the hardest piece I’ve tried is either
1. Étude No. 4 in E major (Liszt Arpeggio 1838) from
Études d'exécution transcendante d'après Paganini
2. Feux follets from Douze grandes études
Both are relatively short, but the first is just really difficult to play at 60bpm, with the technical difficulties,
lightness, dynamics,
(the intended speed, though there’s debate).
The second one just has a painful amount of fingering, and takes ages to learn.
Both are definitely not the hardest, (some pieces are hours long, which is probably why they’re what I consider hardest).
But they are definitely not pieces you can just play and say your done with,
You may be able to do that with most other pieces (Reminiscence De Juan, hope I spelt that correctly).
But some pieces are harder than others to different people, what may seem hard to another (Mazeppa) may not be to you
definitely agree feux follets in 20x harder than mazeppa lol
maybe Circus Galop
@@JustAnAverageRBLXYT Impossible, doesnt count
@@yashiimelodies4506 it's preference, mazeppa requires forearm strength while feux follets requires chromatic work
@@ryzikx Is it really a prefernce though? The only thing that really separates Mazeppa from the other Transcendental Etudes(which are obviously all difficult) is the diversity of required techniques and jumps. Meanwhile with Feux Follets it's very hard to find double note passages that rival it.
Every time i hear some of the most hardest classical music, i always see them as song fueled by pure rage
La Campanella is my favorite piano piece and nothing will ever top that for me. Such an amazingly well composed piece
Maybe try listening to classical music
That is classical
I used to be impressed with it for how crazy it was, then I really just kind of listen it and really lost all thought and listened to it..
listen to ravel - jeux d'eau
Chopin - "Ocean Etude", Sibelius - Humoresque No. 6 (not piano but rlly good), Debussy - Sonata in G Minor for Piano And Violin, any Rachmaninoff piece, Tchaikovsky - Piano Concerto No. 1, Chopin - Ballade No. 1, Chopin - Waltz opus 64 no.2, (try listening to these pieces maybe they can top La Campanella)
Personnally I think it's more important to play a beautiful piece, rather then a hard one
Matt Is A Wizard Of Wisdom!!
i love the content i cant understand how ppl dont watch you keep up the good work
I love that Chopin piece Fantaisie.. always hearing it in keyboard demo song 😂 Flight of bumblebee I guess is always amongst the top ten. Oh boy, look at that left hand for the Little red riding hood piece, a killer!
Yeah that Little Red Riding Hood piece is a 9 in Henle.
Maybe in my next lifetime I will be able to play these kind of pieces. Thanks for the breakdown of some of them.
In Vivaldi summer, I think you forgot to mention the difficulty in ascending thirds. Although the octaves, scales and arpeggios are easy (with extensive practice of course), there is that passage with ascending thirds that could tend to be very difficult to play, especially evenly with musicality. I also think that moonlight sonata 3rd movement isn't given enough credit here either. Being a sonata as a whole, you have 2 previous movements that are very demanding in terms of phrasing and musicality. By the time the performer has reached the 3rd movement, the hands are tired, having played 2 previous movements. I also think that the 3rd movement has some tremendous difficulties throughout the midsections of the piece like the rapid Alberti bass which has to be played piano with a melody in the right hand that should also be brought out without the left hand overtaking it. Not to mention, the piece is a whole 7 MINUTES with a continuous stream of difficulties. Other than that, I love that you're bringing attention to video's like these and giving your professional opinions. I love what you do and I can't wait to see your channel grow.
Thank you, I appreciate that! I definitely missed the thirds, I should have mentioned those!
The moonlight has a lot of varied demands if including the other movements 😊 although when compared to some of the other Beethoven Sonatas (particularly the later ones), I would say the time investment is a little less because the technical difficulty is already there if you are able to play scales/arpeggios really well 😊 I agree that to play it well, there is a lot of challenges with musicality (and that’s the most important part) and fatigue over the course of the movements, I suppose it depends on strengths and weaknesses…phrasing, shaping and musicality is probably a strength of mine 😊
@@matticawood Thank you for your input :) In this context, I agree that the other Beethoven sonatas propose a much greater difficulty. Each of his various virtuosic compositions have their respective difficulties and challenges. So when you put this sonata into perspective with his other repertoire, your point makes 100% sense. Thank your for your time and understanding, keep up the amazing work!
Couple of things i would like to point out:
*ascending thirds are a bit tricky but the section with them is really short
*1st and 2nd movements of moonlight sonata are very easy and wont tire you
*3rd movement is not _that_ difficult and repeats a lot
*"7 minutes of difficulties" is not impressive when you are comparing it to like 40 minutes long monsters
*moonlight sonata should be nowhere near such a list, as it is dwarfed in difficulty by most other sonatas. Even hammerklavier (Beethovens hardest sonata) is never listed as one of hardest pieces
Yeah I can play Fatanse Impromptu but the Moonlight looks kinda scary.
@@blackhole3407 Note that the Rousseau himself states that those were not REALLY the most difficult pieces ever; they were just the most difficult pieces on his channel. Though I'm kinda lost on why Flight of the Bumblebee was included there but Ballade no1 was not....
These are the most difficult songs that people have heard somewhere. Yuja Wang’s performance of the adaptation of Flight of the Bumblebee is the most technically difficult piano piece I have ever seen played. There are many songs like that, but people want the hits. Enjoy this channel very much. Keep up the great work👍
Wwell for the Flight of the Bumblebee, check out the Cziffra transcription😂
That looks…..intense 😂
@@matticawood hahahaha you bet!!
"It was very pianistic because he was a pianist"
Get that line on a shirt right now!
Most of these songs have one big reason for being difficult, they are very fast with enough things going on where if something is screwed up it wont sound good. They're all very precise
Real I’m learning moonlight sonata 3rd movement and fantaisie impromptu by Chopin and I can confirm with fantaisie you have to be super accurate or if you miss a note you’ll think you messed up
Matt is a wizard of wisdom!!
He is! 😂
To be honest, Erlkönig, Feux Follets, Etüde Op.25 No.6, Prelude Op.28 No.16 in B flat minor *and finally* Moment Musicaus No.4 should have definitely been up there too
All legendary pieces! 😊
@@matticawood Loved the video btw :D
I'm new to the channel and subbed haha
everyone focuses on the main bit of the moonlight 3rd movement but what makes it hard is later in the left hand the alberti bass introduces chords that need rapid alternation which is difficult
Alternative title: most famous piano pieces
That would be a good retitle! 😊
*most famous hard pieces
Fryderyk Chopin is a Polish pianist born in the iron will. In addition, he is known in the world as well as in Japan itself, where he is adored
For me I would say the most insane pieces for piano are Alkan's Etude de concert Le Preux, Alkan Concerto for Solo Piano, Alkan Op 39 Etude No. 1 "Comme Le Vent", Liszt Totentanz for Solo Piano, Liszt Transcendental Etude No.5 "Feux Follets", Mereaux's Grande Etudes Op.65 particularly No.45 "Scherzo Alla Napolitana", No.60, No.24 and No.15.
Nice! I’m familiar with many of these…but not all of them! I shall expand my listening repertoire! 😊
oh hello alkan enjoyer
Mereaux deserves more attention!
Alkan's pieces are just insane!
I'm not a pianist, but here are the most complicated pieces for me (I am a clarinetist):
1. The Bees: Antonino Pasculli;
2.Mozart Concerto for Clarinet;
3. and Paganini's arrangement.
Bartok 2, prokofiev 2, gaspard de la nuit is very difficult even if it is a little overplayed.
Torrent etude defo my favorite.
I always play it for a warmup lol
I ve been watching rousseau since about 440 subs I think and this guy's singlehandedly made me love this instrument and now i don't even think of any others instrument that's this fun and exciting to hear now i have a dgx230 and i do Anime music covers, it gets the job done, wish i could afford a p45 to start my journey already , to an uneducated audience these pieces looks difficult and they're are definitely, to play with emotions, and expressions
Him watching the yt video like he sees it for the first time 😂. Good acting
This was in fact the first time I’d seen it 😂 I’ve spent more time playing and learning piano than watching others decide which pieces are the most difficult 😊
No mention of Feux Follets by Liszt (Transcendental Etude Nr. 5), regarded by Henle to be the hardest piece of music for pianoforte ever written.
You make this look so simple it's crazy!
Excellent video, and I'm glad you at last got to Liszt. But how could you not include Alkan (Quasi-Faust, Festin d'Aesop, etc.)? And what about Ravel, especially Ondine. Well...there's only so much time and you have your own tastes. Anyway, thanks for the video, especially the tasty graphics and your impressive piano technique.
I’m glad you enjoyed the video, and the original video! 😊 there’s many many pieces that would be great in this list! 😊
never have i thought that someone will react to Rousseau's videos lol
Well…I’m breaking the mould 😂
man im learning fantasie impromptu after a 4 year break from piano in college. The last difficult piece I played was that Rachmaninoff Prelude in C# minor. I think Fantasie is definitely harder but its going well so far
LOL!!! "It's very pianistic because he's a pianist!" - sounds like something John Madden would say.
I played Fantasie Impromptu when i was like 10 years old, but I couldnt reach out to the high notes on the running notes. :((
I also play moonlight sonata. I didnt struggle a lo since i played it when i was 11
@@DontTouchMe-BrawlStars same version?
@@rqidzERA-xw9gp yeah
Honestly, I don’t think that there actually is a “hardest piano piece” or even a top 10 list that one could make, because they all get so difficult that it eventually just comes down to each person’s opinion on which is harder, and there’s no real way to accurately measure that since it’s different for everybody. If there was an actual hardest piece, I’m guessing it would be something by Liszt, whether it’s his Beethoven transcriptions or his original Paganini Etudes, he wrote stuff that was borderline impossible while still making it sound good and musical.
The uploaded of the original video (Rousseau) said in his comment that the title was actually a joke.
These are popular pieces and sounded difficult for non-pianists, but they’re far from being the most difficult ones.
@@VicJang ya I obviously know that, I’m just saying in general
In my opinion, I think its either feux fellits “if im saying that correctly” etude no,5 by Franz liszt or Bela Bàrtok’s 2nd concerto, They both are pretty difficult.
Imo, its Le Preux, Le Chemin de Fer, Mereaux etude 24 and 45. Very difficult indeed.
Me: hey maybe I should try fantaisie impromptu
Me when I see the sheet music: ummm I’ll just stick to Mary had a little lamb
Thanks for this vid pls make more! 😁
Probably some of the hardest parts are when it comes to interpretation. Something I struggled with for a while was getting the dynamic voicing of the melody correct especially when the melody was on my 4th and 5th fingers whilst playing with other ones
7:16 Your Lie In April hits there
Fun to hear you play them without thinking’s
Him saying fantaisie impromptu required serious practice made my day a bit better
Definitely agree with you about moonlight sonata
i personally think what makes these piano pieces rather difficult is your mental process while playing them (that's what truly makes piano difficult at all) there's a lot going on even if they're simple things its just all at once that some may get confused and lost but hey that's what practice is for (and the rage during practice)
16 year old pianist getting ready to play moonlight sonata movement 3 for a competition. I’d say that the difficulty in the piece lies in endurance. You really have to have good technique to play that piece well, especially since in many recordings the song goes for 7+ minutes. Well not the most difficult piece of all time, it definitely is a great goal for any aspiring pianist.
My personal choice for most difficult is scarbo from Gaspard de nuit
I feel like most things by Animenz could rival jus about this entire list sure they’re hard but the list is more that I’d just classical concerto pieces which as I say are hard and have stood the test of time but aren’t still in top today as people are lead to or like to believe
Ahh the great Rousseau glad to see him being appreciated more
Ives, Sorabji, Alkan, Ravel, Liszt, Scriabin: **laughter**
I definitely agree with you, I can't say from first hand experience if I could play these pieces or not, I never tried any of them (I'm about a level 4 or 5 pianist, I took some lessons as a child for a few years, but although I've continued playing and practicing, I haven't had lessons for years). However, I do know some that are surprisingly challenging, such as Bach's "Prelude in C minor". It's not all that impressive for the non-pianist but it's quite deceptive.
Not sure if these would be "top 10 most difficult", but they certainly exceed my capabilities!. . . Liszt (Reminiscences de Norma), Weber/Godowsky (Invitation to the Dance), Schumann (Coda from Fantasie in C), Strauss/Godowsky (Wine, Women, Song), Wagner/Liszt (Tannhauser)
Try Ives first piano Sonata on for size ... Really! Other than that try Ravel's Gaspard de le Nuit Ondine.
hungarian rhapsody no 2 "Friska" is super difficult.
This thing is hard: Sergei Rachmanioff
Études-Tableaux, Op. 39, No. 6
in A Minor. Surprised that it didn't make it to this list.
what's that piano? sounds so beautiful! I want a new piano. that's why I'm asking. Your videos are absolutley great!
It’s a Yamaha P45, but I used midi so the piano sound is from Keyscape 😊
@@matticawood Ive been looking at the p45. looks and sounds great. I might get one! Thanks for the answer!
Who else went from loving piano tiles 2 to loving piano and these types of videos?
Very informative!
I’m glad you think so 😊 who would have thought you would be in the comments alongside your mouse 😂
@@matticawood 🤣
A lot of M.-A. Hamelin's compositions are extremely difficult, but I would like to choose "Étude No. 9: after Rossini (1987)", "Étude No. 12: Prelude and Fugue (1986)", "Barcarolle (2013)", "Pavane Variée (2014)" and "Two Short Studies (1979/1980)" as Top 5 of Hamelin's hardest compositions...
Too bad the compositions are garbage. Non-music random noise.
Interesting you ignore the right hand scales at 0:45...
The thirds? I think I missed them! They definitely are a more difficult part 😊
Im only 12 years old I just started to play Fantaisie Impromptu and actually it takes time for me to learn it but first it's harder to learn then easier to learn.While learning the piece, the chords are played only once, but another note is played between the notes, I don't know what it's called but this is what makes this piece difficult.
The way Chopin plays music cause it’s like a pianist cause he is a pianist💀
Hi Mathew! fancy seeing you here!
Well well well…😉
Even if they aren't actually "hard" from like a full time player, they're SUPER pretty!
Beethoven's "Hammerklavier" Part 5 (mov 4) is a killer.
For me the difficulty of a piece is putting the right and left hands together . ❤
I always recommend trying to think vertically if you find this the most difficult. So either left hand for a note, right hand for a note, or both hands for a note…that helps cooordinate so things happen at the right time and then when it’s comfortable you can think about musicality 😊
@@matticawood thanks I’ll try this
Nice video… I was going to call out the Vivaldi as it’s not a piano piece… but then tHen you went on to ALL the pieces I am trying to master, as a 53 year old who’s been playing for 49 years. Obviously LOADS of things are harder (Prokofiev,Stravinsky. Scriabin, 50% of Liszt’s output, Cziffra’s arrangements), but these are a really good representation of the quite mainstream, tuneful, really genius compositions. My own personal favourite is Chopin Op.10 No.4 - so glad you included that. It is true genius, both approachable and impossible, and very cleverly pulls together the techniques he had introduced in. Is 1 to 3. I am not as good as you as I have smaller hands, so I find the middle bit of La Tristessa really difficult. Also Op.10 No.1. I wouldn’t put Fantasie Impromptu in here, though. I don’t think it’s that difficult and personally I really hate it - it’s very repetitive. I would swap Chopin Study in Bb Minor - No 16, in the vein of Op. 10 No4…. Although it’s a Prelude it’s a perfect Study, that has such musicality that you can play it again and again forever, and unless you really are a superhero, you will NEVER fully master it, because even if you get the notes, you can always play it faster. They talk about the minute waltz, but can you play Op28 No16 in one minute….? Now there’s a challenge….
Sorry, I meant PRELUDE no 16
I would love to play piano, but was given tiny hands and a form of dyslexia thar prevents me from being able to read music. But I will happily play vicariously through you!
The one piece which broke my soul just while listening was American Berserk, let alone practice it
On the Vivaldi you ignored the double thirds because it’s really difficult 💀
I ignored the thirds because I didn’t see them 😊
Trueeeeeee
@@matticawood The part AFTER the thirds/sixths re about 0,0001% as difficult as the thirds/sixths and you were like "hey this is peanuts, no problem" 😄
“It was very pianistic because he was a pianist” wow i didnt know 😂
Me sorprende como da corazones y responde todavía en este video, por cierto definitivamente estás no son las piezas más difíciles, de hecho Rousseau lo hizo a forma de meme y dejó las que el considera las piezas más difíciles (de verdad) en la descripción
0:47 to be fair, thats the most difficult part
"Fantaisie - Impromptu is actually known for being quite difficult for pianists" no shot he just said that-
the chord at 4:03 is exquisite
ah yes very splendid🧐
If flight of the bumblebee looks hard, listen to the Cziffra arrangement
The ultimate carpel tunnel speedrun.
Metthew - proceeds to use the wrong fingers for Flight of the Bumblebee
Firstly, there is no such thing as “wrong fingers”, there is just convenient and more naturally placed fingers. Fingers are just suggestions from other pianists that found them the easiest way to play it, but they can be different for everyone depending on hand size and the way your hand naturally moves most efficiently. All concert pianists generally make their own decisions about fingers. Secondly, these were one of the two finger patterns suggested by the edition I used anyway 😊
“PERFECTLY REPLICATES IT “So difficult 😮” 😂
Rousseau should rename the pieces to the top 10 flashiest pieces
He makes it sound so easy while I can barely play Sonate 16 in C major by Mozart
Mozart - makes people cry
Beethoven - makes pianists cry
Chopin - makes the piano and the pianists both cry
Alkan, Liszt, Mereaux, Gottschalk and Strakosch be like: Am I a joke to you?
Strakocsh yankee doodle variations 💀💀
@@Jartious FR
I may be only 15 and im trying to learn moonlight sonata 3rd movement and its pretty hard but I know that there are harder ones. But the 3rd movement isnt only abt chords, it has many hard things like fast jumps between lov and high notes (if My english triggers or smth pls notice that i'm from finland and My english is pretty bad)
Your English is great 😊 it’s definitely not an easy piece so you are doing great if you are learning it and all Beethoven sonatas require skill to learn!
There are many more pieces that are less predictable and trickier though, depending on how far along in your playing career you are; there are many techniques that are learnt for this in many other pieces along the way, whereas some pieces have unique techniques and challenges that you don’t often come across 😊
@@matticawood Ay thanks mate 😁I have played for abt 9 years, and now that I think, it aint even that hard. it may sound hard and hard to learn, but when you learn the basics of the song it aint even that hard.
@@zipare2495 based, mvt 3 is literally easier than Mozarts turkish march
Moi
Putting all those pieces at a hardest piano piece list is like putting moonlight sonata 2nd movement on a most famous piano pieces list
I can confirm. Chopin etude Op 10 no 1 is hard af.
0:40 explains how scales are easy
then immediately completely ignores fast scales of thirds and sixths, which are like 1000 times harder, right there in the video 😝
Also called double thirds and double sixths
I mentioned in a few other comments that I missed them by accident 😊 I may do a short on them just so I’ve covered it and can refer to that 😂
Reading it is the difficult part on the 3rd movement on Moonlight Sonata. I can't do runs very well. 😢 I'm self taught
very nice reacting