u/johngwheeler

I've been playing for about 8-9 months and have been learning Bach's Prelude in C, which seems to be a stable for low-intermediate players :-)

Whilst there is nothing particularly difficult in this piece, for some reason I find it very difficult to memorize all the changes. I've had no problems memorizing other pieces that have a more defined structure with separate "parts" that are easy to identify, and I think this might be the issue...

The Prelude in C is essentially just the same arpeggio pattern throughout the whole piece, with no obvious structural variation, so it seems to come down to either just learn the whole thing as sequence of chords (that are broken up into arpeggios) or to find the "harmonic glue" that informs those changes.

Should I just write down the chords and try to learn the sequence by rote, or is there an easier way to "make it stick"?

If I play it slightly slowly, I can read the music well enough, but even after 70+ repititions I can't confidently remember it.

I've been considering upgrading my ancient Alesis QS8 to something better, and have been looking at the Yamaha P525. I haven't yet had to chance to try one, but I have read several comments from people who think that the P525 is worse than the older P515 that it replaces. One YouTube reviewer ("Angelo (Professional Musician)") had two lengthy videos describing the P525 very positively, only to retract their opinion later saying they couldn't get on with the action (and maybe some other issues).

My understanding is that the P515 action is fairly heavy and the P525 (with GrandTouch-S action) is on the lighter side, similar to the Kawai ES920's RHIII action.

I suppose the differing opinions *could* just come down to a preference for a heavy or light action, but there is some implication that the P525 has other defects.

Would anyone care to add an informed opinion? Thank you!

Having difficulty remembering Bach Prelude in C...any hints to make it stick?

Is the Yamaha P515 really better than the newer P525?