the early hurdles

[gilad]

 i had a real elementry background from sometime i spent with a teacher 4 years ago.
with her, i obviously thought i was better than everyone else and i tried to jump to more challenging beginers material. my plan never hatched and everything fell to pieces, i stopped trying and gave up piano altogether.

 here i am now, 2 months with my new teacher, 23 years old. I've gone right back to start. It's pretty boring, but i do feel a sense of accomplishment when i get a "piece" right and feel postive knowing that i will improve .
I'm doing john thompson grade 1 and others etc.

i'm obviously not eqipped yet to play pieces that actually sound like music. when i do, they dont!!!

Anyway, i'm practising between 1-3 hours every day and i am enjoying it a lot, despite the musical value of the material i'm using.

My main question is:

i feel like i'm stuck right now in drudgery and eternal beginerdom. does it ever get easier to read and play? i mean obviously it does. but does it mean i'm going to have to maintain patientience and persistance for longer than i'd hoped before. i tried playing fure lisse and others on that level, but once i realised i need to be versed at playing in 1/8 notes and 1/16 i decided to go back to basics(where i rightfully belong)
I dont know any other musicians so i've never seen how long it takes to progress, how much work needs to put in, and how rapidly people improve.i guess thats how i'd explain my hastiness!
of course i know many people who are good pianists, but i think watching them makes me feel even more befuddled.
Any valuable advice for a beginer that is willing to dedicate his life to learning piano?

[keys]

Yes. Hang in there, for a year – maximum. If she still has you in beginner repertoire change teachers. Don’t let anyone discourage you from playing the piano, and sight read whatever you like. Seeing as how you were capable of writing the above passage, that tells me that you are capable of sight reading Fur Elise, you just need a little instruction on how it’s done. Music is not as complicated as a lot of things you’ve already learnt how to do, and the amount of practice you are putting in a day shows dedication.  Listen to what you’re playing, if it doesn’t sound like music, change it until it does.

P.S. take a look at Bernhard’s thread of simple yet great beginner pieces. There is a lot of great music out there that is not as challenging as Fur Elise.

[gilad]

Yes. Hang in there, for a year – maximum. If she still has you in beginner repertoire change teachers. Don’t let anyone discourage you from playing the piano, and sight read whatever you like. Seeing as how you were capable of writing the above passage, that tells me that you are capable of sight reading Fur Elise, you just need a little instruction on how it’s done. Music is not as complicated as a lot of things you’ve already learnt how to do, and the amount of practice you are putting in a day shows dedication.  Listen to what you’re playing, if it doesn’t sound like music, change it until it does.

P.S. take a look at Bernhard’s thread of simple yet great beginner pieces. There is a lot of great music out there that is not as challenging as Fur Elise.

thanks Keys,

that was exactly what i wanted to hear and needed too as well.
i do play broken fragmented pieces of quicker more intermediate music, it sounds nice even slow and jumbled, lol. i'm happy to know i'm not expected to be playing fluidly by now, i guess i had high expectations of myself, that being because i had no relative clue as to how quickly the average novice progresses. if i keep up my programme i'll definitely be better in a year, and ready for the next one and so on.
I'm glad and reassured that i will eventually be an able pianist, for now i'm happy to say that i'm one in the making; step by step, it seems the only way.
thank for giving me some clarity, my motivation is on full now that i know there is plenty and plenty of hope for me.

G

[m1469]

Well, I was in the middle of writing a huge post... LOL  and then read your response just above.  Here are some things I just want you to be clear on.  YES, there is loads of hope for you AND it is every bit your place to play 1/8 notes and 1/16 notes, it is just a matter of how you look at them.

I must address your concerns about repertoire and playing "real" music.  There are a lot of pieces out there that you can play.  Here is a large list of suggested repertoire (including the thread that Keys suggested):

Beautiful music that is not hard to play
https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php?PHPSESSID=cf5798828dafc1a200f2dbf4c611b64e&topic=7008.msg69624#msg69624
(Beautiful music that is not hard to play)

Easiest, yet great, piano piece ever written
https://www.pianoforum.net/smf/index.php?PHPSESSID=a11a266b8b44ffc1144a8df8bb7e3683&topic=2147.msg18098#msg18098
(Recommendations for the Easiest yet greatest music ever written)

Beginner piece u like to give as repertoire
https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php?PHPSESSID=483afef2d3bd7cb5d0582abea155f8e0&topic=4140.msg38111#msg38111
(Beginner piece you like to give as repertoire)

need help finding pieces!
https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,2562.msg22127.html#msg22127
(A few suggestions)

Albums for the Young
https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php?PHPSESSID=04772a91a07dc071bfaf7eb2b7239063&topic=5063.msg49589#msg49589
(Albums for the Young)

i am looking for Chihiro theme score
https://www.pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,2357.msg56150.html#msg56150
((Joe Hisaishi sheet music, can be taught to complete beginners)

Bernhard: What pieces and in what order for an Adult (quasi) beginner https://www.pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,8126.msg82071.html#msg82071
(Pieces for an adult (quasi) beginner : list of links)

The eternal student's question
https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php?PHPSESSID=cf5798828dafc1a200f2dbf4c611b64e&topic=7237.msg72162#msg72162
(Links to easy piano music)


m1469

[gilad]

thank you mayla

very helpful, i will look into those thread and i'm sure they'll be useful.

my grandfather was a real good pianist, he was phenominal in my eyes, i'm so proud of him ,still got some vhs tapes of him playing i love to watch from time to time(so as not to ruin the tapes-better put em on cd). i often wish he were around to show me the way, but in a sense he is, i have all his music, that includes pieces he used when he was learning some 60 years back. it'll be useful and i'll get to work on finding something that looks playable for me. i'll take em to my teacher and ask him to help me choose something apt for me. i've been waiting to open up that box and start using some of those pieces. thanks for the encouragement,

G

[asyncopated]

Although you are learning what you consider beginners stuff, you can concentrate on listening, technique and producing a good sound.    You might be feeling stuck because you are concentrating too much on the notes itself -- even if you can press the correct keys is the correct order, that does not mean that you can play the piece. 

Try concentrating on the sound instead.  This is true for every piece, however simple -- try different ways of expressing the music.  Loud, soft, legato, staccato, phrasing and breathing, imagery and the legato line, stresses, textures and musical aims, etc.  Once you have a good sound in mind, try to find movements that allow you to make that sound.  Are they comfortable? Are your hands relaxed?  Can you relax them more whilst playing the piece.  How are you pushing into the key?  Are you using your whole hand/body or only your fingers?  Can you play it the same way many times?  Is your movement allowing you to do this?       

This is an advantage that adult learner has over small kids.  They are able to concentrate for a longer time on pretty "boring" tasks like these and understand the necessity, so long as they have a clear goal in mind. 

My opinion is that you have to work on these immediately when you start learning any instrument. 

The other thing is that don't confine your music to what you can play.  Listening to good performances in concert and on CD helps with musicality.  Read about the composer you are playing, what else did he compose?  What was his life like?  Read about the history of classical music, the different periods, who was influential and why.  What/who do you like, and why?  This forum is a treasue trove.

I agree with the previous posts -- if you really dislike the piece, don't play it!   There is a lot of easy music that is fun and beautiful. 

Lastly, remember that many advance pieces can be reduced to something very simple.  Take for example fantasie impromptu -- the main tune is actually really simple, so don't take what you are learning for granted! 

al.

[gilad]

thanks asyncopated, you're a hundred percent correct, ican imagine it's difficult trying to unleanr bad technique cause no attention was paid to it in the beginning. i love listening to debussy, beethoven, chopin, ravel, i'm working on broadening that. i'm also reading a very ascessable book to laymen or begginers on the eras of music and the composers, very neat stuff, i love it.