My bad situation...

[trimen]

Well... I've been doing piano for almost 5 years now and to say the least I've had a far less than formal instruction in piano. I guess I've advanced pretty far but I don't really know what to do and I think I'm probably in a mess.

I've learned Chopin's Military polonaise well, and a few preludes and nocturnes, one waltz, a bit of his first scherzo, and 2 funeral marches (the other being the one from his 2nd sonata[I think]). Liszt's 6th hungarian rhapsody(or just about all of it, with one of the sections kinda messy[the section with the melody in the left hand and the triplet arpegios in the right, close to the end]). About half of the first movement to Tschaikovsky's 1st piano concerto. A few pieces here and there of Bach's English suites... etc. etc. etc.

And it keeps on going like that. Not much of anything learned really well, barely any are still memorized which probably means I didn't really learn them too well.

Right now I'm going through the 4th movement of Prokofiev's 6th sonata and I'm about half way through that movement.

I think I'm really in a mess and I'll be starting college soon... I don't really know what in the world to do. I want to turn out as a pretty reasonable pianist for my own sake. I'm just gonna be a music education major so it's not direly important that I'm a great amazing pianist, but all the same I want to be a good pianist.

I need help as to what to do about this big mess I've created, I don't think I've spent enough time working on plain technique, doing lots of scales and arpegios and stuff, doing exercises and etudes, etc. I'm hoping to get a job so that I can get myself piano lessons with a good teacher but I donno when that's gonna happen. Any kinda of suggestions, help, words, etc. will be apreciated.

[jeremyjchilds]

My guess would be that you need to get methodical in your practice...i could be wrong.

Step aside for a moment and just decide that you want to be a well-rounded pianist. This means that you will need to practice at least an hour each day, and this also means that you need to set realistic goals.

Tech is most likely a problem given your (seemingly) informal musical career. A deficiency in tech will probably be your most obvious problem in a college setting. Start with the first group of chords (CGF, aed) and practice yur scales, chords, arpeggios slowly with the metronome (with a goal in mind) just practice those scales untill they all feel feel equally comfortable and smooth. I should also mention that you are likely attempting songs taht are too difficult. Try some easier songs. Grab some 2 part inventions and work mentodically

You, know, I'm realizing as I'm saying this, that you need a teacher to be sure you have correct hand position and tone production. If you are paying for college, then it is a very very good investment to cover the basics with a good teacher. Have her (him) diagnose your strengths and weaknesses, then attack those weaknesses like your life depends on it (no matter how bad it makes your ego feel) As soon as I realized that I was not really taht good of a piano player (3 years into my degree) and lost my pride, my playing took off! The sooner you grasp this concept, the better.

I guess I didn't answer you question, but my number one tip is to get a good teacher, and my number 2 tip is to not be afraid of weaknesses

[abell88]

(Just read the previous reply, which I agree with, and will add):

Of course, finding a teacher is really, really important...if you can't yet afford to pay, perhaps you can find someone who will accept your labour or something else "in kind" instead of cash.

In the meantime, I totally sympathize with your situation; I have a lot of three-quarter learned pieces.  I suspect (correct me if I'm wrong) there are two (main) reasons for your "bad situation."

1. You have chosen a lot of hard pieces to learn. Choose some easier material. (You can search the Teaching thread for "Beautiful music that is not hard to play.") This will enable you to learn techniques that will prepare you for the hard stuff.

2. Just a guess here -- but do you have any specific goals for the piano? (In my case, I finished all my exams many years ago, and have therefore had no particular goals to aim for.) Think long and hard about your goals...how do you see yourself using the piano in one year, or five years?  You  are not heading for a concert career, but who do you want to play for? For example, if you are going to be a band teacher, maybe you'll want to play the piano to illustrate different periods of musical history for your students. Pick some pieces from different eras to learn.  Perhaps you will need to accompany vocalists or instrumentalists -- find someone to accompany now! Find/make performance opportunities that you will need to prepare for -- for example, call a nursing home and ask if you can play for the residents in two months time...then prepare a small concert for them. 

Hope these help somewhat!

[happyface94]

The fact that you have only played the pieces a bit seems to me that you haven't worked on them.

Anyone can play the pieces, properly and melodically is different.

[whynot]

Hi!  I am intrigued by your situation and impressed with all you've done.  I want to give you a little background on myself before I make suggestions, so you see that we've shared some experiences.  I am mostly self-taught (no money growing up) and am now a professional classical pianist-- sort of a concert pianist, I guess, but I do all kinds of things.  I also study now with a brilliant pianist who acts as a coach for me (meaning we don't work on technique, nor does he assign me pieces-- he listens to whatever I'm doing and helps with that). 

Okay, first I want to say that I really like the suggestions given so far.  From my own perspective, I have to congratulate you for working so diligently on your own steam all these years, and for tackling big fabulous pieces by yourself.  Perhaps it isn't ideal in some aspects to play such difficult repertoire early on-- you will take some heat for that from some people-- but there's a lot to be said for it, too!  Clearly you are brave and highly motivated.  And you've learned a lot in a short t ime.  AND... this is important! you have exposed yourself to a ton of repertoire and a ton of playing "problems" or situations, so you've had important experiences with your instrument early on.  This is MUCH more useful-- and meaninful-- than if you had started cautiously and slowly and forced yourself to play everything perfectly before moving on to the next piece.

So my own suggestions would be:
1. record yourself so you can really listen for evenness, phrasing, and beauty.   Listen to recordings of great pianists, playing your pieces or otherwise, to train your ear to the possibilities of the piano.  This is where you can evaluate your technique better-- don't assume your technique is a mess, either!  You may be doing just dandy.  Playing difficult music, finding ways to make it feel easy and relaxed/comfortable, this is really how great technique develops, so maybe you're in good shape.  In the technique vein, check Bernhard's threads on scale fingerings.   
2.  play for a really good teacher and get some feedback as soon as you can.  He/she may ask you to do easier things for a while, to give you a chance to develop certain aspects of playing without having to finish off huge pieces in the meantime.  If that's the case, don't take it as discouragement, it would just be plugging in some pieces of the puzzle.
3.  as far as finishing any of the pieces you're working on now, if you want to do that, I would suggest-- memorize it first (in sections) before spending much time working on it.  This shocks some people, but I swear by it.  Make memorization one of the first things you do.  Otherwise you associate a piece with how it looks on paper for a really long time, and the adjustment to how it looks and feels on the keyboard feels like a very big thing.  Try it out and see what happens. 

Very best wishes in your work. 


   

[janice]

After I read your post, I already had some suggestions, and as I read on, I see that everybody said what I wanted to say!!  1)Get a teacher, 2)it sounds like you are working on pieces that are FAR too difficult.  Even if it hurts the pride, get some easier music and spend lots of time on things like phrasing (the notes under a slur are considered to be a "phrase".  Think of it as musical sentence.  Maybe you already know this, if not, please let us know and we will explain it). 

Hope our suggestions have helped!