I actually never properly introduced myself here, how rude of me... I am a 45 year old happily unmarried spinster (AND a crazy cat lady
) from Northern Europe, who started piano again after several decades at 44. My piano journey is probably quite common:
I first started piano sometime around the age of 6 (can't remember exactly). We lived in a small village so I was first taught by a neighbor (who wasn't a qualified teacher) and then pretty soon started lessons given by a local teacher. What I remember about lessons was that they were not pleasant. It was physically exhausting (I was not a robust child) and since I rarely practiced I couldn't play what I was supposed to. I never learned to sight read properly, had bad memory and I guess it didn't help much that I couldn't see properly, something I was able to hide pretty long (who wanted glasses at that age?). I was coerced into performing a few times but always felt inadequately prepared so it was a very unpleasant experience. I never really got that far with piano, just a couple of methods books. I also didn't have tiger parents, quite the opposite, I was pretty much allowed to use my time the way I wanted. So I did what I loved best, read books. I read all the time and by the time I was 10 I probably read at least 5 books a week. At least that opened my mind pretty well I guess.
I was 11 when we moved to a city and it was finally possible to get to a music school. EVERYONE (mostly my dear cousins who also played and were very hard working kids) told me that I had no chance of getting in to play piano since I was so far behind for my age (yeah
) so I decided to play the flute instead. I did that for a couple of years. But other things soon took over, I was now living in a city and finally able to explore real life outside the books, so I did
I was also finally able to make more friends. I had always been a bit weird, but in the late seventies/early 80's being weird was suddenly cool
I soon decided that playing the flute was silly and boring, so I got an electric guitar at 14. I learned the basics by myself, but never really learned to play music. I also wanted to be a singer above all. So I kind of forgot about the piano, which stood in our living room and I rarely played, mostly just songs with chord accompaniment and sometimes visited my old books. But never felt like I could play anything real.
I was about 20 and already moved on my own when my mother asked if I wanted the piano, if not they would get rid of it when moving. I was living in a student facility, so I just told them to do whatever they wanted. After that I never touched a piano again. Whenever there was one available I simply couldn't play anything. Anyway, for 25 years most of my free time was taken up by my hobby, pedigree cats. I got into breeding, showing, arranging shows and "politics", so always busy. That also ate up most of my income...
I almost never listened to classical music really, just a few CD's that I happened to have on my shelf and liked. Chopin, Schumann (yeah
) Rachmaninoff, Berlioz, Scarlatti, some ballet music...
But something happened a couple of years ago (at the age of 44)...I listened to some piano concertos and suddenly got an urge to listen to more. I stumbled onto this site and started exploring the composers mentioned here. I managed to get myself occupied by just listening to piano music for a year or so, but then someone gave me an old digital and after keeping it under my bed for a few months I thought maybe I should actually try to play again. I think this site was an eye opener for me, I actually realized that it may not be too late to learn. So I have you guys to blame for everything
This time I wanted to play music I liked, so I tried to learn a nocturne by Chopin... Didn't go that well really, it sounded much easier on the record, was quite a shock to actually read the notes and fingerings
So I thought I should start from the beginning and started playing the easy pieces I downloaded from this site. It got me a bit frustrated though, I wanted to play something more interesting. And I wanted a better instrument too. So I just suddenly decided that why not buy a piano and start lessons? I could now afford it. I didn't know about silent pianos before but when I read about them I figured that would allow me to practice as much as I want. So I picked a teacher from the internet and bought a U1. I thought the teacher would teach me the correct technique so I would be able to play that Chopin nocturne one day. It wasn't quite like that, he seemed to be fine with my inadequate finger work and concentrated on teaching me pieces that I didn't think were worth learning.
Disappointed I was wondering if it was even possible to get a teacher like I needed at my age when music schools were out of the question. I however did a new internet search and found a private teacher who was clearly classically oriented and tried again. In the beginning it was a humiliating experience, because I had to unlearn almost everything... But now a year later I couldn't be happier that I did not give up
I still seem to struggle with the same things I did as a child, sight reading and memory issues, but I have a little more discipline now and being able to play pieces I really like helps with the hard work.
Any regrets? Well, I don't really think that I had what it takes to be a good piano player in my teenage years. I am now older and have just a little more patience (still not as much as I wish) so even if some things may have been easier to learn back then, I still think I am more equipped now. I've read about studies where they've seen people's intellectual capacity begin to decline after 45. So I'd better hurry, maybe I manage to learn something before I become a vegetable
Topic: Introduction