Two problems...need your advices

[vperezr]

Hi,

I am a 42 years old man. My dream is to play piano. I am practing alone for about 1 year...I play piano at my church. I think I didn´t play it too bad.

Now I am in an Institute named "CANZION INSTITUTE". Yesterday one student told me something that leaved me thinking about it. He said "it is very hard that you play piano in a good way....because I am a left-handed person... I am trying to get information about good left-handed pianists...but I didn`t find it.

Morever, I lost part of my third finger of my right hand (about 1/3).

Now, I am very worry. I believe in GOD words...that say "nothing is impossible for GOD" but this student leaved me very worry.

I need your opinions and comments.


Thank you in advance.


VICTOR PEREZ
STUDENT OF INSTITUTO CANZION PANAMA
www.institutocanzion.com/panama

 

[leucippus]

I believe in GOD words...that say "nothing is impossible for GOD" but this student leaved me very worry.

Well if god were the one learning to play the piano there probably wouldn't be too much to worry about then.

I think as humans we all have limitations.  What is it that you are worried about being impossible?  Learning a particular piece?  Becoming the world's greatest piano virtuoso?  Etc?

I'm just starting to learn the piano at 57.  I have mental disabilities now that drastically interfere with my learning process.   That doesn't mean that I'm going to give up learning to play.  But it most likely means that my learning curve will be a lot slower than it otherwise might be and I may even run into limitations of what I can actually play.  That doesn't worry me.  Even perfectly healthy people run into limitations.  After all, every pianists who starts out in earnest to play the piano does not become a great virtuoso.  I've talked with perfectly healthy pianists who know they are never going to become great and accept the confines of their abilities.  Not that they don't try to improve, but they just don't have unrealistic expectations.

The real factors in how good of a piano player you will become probably have much more to do with how much time you have to practice, how sincerely interested you are in becoming good, and perhaps even how much you get into the music.

The best saying I know is, "You never know until you try".  That's really all you can do.  No one here can say whether or not you might become a great pianist.  It's not my dream or intention to become a great pianist so I'm not worried about.  I just play for my own enjoyment and that's good enough for me. 

After all God is watching me play so I already have a great audience.

You say you play at your church and you do well.  Just keep playing what you do well and you'll be alright.  If you run into pieces that you find too difficult it's up to you whether you want to tackle them as a challenge, or just by-pass them as being not all that important.  After all, there's really no reason that a pianist should be able to play just anything.  I personally feel that it's better to know a limited repertoire of pieces that I can play really well, than to try to play a lot of things that I don’t play so well.   

How you proceed is your own choice.  And freedom of choice is one of the greatest gifts that god has given us.

I might add too that if you find a passage or phrase that is giving you extreme problems don't be afraid to modify it a bit by dropping a few notes or playing it slightly different than tradition has it.  If you play the rest of the piece very well most people probably won't even notice that you've simplified a few parts here and there.  After all, you're a musician not a robot.  View things from an artistic point of view rather than a purely technical point of view and just enjoy the music.

[pianistimo]

plastic surgery is full of amazing procedures.  if i were you, i'd pray for an opportunity to get that 1/3 portion of a finger back.  not sure what is possible these days - but it seems like daily there are many technologies that make limbs better functioning (even prosthesis of sorts).  i could see, in your case, a very lightweight prosthesis could help your piano playing.  maybe you should invent something yourself since you know what you want.  also, it could help others in the future. 

God helps those who help themselves - but i also believe that He goes beyond what we can do.  so, if you pray - God, i want to help myself AND others - he'll likely make it possibly for you to play the piano with BOTH hands.  don't limit yourself.

i hope that he will make some ideas come into your head for better ways to help you play.  don't give up on your right hand over one 1/3 of a finger.  every part of the body is important. 

 if one was very very careful - could they connect a prosthetic that bent by somehow attaching it to the bone with glue or something slightly above the joint?  i will look on the internet - but it is likely that you would need to talk to some surgeons. 

[stagefright]

beeing lefthanded sholud not be a problem at all - you will probably have to excerise more your right hand then the left, like righthanded personse have to do with thier left.

missing distal 1/3 od your III finger on the right hand might be a handicap, but it is dificult to say anything without seeing what are you abel to do with a hand like this

you say you play piano in your church and you are doing it not bed; probably excercising you can only play better

anton rubinstein was a great and famous pianist; hi had very thick fingers so it happened to him very often to hit two keys at the same time instead of one; thus he had an anatomical handicap but could still be a concert pianist

just do not give up; go on learning music; maybe one day you will discover something even more challenging then play piano - composing for example
I myself wanted to be a singer, started with clarinet and ended with piano and composing; you never know where the music will bring you

[prometheus]

Being right or left handed makes no difference on the piano. Left handed piano's exist but no one really uses them because it doesn't really matter. One uses both hands to play piano. One hand is dominant over the other. In the case of a left handed player it is the right hand, in the case of a right handed player it is the left hand. That's the only difference.

[nanabush]

I'm left handed, but my right hand is muuuuuch better at every technique; cept octaves 

[mostlyclassical]

Well, I'm left-handed too and it has actually helped me when starting to play the piano. The left was significantly more flexible and strong enough to do 'stuff' that the right could never pick up. And guess what, most repertoire is actually right-hand focused, so by working mostly on the right, an equilibrium was reached quite naturally. Now the task for me is not to tire the right hand due to continuous practicing and give also the left the workout it requires.

[lostinidlewonder]

Piano is the most difficult physical movement you will ever do with your hands in your entire life. Playing any musical instrument is. Anyone who tells you it is not going to be hard to play the piano well is simply lying to you. So this person who tries to discourage you is just oblivious to the fact that developing piano skill is hard for everyone. There must always be that struggle, hard effort and strain, then we achieve something.

Missing a finger is a big disadvantage at the piano but we always must work with what we have been given. I have a student whos fingers are so fat it is impossible for him to play inbetween black notes. Even though he has all his fingers he is restricted and must really curl and claw his fingers to be able to play notes sometimes. We learn to play with our own hands!

There are plenty of Left handed pieces out there as well that rival two handed pieces easily.