First lesson

[aaron_ginn]

Well, I broke down and took my first lesson two days ago.  I've been self-taught for the first five months, and although I have made good progress, I was concerned about my technique and developing bad habits that would be difficult to correct if I got too far down the road.

I had been concerned about whether or not I was holding my hands to high and causing undue strain on my wrists.  My instructor said my hand position seemed to be fine, but she did notice a few things that I need to work on.  First, my left hand was playing way too loudly.  She made the point that my left hand seems to be stronger than my right hand (I'm right-handed).  I said it was probably due to the fact that I didn't have particularly good control with my left hand and wasn't playing with any touch, just brute force.  Second, she noticed that I wasn't playing with curled fingertips enough.  In many places my fingers were completely flat or, in some extreme cases, I was playing with my first knuckle bent inward (an inverted finger curl, if you will).  Finally, she simply told me to slow down and get back to basics.  I'm working solely on two pieces for the next two weeks, the Maple Leaf Rag and the Bach two-part Invention in Dm (#4).  I'm playing them slowly, HS, and meticulously hitting each note.  Many times I say "that's close enough" to myself if I hit a note in the general vicinity or if I hit only two correct notes in a triad.  I'm now trying to carefully play each note properly and correctly now.

After about three hours of implementing the above suggestions, I can already see an incredible amount of improvement in my playing.  I think I knew all the above things, but I was simply ignoring them and pushing forward.  There's something to be said for having someone else critique you and encourage you to improve.  My next lesson is in a little less than two weeks.  I'll let you know how it goes.

[maestoso]

congrats man! i started taking lessons too and it has improved me alot. it was wierd i seem to unlock the ability(somewhat to play hands together. my instructor is not a fan of hs practice but i still do also he is a hanonite! but whatever i just enjoy having someone push me. he's got me working on the raindrop prelude and fur elise i'm trying to have them done by next practice but i may not! good luck with your lessons!

[asyncopated]

Sounds great!  Glad to hear the you are enjoying your lessons. 

I can relate completely to what you said.  I've been playing a bach invention for about three weeks now, and just came back from a lesson and I'm still working on the touch   -- I need to have one hand detached with a bounce in the sound, with armweight (rather than a point or a stacatto sound)  and a complete legato sound in the other.  It's really quite amazing working on details like that.  When you are able to sit back listen to the sound that you produce in a month or so, you do feel that after all the hard work you put in, it's really worth the effort.  Certianly an achievement to be proud of.

Have fun!

 

[stormx]

Good decision Aaron !!

Your progress with a teacher will be noticeable soon!!
You will correct problems you were unaware of, and you will begin to focus on some important aspects of piano playing that you probably did not give enough importance till now.

Good luck!!

[jepoy]

Good work! You seemed to have picked a very good teacher as you are now working on Bach's 2-part inventions which on the whole are already advanced pieces.

Except for the inverted curl that you described (which I'm having trouble imagining), I won't worry to much on playing with flat fingers. If you watch some of the greatest virtuousi's such as Horowitz, they use this technique. My own concert pianist friend was taught to play with flat fingers. It doesn't look pretty for us who were taught the conventional way (curled fingers) but she produces incredible sound, so I guess it does work.

Good luck and keep us posted on your progress!

[bachapprentice]

If you are just starting lessons I would go with some easier Bach pieces like the Minuets and small preludes.  Schirmer's has some good books for easier Bach pieces.  www.sheetmusicplus.com.

[mad_max2024]

Do I see moonlight's 3rd movement in the "works in progress" thingy?
 
That's not exactly a beginner's piece

Congratulations on finding a teacher, I've self-learned for about 12 years and I'm still struggling with bad habits I've picked up
Not to mention I'm making far stronger and faster progress with a teacher.
It's definitely the way to go, good luck 

[mdshimazu]

Ya. It's nice to get going on lessons, they help a lot. You're lucky to have done that soon. I spent a solid 5 years teaching myself (Actually got to working on some difficult stuff, Chopin's 1st ballade, Prokofiev's 1st sonata, etc. but they never sounded good). Now I have lessons and I am now able to play a great number of pieces that never really worked before (after untold hours at the piano correcting my technique). So now I'm beginning to work on stuff like Ginastera's Danzas Argentinas, and Beethoven's Waldstein sonata, pieces that would never have worked before, because they were far too technical. It always helps to be playing piano correctly.

[molto-marcato]

<Do I see moonlight's 3rd movement in the "works in progress" thingy?
Huh
That's not exactly a beginner's piece>

I must agree. Moonlight 3rd mvt. after 2 lessons and 5 self tought months......either you're over-enthusiastic or a genius (maybe a second Richter?) . I would suggest to take on some less complex pieces (try some Mozart or Grieg lyric pieces) and see how far you can get. Maybe post them in the audition room. Then slowly increase "difficulty" of you repertoire, no need to rush into Beethoven and create a sloppy Sonata-blur  .

Regards

[a1]

  Wish you happy learning Aaron .