New Member With Difficulty

[afamee]

This is my first post, therefore it will be long. I promise that subsequent posts will be a lot shorter. Thanks. Read on

Hello everybody, before i start i will like to commend on great place this site is. Its just a great place for people that love the great instrument. My name is afam, 26 years old living in Antioch California. I just started learning the piano roughly 5 months ago. Before then, i never played any instrument, in otherwords, i am not musical in nature but have always been interested in learning piano cause i love piano music. I signed up with a piano teacher, who although shes a very good pianist is totally visually impaired. For brevity, i stuck with her for 2 months because i felt that there are somethings that she would not be able to teach me for eg. fingering, posture etc. We spent those 2 months learning basic kid songs, learning C scale and some arpeggios. It was a waste of time because i didnt learn that much. After that i signed up with this russian lady who i will say i have learned so much from and whom i will say made me realize that the 2 months was a waste. I developed bad playing habits which am now finding difficulty breaking. Bottom line, is that  i have improved a lot in the past few months with this new teacher. I now face some difficulty in several places which i am in dire need of help from anyone in this forum.

1.) What can help me learn playing pieces with both hands simultaneously. I can play with both hands if they are not played simultenously but when i try to play both hands together simultaneously, my right hand will be playing but as soon as i introduce the left hand, i get messed up.  Is this some skill that will improve over time with practice or is there something else that will help me?

2.) Although i have improved in reading and playing notes. i do have difficulty every now and then recognizing them immediately. what can help me improve in this aspect or is this something that improves with practice.

3.) Also for sightreading, what is the best way to learn or is there a good book out there that can help?

4.) I have difficulty obeying the timing. Is there anything that can help improve in keeping with my time?

Finally, i have had a lot of criticism from people saying that i might be a little old to pick up piano but i fail to accept this fate. In doing so, i went out and bought myself a 52 key  upright Young Chang piano and spend hours practicing after work.

5.) My goal is to be more than an intermediate pianist by the end of the year. To reach this goal, how many hours should i practice everyday and when is the best time to practice for optimal understanding.

Thank you very very much for reading this and getting to this point. thank you

[rsolis]

Hello Afamee.

Let me tell ya something, that things that u mention its all normal and natural. Im learning with the john thompson book and its progresive, my stupid hand is the left one and its dificult when u mix both hands but its only practice and more practice. One thing that worked for me was to memorize the left hand passage and then played and i didnt pay attention just to the speed. I dont know what method r u using but im using the thompson first grade and the hannon virtuoso pianist for finger strength.
Other thing, its difficult to read both pentagrams at the same time, i use to play trombone and i only could read in F but when i jump to the piano that was a mess, thats why learning books have numbered the notes with the fingers that u should use and practice some solfeo to familiar with the notes and for the timing use a metronome.

[afamee]

Hello rSolis,
it absolutely feels good to hear that all this is normal and natural. I am not sure what you mean by "methods used". If you mean what book am using, then that would be "Adult Piano Adventures" and i believe its also progressive. I can tell you that i have improved a lot over the last 2 months but i personally think that this early stage is the best time to adopt good playing habit and stick with it. My main caveat is developing and sticking with bad playing habits. I will try the suggestion you gave also theres this guy called Bernhard in this forum whom i have read a lot of helpful tips and technique. Maybe you should look out for his posts too. thanks again

[pianoteacherkim]

Hello!

Congrats on learning to play!  You have set yourself quite a goal.   

I'll work on answering some of your questions:

1.) What can help me learn playing pieces with both hands simultaneously.

I suspect you're practicing hands separate and then trying to put hands together at nearly the same tempo, right?  You'll need to slow way down -- I mean very slow.  So slow that you have time to think about what each hand is doing before you push keys down.  When you put hands together, you are adding another thought process to the mix:  where before you were reading one staff, coordinating the movements of one hand, now you're doing the same with two. 

You want to go so slowly that you can play correctly, so that you can build in correct sensory memory (touch, muscle, visual, aural).  If you go fast, and you continue making mistakes, you'll have a much harder time building the song.  This takes a great deal of patience and discipline, to slow yourself down that much.  Have courage! 

2.) Although I have improved in reading and playing notes.

Time + repetition = memory.  MusicTheory.net and eMusicTheory both have free games that will help you do quick note recognition practice (kind of like doing flashcards without another person).  Also, take your books and just start reading through and naming notes out loud, away from the piano (you can do the same for naming chords, intervals, etc.)  Hearing your own voice , instead of just "thinking" the answers, can help solidify the learning.

3.) Also for sightreading, what is the best way to learn

There was a thread here on sightreading quite recently -- scroll down the forum or do a search.  It was a good discussion.

4.) I have difficulty obeying the timing.

Another time to pull out the "slow practice" tool, along with a metronome.  Along with a bit of self-discipline!      You can't be in a hurry to play at full tempo.  If you give yourself the "time to think" with a slow tempo, you'll be able to navigate the notes and rhythm more easily.  Also, know that your inner sense of rhythm will continue to improve the longer you play.

Finally, i have had a lot of criticism from people saying that i might be a little old to pick up piano but i fail to accept this fate.

Good for you!  You can absolutely achieve your goals and learn to play piano as an adult.  It takes dedication and a willingness to spend time in front of the piano, which you have!!  As far as your practice time goes, you'll have to build up your stamina as you go, and make sure you are relaxed and not holding tension anywhere (your teacher can help you with this). 

I find that 20-30 minute practice sessions with 10-minute breaks to stretch and clear your mind can be very effective.

Best of luck to you!

Kim

[afamee]

  Wow. I am left with no words to describe how happy i am with this forum. With a forum like this, filled with so many nice people who not only answer your question passively but take the extra effort to understand very well before answering. I most say its amazing. Kim, i thank so much for the effort you made in answering my questions. My biggest enemy is lack of patience. I have been told so many times by my instructor. "afam you pay no attention to time". and that is so true because i lack so much patience especially when it comes to given each note their individual time. I think my problem can be greatly attributed to my deep sitted misconception that one has to be quick when playing the piano. I have been working so much on being patient when practicing but when i read your answers (kim), it reinforces the need to be much more patient esp. at this early stage of learning. For this, i thank so much. greatly appreciate. 

[ant2006]

Just take your time with everything and appreciate that learning to play piano can be a slow process sometimes, its not always easy to play if your life is a bit hectic etc.... I have been playing since November last year, not everyday but plenty of research on learning techniques helped me such as changs book.
Different people learn at different paces so just practice at your own pace and dont compare your progress with other people so much also 

[molto-marcato]

I think it is definitely possible to become a pianist late in life (maybe not on a concert level). It is of course a lot of work and time you need to achieve this goal. I think if you want to become a pianist you should do at least some technical excercises, like scales and arps early on, later czerny and Brahms. Be careful with your timetable. You might achieve a lot within one year of motivated work, but to become a pianist in just one year is an ambitious goal. I'd say try to become the best pianist you can be in the shortest possible time.

Most people who think you cannot learn something totally new late in life are just too lazy to try.