my story

[michichan]

Hye all
I'm new in this forum.
I hope we will be able to get to know each other better....
 
I really really love Piano so much!!!!
Recently in June'07 i start taking adult piano course, currently still in Level 1
I am 22 going 23 by the way. I hope its still not too late though...
My academy is having a performance in a shopping mall in two weeks time. My teacher asked me to perform... And im sick worried....
She asked me to play two songs.
So i've picked one song that is Love story (where do i begin) a very simple score..
The problem is that, im so scared that i'll be nervous and everything and be blank during the performance day... Any tips how to overcome this ?

And i need to choose another song... Can anyone pls suggest what song ? Even better if you can provide with the piano score..
Thank you so much
Nice to meet all of you here... I did some reading and i believe most of you are all advance player .. I feel so small 

[valor]

Heres my advice, go to any random store that has pianos in it and just play it. I do it all the time, most of the time people dont notice (rude people, i play very well so I have no idea why they dont pay attention to me... ). It'll help you get over this fright. Also, be sure to practice the peice enough so you dont really have to think about the peice so you can play, practice enough so you can play it automatically. And im sure your hands are going to be freezing just before you play, so i suggest you keep them warm some how (my hands freeze whenever i hve to play infront of my class, i just rub them together).

What sort of second peice are you interested in playing? what genre? If its from a game i can give you a name of a peice lol.

[pianistimo]

perhaps you should tell your teacher that you do not want to play in a public setting yet - and prefer family and friends.  there's no shame to that.  in fact, i'm surprised she put you into a public setting so early on.

maybe you should also tell her that you think that playing a totally new song along with this pop song in two weeks is like knowing a dental appointment is coming up.  there's no joy to just learning a song barely in time for a performance.  is she mental or something?

if i were you - and this is my own personal advice - if she doesn't let you off the hook - get sick on the day of the performance.  leave a message on her machine.  maybe some sound effects. 

[michichan]

valor,
play in the store ? but i dont memorize the notes... i mean i need to read the piano score, then only i can play it 
is this so unacceptable? i need to memorize it? i dont mind whatever nice song... u have any? mind to share? thanks so much .. nice to meet you 

pianistimo,
actually im kinda looking forward to this performance.... actually everybody will be performing, young kids, etc... but it is up to us whether we want it or not. and i actually said yes when my teacher asked me  is it really a bad idea 
the reason why i said yes was because i think itwould be a good opportunity for me to overcome my nervousness in whatever i do.. but yet i still scared  thanks for ur reply. nice to meet you 

[valor]

valor,
play in the store ? but i dont memorize the notes... i mean i need to read the piano score, then only i can play it 
is this so unacceptable? i need to memorize it? i dont mind whatever nice song... u have any? mind to share? thanks so much .. nice to meet you 

pianistimo,
actually im kinda looking forward to this performance.... actually everybody will be performing, young kids, etc... but it is up to us whether we want it or not. and i actually said yes when my teacher asked me  is it really a bad idea 
the reason why i said yes was because i think itwould be a good opportunity for me to overcome my nervousness in whatever i do.. but yet i still scared  thanks for ur reply. nice to meet you 

Thats good, then shes teaching you how to sight read? Np, just take the sheet with you when your going to a mall that has a piano store. And yea, i've got a song thats really nice (its from a game called Final Fantasy X), To zanarkand. You can find loads of versions on it, easy, difficult and medium (not sure on easy though but im pretty sure theres one out there). Heres a link of the version i learned (the link below it has the midi for the song, it isn't the exact midi for the particular version of the song, but its the song):

https://ffmusic.ffshrine.org/ff10sheet/ff10-sheet-music.php

https://www.vgmusic.com/music/console/sony/ps2/index-af.html

its number 2 on the list, but you'll have to ask your teacher if you can play it, because if you've just started it'll be a bit difficult for you. Its a sad song btw, buts its really nice. Its nice to meet you too. (its funny how your thread name reminds me of the game Final Fantasy X and im recommending you a song from it, lol, My story.)

[michichan]

valor
yea i know that song
its beautiful
do u know or do u have the music sheet? preferably the easy one of course 
it would be great if i could play this song during the performance
btw what is sight read? thanks so much !! 

[naughtius-maximus]

Also, be sure to practice the peice enough so you dont really have to think about the peice so you can play, practice enough so you can play it automatically.

agreed

i need to memorize it?

It really does help

what is sight read?

When you can look at the notes on the score and just play them.

[valor]

I found a site that has an easier version i think, i couldn't take a look at it but i read its simple on a forum


https://www.nobuouematsu.com/main.html


If the link doesn't work then sorry, i dont know any other sites with a simple version of To Zanarkand, but i can give you some tips on learning the version i learned, in the link i gave you before.

https://ffmusic.ffshrine.org/ff10sheet/ff10-sheet-music.php


Back when i learned this peice i saw numbers ontop of notes and had no idea what they were, they could have really helped me out because i came up with totaly different fingering for the peice.

This peice has a lot of octaves and stretches in it, and chords. Ok, whenever you see that 8va thing ontop of notes with doted lines it means you have to play everything underneath those 1 octave up, this mean that instead of playing where you usually would (around middle C), you would go up 1 C. So it'll look the same as where you would usually play except its 1 octave above.

Also, when your learning this peice take note of the R.H. written just above the G in measure 13 (section B, measure 1). This means you play that note with your right hand, not your left.

Start off by learning the third page of this sheet, it has a lot of octaves and chords so it'll help if you get those out of the way first. Then go back to the beginning of the peice and learn all those runs (arppegios? dunno what they should be called), they're the eight notes in measure 1, measure 3, measure 5, measure 7, measure 9, measure 11, measure 13, and so on. The first two sets of runs for the right hand in the first page are basically the same, just brought down one note, so you should remember that, it'll help you learn more quickly. The same goes for the runs in the left hand, they're the same pattern except they start on different notes. Once you get these down this peice will be a peice of cake.

Oh, and remember to play softly, and also whenever you play a peice try to find as many patterns as you can, it'll help speed up learning. Oh, and sight reading isn't bad, its actually really good, it means that you can just play the notes right off the sheet music without having to practice hours like most of us do (lol). I can only sight read simple peices so it takes me weeks to remember a difficult one.

[zheer]

   LOL you must watch.

[michichan]

volar,
thank you so much for the tips. im printing the score now.. the first page look ok but the later page look kinda difficult but im gonna give it a try.
So do you mean, for advance player, most of you play by memorizing it?
Hmm... i guess i still able to sight read cause the one im playing is easy ones? Like u said u only able to sight read on simple pieces.....
How do you memorize it btw? 

zheer,
wow.. thanks for the link but i prefer the one by andy williams.... you like this ver better? 

[michichan]

naughtius-maximus
how do you memorize it?
especially those long pieces,,, 

[zheer]

zheer,
wow.. thanks for the link but i prefer the one by andy williams.... you like this ver better? 

  Well it is a classic love scene, you know man women playing in the snow ect ect.

[valor]

volar,
thank you so much for the tips. im printing the score now.. the first page look ok but the later page look kinda difficult but im gonna give it a try.
So do you mean, for advance player, most of you play by memorizing it?
Hmm... i guess i still able to sight read cause the one im playing is easy ones? Like u said u only able to sight read on simple pieces.....
How do you memorize it btw? 

zheer,
wow.. thanks for the link but i prefer the one by andy williams.... you like this ver better? 

Well im my opinion, the reason advance players memorize their peices is because they haven't had enough practice sight reading. That, or they want to memorize it so they dont have to carry around the music to play. There are different levels of sight reading, its not just being able to read simple music, you can also play really difficult peices by sight reading too. I remember one day at my piano class my teachers wife was playing a peice just by looking at it, and i was amazed because it didn't really look like she knew the music but she was playing it really quickly. So dont stop practicing sight reading just because others dont, its an important skill. Oh, and if you want to memorize it you have to practice. Practice untill you know what notes you have to play without looking at the sheet. Btw, when your practicing sight reading, never look down at your fingers/ keybaord. Its important to get a feel for the keyboard, to know where the notes are without looking.

[naughtius-maximus]

Well im my opinion, the reason advance players memorize their peices is because they haven't had enough practice sight reading. That, or they want to memorize it so they dont have to carry around the music to play.

This is true. 

But, I also feel that only after memorising, can one really start to play the piece.
Understand it, Get into it, Release it. 

[naughtius-maximus]

naughtius-maximus
how do you memorize it?
especially those long pieces,,, 

Unfortunately, to me, this means loads of practice time. 

[rc]

hey Michichan, just to throw in my two bits I gotta agree with Valor that most people who memorize do so because they can't sightread so well.  I'm a good example of that   I play and people are surprised at my memory, but I'm even more surprised at their sightreading.  It's not just opinion, sightreading is a more complicated task.  Ideally we should be good at both.

How to memorize?

It helps to simplify.  Learn music theory to help yourself condense patterns into familiar harmonies so that instead of remembering a bunch of notes you only have to remember the chord or scale that it's built from.

Memory follows the senses, so you can memorize visually the keys and the score, aurally the sound of the piece, and kinesthetically the feel of playing it.  Don't worry about tasting or smelling the music   All these processes happen automatically by playing it a lot as Naughtius said, but you can also focus your attention on the seperate aspects as you practice.

Also, it's important to play in public, which is why your teacher wants you to.  Music is meant to be heard, everybody experiences stage fright, in fact it tends to get worse the better you get because you're putting more on the line.  So you must learn how to deal with stage fright if you're to share the music you love.

[ramithediv]

to memorize a piece, it really helps if you like it. 

If not, forget it. 

[zheer]

  Excellent advice from rc, but can i add that the ability to memorize music like sight reading develops over time , it is a little like body-building the more you do the more you develop .

[theodore]

Michichan:

Below you will see a great website for instantly downloading many different levels of free piano sheet music:

https://www.gmajormusictheory.org/Freebies/freebies.html


Hope this helps with your choice of a second piano piece.

Theodore

[valor]

Michichan:

Below you will see a great website for instantly downloading many different levels of free piano sheet music:

https://www.gmajormusictheory.org/Freebies/freebies.html


Hope this helps with your choice of a second piano piece.

Theodore

Its better if you learn the simple peices on the site Theodore left instead of learning To Zanarkand, Michichan. If you only started playing piano a few months ago then it will probably be too difficult for you.

[michichan]

i will only be playing one song
but its not smooth...
i tend to pause before i press the next note etc
dieeeeeeeeeeee omg
the performance is this sunday
 

[georgethemusicalme]

If you've not been playing long but can read music efficiently, you should be able to get the first 'section' of fur elise under your belt in no time. I pick this because if you're playing in public, around people that don't usually play music, they'll know the tune. Everyone that doesn't really do music seems to like it as well = instant attention by audience. If you're a 'natural' at piano then you'll probably be able to get the whole piece locked and loaded in time - just right for a concert in public. 

[michichan]

hi all
thanks for all the replies
realy appreciate it
i will definitely learn all those piece after this event
but now im really worried with this sunday performance
i play very slowly......
george, do u have the fur elise music score? i wanna learn that song after this event
thank you

theodore thanks for the link ive downloaded many music score from that website i will learn them after the event..

rc i tried to play without looking at the music score but i failed,, cant do it 

[michichan]

today i went for practice
omg so terrible...
i cant press the pedal
like when i press i wont release..
when i release everything will go haywire...
OMG
i feel like crying....
any tips for the pedal thingy.. i cant do it well

[georgethemusicalme]

small tip:
if you can't use the pedal properly in a piece then don't use it at all. Learn the piece first then add the pedal if needed. It does kinda get addictive to add the pedal when it isn't needed/when you can't use it properly - you've just got to get it out of your system  it happened to me too for a while 

[michichan]

yea but i noticed that it doesnt sound as nice
 
3 days left 

[valor]

why not try this: Pedal randomly? So you get out of the habbit of holding the pedal and you can be more independent with pedling. Like when you get to a part pedal, then when you get to another part stop pedaling, and so on. You're pedaling will eventually be more independent, i think. Good luck.

[michichan]

whenever i release the pedal the sound will be weird
like it change
like it doesnt continue?
like it stop n its so obvious...
valor im gonna try ur tips^ thanks
hope it works...
sigh.... 1 day + left