feeling down:(

[Sekoul]

hey guys.... well ill try to make it short.

i started playin at 11 (im 16) by my own initiative. I made my parents buy me a keyboard and i just started playing on my own. 3 years later i decided that i needed a teacher so my parents got me one... and another 1 year later they got me a piano. well the problem is i started out self taught and even though ive had teachers on and off since then i hate my playing. Im extremely unsystematic. I can play pieces like the revolutionary study, moonlight 3rd mov, baba yaga from pictures at an excebition, etc decently well but only the first 30 secs... its just pathetic now that i look at it... the songs that i do play untill the end are based on technique that i rarely possess. i am really bad at reading notes since i used my keyboard too much (tells you what keys to press) and i only figure out the rhythm by listening to a recording.

i wasted so much time playing to impress people and only recently started realizing how rewarding piano playing can really be if you do ir for yourself.

well my question is what can i do to really advance and become a decent piano player? i want to start from the 'beginning'. i was thinking of learing as many Bach preludes as i can this summer... and also doing gammes, but i just dont know anymore? please give me some feedback. i know it's a pretty difficult question to answer but i would appreciate anything.. thanks!

[xvimbi]

hey guys.... well ill try to make it short.

i started playin at 11 (im 16) by my own initiative. I made my parents buy me a keyboard and i just started playing on my own. 3 years later i decided that i needed a teacher so my parents got me one... and another 1 year later they got me a piano. well the problem is i started out self taught and even though ive had teachers on and off since then i hate my playing. Im extremely unsystematic. I can play pieces like the revolutionary study, moonlight 3rd mov, baba yaga from pictures at an excebition, etc decently well but only the first 30 secs... its just pathetic now that i look at it... the songs that i do play untill the end are based on technique that i rarely possess. i am really bad at reading notes since i used my keyboard too much (tells you what keys to press) and i only figure out the rhythm by listening to a recording.

i wasted so much time playing to impress people and only recently started realizing how rewarding piano playing can really be if you do ir for yourself.

well my question is what can i do to really advance and become a decent piano player? i want to start from the 'beginning'. i was thinking of learing as many Bach preludes as i can this summer... and also doing gammes, but i just dont know anymore? please give me some feedback. i know it's a pretty difficult question to answer but i would appreciate anything.. thanks!

No need to feel down at all! I think you made the biggest progress already: you realized that you are on the wrong path, and you decided to change it. Congratulations!

Starting "from the top" is a very good idea, but you'll need guidance. Get a good teacher who can lead you. If you can't finish your pieces, choose shorter ones. There are many 30 sec. pieces that, overall, will cover all pianistic aspects there are. If you want to go for longer pieces, make a habit of learning the end first.

I wouldn't recommend playing only Bach preludes. That would get boring very quickly. Since you are already advanced, you will want to play pieces that fulfill many aspects of piano playing, such as technique, human anatomy, phrasing, harmony, scales, etc. Get an anthology with shorter pieces from all periods and work through it with a teacher covering all those aspects.

[Terry-Piano]

don,t worry.... im exactly like you... im 20..i been playing for 2 years... i can play such a wide repertory but the only songs i can finish are a chosen few including moonlight mvm1   appassionata mvt2  bach prelude 1
Mozart sonate facile k545 ...I can play moonlight3 and Revolutionary and so many other things..... but i just lack the patience and am not good at reading the notes on the staff efficiently...the process is horribly slow
I learned most by listening to music...and improvising which i think is important..then looking at the score later and telling myself...ohh alsmot but there is this and that lacking...

I feel I understand the music very well looking at the score and hearing it played... but its when i dont know the piece that i have trouble reading it... probably due to a lack of rythmic theory..I guess the only good answer is read more...

I am also in need of a good teacher who will help me with all my bad habits.. but i guess i am making a first step...ive got so many pieces to end...like a hundred or so...

[Sekoul]

could anyone suggest any particular names please? composers or pieces alike... thanks!

[Motrax]

I like Rachmaninoff's 5th prelude in G minor Op. 23. It's much too overplayed, of course, but it is a very beautiful piece of music. It has a very wide spectrum of piano techniques, ranging from large and fast chord jumps to complex voicing. The pedalling also requires a great deal of care - although it provides a way to easily phrase many chords under a slur, you must be very careful to regulate the amount of noise you produce so as to keep the required clarity of the chords.

Brahms' Rhapsody Op. 79 No. 2 in G minor (I'm pretty sure that's the opus number, though I could be wrong) is also a good piece to learn. You must have a LOT of control of voicing in both hands, and must also be careful not to overuse the pedal. Technically, I'd say it's easier than the Rachmaninoff Prelude, but that might be good for concentrating on non-technical aspects.

If you aren't good at sight reading, though, you should buy a book of Chopin's Nocturnes. They have a wide range of technical difficulties, but are relatively easy. They have very complex rhythms a lot of the time, though, so you'll be able to work on that. I recommend starting with Op. 39 No. 1 in G minor, if you get the book.

Lastly, if you don't have one already, purchase a metronome. I would even say it's absolutely essential for making any progress. A metronome will keep your rhythm steady, and is especially useful once you've learned the notes of a piece.

Lastly (for real this time), try playing scales or simple exercises, and pay very close attention to your rhythm. The chromatic scale is very good for this - practice it with triplets, 4 notes per beat, 5 notes per beat, etc.

Hope I helped!

-Motrax

[pianiststrongbad]

Motrax, I don't feel that starting with that particular Rachmaninov Prelude or Brahms Rhapsody is necessarily starting from the beginning.  Having played both of those pieces I know how easy it is to obtain "bad technique" from them.  I would recommend starting with a Bach 2 part invention.  Or if you have a thing against Bach, you could possibly do one of Mozarts or Haydn's sonatas.  Possibly K.332 by Mozart, that has a very pretty second movement.  The Chopin Nocturnes is a good idea, just pick an easier one.  You could also do a Chopin Prelude, one of the easier ones.  Basically pick something that you know you will be able to play well, and feel comfortable doing so, not like no.8 out of the preludes or anything.  You also should be able to think of what the composer was trying to accomplish.  For instance if you were to chose that Rachmaninov prelude you would have more than two voices in the slow section and it would be rather difficult, but with a Bach two part invention you can tell which voice has the subject or the countersubject and which should be heard over the other.  I think the most important thing is that you should try to incorporate a comforatable technique into it and try to understand the piece inwhich you are playing.  Sightreading comes with time, so I wouldn't worry about that.  The most efficient way to improve sightreading is to practice Bach chorales, or even hymns for your church hymnal in my opinion.  Just do one or two a day.  Best of luck with this.

[tomclear]

Alfred Cortot (if you haven't heard his Chopin Preludes recorded in the 1930's, do so, immediately), once wrote that the most important thing anyone ever said to him about his piano-playing was from Debussy's daughter.
He (Al) came over to their maison and played a lot of Debussy pieces, some composed for the daughter, after Debussy died. He asked the daughter what her father's playing had been like: she said, "He listened more."
If your playing doesn't move you, how do expect it to move your listeners?

[Spatula]

Now I got that song stuck in my head...

"Don't worry, be happy, cause it's gonna be all right"...

I wonder what drugs that singer was on.....