Why do I suck so bad?

[notsunshine]

Hi,
I am new here. A little information about myself: I have been playing the piano for maybe 15 years. I started when I was very young and took about 3-4 months of lessons and then figured it out on my own from there. I didn't play daily growing up, just sort of dilly-dallied here and there. Recently I started realizing how much I love the piano and I want to start taking it seriously. That's why I am here!

I can play some intermediate level pieces - Mozart's Turkish Rondo, Fur Elise. I learn mostly by ear. As far as reading sheet music, I know the basics; where the notes fall on the staff and piano. I learned the concept of rhythm/tempo. I have a hard time applying it when reading sheet music so I need to hear the piece in order to play it.

Where do I start? I always tell people I can play the piano but I cant play "right". I don't know if taking piano lessons would be beneficial to me and I also feel weird taking beginner piano lessons when I have played for 15 years! What do you think? I was thinking maybe I could find some good theory/technique books that would help me but I don't know what's good.

[keyboardclass]

Where to begin?  As the Irish joke goes - "I wouldn't be starting from here."

[stelle]

Where to begin?  As the Irish joke goes - "I wouldn't be starting from here."

L L!

Im rather like you, notsunshine...play more by ear than reading off scores, prefer to listen and know the melody before i attempt to read the score, learn off scores the parts i like and forget the rest or make up my own version, learnt by myself for a while (tho not 15 years!) did all the dilly dallying, bits and peices here and there...and then, HIT a BRICK wall, where i didnt know what to learn anymore or how to improve, AND found myself here asking questions too

As im more 'improvise' focused, which i think u may be too, reading off sheet music is EXTREMELY TEDIOUS and hard work for me! and i knew that if i were to improve, one sure way of improving is learning pieces i like and then improvising in that same style BUT i knew i wouldnt really be motivated to do it myself, by myself...so i hunted around for a good teacher who was able to improvise as well as teach regular piano, tried a few with no success but FINALLY found one i really liked!

so now i learn a new piece every week, memorized totally, have a lesson once a week and my teacher will really show me how to add dynamics and interpretation into my piano playing which i didnt even notice i lacked to begin with!!  and i find myself using those same techniques and styles in my own improv!

IM also working from improv books by myself and theory but having a teacher and another PERspective REALLY goes hand in hand for me!

of course, were all individuals, so what works for me might not work for you, but just thought id share

Being able to improvise is good, being able to read music is good, being able to do both is better .


All the best!

Estelle.

[Bob]

A teacher.

Maybe more practice time.  Quantity doesn't hurt either.

Maybe more goal-oriented.

[notsunshine]

Thanks for the tips. I am going to look for a teacher in my area. Should I start doing scales? it feels a bit overwhelming since there are so many of them! I am also pretty clueless as far as proper fingering goes. Glad to see I am not the only one Stelle. It sounds like finding the right teacher will really be the best thing for me.

I am just scared I will be relearning the piano all over again. But considering how bad I am for playing for 15 or so years, its probably not a bad thing.

[stelle]

  scared? YUP, i know how you feel, having a teacher scared me after playing by myself for so long, i was scared i was going to make really bad mistakes, scared that they would see what i COULDNT do and how bad i played...BUT then i came to the conclusion, a teacher is there to HELP YOU IMPROVE so theres no need to stress about how bad you are becuase theyre there to help you change that, and often ur not as bad as u think ur bad..

for Me, scales were a good place to start, for finger strengthening, and also becuase i improvise, its a good basis to start since i dont want to just play in just one key but be able to hop, step and jump to other keys etc. youll be able to find the fingering on the internet im pretty sure if you type in something like 'fingering for piano scales.' i learnt the white key scales first, theres 7, and really theyre not that hard to grasp!! dont be overwhelmed by everythign but focus on WHAT YOU WANT TO LEARN and take it step by step...

Like bob said, figure out what your goals are first..WHat are they? to be able to read music fluently? to be able to improvise more freely?...to brush up on your theory? take exams etc etc? and then centre everyhting you learn around it. ask urself why do you want a piano teacher?

With my piano lessons, i pretty much shape how the lesson will be, im not going to take exams quite yet but i plan on doing so fairly soon, so i have to figure out what i dont understand, what i want to learn and good communication with the teacher is a must!! so my teacher helps me to fill in the blanks and gaps

And i think youll find that you wont be RELEARNING the piano totally but brushing up on the things you already know and maybe even things that you dont even know that you know

[Bob]

Scales won't hurt.  You can find fingerings online and on here too.  Just do whatever is comfortable.  Start with majors and work around through all of them.  Add minors if you're comfortable with that.