Can Any Good Teacher/Student/Expert Help me here??

[reiyza]

Hey! I'm new to this forums, and as you can see, i'm a beginner when it comes to piano.. on my early ages, my teacher(grandfather) taught me how to play the piano using basics... y'know, books like Everybody's Favorite Series # 03: Piano Pieces for Children, I was able to play Fur Elise and Tarantella.. but not perfectly, still had some flaws.. then my teacher hammered me with Czerny Opus 599 and i was able to reach up to practice #50 then stopped because my teacher passed away... after 2 years i came back to playing piano... and I found it difficult to read and play notes because i was constantly staring at the keys and I had to memorize the passage before i was able to play it. And while playing I can't refrain from looking at my fingers which is a pretty bad habit because when I keep my eyes on the music sheet my fingers misses the correct notes... I'd really wan't to read and play.. can you suggest good practice techniques for me?

I'm currently playing
Nobuo Uematsu's - Ahead on Our Way (had problems with my left hand...)
Nobuo Uematsu's - Sleepless City Treno
Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata

And I'm thinking about returning to Czerny Opus 599, but I also have a Schmidt: Op. 16... I also have a hannon in my library...

Any Advice would be appreciated! thank you!

[mcdiddy1]

Learn to develop a geographic feel for the keyboard by feeling the patterns of white and black keys. When you have this skill, theres no point in looking down because you have a strong sense where on the key board everything. You just need to line up your body up with middle c and Try playing your pieces in the dark or with your eyes closed.

I often say to students when you look at your fingers, it means you do not trust them. You have trust your body to do whatever you teach it to and it will not disapoint you. If you learn pieces, carefully, systematically and accurate from the beginning, you will learn peices very quickly and very accuratly. The notes are on the page and not on your fingers. Plus looking down for notes suggest you think all there is to music is playing right notes. Learn about phrasing, dynamics, emotion, musical gestures, color that aren't indicated in the music.

The biggest thing you can do for yourself is to dicipline yourself to not look down at your fingers, regardless if you miss notes. If you hear a mistake, avoid looking down because it does not correct the note, it only reinforces a mistake that has already happen by you looking at it. Instead make the mistake and be glad you made it so you can use it to learn. Focus on what it feels like to play the correct note, hand shape, feeling without looking down. Be consistent and patient and you will improve in this area.

[reiyza]

I've been playing while looking at my fingers my whole life... haha, but I'm taking your advice seriously... I've been playing Chopin's Waltz #1 Op. 18... (Is This Correct??) and all I've been doing is concentrating on not looking at my hands and not reading the sheet music!... But I'm able to hit the correct notes... but I'm just keeping on making mistakes like a whirlwind! any good techniques you or anybody might suggest?.. Thanks a lot!

[mcdiddy1]

Well first you have to handle some contridictions in what you said. First you don't hit the correct note, you play the correct keys, land on the correct key. Hitting is not a musical action and there is a huge difference in that mentality. Your apporach to piano technique may need to be slightly modified.

Second You said all you have been doing is concentrating on not looking at your hands and not reading music - so you mean you were playing from memory ? If that is the case you should not play from memory until you can play the piece correctly and accurate otherwise you remeber wrong notes not the piece. Also if you are working on not looking at your hands you can do that and read the music at the same time or vise versa. You want to build both a aural memory ( memory based on sound) , visual memory  ( memory based on sight of your hands playing or the sheet music) and arguably most important kinestetic memory ( based on the feeling of playing correct).  Its good you want to work on memory but you want to work on that after you have the piece well learned and not skip steps. Practice playing the correct notes first and then work on memory

Third.. You say you are making mistakes like a whirlwind. Im sorry to say but if you are not playing the correct notes, you are playing a differnt piece ! If you continue to practice without practice techniques to fix your mistakes things will not improve. There is really no magic formula anyone can give you that you probably have not heard before. Best thing you can do is get a very experienced and talented piano teacher. If you want some quick tecniques that will improve your playing is to
play difficult passages using slow and fast tempos,
play using opposite techniques ( play legato measures staccato and vice versa)
mark your mistakes and focus on how it feels to play it correctly
sing the passages to develop musicality, clap to isolate rhythm patterns, use a meteronome
seperate the difficulty (eliminate slurs, play notes with no rhythm, play rhythm on one note)
practice runs with differnt rhythms
listen to a recording of the piece ( once or twice so you get ideas but not trying to play at the same speed)

For reading about practice try reading The Perfect Wrong Note, visit practice.com or A Soprano on her Head- the are great resources for practicing. Most importantly find a great piano teacher !!!!

[reiyza]

Thank you for all your efforts just to give an advice to me.. as you can see..! my teacher really had a hard time teaching me back then that's why i'm like this right now... You're very correct I do really need a teacher!