Future in classical piano for late beginner

[nadia goh]

hi. i'm not exactly new here but i've never posted anything in this forum. okay, i am 22 years old and have begun taking piano lessons formally since October 2009. i taught myself to read the notes for about five months i think when I've finally decided to get a teacher. i realised that i've developed bad habits such as memorising how the piece sounds like rather than reading the notes very carefully. In short, i was plain lazy. now, i am correcting all my bad habits and am trying to focus on the piano sheets instead of relying on my memory.

after playing piano for a year, i am beginning to wonder, is it too late for me to learn classical piano seriously? will there be any future for me in this field? i am a motivated student and i am serious about learning piano. currently, i am learning Mozart Kv545 on my own first and will present it to my teacher tomorrow.

i know that i still have a lot to learn but at the moment, i can play Beethoven Pathetique Sonata 2nd Mov, Beethoven Moonlight Sonata 1st Mov, Fur Elise, Chopin Preludes 4,6,7, Clementi Sonatina Op.36 No.3, Bach Bourree 1, Schumann Von Fremden Landern Und Menschen.

i really appreciate it if you could leave some comments. Thank you.   

[rding]

Don't quit. I know it might be painful right now. But don't give up on it. I remember I used to play everyday at least an hour to master a piece for about at least 3 months before I was confident enough for my performance. There's just so much to learn in every single of them. I'd recommend you listen to different performances on the same piece to understand it better. Hope it helps.

[nadia goh]

thanx, rding... i am currently practising about 2-4 hours everyday and sometimes even more. i can't wait to be able to play difficult pieces by chopin and beethoven because their compositions truly touched my heart. how i wish i have a piano teacher at home...

[jimbo320]

Hey ridiculous,
22 is not too late. I'm 59 and only been teaching myself 2 yrs now. It might be too late to try a future in playing but it's the challenge and I love music. I think that's the real key. Like they say, you get out of it as much as you put in.
At least you have a teacher. I'm on my own with only the use of my right hand. I'm playing on a PSR keyboard but wish I had a C5, both are made by Yamaha.
So keep leaning forward and looking at your goal. Remember, life is what happens while you're waiting for dreams to come true....

Musically, Jimbo

[avatarhack]

Wanna hear something funny? I dont know how late these forums go back, but about 3 months ago i posted the exact same question as you did, and whats wierd is everything about what you just said looks identical to what i said, even the songs you learned! Im a 24 year old beginner (well about 8 months in now), And i think youve got the passion and dedication.  Not many people can pick  up  piano with a self earned desire to learn classical music, and actually make that happen without yet finding a teacher to the point where you can play the songs youve learned thusfar, so for the both of us i think we have a very good future if we continue to show the dedication we have so far!  Ive found a couple pieces recently to be great practice pieces for the level im at, and sounds like your at.  A teacher (i dont have an actual teacher) recommended Burgmullers op 100 to me, little did i know that this work contains 25 pieces! all widely used for practice at around grade 3 as i understand it.  You should totally check that out and a few pieces by Czerny opus 792 no 1, 2  and my fav no 8  . 

[nadia goh]

JIMBO: thanks for the support and yes, i agree with you that we should play for the love of music! i have an old piano given by a friend of my father and a 66 keys keyboard. the keys of the piano aren't as bouncy as they are supposed to be and so i have some difficulties playing trills on the piano. i normally use my casio keyboard to play pieces that don't use all of the octaves on the piano.. so, mozart, bach and clementi fit the capacity of the keyboard. when i have enough money, i'd buy a better piano for myself.

P/S: i like it when you use "musically" in replacement of "yours sincerely"

[nadia goh]

AVATARHACK:did u really? i should browse old topics to find yours... thank you for the encouragement and suggestions on the pieces. i've just bought hanon exercises and have learned the first exercise and another exercise to play trills. by the way, how do you mean that you don't have an actual teacher? i meet my piano teacher for half an hour per week. does that mean that i don't have an actual teacher too?

[nadia goh]

AVATARHACK: found your previous post.. based on your list, i think you are very motivated and particular in improving your technicalities of piano playing. i have just realised that i need a lot to improve technically especially my finger strength and my sight reading. i have always been lazy to read the notes properly because i prefer to memorise the sounds and actually, i find memorising quite easy. but i know that's cheating so i have decided to learn through step-by-step exercises. my teacher said that i am around grade 5 but deep in my heart,i know where my weaknesses are and i don't want to use the shortcut to learn classical piano anymore.

i think that this forum gives me such a relief as this is the only place that i can truly discuss about piano without making other people feel bored and tired of my piano obsession.

[jimbo320]

Ridiculous,
Yes. Love of music is the key of life. It might sound a bit corny but it fits so well.
Somebody gave you a piano, cool! Here's a pic of my gear.....

**MUSICALLY***, Jimbo

[jimbo320]

Sorry the pic is so big. I tried to change it but couldn't.....
Jimbo

[nystul]

Serious piano study is it's own reward.  Having professional aspirations is also fine, but you'd better not quit your day job (unless you have very wealthy parents).

[nadia goh]

jimbo, why do you have 2 pieces of keyboard? i've never seen that type of keyboard before..

[nadia goh]

nystul, i won't quit my job cuz i am not wealthy.. money really IS very important to succeed in piano professionally

[jimbo320]

Hey Ridiculous,
Two different keyboards. An Alesis Micron synth on top of a Yamaha PSR 61 key keyboard. I use twin Behringer amps too.

Jimbo