Playing again after a long 'hiatus'...

[snowblind]

Hello all,

I played the piano for a while when I was younger and got to grade 5, but stopped (perhaps the biggest regret in my life to date) about six months prior to going to university.  Fast forward six years and I've now finished and moved back home.  I haven't touched a piano since I went to uni, but decided to have a little tinker about the other day when walking past the room my two pianos are kept in (a baby grand and a clavinova).  The first was out of tune unfortunately so I sat down at the clavinova, and couldn't remember any pieces unsurprisingly, thought I could remember my scales, arpegios and broken chords which was nice!!

After playing about with silly stuff for a bit I decided to try and write something a bit more serious by ear and I've attached what I came up with.

It's split into two parts because they were created at different times.  The first part took about 20 minutes to come up with and an hour or so to make it sound a bit more streamlined, the second part about the same (it's pretty obvious where one part ends and the next begins I think).

I just wanted to share it with some people and get some feedback I suppose.  I haven't touched a piano in almost six years though so please be gentle with the criticism!!

Can anyone give me an idea as to what standard this is at?  So I know where I am... I'm planning to spend more time playing now since I've not got much to do whilst job hunting so hopefully I'll improve and reduce my regret at stopping somewhat, we'll see!

[ted]

I wouldn't worry about comparative standards. Clearly musicianship is there and it is just a question of how badly it needs to come out. Physical technique takes longer to recover and you might find a few months pass before full flexibility and confidence is regained. I had a similar hiatus in playing from about nine to fourteen years of age but once the drive returned there was no stopping it. Of course you might find you would like a teacher again before long. Look for an eclectic one with a strong creative aspect; they are rare but they do exist. Meanwhile I suggest you improvise as much as time allows. That will redevelop musicianship, keyboard fluency and technique simultaneously and rapidly.