Twe Questions From A Beginner

[ethure]

1. Why must it be classical? 
    It seems to me that all materials that I'm using are classical music. I've been reading about modern theories and arts, such a jump felt a little hard to accept. I don't understand why everyone has to start from the classical music if wants to be good. Why is the modern pieces gone in the beginner's lessons? Can't I just practise in the way I want, then get advices from my teacher?

2. Slow or fast?
    While I feel I should practise slowly, my teacher asks me to practise as fast as possible saying that this is the only way to get improved efficiently. She's no doubt a great and exprienced teacher, but I'll feel extremely uncomfortable if things drop out of my control. For one period I persuaded myself to blindly trust and follow her, and it turned out to be horrible. I seem to completely lose my own thoughts and feelings and emotions on piano and turn into a piano-practice worker. and this brings what's more frustrating -- the dedication and passion and concerntration I once devoted seem to be gone too.

[brianlucas]

ethure, sorry for your frustrations. I'll do my best to answer from my perspective, both as a player and a teacher.  Truthfully, it all depends on what your goals are.  If you want to play primarily classical music professionally, it requires a stricter discipline.  If you have other goals, they should be addressed.

1. Truthfully, I think it's because classical music has been around the longest.  In my practice, I also use modern music, even non-classical music, especially if it has a really cool piano part in it.  I believe in teaching towards the style and desired skill level of the student. I enjoy challenging my more ambitious students, but also love teaching a complete beginner how to play their favorite song. Bottom line, if your teacher isn't giving you what you want, then maybe you need a new teacher, which brings me to...

2. I don't agree with that methodology at all.  Not sure what others here are going to say.  But speed comes from familiarity and muscle memory.  If you are practicing so fast that you are making a lot of mistakes, those mistakes will become part of your muscle memory and stick with you.  I take the opposite approach.  You should be practicing at a speed where you don't make a single mistake, then speed it up.  I believe that you should be practicing at a speed where you are about to lose control, but you don't.  If you are practicing enough, that speed should naturally get faster and faster.

The main issue is that the method you are studying is taking your passion out of it.  And although frustration and hard work is part of the learning process, you should never lose the desire to play.  Hope that helps.

-Brian
www.pianoin8weeks.com
www.brianlucas.com

[ethure]

Thank you so much for the kind reply!  (:

I made my post too rush, there were actually more things to mention, but I was a little unorganised.  

My teacher actually tried to find out what I want for piano, and she was happy to hear my feelings on the practice. I think she wanted to build a communicative relationship rather than the teaching-learning one, like, we exchange ideas on music and skills. but i always feel worried and inconfident with my own ideas in front of her.

It's more a pyschological issue rather than the piano one isn't it. but what hits down my ethusiasm is that I feel my fingers have been trained into some kind of fixed mode rather than the free touching on keys when nothing has been built to fingers after the speed-up. Now, yes, I can play more difficult pieces, but it's clearly that I play no better than anyone who has laid a good foundation before. maybe I'll get better later by slow practice again, but I feel I'll then never get back the original timbre and the flexiability I once had when playing slowly.

It's extremely frustrating. I feel I can't control my fingers like I used to do any more. sometimes when I calm myself down, I can still find the old feeling back, but the influence of the speed-up can never be removed from my fingers. The feelings are just there.

I don't know if I'm just being neat freak, or it's really as serious as I think. for many times I simply don't want to continue as the fingers will only be more used to the fixed mode of the key-touch. What should I do?