Questions about learning how to play the piano and further studies.

[teenage_d1rtbag]

Hello there! This is John, I am 17, and I've always been passionate about music. However, I never really had the braveness to ask my parents hire a teacher and to be honest I was extremely focused on my school studies. Last year, it was a very stressful year, zero free time and I decide to "rebel". My parents were clear that if I wanted to start learning music, then it wouldn't have to distract me from my studies. So I enrolled myself to this local cultural center and I've started learning how to play the keyboard(not the piano). 40 minutes/week. Yes, I know, it's nothing but I wouldn't really care. I just wanted to do something that I love. And as far as you can understand, 40 minutes is not enough for learning proper theory so we started a book for beginners and started learning the basic theory.
Now, a year later, my teacher says I have much potential and asked me if I had been playing the piano before. He told me to buy "Czerny Op.599", "Theodor Oesten Opus 61" and a book for arpeggio and octaves(I am not sure if this is the proper english term as this book is written in my language).

So I feel the need to start at a proper music school and learn how to play the piano, not the keyboard as I will be finishing school in 2 months. I am willing to start all over again if it's necessary. But I am concerned about a lot of things. Will I be able, in the age of 17, to be a decent pianist? I mean, yes, I know I can't be the next Bach, but could I develop a decent technique and music understanding if I start now? Secondly, buying a piano is financially challenging, so practicing on the keyboard(at least for 1 more year) while learning how to play the piano at the music school, can it even be possible? Last but not least, what do you think about the books? Don't forget I've been meeting this teacher for 40min/week for almost 2 years now(which equals one? or less?  )
Please, be honest and brutal.
Thank you in advance and have a nice day :-)

[elenka]

Hello!

First I think that is never too late to start playing a instrument! It's all depend on what do you want to do with music in your life. Obviuosly, if you want to be a professional musician and travel all over the world, well everybody would say that it's too late...But as you said, if you want to learn for your pleasure you still got all the time you'd need.

Well, playing the piano, requires a real piano at home, because it's completely different the mechanisms that works in a acustic piano and in a keybord.
But if you have a good keybord (can I ask you which model of keybord you have?) well for the first two years of learning piano it's ok, but then you'd better to search for a second hand piano...
I suppose that all the book you mentioned are for beginners right? Did you study also some pieces?
Bach's ones from the Anna Magdalena's notebook?
Last question, where are you from?

[teenage_d1rtbag]

Thanks for the reply! Um I don't really think my keyboard is as good as you say. It is a Yamaha PSR-E323. Yes, a second hand piano would be a great idea!
Yup it is for beginners of course  
Nope, we were just playing pieces from a book for keyboard players(absolute beginners). But I will check it out, thanks And I am from Greece.  

[lostinidlewonder]

....I am concerned about a lot of things. Will I be able, in the age of 17, to be a decent pianist?

This is the first thing you need to address. It is not about becoming a decent pianist, it is about learning something that you are personally interested in and something you enjoy. If it is about becoming good or whatever, this is not a good place to draw inspiration from and I would advise not starting anything if this is where you draw your energy from. You strive to get better because you love what you are doing, you don't love to get better.

....Secondly, buying a piano is financially challenging, so practicing on the keyboard(at least for 1 more year) while learning how to play the piano at the music school, can it even be possible?

So long you can practice your fingering any cheap keyboard will have to do if you are strapped for cash. I have had students who practice on rubbish and come to me for lessons on concert grands, they obviously feel a huge difference, but you have to make-do with what you have. When you improve upon your instrument one day you will surely appreciate every bit of it.

Last but not least, what do you think about the books?

If this teacher is planning to teach you from these books trust what they ask for, if they will no longer teach you I wouldn't buy the books. I personally find the Czerny can become boring, so hopefully you are not planning to do the entire opus, personally I like to use Czerny for sight reading work, but many teachers use it for technique and this is a traditional path to take to develop it with.

[teenage_d1rtbag]

This is the first thing you need to address. It is not about becoming a decent pianist, it is about learning something that you are personally interested in and something you enjoy. If it is about becoming good or whatever, this is not a good place to draw inspiration from and I would advise not starting anything if this is where you draw your energy from. You strive to get better because you love what you are doing, you don't love to get better.

I think I have been misunderstood. Being a decent pianist comes from this urge to learn everything about the piano and understand music with my soul. Saying "I don't care if I am good enough" is hypocritical for me but it is not my top priority either.

So long you can practice your fingering any cheap keyboard will have to do if you are strapped for cash. I have had students who practice on rubbish and come to me for lessons on concert grands, they obviously feel a huge difference, but you have to make-do with what you have. When you improve upon your instrument one day you will surely appreciate every bit of it.

Thanks for the info!

If this teacher is planning to teach you from these books trust what they ask for, if they will no longer teach you I wouldn't buy the books. I personally find the Czerny can become boring, so hopefully you are not planning to do the entire opus, personally I like to use Czerny for sight reading work, but many teachers use it for technique and this is a traditional path to take to develop it with.

We started from number 11 Personally, I wouldn't mind completing the book. The more practice, the better- right?

Thanks for your asnwer!

[lostinidlewonder]

... Being a decent pianist comes from this urge to learn everything about the piano and understand music with my soul. Saying "I don't care if I am good enough" is hypocritical for me but it is not my top priority either.

It is good to hear that it is not your top priority, that is important. You would be suprised the amount of people who start learning something with the aim to get good above all else. Getting good (or better than others) is important but it is not our main motivation. But what do you want to be "good enough" for? To become a concerting musician, to teach, to just play all the pieces you adore, to become better than Joe Blogs, etc etc, I think that is a more critical question. Just to say you love piano music is great but is there anything else? Why do you love it?

Being "good" is a never ending changing target, I thought I was good when I was 9 and memorising Beethoven Sonatas, but now I look back and laugh at it. If we have a single vision of what it means to be good and we achieve it maybe we will no longer have the motivation to get even better. A pattern I see in some of my students, a few want to get better but the thought of getting better clouds their mind so much so that just to "get on with the job" first they must run through thoughts of how "good am I today?"

There is nothing wrong with setting yourself goals which once achieved would state to you that you have certainly got better, this is fine to motivate yourself this way but certainly it is the journey and the hard work that we need to enjoy more so, "the chase", if we don't then we will never really work hard enough.

.... Personally, I wouldn't mind completing the book. The more practice, the better- right?

Depending on how the teacher is teaching there is no problems with doing a large number of pieces from that opus (except for maybe boredom especially if Czerny's style doesn't captivate you). I personally would not teach directly from this book (unless sightreading) because I feel that you can achieve similar results with more various works. Also some technical patterns he undergoes in his writing is very periodic, that means you don't really come across it in other works as much or with as much repetitive intensity, so learning certain technique might become obsolete especially if you have interest in different styles of piano. Of course learning technique that you will not use much of in the future is a good way to develop your technical understanding (understanding how to learn new technical movements), but of course it depends on how the teacher is going to teach you.

[teenage_d1rtbag]

It is good to hear that it is not your top priority, that is important. You would be suprised the amount of people who start learning something with the aim to get good above all else. Getting good (or better than others) is important but it is not our main motivation. But what do you want to be "good enough" for? To become a concerting musician, to teach, to just play all the pieces you adore, to become better than Joe Blogs, etc etc, I think that is a more critical question. Just to say you love piano music is great but is there anything else? Why do you love it?

Well, I won't hide; at first, I just wanted to play the songs I adore. But then, I started feeling the need to be able to understand what I am playing and why. I would really love to teach, too, if possible. But nothing can compare to this rush of joy when I sit on my keyboard and play. It can be something very simple but I enjoy it so much- I quite an introvert, too, so it offers me a way to open up. (That and writing, too.)

Being "good" is a never ending changing target, I thought I was good when I was 9 and memorising Beethoven Sonatas, but now I look back and laugh at it. If we have a single vision of what it means to be good and we achieve it maybe we will no longer have the motivation to get even better. A pattern I see in some of my students, a few want to get better but the thought of getting better clouds their mind so much so that just to "get on with the job" first they must run through thoughts of how "good am I today?"

I agree. My perspective of what is good has changed so much in the past two years after seeing what can be achieved and how many people are devoted and true to their art.

There is nothing wrong with setting yourself goals which once achieved would state to you that you have certainly got better, this is fine to motivate yourself this way but certainly it is the journey and the hard work that we need to enjoy more so, "the chase", if we don't then we will never really work hard enough.

...and as my favourite Greek poet says: “When you set out on your journey to Ithaca,
pray that the road is long, full of adventure, full of knowledge.” - C.P. Cavafy.

Thank you