I'm new here! :)

[randompianist97]

 Hello Everyone!

Well, I just joined today. I've been playing piano seriously for 4 years, then stopped for 1, and am now working on getting back to my former skills. However, I have found that I cannot do this alone. I've found this forum to be a great comfort with helping me with some of my problems. Hopefully, I will be able to see others grow and myself in time.

Yours Kindly,
RandomPianist

[cagal]

Welcome back to pianoplaying and to site, randompianist.  I agree, this website is an excellent resource.

[keyofc]

Welcome Random!

[tchaikovsky_lover]

I'm new too!  SAo far I think that this place is great for advice.

[m1469]

I'm new too!  SAo far I think that this place is great for advice.

Hi

[hfmadopter]

Hello, I'm pretty new here as well only being here a few weeks now. It's a great site for pianists! Enjoy.
David

[jimbo320]

Welcome to the PianoStreet fellow pianists. I agree this is an awesome site to join even just to visit and read.
Good luck in your endeavors...

[patrickd]

Welcome!!!

[albertus_magnus]

Welcome, Random!

[chechig]

wellcome. I'm quite new also, but anytime I asked for help and support there was always willing to help.

[chadbrochill17]

I'm new as well.
I'm also returning to the piano, but I haven't played since I was 10 and I'm 20 now! Lot of work to do!

[hfmadopter]

I'm new as well.
I'm also returning to the piano, but I haven't played since I was 10 and I'm 20 now! Lot of work to do!

I'm 62 was away from my piano for nearly 25 years ( over 20 anyway). I didn't know if I could pick back up on it at all and within a month I'm not doing so bad. the good news is I'm actually retaining the written music well, that's what I was most fearing might not g so well. A litttle trouble getting the two hands together but it's coming fine.

If I can do it you certainly can ! You have age on your side ! Do it, enjoy it, don't drop it.

[chadbrochill17]

I'm 62 was away from my piano for nearly 25 years ( over 20 anyway). I didn't know if I could pick back up on it at all and within a month I'm not doing so bad. the good news is I'm actually retaining the written music well, that's what I was most fearing might not g so well. A litttle trouble getting the two hands together but it's coming fine.

If I can do it you certainly can ! You have age on your side ! Do it, enjoy it, don't drop it.

Hats off to you sir. Keep at it and you will pick it all up again.
I realized that I wanted to be able to play the piano when I'm older so I decided to jump back in. I played saxophone in high school so I was able to retain sheet music reading.
I've taught myself a Chopin nocturne, prelude (15) and Clair de Lune so far. What I really need is a teacher though. I'm totally going about this the wrong way.

[hfmadopter]

Hats off to you sir. Keep at it and you will pick it all up again.
I realized that I wanted to be able to play the piano when I'm older so I decided to jump back in. I played saxophone in high school so I was able to retain sheet music reading.
I've taught myself a Chopin nocturne, prelude (15) and Clair de Lune so far. What I really need is a teacher though. I'm totally going about this the wrong way.

Well that's great ! In my case, first I had to fix up the piano. I pulled out the action and made minor adjustments there twice. I then touched up the tuning, considering how long it hasn't been touched it wasn't so bad ( incidentally I used to touch up my tuning all the time before between professional tunings so that's not new to me, I'm not wrecking my piano !). Had to steel whool the strings, they got a llittle rusty over the years. Some day I'll get new bass strings and the action rebuilt. Not a pressing matter it sounds pretty decent and plays quite well.

So on to music. In my month I have learned Canon in D, just putting in final touches. I'm working with a couple of Bach Inventions, No 2 and 3. Working on the Shubert/Liszt Ave Maria and working on Chopin Sonata No2 Op35 third movement, very slowly taking that one on.

Interesting I wanted to play Piano, the Organ or Sax when I was in school, in that order with violin as a distant last option. At about age 9 my parents offered music lessons and an instrument. My father decided that instrument would be the accordian. So I took lessons for four years and dropped it finally at age 15. In my mid 20s I took up piano myself, had abut 10 years of lessons. Then at about 40 the docs put me on a new med and concentration went out the window. Like a fool I stopped playing piano except for a short spurt here or there. Now I'm back at it to stay with a whole renewed interest.

[chadbrochill17]

Wow I wouldn't dream of touching Chopin's sonatas anytime soon! Good luck with that one!
I'm slowly butchering his first ballade, but it is teaching me quite a bit so I guess the sonata will do the same!
Also, very impressed with the tuning and cleaning your piano by yourself. Was that a skill you just picked up?

[hfmadopter]

Wow I wouldn't dream of touching Chopin's sonatas anytime soon! Good luck with that one!
I'm slowly butchering his first ballade, but it is teaching me quite a bit so I guess the sonata will do the same!
Also, very impressed with the tuning and cleaning your piano by yourself. Was that a skill you just picked up?

The Sonata will come along slowly for me, it has some easy passages and it has some work that will take me building my hands back up ( like the left handed trills thus the Bach Invention No 2). I like your term butchering, that's basically what I'm doing but it really is coming along none the less.

My wife and family are absolutely delighted that I'm back at the piano. I didn't realize how much at least my wifes heart and oldest daughter too, sank when I stopped playing all those years ago, for a silly reason at that. Or so it turns out but didn't seem it at the time. Even one of my daughters stated how disappointed they were back then. Heck even my X wife will be happy that I'm playing again. We had a mutual friend who attended our monthly work shops way back when. So she was remotely in touch. Since then ( the friend has passed away and the X attends family functions now) has asked many times if I will ever play again. Her , my wife and my oldest daughters were the encouraging factors to get me to sit back down at my piano.

Tuning I picked up from two different tuners over the years, the latest one explained a lot to me and also couldn't just drop everything and show up at my house when my old piano dropped a string a little bit or something sounded a tad off. Thus, I can maintain my piano, I'd never claim to be able to get into massive voicing or fine tuning the movement of the keys. But I can keep things in check very well. I've even pulled the bass up from slumber land which the tuners always had a hard time with on my piano ( it could use new bass strings or so they tell me) ! My piano dates back to the late 1800's so it needs TLC, I can't be calling in a tuner every time something clicks or boings. As long as I keep it alive it sounds wonderful. And Chris can come and give it a once over every couple of years. Or if the action should break I'll have him fix it. My piano right now sounds as good or better than it did 25 years ago, it's right up to A440 and my rather dead D down in the lower bass is sounding rather clear. So I'm happy. I'd be happier with a rebuilt action and a new pin block but I don't have that right now.

Enough of my life story !