Answer Please!

[hermanberntzen]

It feels like im not progressing at all but just going downhill.
s there anything by William Byrd or Orlando Gibbons which isn't to hard to play on the keyboard? I find these old composers notation much harder to read that modern. And they always have these long and fast runs and trills. Is there any piece that isnt to hard to play nor read? Listening to Glenn Goulds recordings on both the composers makes me just sad for my own techniquie.
Or is there any sets i can learn? Like set of pieces which are easy but is in the same set.

[hfmadopter]

Won't work, the effect will be short of even disappointing. You just have to bone up and learn the skills then have at it I'm afraid !


Just my opinion of course.

[slyfox2625]

hes right, just practice man, time makes everything better, or worse. just practice

[laurenw82]

Same as them, all I can say is you have to practice & practice. It is your only way for now.


Academic Essays

[louispodesta]

BALONEY! - is what I have to say to the prior replies to your initial inquiry.

My coach Thomas Mark, who some consider to be the best technique coach in the world, teaches his students that if what you are working on does not improve in a couple of "days" then you are not playing it properly.

And, if you are not playing it properly, you are either deaf, or more likely your teacher is not teaching you the proper manner in which to learn/practice a piece.

The big secret in piano pedagogy is that most piano teachers are not qualifed to teach someone how to pump gas.  They not only do not know how they do what they do, they also do not know how to teach anyone else how to do it.

I suggest you get copies of the Taubman tapes from your library, and then study them diligently.  Then, get a copy of Thomas Mark's book (from the library) which is entitled "What Every Pianist Needs To Know About The Body."

Next, go online and find out where the nearest Dalcroze Eurhythmics teacher is, and then sign up for a class.  I strongly suspect that you have significant rhythm problems, also.

After you have done all this, you willl have realized that playing the piano is not the rocket science that the world makes it out to be.  It is basic natural body hand eye choreography that can be taught to anyone.

Finally, get yourself a teacher who has heard of these three prior sources - Taubman, Mark, and Dalcroze.  Then, you will discover the true joy that is playing the piano.

Good luck to you, and remember most of all, it is not your fault!

[keypeg]

LouisPodesta, my main impression from your post.
First, your argument which begins with the exclamation "Baloney!" is essentially expressing the same thing as what other posters are saying.  (That is - are you saying baloney to the first post, or to what others are saying?) 

If you are saying baloney to the idea of impossibility, I agree.
But for the rest, you may be suggesting different avenues than what others are saying (or are imagined to be saying), but at the end you are saying that skills need to be acquired that are used for playing this music.  Others seem to be saying the same thing.

[louispodesta]

Keypeg:

What I am saying is that I spent the better part of 40 years practicing, practicing, and practicing, which resulted in little or no improvement.   Then, I was introduced to the Taubman technique, and then I progressed on to the Alexander Technique of Thomas Mark.

Since that time, about five years, I have also added Dalcroze Eurhythmic training to my regimine, and my playing is at a level I never thought attainable.  I am 61 years old, and I am currently memorizing the Rach 2nd Concerto, the Debussy Fantasy, and also polishing up the Schumann A Minor and the Mozart A Major Concertos.  This is along with a sizeable amount of solo repertoire.

Simply playing things over and over again accomplishes nothing but frustration, which is why upwards of 90% of piano students quit.  They don't have the proper instruction, so they are just basically chasing their tails.

Fortunately, Taubman, Mark, and Dalcroze are now out there for everyone to learn and apply.  I have been where this student is, and I am here to tell him and anyone else willing to listen that there is more than hope for him, there is a solution!

[keypeg]

Louispodesta, I'm totally with you.  There is a "how" which makes it effective, and without that how you are working ineffectively.  The things that create this effectiveness are a combination of skills (and how to get them), knowledge (for example, reading music involves certain areas of knowledge), and also approaches - long term and short term.  These are the things that I sought, once I knew that, and found and am still finding and developing.  I am fortunate in the teacher I have, and I'd say I was ready for that teacher by that time we met.