Adult returning to playing after long hiatus

[dynamobt]

I've made a few posts but thought I should introduce myself and give some background.  I'm in my 60s and back taking lessons after a long long interval of time.  I don't remember how well I played as a kid.  Good enough to hold a church job during high school, but as I remember it, not great.  I play better now somehow.  I'm at a level of playing Chopin Nocturnes, Waltz in A minor, Schumann Arabesque, Bach Inventions.  I'd like to get a lot better.  I love Chopin and would like to play some of the longer works. 

I'm strictly a student/amature these days.  I think there are many good pianists here even in this student forum.  I hope to learn from those here and to join into discussions.

[hfmadopter]

Welcome to the returning adult club ! I returned as well, just about 11 months ago. Playing well but not up to where I left off in terms of repertoir/ I and my family are very pleased non the less. My quality of playing I think may be better in terms of dynamics but the fingers are a bit stiffer than they they used to be, now at age 63. Faster runs are holding me back a bit. I keep nibbling away at it though.

Anyway, again welcome !
David

[bernadette60614]

Welcome! This is a great group.

Something I've found as a "rebounder":  I actually am ready to put in the time to be better....when I was younger I was far more impatient.

[slobone]

When I starting playing more seriously a couple of years ago, after a lapse of nearly 20 years (I'm 65), I was astonished to find that in some ways I'm actually playing better than I ever used to. By which I mean playing more musically. I'm more aware of phrasing and polyphony for one thing. And my accumulated life experiences mean I actually have something to express in the pieces I'm working on, rather than just treating them as technical exercises to be mastered. A lot of this comes from the fact that I sang with a chamber choir during my hiatus from the piano. I highly recommend that for everybody.

The other thing that I think is helping is that I'm being more attentive to the level of pieces I take on. There's plenty of music by great composers at beginner and intermediate levels. Some of my teachers used to push me to learn stuff that I wasn't ready for yet, and that gave me a very bad attitude to practicing. Now I can please myself, and it really helps.

[alanteew]

I can identify with a lot with the comments above. Youth is wasted on the young.

At 46, I'm coming off a long hiatus. A few months ago I performed solo for the first time in about 27 years. (I did the Chopin funeral march.)

Muscle memory is an amazing thing.

[bernadette60614]

I'd also toss in:

When I was younger and studying piano, it was very important for me to measure myself against my teacher's other students and to "best" them.  This may just be part of youth..the desire to prove your worth by being better than someone else.

Now I play without any goal more than learning to play better.  It is more a relationship with piano than it is competition with other students.

I also find that cognitively there is a HUGE benefit in having an activity which forces you to focus.  If I'm playing pieces which stretch me, my mind can't wander. It makes me appreciate how often I've lived in some moment other than the current one and how much I miss by doing so.

[bronnestam]

Amen to everyone. 

When I started to practice again it sounded so awful that I sometimes muted my piano (digital, thank God) in order not to torture my ears too much. Instead I just listened to the sound of the keypressings and tried to make it more smooth, more even ... In time it DID get better. And cost me a painful muscle inflammation, unfortunately, but still. 

BUT I realized that musically I am much better than before, because now I listen to what I play. And I have no desire whatsoever to compete, I earn my money in better ways than through piano playing, I play just for the sheer fun of it. I have no wish to perform either, except maybe for my dear ones.

So, Life finally taught me how to practice the piano, and in return the Piano has taught me many things about life. How to be patient, how to concentrate, how to motivate myself ... 

[slobone]

BUT I realized that musically I am much better than before, because now I listen to what I play.

Yes. Listening to what I'm playing, and also being aware of how it feels to play it, are my big new discoveries. Putting my attention on my ears and fingers, instead of the sheet music. I think when I was taking lessons before, it wasn't really possible to do this, because I felt so much pressure to be prepared for each lesson that I could only focus on learning the notes as quickly as possible. Now I can relax and spend as much time as I want on each piece.

[dynamobt]

I think I have found a gold mine in my new teacher.  We discussed my starting the Schubert Impromptu Op 90 no 4.  But instead of throwing me to the wolves by simply assigning the piece and letting me have at it, I brought up the Hanon exercises which my teacher thought I would LOVE!!!  So, we're spending a month on technical exercises before attacking this piece. 

This is good because my "foundation" is weak.  I play musically because I have listened to a lot of very good muscicians playing.  But I never spent time on exercises to build finger independence or strength. 

I'm really enjoying playing this time around.  Having the right teacher is tremendously important!!  I thank you all for the welcome.  I think I'm going to like discussing music with al of you.

[hfmadopter]

Welcome! This is a great group.

Something I've found as a "rebounder":  I actually am ready to put in the time to be better....when I was younger I was far more impatient.

I first took piano lessons as a young adult, a very serious young adult. As such and having learned from taking accordion lessons as a kid that you don't get far without good and reasonably lengthy practice, I had no problem practicing. As a young adult I had goals to meet and gave myself a ten year window to work within.  My teacher and I got me a long ways towards those goals in that time. I look at the repertoire now and wonder how the heck I played a few of them.

This time is a bit more relaxed, I'm just trying to get back close to where I was in repertoire or near that capability ( I have no desire to play the exact repertoire again). However, I do get side tracked with some really beautiful sounding simpler repertoire than that of what I played on the first round at piano. Long story short, I'm happy to play music of several types this time ! The level seems less important now as long as the sound is what I want to be putting out.. I'm not interested in excessive finger and hand gymnastics, I concentrate on dynamics more now than I did back then for sure.

I've been back on the piano now 11 months. I'd say the first 6 months of that time was getting familiar all over again. I had some trouble reading the outer reaches of the notes at first. The first three months my hands would tire fairly easy. Those issues are resolved now. That was all expected. What I did not expect was how much more mature my playing sounds now than then ! At Christmas I managed a small performance, was slightly nervous at first and took a short break, came back and it went off really well from that point on. Considering the rough start just 7 months prior, I couldn't have been more pleased about that evenings playing. However, I'm somewhat derailed on repertoire since and I think that is because I have no goal at the moment. I'm one who needs a performance of some sort in the works and then prepare the repertoire for that performance. That is a throw back to my earlier years where we had workshops to prep for and I did my own recitals as well.

Enough of my story, I'm up early this morning just felt like chiming in !!

[slobone]

I'm one who needs a performance of some sort in the works and then prepare the repertoire for that performance. That is a throw back to my earlier years where we had workshops to prep for and I did my own recitals as well.

Something that I often find myself doing when I'm practicing, and I hope this doesn't sound too silly, is pretending that I'm playing for my friends. Specific friends -- this one would really enjoy this piece, that one would enjoy the other piece, and so-and-so would like a third piece, but only if I say a few words before playing it so that he'll understand what he's hearing. Sometimes I even imagine what the neighbors would think, even though as far as I know they don't like classical music at all (and I hope they can't really hear me!).

[oxy60]

What I try to do is mix the pieces and try to not play so much Beethoven. When I add something to work on I must like it first and then I want it to be different. In that regard it must demand a different approach. This way I work on different aspects of technique while still playing pieces I like.  And no obscure composers!

They also must pass the hum test. That's when my wife can hum along...

Welcome to the club!