Where to go next?

[trandoanhung1991]

Hi guys,

I'm a self-ranked newbie piano player 

So I have had about a year of piano teaching at the age of 13, broke off and only now, 9 years later, attempting to learn to play the piano again by my self.

This is pretty much my whole piano experience: Fur Elise, A Comme Amour, Ballade Pour Adeline, and Moonlight Sonata Mvt. 1. I also learnt Rondo Alla Turca as a child but, well, screwed up big time and am now hesitant to go back to that piece due to the various bad habits. The same could be said about Fur Elise, but not as much.

As for my theory, my sight reading is pretty bad, and I have pretty much near-0 theory knowledge. I know only basics such as the markings, time signatures, key signatures and so on, but no idea as to the various other theory stuff like scales, arpeggios, etc...

So... Umm... How should I progress next? I'm not aiming to be the next Lizst or Horrowitz, nothing of the sort  . I just want to be able to play the music I enjoy. However, my various deficits, especially in the sight-reading and theory categories seem to be holding me back. And I have no idea how to improve those 

Halp?? 

[jjjessee]

Hopefully, and likely, you have a more innate grasp of music and making music than myself, but still I would seriously look for a pianist trained in the classics. My bias being that you will gain a solid footing in technique, and that, in the end, will make more things possible.

[pianoplunker]

Hi guys,

I'm a self-ranked newbie piano player 

So I have had about a year of piano teaching at the age of 13, broke off and only now, 9 years later, attempting to learn to play the piano again by my self.

This is pretty much my whole piano experience: Fur Elise, A Comme Amour, Ballade Pour Adeline, and Moonlight Sonata Mvt. 1. I also learnt Rondo Alla Turca as a child but, well, screwed up big time and am now hesitant to go back to that piece due to the various bad habits. The same could be said about Fur Elise, but not as much.

As for my theory, my sight reading is pretty bad, and I have pretty much near-0 theory knowledge. I know only basics such as the markings, time signatures, key signatures and so on, but no idea as to the various other theory stuff like scales, arpeggios, etc...

So... Umm... How should I progress next? I'm not aiming to be the next Lizst or Horrowitz, nothing of the sort  . I just want to be able to play the music I enjoy. However, my various deficits, especially in the sight-reading and theory categories seem to be holding me back. And I have no idea how to improve those 

Halp?? 

You do not know key signatures if you do not know scales. Knowing scales and how they are constructed will help you greatly.  These days, you can probably find out how to construct scales by searching the internet. Or you can buy a famous book called "Hanon the virtuoso pianist "    - there is an entire section on scales and fingerings which could be useful for you,  but dont try to use the book as a sixty minute excersise as it is advertised. In any case, you need to know scales to go much further. Knowing scales will also help with sight reading.

[trandoanhung1991]

You do not know key signatures if you do not know scales. Knowing scales and how they are constructed will help you greatly.  These days, you can probably find out how to construct scales by searching the internet. Or you can buy a famous book called "Hanon the virtuoso pianist "    - there is an entire section on scales and fingerings which could be useful for you,  but dont try to use the book as a sixty minute excersise as it is advertised. In any case, you need to know scales to go much further. Knowing scales will also help with sight reading.

Yeap. I have a lot of difficulty remembering the sharps/flats when learning new pieces.

So I guess I should just spend time learning and practicing scales/chords/arpeggios, right?

[pianoplunker]

Yeap. I have a lot of difficulty remembering the sharps/flats when learning new pieces.

So I guess I should just spend time learning and practicing scales/chords/arpeggios, right?

To start with, you could learn the scale of the piece you are working on. All those sharps and flats will 'make much more sense when you realize how it all relates to the scale of the key you are practicing the piece in.  And your new found knowledge applies to other pieces in that key as well. Chords are also important to know so every scale you learn should also learn the chords especially the dominant chord. Spending time on arpeggios probably could be better spent learning the piece. As you go forward you will find plenty of music with arpeggios so you'll get plenty of practice there. Knowing the chords is more important.

[trandoanhung1991]

I've decided to put a focus into learning scales to improve my theoretical memory. Should I go all majors then all minors, or should I go major -> relative minor? What about chords?

Also, if I were to start practicing sight reading, would I gain anything significant other than being able to read the music faster and more accurately? Is it worth the time investment?