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Topic: How hard would be to transfer to read music when I learned  (Read 1162 times)

Offline thinkingofplaying

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to play piano (among other instruments including the banjo) by ear? I ve been "playing" the piano since I was 14. I am 23 now and would like to actually "learn" to play it properly. I put quotes in learn and playing because I realize the stuff I have learn hasn't really been real piano skills.

I am fairly decent, if you heard me you'd assume I have had some lessons but all that I  have learned has been really by youtube videos and just by ear. I hear something and I can play it.

I am not aiming for skills like these people, I realize if I did it would take me years if not decades.


 


but enough to read popular songs. Sometimes, I am given music sheets and its embarrassing telling them I can't read them and then spending sometime in YouTube listening how it should sound and replicating that.

I can spent at least 2 hours a day practicing but what I am asking here is: How hard would my transaction be from playing by ear to reading sheet music?


Offline j_menz

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Re: How hard would be to transfer to read music when I learned
Reply #1 on: March 04, 2014, 03:55:09 AM
It's a bit hard to say, and I can't speak from experience.

My guess is that the initial stage would be more frustrating than difficult.  Music notation is actually quite logical, and you should pick it up fairly readily, but the initial stages are going to be the most difficult for you, and will involve you spending a bit of time playing along to pieces that are considerably easier than what you could do by ear.  That frustration is probably going to be the most difficult part of the exercise, and if you can get past it, you'll probably get the hang of it much faster than that beginning might suggest.
"What the world needs is more geniuses with humility. There are so few of us left" -- Oscar Levant

Offline anima55

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Re: How hard would be to transfer to read music when I learned
Reply #2 on: March 04, 2014, 09:07:39 AM
As I Menz said, frustration is likely to be the biggest hurdle for you because you will need to slow everything down to read notation.

However, if you are practising for around 2 hours each day, you could possibly allocate a certain length of time each practice session for working through a method book.  At the moment, your whole practice time is likely to be for the sole purpose of enjoyment and you may find the idea of working through a method book slightly less enjoyable.

But ... it may help to remember that a small amount of self discipline now will result in a lot more enjoyment later.  So it has to be worth it!

I wouldn't wait; I would go and buy myself my first method book and begin working through it.  I recommend the Michael Aaron method books because they don't move too fast, but they move fast enough and include lots of elements of piano technique. 

Offline thinkingofplaying

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Re: How hard would be to transfer to read music when I learned
Reply #3 on: March 04, 2014, 10:24:06 AM
I ll look for that tomorrow in the local music shop if not order it from amazon or ebay

Thanks guys!
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Piano Street Magazine:
New Piano Piece by Chopin Discovered – Free Piano Score

A previously unknown manuscript by Frédéric Chopin has been discovered at New York’s Morgan Library and Museum. The handwritten score is titled “Valse” and consists of 24 bars of music in the key of A minor and is considered a major discovery in the wold of classical piano music. Read more
 

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