Need help and advice please!

[pover]

Hey guys. I think I'll start with a mini semi-rant...

I've been self-taught for 2-3 years now, and I think I'm doing pretty well. To give you an idea of where I'm at, I'm playing things like chopin waltzes op 69, nocturnes etc. I started taking lessons this summer for the first time, and was really excited to get started because of all the great things I heard people say about their teachers. This was about a month ago. At the time, I was working on Chopin's nocturne op 32/1, about a week in, and was starting to think about how I can work with the material I've learned to allow for a more musical performance, and I had some ideas in mind, and I was excited to start lessons and discuss options for this and similar pieces... you know, musicality and technique in general.

Great, so I go to take a class, which he kindly gave for a very nice price (45 mins, 4 times a month, for what would be like $100 for you in the US). However, we ended up working for like an hour and a half each class. But as arrogant as this sounds, I'm pretty sure my imagination and creativity, and ambition even, is much greater than my teacher's. When I started talking about our options with the inner lines in the nocturnes, he said just ignore it and play it as written and not to worry about it. So I asked him how I can bring out the top line more (I knew the answer, I wanted to see what he had to say), he just said play it without worrying, it should come out. and this went on for a few lessons I have already taken... It's this kind of stuff.. He doesn't focus on the details of the music which are extremely important in things like nocturnes. When I asked him how should I phrase this, or if he had any tips on how to improve things like that, he just says don't worry about it....

He recently gave me the blue danube transcription, the one that's like 10 pages long, and it starts out with an A major tremolo in pp, which is the accompaniment, so I need it to be as soft and as fast as possible. I work on the piece, different sections, getting the basics down then focusing on the details a bit more, everything still at a primary stage. So next lesson I ask him how I can do that tremolo fast and pp, he says "Yeah that hard... why don't you press the pedal?" So I pressed the sustaining pedal, then he says "Yeah and press the left pedal too, that softens things up". Mind you this is on an upright, so its not the una corda, it's just the soft pedal. This may sound silly, but it should be me who presses the pedal and him who tells me not to! Don't you guys something is wrong here? When he plays the piece, he uses WAAY too much pedal and doesn't follow the dynamic markings AT ALL. I know this sounds crazy, a student criticizing his teacher, but I'm just really disappointed. I had this idea of learning with a teacher that I'm gonna delve into great detail and really improve my playing, but apparently this may not be the case...


Now, I'll post my actual questions in the next post. Sorry that I made you read this, but I really want to know what you think of this whole situation and what I should do... He tells me to stop playing so much Chopin and known composers, and gives me things like swing/jazz/blues stuff and "oldies" and tons of czerny etudes and hanon which honestly I'm not at all interested in. He tells me it's important that I play things I don't like and that I almost finished Chopin. I told him I still haven't gotten anywhere near my dream pieces  (ballades, scherzi, some polonaises..) he says I think it's enough. He's a great improvisor, awesome sight reader and accompanist, but I feel we're completely different in everything... He doesn't like the standard classical repertoire, doesn't know most of the pieces I bring to him, and doesn't give much advice on technique... I don't know what I'm doing! I think he's a great teacher for beginners, but for me I don't think I'm getting my money's worth. What would you do?

Next post for an extended question please!

[pover]

So, since I'll probably be going back to teaching my self like I used to, and since I'm going to be starting university (Medicine) in September, I was thinking that it's time to get more organized. My goals are clear and I'm willing to work hard towards them and take as long as needed, and then a bit more. To be honest, my goals are something along the lines of playing the ballades and scherzi, and the heroic polonaise, more advanced Beethoven sonatas etc etc.

I know you hate these type of questions, and as much as I am reluctant to post, I feel that I have no one else to turn to, and honestly I'm pretty sure you guys can provide me with a lot more information and help than my teacher can, since you know and love these masterpieces. So i want to make a plan for myself to eventually acquire the technique and musicality to be able to play these pieces up to the standard I'm setting for them (about perfection). I know this is gonna be hard without a teacher that's why I'm willing to work on it methodically.

The question is: What do you think are the main technical difficulties of, for ex, the First ballade and the heroic polonaise, and how can I work to acquire the necessary technique to someday tackle them? I know this is a broad question, but I'm looking for some guidance!

For example, I know that I have to be fluent with:

-Fast scales
-Jumps and accuracy
-Thirds
-Octaves (legato)
-Shaping and phrasing (this needs a lot of work for me... so I'm gonna work on a lot of Chopin nocturnes to aid in this)
-Voicing

etc etc. So can you expand a bit on the list and give me advice on how to work on these things so that I improve them? If possible I would appreciate pieces that would help develop these concepts, and I'm open to most suggestions, preferably from composers like Chopin, the 3 B's, Mozart et al.

I would appreciate any advice you can provide, knowing that the questions are broad and hard to answer. Sorry for the long and tiresome post and thanks for your time.

[chopin4life]

To get a better view on your skills, I would like you to post some performance (a chopin nocturne) in the audition room.
I do strongly recommend taking lessons with a good teacher, because you'll need this guidance if you ever want to play such high level pieces.

Post some performance and I'll try to give you further advice.

Chopin4life

[pover]

https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=55828.0

Here's the recording. Again, not very good as it was the first take with a not-so-good device I apologize for missed/wrong notes.

[amytsuda]

My advice is to find a better teacher. I am sure you can find other teachers in your area? Ask someone who you admire in terms of piano performance (you must have a friend who plays piano well) and who is his / her teacher.

I took lessons for almost 10 years when I was a kid from teachers (three different ones), none of which were pianists and couldn't play piano, and I really wasted my life - They gave me tons of Czerney's with no instruction (because they don't know how to teach), I developed poor technique, played horribly, and I was blamed it's because I have no talent. There are bad teachers to be honest. Your teachers don't sound like trained to teach classical repertoires at all, or he is not taking you seriously. I finally got a teacher who is a real piano teacher at Conservatory, and he definitely doesn't take me seriously, what can you expect from 40 years old who play poorly after years of poor practices in childhood? (Having said that, he's been an incredible help for me, I wish I were 12 years old now, I could learn from him superbly) You are still young, but I know some teachers don't take 18 years old seriously, unless they are audition ready for Conservatory. 

Based on your recording, I can definitely hear your musical intentions what you are trying to express. I can hear you really enjoy those repertoires. I can hear you have a lot of ideas in interpreting the piece. And it's really impressive you can play like that after only 3 years learning on your own.

But at the same time, I do think you need a different teacher to help you technically, if you would like to play Chopin Ballade and Heroic Polonaise well. You can probably play them if you had a patience to learn them, but playing them "well" is another story. And between Chopin Waltz Op 69 and Ballade Op 23 or Polonaise Op 53 is a long distance. If you don't have a right teacher, it can take several years to get there (or you may not ever get there). I am not trained to give critique but from my own experience but I know it's a hard road from where you are today.

By the way, did you think of getting a grand piano? Practicing Chopin on a upright piano won't get you anywhere.

[pover]

Thanks for the detailed reply amytsuda!

I hope I can find a better teacher, for an affordable price, since I don't think people appreciate art where I live as much as people do in Europe, for instance. Unfortunately, I have no piano friends lol. I wish I did, because sometimes it feels so lonely, and part of the reason i got a teacher is because i wanted to see how it feels to communicate or interact with other musicians, but i guess like 90% of his other students are kids.

Thank you for your comments on the recording. It definitely is not a really good one by any means, as I wanted to just give a general idea of my level. I think what you want to say, but you are afraid you might hurt my feelings (don't be! I love criticism. how do you think I could improve all these years? ), is that "I can hear what you are trying to do, but most of the time it doesn't come out just right, and you might need a teacher to help you with that." and I feel the same.

As for the grand piano, I would love to, believe me, but it's kind of impossible. My father passed away a year ago, and we most likely don't have enough to spend on a grand piano which only I will make use of when we already have an upright. I've had that conversation numerous times before, trust me.

[amytsuda]

I totally understand. When I was a kid, finance was a main reason why my mom kept me with these ineffective teachers and I could never convince her to get me a grand piano. But a good news is you have internet to figure things out today!

Does your University have a music department or anything related to music? To be honest, it is better to pay a good teacher $100 / lesson than $100 / four lessons. If your mobile phone can take videos, take videos of your lessons, and really nail down the details in between lessons. Does the University have student music clubs? It's definitely good to find other piano friends. 

One thing about Chopin Waltz is people like me get lazy on the left hand. With Bach, you can never let your left hand go lazy. Have you done a lot of Bach? I hear your right hand makes harsh sounds sometimes particularly when you are trying to shape the phrase. I wonder if you are stiff or if it's piano. Nocturnes are definitely good for practicing Legato and phrasing, have you done Op 15 No 2? I wonder if it inspires you Which one are you thinking of trying next? Have you done Schubert Impromptu Op 90 No 2? It may be a great technical practice and pretty

[pover]

You can't imagine how much I've learned, both technically and musically, from online videos from people like Josh Wright or Graham Fitch. Those videos coupled with forums like these are the only things that kept me going to be honest. Otherwise, I'm pretty sure I'd be in a very bad place right now.

I'm not sure about the university having a music department. I wish it does to be honest. I'll try to get a teacher that will work with me and really care about it. I feel like most teachers these days - where I live at least - solely work on students who take ABRSM exams so they expect you to follow a certain program/regimen and they are not prepared to teach any other way. They expect everything to be based on a particular schedule of some sort: "Okay, let's do scales. Great, now sight-reading. Ok, and now some pieces. Good on you! see you next week!", or something like that lol.

As for the Bach, I recently finished the 4th french suite (Eb) and a couple of inventions. This was the reason I missed Chopin so much in the first place I understand what you mean about my right hand... I really need to improve my total dynamic range so that I can shape different phrases differently and without so much effort or exaggeration.

I love the nocturnes, yeah. The last one I was practicing was in B major, op.32 no.1 and I really enjoyed it. I got almost half-way through it and then started lessons and worked on other stuff. When I finish this month of lessons, I'll probably get back to it immediately. Op 15/2 is great as well, but I was thinking of doing another minor key nocturne after op 32/1. Haven't done any Schubert, nope, but read through the 3rd moment musical and I'm thinking of finishing that one also!

Thanks a lot for the replies and conversation in general, you don't have how seldom I get a change to talk to other people about music and piano

[amytsuda]

Everywhere in the world, most teachers simply want to follow the set regimen and have really difficult time to teach students who don't fit in that frame....

I was also annoyed by these grade tests etc, and I found this syllabus of RCM grading.
https://examinations.rcmusic.ca/sites/default/files/files/S29_PianoSyllabus_2013%20online_SECURED.pdf

You are learning Grade 9/10 repertoires on your own now. The question to you is in the Syllabus, there are list of technical components that are required to pass the exam for that grade. When you go through those lists for Grade 9/10, do you feel you would pass the exam? Then, you definitely don't need a teacher who wants you to go through it. If you do feel like you won't pass the exam, I think it is indeed a good idea to take lessons from those teachers.

In the end, you have an ability to learn all the musics you like on your own, and no one can stop you from doing so. I agree those YouTube videos are great, I also watched many of Graham Fitch's ones (except I didn't realize his name is Graham Fitch, I looked up and realized those are all the videos I watched). You can practice other things that your teacher didn't ask you to practice, as far as you did your homework for the teacher. What you need from your teacher is simply a technical foundation, so you can express your music without being inhibited by technical ability. Though it may be boring, it is good to cover the bases and get checkmarks. And I am sure you will get all the checkmarks really really fast.

I had none of these, and I really wish I had a chance to go through all the basics. I am now finally going through very basic things painstakingly. Once you cover those basics, you can get a teacher for advanced students and your communication with your teacher would be very efficient and effective, because both of you will speak the same languages.

Chopin Nocturnes in Minor keys, I only "played" Op 9 No 1, Op 27 No 1, Op 48 No1, Op 55 No 1. My favorite is Op 27 No 1. It's really magical...! I wish I could play it well.... Don't become like me!! I play everything and I can play nothing.

[pover]

Thanks for the RCM syllabus link; it was very helpful and interesting to look through!

You have a point. I can play some of the higher grades pieces, but when I look through the technical tests and especially the sight-reading, I can imagine that I won't do quite as well. Sight-reading is most likely my weakest skill, and I dedicate at least 1 practice session per day on it (without much improvement, as far as I can tell ). You do have a point...

I mean the teacher is giving me stuff like czerny etudes with is basically C major scale down 2 octaves, great now up 2 octaves. C major chord in LH, good now 1st inversion etc etc... It CAN get boring and I never thought I'd ever get bored sitting at the piano. I'm sure I would enjoy it a lot more if we worked on technique but maybe on different pieces, like the Schubert op 90/2: It's got tons of scales and it's great music which I will play long after I stop taking lessons! I have to tell him this.

Oh, I forgot the hanon! He's giving me hanon... can you believe it? I mean, what the heck would I benefit from playing the first couple of exercises... it's not like I'm ever gonna have to use that skill, and frankly it's extremely painful and sometimes tiring lol. I don't mind working on technical pieces (Like 90/2) but I appreciate some musical value as well! Don't you think I can benefit a lot from Mozart sonatas, for instance? Things like k311 are extremely enjoyable for me and are full of scales and arpeggios, which are used in real music, so giving me an opportunity to practice both technical and musical problems while enjoying myself.

I agree, op 27/1 is one I'm going to play someday, but I won't rush into it. 27/2 is amazingly beautiful as well, with it's romantic and passionate ambiance all the way through... I play 9/1, C#m posth., and like sections of others. I was thinking of doing 48/2 after 32/1 since I like the melody so much. It's great talking to you!

[amytsuda]

Op 48 No 2, definitely really pretty! It's a great one.

I was thinking about mentioning Mozart K311 as well as K333, but I didn't, because Mozart is sometimes very annoying. It's easy to learn the score for sure, and from there to make it sound like good music is a bit of nightmare - it can be discouraging. Schubert or Chopin Nocturne, somehow, now matter how you play it, it still sounds pretty

One thing about Czerney and Sight Reading. Sight-reading is all about pattern recognition, and that's one thing I am really good at. I actually attribute it to all my ineffective teachers when I was a kid who gave me Czerney after Czerney starting from Czerney no 1, Czerney 100, Czerney 25, Czerney 40, Czerney 50, I may have done more. They simply didn't teach anything, they checked if I practiced and made me move on to the next.

My husband is pretty bad at piano, and he can't sight read. So one time, I made him mindlessly do Czerney 100 for 3 months, and you know what? His ability to read score increased significantly   The other day, I made him sight read Nocturne Op 55 No 1! 

If you do Czerney without proper guidance, you may develop horrible habits of playing piano like me, being stiff, hanging onto keys without control, hunched back, lack of phrasing, lack of dynamics, lack of balance, etc. But one great value added is definitely pattern recognitions to help on sight-reading. 

[outin]

I think you (op) are learning some pretty demanding repertoire for someone who has only played for 3 years... I can see why your teacher would think it's a bit early to concentrate on the finesses of such music. But if you really already have all the tools to pull it off, you may need a different teacher.

No need to go to Czerny etudes for basics though (is there anything more boring?). There's plenty of less demanding but wonderful repertoire out there... Why not try some Scarlatti sonatas, they are both wonderful music and good technical studies

[lazyfingers]

He tells me to stop playing so much Chopin and known composers, and gives me things like swing/jazz/blues stuff and "oldies" and tons of czerny etudes and hanon which honestly I'm not at all interested in.

Czerny and Hanon I can understand - however, you will need to understand how to get the most out of each exercise and it doesn't appear that your teacher is giving you enough guidance there. Playing those mindlessly just reduces the exercises to a bunch of notes that will not advance your technique one iota.

Also, it looks like your teacher would rather teach swing/jazz/blues which is not where your interests lie. Hard to be definitive from afar, but personally and prima facie I won't learn classical piano from a jazz musician, and vice versa, but acknowledge there are those that can teach both.

All the best.

[pover]

Op 48 No 2, definitely really pretty! It's a great one.

I was thinking about mentioning Mozart K311 as well as K333, but I didn't, because Mozart is sometimes very annoying. It's easy to learn the score for sure, and from there to make it sound like good music is a bit of nightmare - it can be discouraging. Schubert or Chopin Nocturne, somehow, now matter how you play it, it still sounds pretty

One thing about Czerney and Sight Reading. Sight-reading is all about pattern recognition, and that's one thing I am really good at. I actually attribute it to all my ineffective teachers when I was a kid who gave me Czerney after Czerney starting from Czerney no 1, Czerney 100, Czerney 25, Czerney 40, Czerney 50, I may have done more. They simply didn't teach anything, they checked if I practiced and made me move on to the next.

My husband is pretty bad at piano, and he can't sight read. So one time, I made him mindlessly do Czerney 100 for 3 months, and you know what? His ability to read score increased significantly   The other day, I made him sight read Nocturne Op 55 No 1! 

If you do Czerney without proper guidance, you may develop horrible habits of playing piano like me, being stiff, hanging onto keys without control, hunched back, lack of phrasing, lack of dynamics, lack of balance, etc. But one great value added is definitely pattern recognitions to help on sight-reading. 

I agree with you about the Mozart. That's why I was excited on working on it with a teacher because not only will I improve technique and fluidity (you know what I mean), but I'll also work on the finer details which include a ton of articulation and phrasing. I thought that would be a great learning resource for me since I already worship the music.

I can understand what you're saying about czerny and sight-reading... I can definitely see the upside there but then again I'm afraid I'll learn bad habits when I practice them. You see, when I went to my first lesson, I expected the teacher to tell me all sorts of thing about my posture, hand positions, alignment etc etc since I thought I developed bad habits learning on my own (very carefully, might I add). To my surprise he didn't comment anything. He asked me to play him something and I did, it was a chopin waltz or nocturne or something, and he jokingly said "hahha you're kind of advanced... I don't know what I can do to help you in a few years you'll be teaching me hahah" in a joking manner. I'm not saying this to boost my self-esteem / ego but I guess I should've known from the start that maybe he isn't really great for me...

[pover]

I think you (op) are learning some pretty demanding repertoire for someone who has only played for 3 years... I can see why your teacher would think it's a bit early to concentrate on the finesses of such music. But if you really already have all the tools to pull it off, you may need a different teacher.

No need to go to Czerny etudes for basics though (is there anything more boring?). There's plenty of less demanding but wonderful repertoire out there... Why not try some Scarlatti sonatas, they are both wonderful music and good technical studies

I understand what you're saying about me practicing rep beyond my ability. When I first started, I used to learn rep MUCH more difficult than I could handle, and since then I've grown wiser and now work more logically. To be honest, I feel this rep is quite manageable for me and recently I've started learning things at a much nicer pace.

What I do feel is the problem is that I cannot always achieve what I have already decided upon in my head. That's why I was so excited about taking lessons with a teacher, because I was sure he can help me with the musical side of things. I'm not saying I'm a technician and I definitely can't play pieces like Chopin etudes (imagine...), but I steer clear from pieces which are not do-able. That's why lately I'm leaning towards nocturnes and stuff because they help improve my phrasing and voicing and touch (all which my teacher says are things I shouldn't worry about, he says he never worries about them...).

I get you on the simpler and beneficial pieces, but my teacher doesn't I wish I could play things like mozart soantas (full of technique and musicality) or shubert impromptus and moment musicaux etc. These pieces are beneficial, very worthwhile and fun. He insists that I should learn piece not from classical music (in general) and learn more jazz/blue improv etc, even if I don't like them. And for the life of me, I cannot understand why.

[pover]

Czerny and Hanon I can understand - however, you will need to understand how to get the most out of each exercise and it doesn't appear that your teacher is giving you enough guidance there. Playing those mindlessly just reduces the exercises to a bunch of notes that will not advance your technique one iota.

Also, it looks like your teacher would rather teach swing/jazz/blues which is not where your interests lie. Hard to be definitive from afar, but personally and prima facie I won't learn classical piano from a jazz musician, and vice versa, but acknowledge there are those that can teach both.

All the best.

He gives them to me and tells me to work on them. the next lesson I come without having worked on any and I tell him that I'd rather work on real music which have these challenges, such as mozart k311, and he says these are extremely important bla bla. So at the end of the lesson I ask him what will I benefit from playing hanon over and over again, it's not gonna help. He says this is the most important thing for you right now, and when you finish these I'll give you the next batch. This is where I started hitting my head against a wall... he tells me just learn them and we'll work on speed here using a metronome...

I don't recall ever hearing him once talk to me about my playing apparatus and how to decrease tension (don't have any, but he should have at least given advice) or anything really. Looking back, I think he only helped me A BIT with sight-reading by sight-reading duets with me, and those were extremely difficult for me. When I told him that he said "no don't worry you can do it" And needless to say I couldn't.

The 2nd lesson he gave me mozart fantasia in D minor because I strictly told him that I want to learn classical, not jazz/improv. So I think he felt he was doing me a favor there, but that's pretty much where it ended. Now I'm learning blue danube which I'm enjoying, and when he played it for me, his pedalling drove me nuts. I work hard to keep my LH soft and give a nice rhythm of oom-pah-pah, trying to only bring out the 1st beat. He says "don't worry, I want to hear more left hand, and press the pedal!" "But teacher, there are rests between the notes in the RH and it's clearly indicated" "Don't worry about that. Strauss isn't gonna do anything to us if we don't listen to him".

I know I'm sounding like a little kid who keeps complaining, but for 2-3 years I had this image in my head, and particularly in the last 6 months, that when I start with a teacher we'll have a great understand and cohesion, and that we can share musical ideas. I thought that maybe he'll tell me about a great inner line in the music and how to bring it out... apparently it was probably something i really hoped for but not actually attainable.

[lazyfingers]

Perhaps it is time to consider cutting your losses and moving elsewhere.

In the end, if you are sure you are not making progress, then that is all that matters. Life is too short for such problems you don't have to bear.

[outin]

I understand what you're saying about me practicing rep beyond my ability. When I first started, I used to learn rep MUCH more difficult than I could handle, and since then I've grown wiser and now work more logically. To be honest, I feel this rep is quite manageable for me and recently I've started learning things at a much nicer pace.

What I do feel is the problem is that I cannot always achieve what I have already decided upon in my head. That's why I was so excited about taking lessons with a teacher, because I was sure he can help me with the musical side of things. I'm not saying I'm a technician and I definitely can't play pieces like Chopin etudes (imagine...), but I steer clear from pieces which are not do-able. That's why lately I'm leaning towards nocturnes and stuff because they help improve my phrasing and voicing and touch (all which my teacher says are things I shouldn't worry about, he says he never worries about them...).

I did exactly the same, started with things too difficult. I have had a teacher for 3 years and think getting to more basic things has helped me to better understand that the exact reason why I cannot achieve what I hear in my head is lack of technique. My playing apparatus is far less developed than my ear. I just do not believe you can separate technique from the musicality really. But I will still refuse to study things that I find deadly boring...

It's just that pieces like op 48-1 are considered really advanced and are usually played well after many years of training (like 7-10). So even if you seem to learn much quicker than average, you may just have too high demands for yourself and the teacher really cannot handle that...In general it seems he's not the teacher for you. Get a qualified one that does specialize in Classical music... Just be prepared to be told that you don't really know what you are doing, it seems to happen quite often

[pover]

I did exactly the same, started with things too difficult. I have had a teacher for 3 years and think getting to more basic things has helped me to better understand that the exact reason why I cannot achieve what I hear in my head is lack of technique. My playing apparatus is far less developed than my ear. I just do not believe you can separate technique from the musicality really. But I will still refuse to study things that I find deadly boring...

It's just that pieces like op 48-1 are considered really advanced and are usually played well after many years of training (like 7-10). So even if you seem to learn much quicker than average, you may just have too high demands for yourself and the teacher really cannot handle that...In general it seems he's not the teacher for you. Get a qualified one that does specialize in Classical music... Just be prepared to be told that you don't really know what you are doing, it seems to happen quite often

I guess you're right. I don't mind at all going back to basics but I just hope that my next teacher will tell me why and how I'm doing things instead of just "do that and come back next week". That's one of the main reason I took up lessons in the first place. I expected to be bombarded with criticism the first day I got there, but surprisingly there was none. Now, I think it was not due to my adequacy, rather the teacher non-observant eye or dare I say lack of knowledge 

Btw, you must have mis-read somewhere because I definitely didn't say I wanted to play op 48/1 I mean eventually sure but probably not ANYTIME soon. I don't even dare learn it. I am looking to learn the ballade in G minor, but I know it'll be many years away. I'm willing to start/continue learning things that will benefit it and other things I hope to learn. I did say I might tackle 48/2 after 32/1 but still undecided.

Thanks for the help and thoughts... I hope I can still take lessons even after I start university. This is basically the last summer vacation in my life, because med student here need to go to uni in the summer for courses, so that we finish in 6 years. Gonna be a long road...

[outin]

Btw, you must have mis-read somewhere because I definitely didn't say I wanted to play op 48/1 I mean eventually sure but probably not ANYTIME soon.

Oh sorry, I see it was Amytsuda who had played it, not you...

My first teacher was a disappointment also, but with my present one I get as much ciritisism (and advice) as I ever wanted and she never expects me to settle for less, although she sometimes says the piece may be too difficult when I struggle. But that just makes me try harder

So it's definitely worth to look further!

[amytsuda]

Pover, you definitely have a wrong teacher.

I can understand what you're saying about czerny and sight-reading... I can definitely see the upside there but then again I'm afraid I'll learn bad habits when I practice them. You see, when I went to my first lesson, I expected the teacher to tell me all sorts of thing about my posture, hand positions, alignment etc etc since I thought I developed bad habits learning on my own (very carefully, might I add). To my surprise he didn't comment anything. He asked me to play him something and I did, it was a chopin waltz or nocturne or something, and he jokingly said "hahha you're kind of advanced... I don't know what I can do to help you Tongue in a few years you'll be teaching me hahah" in a joking manner. I'm not saying this to boost my self-esteem / ego but I guess I should've known from the start that maybe he isn't really great for me...

Because I do hear in your recording something about hand positions or tensions in hands/fingers to be honest. Now I look back my teachers when I was a kid, I think teachers who can't teach and who can't really play like to use Hanon and Czerney, because it makes it easy for them - they don't have to teach! Really, there are many different kinds of teachers. I know there are piano teachers who aren't trained at all on piano pedagogy or who can't play much, and still teach all these kids. If you don't change your teacher now, you are going to develop bad habits. Since it's been only three years, it's not too late, but if you keep your bad habits for several years, reversing them is a real challenge.

The funny story is my husband is a tenor, and also trained on music theory. He is horrible at piano, but he can make up codes and sing some jazz on top, while accompanying himself. One time we were in a cafe while we were traveling and the cafe had a upright piano for anyone to play. So we both played for fun (with poor customers as captive audience). A guy came up to my husband and like "wow, you are amazing, I have a piano at home, can you come to my house and play for me and teach me piano?" I was like, "wait, how about me? my husband even can't sight-read Clementi Sonatines, why him? He just plays codes all day and exactly excessively pressing pedals to hide everything! I was just playing Chopin for you guys, even though it wasn't perfect!!!" My husband was quite thrilled though. If it were in our neighborhood, I am sure he would have taken this guy as his student!!

My point is don't hang up on your current teacher. There are good ones and bad ones. And there are ones who became a teachers by accident even. I mean you can't blame them, if someone is willing to pay to take lessons from you, of course, you'd accept them, right? I may, because $ is $ after all....

Nothing wrong about reaching out to many teachers. I am not sure how many teachers you have in your neighborhood, but don't give up. I recommend you reach out to a teacher who teaches very advanced students. Those teachers are a lot better trained after all. Find a local piano concert by local pianists, and if you find one you like, you can even contact that person. If they feel you are not advanced enough, they can introduce you to ones that fit you, because they often get students referred from other teachers, when students advance too well.

[amytsuda]

Oh sorry, I see it was Amytsuda who had played it, not you...

Outin, I know I "play" everything I shouldn't be playing. (Well, "play" is defined with 1000 mistakes, 1000 dropped notes and 1000 harsh sounds...) I think this forum is helping me get more grounded

Op 48 No 2 is I think very good, though. Op 55 No 1 is good too. Op 15 No 2 is a bit more challenging, and more technical, but since it's short, with a patience, it's another great one Another repertoire I recommend is Tchaikovsky Seasons (12 months). When I was a kid, my friend was learning, so I got copies of the scores. I really really enjoyed them.