A Beginner's Board?

[squiggly_girl]

What do you think of the idea of having a board dedicated to the beginning piano student? I know that somewhere it says you have to be a college student or something to sign up, but the reality is that a lot of people here seem to be beginners looking for advice and inspiration. For myself, I would feel more comfortable posting questions and comments on Bach's Minuet set in G minor on  a beginner's board than in the Repertoire or even the Students section. A lot of the posts in the Students board are seriously intimidating to a beginner like me. I wouldn't dare post my ravings on Burgmuller's Arabesque in and amongst discussions on Chopin's nocturnes and Rach 3! Well, just a thought.

[Glissando]

Hey you know what? I was playing both of those pieces last year but since then I've jumped 5 levels and am now playing advanced!
Hopefully that will be encouraging to you.
Yeah maybe a beginner's board would be a good thing, there are quite a few beginners here. But don't be hesitant to post in the student's corner.
BTW I saw on your profile that you are a Kiwi- lucky you! I want to visit NZ someday.

[squiggly_girl]

That is amazing! I only hope that I can progress half as quickly as you have  Yep, I feel pretty fortunate to live in NZ and have no aspirations to settle anywhere else. You should visit! Although our dollar is pretty high at the moment - maybe you should wait til next year when it crashes 

[bernhard]

What do you think of the idea of having a board dedicated to the beginning piano student? I know that somewhere it says you have to be a college student or something to sign up, but the reality is that a lot of people here seem to be beginners looking for advice and inspiration. For myself, I would feel more comfortable posting questions and comments on Bach's Minuet set in G minor on  a beginner's board than in the Repertoire or even the Students section. A lot of the posts in the Students board are seriously intimidating to a beginner like me. I wouldn't dare post my ravings on Burgmuller's Arabesque in and amongst discussions on Chopin's nocturnes and Rach 3! Well, just a thought.

I don’t think you should feel intimidated.

Questions about beginner / intermediate pieces are far more useful than questions about Rach 3.

A lot of people asking about advanced repertory do not have a clue. I remember someone who wanted to play the Moonlight sonata, asking what was the “x” (double sharp) symbol before a note. Surely if you have to ask such a question you should stay clear of the Moonlight for a while (a long while!).

The people in this forum who can actually play the advanced repertory (Robert Henry, Koji) are not asking questions about it, have you noticed?

So there is really no need for a beginner’s board. That is it! The guys asking about advanced repertory are all beginners with a lot of attitude, eh eh . (There is a guy who can barely play Fur Elise, but keep asking questions about Chopin Fantasy Impromptu – he should be embarrassed, not you).

In fact, if you notice, I myself almost never answer questions about advanced repertory (can you guess why?)

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[Glissando]

Well squiggly girl maybe after I graduate from college I can save up and visit NZ.

[squiggly_girl]

I don’t think you should feel intimidated.

Questions about beginner / intermediate pieces are far more useful than questions about Rach 3.

A lot of people asking about advanced repertory do not have a clue. I remember someone who wanted to play the Moonlight sonata, asking what was the “x” (double sharp) symbol before a note. Surely if you have to ask such a question you should stay clear of the Moonlight for a while (a long while!).

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I still wonder how many lurkers out there might become more encouraged to post if there were a board in which discussions on the joys of hearing La Candeur (Sincerity) being played really nicely were sort of the norm. But I do appreciate that the forum for answering beginner repertory questions is right here, and I just need to ask.

Having said that, for myself it's less about asking questions, I have a teacher after all, as sharing thoughts and impressions on the pieces I'm working on. One of the negative side effects about enjoying people's ravings on the intermediate and advanced repertoire is that I tend to get impatient to be able to play these. It's a positive inducement to want to get to that level, but at the same time tends to temper my enjoyment of the beginner stuff. Even the term "beginner stuff" is pretty derogatory to a lot of the music I'm learning because it IS great.  I just wish there was a bit more discussion on it, so I could have that positive affirmation. That way I'd feel less impatient, more content with the level that I'm at 

Maybe I'll start a thread on the Little Notebook and just keeping bumping it...

Oh, and Bernhard can I take this opportunity to thank you again for the stuff you posted on Burgmuller's op.100. I find it a really nice reference as I move through the pieces. I noticed that number 20 (Ballade?) is on the Grade 5 pieces list for ABRSMs 2005/2006 syllabus.

Glissando, you wouldn't regret the investment!

[dmk]

Never feel bad asking a question squiggly girl.  The only silly question is the one which is not asked!!! 

By the way Bernhard....on this issue what would you consider advanced repertory?? Because I would consider some of the works I am tackling at the moment advanced (eg Bach's Toccatas in C minor and F sharp min, Chopin Fantasie and Andante Spinato and Grand Polonaise, Barber's Sonata and Bartok's Out of Doors Suite) but I have a feeling that you and I have different definitions of 'advanced'.

Cheers

dmk

[bernhard]

Never feel bad asking a question squiggly girl.  The only silly question is the one which is not asked!!! 

By the way Bernhard....on this issue what would you consider advanced repertory?? Because I would consider some of the works I am tackling at the moment advanced (eg Bach's Toccatas in C minor and F sharp min, Chopin Fantasie and Andante Spinato and Grand Polonaise, Barber's Sonata and Bartok's Out of Doors Suite) but I have a feeling that you and I have different definitions of 'advanced'.

Advanced may mean different things to different people. For a total beginner, Fur Elise is certainly advanced, but for a concert pianist it is laughable.

Then you have pieces that are immensely difficult to play well even though (or perhaps because) they appear to be utterly simple. For instance, Arvo Part’s Fur Alina.

When I use the word “advanced” I usually mean the accepted use of the word: Any piece beyond grade 8, or any piece that would demand an inordinate amount of practice and dedication to make it “easy”.

All of the pieces you have mentioned I would certainly consider advanced.

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[dinosaurtales]

Bernhard has a great idea here.  Quite often I can tell by the post what kind of advice "should" show up, but sometimes it's difficult.  There are a lot of beginning and intermediate players starting to mess with very advanced material (heck, I did back then!) with no intentiion of playing it in recital, but to just play with it.  The advice I'd give to these folks would be quite different if I knew it was somebody like Bernhard asking a technical question (which would probably go way over my head!).  But I am all for a beginner's forum.

Also, as any thought been given to an adult pianists forum?  we have several different considerations (sometimes sad, but true) associated with age that you lucky "kids" don't have!

[Bob]

I thought maybe there should be more boards.  Then I saw Piano World forums.  Geez!  Too many boards!  You have to really think and analyze the forum to post a question over there.

So don't worry about the level of other pianists.  Everyone's different anyhow.  I would like to hear impressions of pieces, thoughts from students.  Everyone is still a student and has something to learn. 

If people aren't interested, they'll just skip over it.  Someone will surely be interested in your questions, esp if it's piano related (as opposed to the Anything but Piano ideas that can plummet).

[dorfmouse]

I thought maybe there should be more boards. Then I saw Piano World forums. Geez! Too many boards! You have to really think and analyze the forum to post a question over there.

So don't worry about the level of other pianists. Everyone's different anyhow. I would like to hear impressions of pieces, thoughts from students. Everyone is still a student and has something to learn.  

If people aren't interested, they'll just skip over it. Someone will surely be interested in your questions, esp if it's piano related (as opposed to the Anything but Piano ideas that can plummet).

I really agree with this. I'm an adult learner, sort of intermediate/early advanced I suppose (ex ABRSM Grade 8 some while and many  decaying brain cells ago.)  I discovered this forum when I started a belated (must be at age 51!) quest to learn to memorise about 3 months ago. So at that level I too felt like a beginner and though have only posted a tiny number of questions/comments have never felt put down.  And you never know when and where a small comment someone makes, even on an apparently unrelated topic, is going to help you.  For example, in a long series of questions and replies between Paul and Bernhard about using the 7/20 framework of practising ("Pauls plan to try it for himself"),  a couple of comments rang so true for me, e.g. "...if after playing the 2 bars 7 times in a row it was even worse than when you first started ..." (yes!), or "...the next day the passage will probably be somewhere in between the 2 extremes of completely forgotten (yes! yes!)) and completely mastered ..." I felt such a relief that these were obviously not just my experiences because up till then I was almost convinced that I would never be able to memorise anything at length. Now since October I've managed to memorise Grieg's Homesickness, about 3/4 of Wedding Day at Troldhaugen and am on the way through Scarlatti no 27 b min. For me that's a huge achievement and confidence booster.
I suppose the point is you never can predict where your needs will be met; sometimes it comes from the reply to an elementary question but phrased in a way that hits home, sometimes it's in a remark by an advanced professional. I think somewhere Bernhard said you find the teacher you need when you look (hope I'm not terribly misquoting!) and I think this happens more if we don't keep making artificial boundaries between beginners, adults, college students etc. etc.
Just a thought, maybe there could be a specific message icon for anyone feeling shy about discussing very elementary repertoire ... a cute teddy?  Or a bald head if you're really wanting a response from the more, ahem, annually challenged members?!