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Topic: Adult Beginner with some experience  (Read 1349 times)

Offline musicdabbler

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Adult Beginner with some experience
on: October 12, 2016, 05:04:56 AM
Growing up, my parents couldn't afford piano lessons for me, so my mother taught me what she could from time to time. I am now a skilled musician on a variety of other instruments, both treble and bass clef brass and woodwind instruments, and I recently got a piano in my home (finally!) I have therefore started playing again after a hiatus during which I only played when visiting my parents' house. I can play my way through Joplin's Entertainer, some of which is more fluid than other parts but I'm still working on it. Does anyone know what level that piece is, have any suggestions of other pieces I might enjoy and could work on, or any advice for me as I'm trying to improve my playing abilities? Thanks!

Offline adodd81802

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Re: Adult Beginner with some experience
Reply #1 on: October 12, 2016, 08:26:12 AM
Your questions, unfortunately are way too broad for a simple response. Best bet is a teacher if you want to become easily competent, although you say you are skilled in other areas, so one would assume you understand the basic knowledge of improving at an instrument,

The Entertainer has several versions some considerably harder than others so anywhere between a grade 5-7 i'd say.

If you enjoy it, play more rags from Joplin, Maple leaf is quite nice. Ultimately if you're being realistic you may as well just go back to the beginning i.e early grade pieces within your comfort zone, fly through the bits you're already competent and identify weak areas.
"England is a country of pianos, they are everywhere."

Offline musicdabbler

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Re: Adult Beginner with some experience
Reply #2 on: October 12, 2016, 03:48:47 PM
Thanks. I am playing the original Entertainer, not an arragement (like this https://www.free-scores.com/PDF_EN/joplin-scott-the-entertainer.pdf). Do you have a suggestion for a curriculum to go back to the beginning to identify weak areas?

Offline quantum

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Re: Adult Beginner with some experience
Reply #3 on: October 12, 2016, 04:46:19 PM
If you are looking for a curriculum best bet is to study with a teacher.  The questions you are asking could be easily cleared up within private lessons.  They are not so easy to answer on a forum.

We can help with things like repertoire suggestions, but topics such as identifying weak areas in your playing would be better left to lessons with a teacher.
Made a Liszt. Need new Handel's for Soler panel & Alkan foil. Will Faure Stein on the way to pick up Mendels' sohn. Josquin get Wolfgangs Schu with Clara. Gone Chopin, I'll be Bach

Offline indianajo

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Re: Adult Beginner with some experience
Reply #4 on: October 12, 2016, 08:56:38 PM
As an experienced instrumentalist, you may not need emotional expression training or chord and rnythm theory.  But the physicality of keyboard is different.
For this aspect, Edna Mae Berman exercise books, 1-6.
There are physical tricks to playing the piano that you don't use on other instruments.
Posture to not cause carpal tunnel injury or tendon injury.  Posture to not cause neck disk injury.  Bench selection, music desk selection (body geometries vary, especially outside of northern Europe where piano was invented).  
Wrist rotation when crossing over fingers (on scales, in the beginning).  Trilling fingers 3-4 which share a tendon. Emphasizing the melody with finger 5 which is the weakest.  Emphasizing the innter voices when appropriate.   Etc etc.  Berman does not have the physical point of each lesson written down, that is what the teacher is for.  But the exercises are basically in order.
After EMB, Czerny School of Velocity.  
Exercises are boring, you need a graded menu of fun pieces to play 80% of the time after 10-15 minutes of exercises.  My teacher was great at finding these.  She was not ASTM, or SAE or whatever the fashionable alphabet course is these days.  
I play a lot of Joplin, I use the rags as fun exercises to keep fingers 3,4,5 strong and limber when I am not working on something more difficult.  15-20 minutes 3-5 times a week. I even bought a vile sounding $50 spinnet for my summer trailer to practice out there when I'm staying away from the city oxone.   BTW, if on the American continent, pick up a real wood piano if you haven't already.  they are a lot more strenuous and they last longer too.  Even $50 ones with bad finish can sound good.  
Have fun.
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