Am i the only BEGINNER?

[stormx]

Hi !!

This is a call for those very early students, as me (2 months), for whom even "Fur Elise" seems very difficult   
Anybody in my same boat ??

This forum is cool, but reading so many posts about how to properly play the "Winter Wind" etude makes my lonelyness greater 

On the other hand, it is an honour for me to be surrounded by such a lot of pianist experts !! 

[betricia]

Hello fellow beginner
I am probably in a worse position being an "old" beginner but I too feel a little intimidated by the obvious talent and experience on this board. Howeve I am pleased and will try an read through posts that will answer my many questions.  I have been learning since last september and am struggling with simple pieces.  How long does it take you to learn a piece.  I take ages and get tired and frustrated and think I will never learn a piece and then it gradually comes to me and only then can I practise to improve.  I now have  a teacher but she is new to teaching and we are learning together.  All the best to you and keep at it.
Patricia

[piano_luvr]

Hi Storm, hi Betricia. First of all...CONGRATULATIONS on starting your piano lessons!  Learning piano is one of the few things that I feel you're NEVER "too old" to learn.  I used to feel the same way also.  I'm not "old" by any means, but I'm in my early 20's and although I always had a love for piano and a piano in my home, I never got as "good" as I wanted to. 
However, this year is a WHOLE new year.  NO MORE procrastinating.  I'm going to pick up my piano lessons again, and I'll be taking a piano class at the University.  So, I guess you could say I'm a "beginner" also just like the rest of yoU!

Trust me, you WILL improve the MORE you practice.  I don't know "how long" is "too long" to be working on a piece though.  I guess it depends on the piece, the difficulty level, and how often you've been working on it.  I don't think there's any time limit to working on a piece, but maybe I'm wrong.    

Anyway, I wish you all luck in your endeavors!  Don't be intimidated. JUst work at your own pace and level.  With much practice comes much improvement.  Just remember that! 

[maxy]

"If you are a pianist, piano teacher or piano student at college/university we really look forward to welcoming you as a member!"

That's what it says when first entering piano forum...

It could explain the lack of true beginners! 

[shotkong64x]

im  also a newb 

started about 6 months ago at age 18,  couldnt have been more happy w/ my decision to play.

hope you stick with it!  its very fun

[Siberian Husky]

i too am a new..having my first piano lesson just last saturday...i barely got past being able to play "Jingle Bells"....so i too feel a bit intimidated and just cruise the forum amelessly hoping to find information that i can apply to my level....anyways...just wanan say your not alone

[stormx]

Glad to know i am not the only "intruder" 

[MagicRub1954]

hi all

im another beginning too. ive been playing for 3 months. i cant really play any whole piece yet, just a few exercises.  im not going to try to learn too fast, so it doesnt bother me that i cant play a whole piece yet, its ok. right now im focusing on scales. some people dont have the patience to sit down and practice scales. im trying to start right, and so i practice scales slowly and try to vary the rythm and dynamics of the scale. at the moment that is enough for me. even do re mi fa sol la ti do can sound musical if you use your imagination a little bit.  3 months from now i will start to focus more on individual pieces of music. then i will be more proficient at reading and playing the easy things, so in general it wont seem so hard anymore.

good luck to all of us!

[PianoStudentReady2Perform]

I'm afraid I'm in the same boat.. I practice 10 hours a day and will be attending Julliard next year.. *sigh*  Gotta go practice the mephisto.  later.

[puma]

Was that post meant to be sarcastic, funny, or something else to another point? 

[squiggly_girl]

Fur Elise is still beyond the horizon for me too, and I've been learning for a year now. However, stick with it. I have found some wee gems of information here for beginners. And I have been here as a lurker and contributor right throughout my learning process. There are people - beginners and experienced alike - here who are very encouraging, esp. for beginners who are going about things the right way, so stick around! The forum is richer for having you here

[wink]

Hello Storm, 
You are definitely not alone.  I am a senior citizen who started piano lessons for the first time in my life just 10 months ago.  I immediately became addicted to the piano!  It is the most enjoyable thing I've ever done in my life.  I'm a slow learner, I'm sure partly because of my age, but I AM learning & seeing improvement week by week.  I've gotten a lot of inspiration & tips from this forum, but  I don't post because I realize this place is actually intended for professionals & college students.   Anyway, be encouraged.  Keep practicing & you WILL be richly rewarded!

[Kyroven]

Me too, me too -- I've only been at it for two months myself.  I've found a lot of great info sifting through the posts here on pianoforum, but you're right, the level of most of the discussion can be pretty intimidating.  I just steer well clear of those 'how to play the "Winter Wind" etude' type threads

When I registered (to post this, hehe) I noticed the "for professionals and college students" part of the agreement that wink mentioned.  SOooo I had to cross the 'ole fingers when I clicked on the button   But I'm sure they don't mind having us around, as long as we don't start contributing OUR thoughts on how to play the "Winter Wind" etude 

[xvimbi]

Me too, me too -- I've only been at it for two months myself.  I've found a lot of great info sifting through the posts here on pianoforum, but you're right, the level of most of the discussion can be pretty intimidating.  I just steer well clear of those 'how to play the "Winter Wind" etude' type threads

Keep those threads on mind when you attempt these pieces in the future.

When I registered (to post this, hehe) I noticed the "for professionals and college students" part of the agreement that wink mentioned.  SOooo I had to cross the 'ole fingers when I clicked on the button   But I'm sure they don't mind having us around, as long as we don't start contributing OUR thoughts on how to play the "Winter Wind" etude 

Perhaps originally, the forum was intended "for professionals and college students", and perhaps, we are all misbehaving (because most of us here are neither professionals nor college students). I for my part, enjoy discussing the seemingly simple questions the most. It is also at the beginner's stage where the greatest impact can be felt and where the biggest mistakes can be made. So, beginner's questions are in fact the most important ones.

There is only a couple of turn-offs: First, one should always search the forum first to see if an answer has already been given to a question. Second, a Google search often reveals satisfactory answers, particularly to questions like "what does appogiatura mean?" and similar.

So by all means, everybody, ask any questions you have, no matter how simple or silly they seem. And don't be afraid being a beginner (I know I will be one until the day I die).

[Kyroven]

... I for my part, enjoy discussing the seemingly simple questions the most. It is also at the beginner's stage where the greatest impact can be felt and where the biggest mistakes can be made. So, beginner's questions are in fact the most important ones.
...
So by all means, everybody, ask any questions you have, no matter how simple or silly they seem. And don't be afraid being a beginner (I know I will be one until the day I die).

Oh boy, now I have license to unleash all my newbie questions.  Thanks xvimbi! =)

Don't worry, I'm only joking   This is such a rich resource that searching usually turns up good answers without having to pester anyone.

But, if I do come up with some unique beginner type questions, now I won't hesitate to ask

[kilini]

It's OK. I'm a newbie too. =P  I will have four months of piano lessons by the 13th. Yep. And I still can't play Pathetique or Moonlight satisfactorily. That was the principal reason why I came here, actually.
Wait until I come back with some particularly newbie questions...

[xvimbi]

It's OK. I'm a newbie too. =P  I will have four months of piano lessons by the 13th. Yep. And I still can't play Pathetique or Moonlight satisfactorily. That was the principal reason why I came here, actually.

Good to have you here, but to be honest, I think you may have extremely unreasonable expectations. If you are talking about the original pieces (even if it is "only" Moonlight first movement, and Pathetique second, Beethoven's that is), those are pieces that require YEARS to master (I say "master", because you used the word "satisfactory"). Unless you have played the piano (or some other instrument) for quite some time before taking your lessons, I would'nt expect anyone to be able to play these pieces to anywhere near satisfaction after such a short time.

[dead_crocodile]

Hi all!!! I guess I belong to the 'old beginner' sort?? I've been playing the piano for a bit more than two years and I can play 'Fur Elise' satisfactorily... and am going to attempt 'Raindrop'...err, mom's bugging me to get off the net...

[cossie0]

Hi all

I am 40 this year and have been learning with a teacher for 2 months. He has me using Alfred basic course designed for 7 year old kids but I do not mind and I am enjoying it thoroughly. He says I am making remarkable progress for an adult (I am currently on book 2 having done 1A and 1B) although I am putting in the practice hours so I would hope to be making progress.

Just found this forum and have been printing off loads of useful tips and info.

thanks guys

Darren

p.s. I can play Fur Elise right hand only 

[jsoftware]

You are not the only beginner here.

I started practising piano last month when I bought the e-piano Kawai CA5. Before that I never touched a piano key or played any musical instrument. I am a computer programmer, 33 years old. Since I dont have a teacher I need good books to teach me. I bought several books but none of them offered interesting music to practise. At last I found "The Piano Handbook" by Carl Humphries. It is a super book, I have a lot of fun with it. I also read the book by Chang, this book is great, it has a lot of useful ideas.

My goal is to be independent from music sheets when playing so I memorize everything I practise, a new piece may take me several days to memorize. I learn bar by bar, easy bars take me several minutes, difficult bars several hours :-) After I have the whole piece in my mind, first hands separate then hands together, I concentrate on playing it accurately, first slowly then at normal speed. I always record when I play so that I can quickly detect my weakness by listening to my record. By the way, you can improve your playing a lot when you know that your music sounds like sh... :-)

I  try to practise piano everyday when I come home from my work. Sometimes when I come too late, I play the learned pieces for about 20 minutes before going to bed. When practising I divide my time in several short sections, every section lasts about 30 minutes. Small breaks between the sections are important, I always have the feeling your brain really learns the new notes when you rest. To improve the fingers flexibility I do the exercises by Isidor Philipp, they are very effective, at least for me (opinions on technical exerices are always conflicting).

If you are a beginner at piano, it is great because you decided to learn something great. Every pianist started playing piano as a beginner. I am not very concerned about when I will be able to play difficult pieces, may be one year, may be five years. What I know is that if you work diligently you will have little progress everyday, isn't it fun? :-)

Regarding Fuer Elise, I can play the easy part of it pretty well, two hands and without any music sheet.

Success to all of you in learning to play piano

[Liween]

  Oh jsoftware, you are fast if you are able to play fur elise both hands just after a month of learning.  I can only play the first 20 bars on RH and I attempted LH but it's getting hard. 

By the way, 6 months ago I didnt even know what is a middle c or whatever note but I know every day I am learning bit by bit.  I can play the whole piece Minuet in G and 2 other classical pieces.  I am now learning La Candeur and still short of last few bars to completion.   

I've got a teacher for only 2 months and she left for overseas posting and I've been learning all by myself for the past 3 months.

 

[kilini]

"satisfactory" as in accuracy. Of course I can't aspire for musical playing at four months. And yes, I only had four months of piano lessons.

Minus those lessons when I was four.

But speaking of expectations, I learned Fur Elise in 2 weeks when I was on Alfred Level 2. I thought that was OK, so I decided to leap further.

[Billy Felix]

Hi,

So there are real beginners out there after all….I’ve been learning for three months now from Alfred’s Adult Course Book 1. It’s a bit of a struggle at times having no teacher to turn to but this thread has given some much needed inspiration. ‘Playing’ the piano is fantastic and I’m looking forward to eventually tackling some classical music. The Alfred book has been full of happy clapper pieces so far; can anyone recommend a good ‘classical’ starter?