How did you got started?

[lilpep4ever]

mANY pEOPLE pLAY pIANO...bUT wHAT mADE yOU sTART pLAYING??? wAS iT yOUR mOM??? oR wAS iT Of yOUR oWN iNTEREST???

i'M jUSS tAKING A pOLL....pLEASE REpLY

[lilpep4ever]

I started when I saw how much my sister enjoyed playing piano. But after that it got boring but my mom still made me play.

[lenny]

i think its wise not to start learning to play piano before one can achieve mastery of the elusive art of using the ShIFt BuTTOn PRoPerlY 

[lenny]

I started when I saw how much my sister enjoyed playing piano. But after that it got boring but my mom still made me play.

hmmmmmm but do you like it now?

its obviously important enough in your life for you to join a piano community

[musik_man]

My story is kinda corny.  But when I saw Fantasia 2000 my Freshman year of High School, I fell in love with classical music and decided to learn to play piano.

[will]

Too young.

[lenny]

My story is kinda corny.  But when I saw Fantasia 2000 my Freshman year of High School, I fell in love with classical music and decided to learn to play piano.

wow that story would make a great teen romantic comedy movie!

i discovered piano while on the path to erudition

[canardroti]

I was Playing Resident Evil 1 , and there's a part where the character plays a piece  of piano to open a door .. And i thought WOW  this piece is BEAUTIFUL ( although  the piece is played rather poorly) Then that's when i wanted to learn how to play the piano

[anda]

1st my mom made me do it

then my piano teachers noticed i had fast strong fingers, so they made me do it.

finally, years later, after quitting, i decided that's what i wanna do, so i made me do it.

 

[mound]

I wasn't satisfied only playing bass anymore, wanted more depth..  well, that's the 2nd time around.. when I was a little kid, before I quit, it was only because my parents made me.

by the way

wRITE yOUR pOSTS lIKE tHAT aGAIN aND i wILL b3AT U

[hodi]

my parents forced me to play the piano when i was 8 years old.. and i glad they did!

[thracozaag]

  I had horrendous hand-eye coordination (had trouble using scissors, couldn't tie my shoelaces, etc).  My kindergarten teacher though that if I took a musical instrument, it would improve that.  Ironically, I only learned how to tie my shoelaces when I was 12

koji (STSD)

[Glissando]

Greatx2 aunt, who was a concert pianist, gave us her old baby grand when I was 7. I was able to start taking lessons when I was 8 or 9. Playing continuously, with lessons on and off, ever since.
I'll bless my aunt forever, because I doubt that if she hadn't given us that piano, that I'd be playing today.
Koji- after listening to your Beethoven MP3 files on pianosociety- I'd NEVER have guessed that you ever had problems with hand-eye coordination!!!

[lenny]

perhaps he was a late developer brain-wise , or it proves that hard work can overcome lack of natural skill perhaps?

[Derek]

I got started when I took guitar lessons. The teacher was very laid back, and I realized in those lessons that music was not nearly as impenetrable as my ex-piano teacher would have had me believe. I got completely obsessed at first with guitar but at the same time explored piano and the piano has since eclipsed the guitar in its musical importance in my life.

I think the most important contrast between that guitar teacher and the piano teachers that I had tried was that he expected absolutely NOTHING of me, and never asked to see my progress on the previous lesson. He would just show me whatever I wanted, and basically assumed it was my responsibilty to learn things from him since I was paying him. It turned out that was EXACTLY what I needed.

What? I can explore on my own!?   GREAT!  ::gets obsessed::

[ted]

At the very beginning it was long before I went to school. I pestered my father until he taught me how to read and write music. The silly thing is that now, about fifty-four years later, I do not care for reading music and even less for writing it out !

[m1469]

The piano hypnotized  me into walking up to it, beckoned for me to sit down and press keys trying to pick out "Mary had a Little Lamb"... when I was very young... around 2 yrs old (my first conscious discovery of intervals).

(It's my first memory of playing the piano, a memory which is crystal clear, as though it happened just yesterday... or as though it is happening in this very moment  )

[musicsdarkangel]

When I was 6, I saw a commercial on tv of a guy playing a keyboard with a nintendo game (it was called the miracle piano) and begged my parents for it.

They baught it for me, and I was nonstop playing on it, and taught myself with the game pretty quickly.

Ever since, I've been hooked.

Actually, my parents said that when i was quite young (who knows, 3, 4) I would play this playschool keyboard that I had nonstop as well.

I was OCD.  (still kind of am)

[erak]

My dad had me do music school (hated it until 2 years ago), and I needed an instrument. Back then I was a John Miles fan (don't laugh at me!) and we had a piano at home, so yar.

[ionutz]

I started to play the piano when I was five and I have to say that nobody decides from their own will to play at that age. But it wasn't a bad choice in the end.

[pianonut]

i may have trouble interpreting when to use the shift key, but i never change something once it's typed.  it's too much work.  (just kidding)  sorry to put you through the grief.  did you know that you can type faster if you forget grammar and correct punctuation?  i wish i had known that when i had typing tests.

basically, forgetting all you know about interpretation of music works pretty much the same way.  you just play the song and hope everyone likes it.  if they don't,  tell them that the rules don't apply to you.

ps. how did you GeT sTarTed, is one interpretation.  How DID you gET starTED, is another. and so on. 

[pianonut]

my story is similar to those who had a parent set the timer on the piano and tell them to fill up all the minutes with practice.  it was like brushing teeth at first.  then, after 'hitting the wall' a couple of times (once in grade school and once in jr. high) i decided that i actually enjoyed it.  people think that if you play the piano you are really smart.  they put you in situations that require quick thinking (so after awhile you become smarter just because it's expected).  sight-reading, for instance.  after accompanying choir all through highschool, i realized that performing was fun!  we would sing/play for the elementary school kids (adoring fans) and they liked our choir because we had outfits, choreography, and a really great choirmaster (he was into jazz/pop/classical).

music is a great soother, too.  i would say for all the hard times in my life, that music has had a very soothing effect on my psyche.  you can play what you feel like at the moment.  and, it's a neat feeling after awhile to have your fingers exercised.

i have learned the most from the teachers that were the most exacting, the least complimentary, and extremely intense in what they taught.  i guess what i mean by intense, is that they go through the score before doing anything (whether singing or playing) and determine what approach will be used.  in college, i learned how to order my practice time, what it felt like to be warmed up, what it felt like (after a few years) to memorize well, and when i was ready to perform vs. not ready.  this makes a huge difference in actual performance.  now i want to learn more about feelings.  i thought i had good interpretations, but my current teacher thinks differently.  more expression is like acting for me.  i usually play comfortably (in my own comfort zone).  but, he thinks going beyond that is better.  to make something stand out.  make a statement.  be a bit more commanding.

[lilpep4ever]

ahaha i won't do the shift fonts with the caps anymore if you all don't like it. It's just that I'm used to it!

[allthumbs]

Greetings

At this risk of boring everyone...

I started taking informal lessons in 1958 from my mother who was an amateur pianist. I quit after about 4 or 5 years but continued to hack around on the piano throughout my high school years.

I then started playing in earnest in 1973 when the Movie "The Sting" came out and I was hooked on Ragtime. At that time I had no piano of my own, but luckily the university I went to had a 9' Yamaha concert grand I could use. I learned lots of Scott Joplin and when I graduated in 1976, the piano went by the wayside for almost twenty years.

Now married with children of my own who were interested in taking lessons, got me interested in picking it up again in 1995. So out came the old classical music I used to play and after 2 years of relearning my old pieces, I started to take formal lessons from a qualified teacher for the first time in late 1997, as up until then I was mostly self taught.

I was able to start at the Grade 8 conservatory level and after 2 years of study, I did my first piano exam and scored 1st class honours! Following that, I did my Grade 1 and 2 theory exams as well.

In 2000, I did my Grade 9 piano exam and received an honours standing. I am now working on my Grade 10 repertoire and studying Grade 3 harmony and history.

My eventual goal is to receive an ARCT Performers Diploma from the Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto, Canada) before I turn 60.

Wish me luck!

Cheers,

allthumbs

[Bacfokievrahms]

Wow good story, godspeed you allthumbs!

I was forced by my parents to play from 5th to 7th grade, then I quit with much episodic bickering between my parents and I. Now I'm in freshman year of college and I'm playing again and it's probably for the best that I quit before.

[allthumbs]

Thanks Bacfokievrahms!

[rafant]

I was driven for pure love to music when I was a child. There is no musical family records, although my mother likes to sing all the day. First I wanted to learn drums, but later I was hesitant among the piano and the organ, and chose the latter because I thought it would allow me to have an orchestra in my hands. My father decided to test the firmness of my purpose by conditioning me to learn first a cheap venezuelan 4-stringed instrument called "cuatro". I learnt a little through TV classes and a book, and I did it good enough, so a Christmas day I got my brand-new Yamaha BK2.

I took lessons for very few years, since I was too shy to play even before my family, so I practiced not much; later I felt in love with classical music exclusively and it was a torture to have to play "La Cucaracha" and similar things programmed in the Yamaha method. Unable to bear the pressure I quit.

More than twenty years later the dream remained and as a flash came the idea to my brain: "Why don't you learn to play the piano?" Thought and done, I was enthusiastic enough to overcome the torture of the solfa lessons, I bought my Kawai, play every day and it continues being the more special thing I do.

Congratulations to Allthumbs, it's an encouraging experience for us the grown-ups. I live alone, so I play for myself. I'm afraid that I'll only be a domestic pianist, though perhaps God allows me to play in worship some day.

[IanT]

My mother pressured me to take piano lessons from the age of 5 but I only agreed at the age of 7 when I heard that my best friend was going to a teacher right after school and she gave him MILK & COOKIES before his lesson.  This was a clincher for me.

I was a poor student however, and I only got really interested in playing the piano when my parents bought me a recording of 'Sparky's Magic Piano' (anyone remember that?).  This made me want to be able to play Chopin Op. 10 #4 but unfortunately (and unlike Sparky) didn't give me the means.

I only really got into playing the piano when I came across some music at a jumble sale (North Americans: read 'rummage sale').  I bought hardbound Associated Board editions of the first volume of Beethoven sonatas and the first book of Bach's '48' for a pittance - I think 6 pence (this was back when there were 240 of them to a pound).  This started me on a path of trying to sightread my way through most of the standard repetoire - a process that was tolerated with remarkable aplomb by my parents (apart from the occasional 'Do try to keep the door closed dear').

Fast-forward about 25 years and I grew sick of never being able to actually play anything for anybody and I started taking lessons again.  Fast-forward another 8 years and I'm now at a level I could only have dreamed about when I was listening to Sparky arguing with his piano.

So there you have it.  I guess that's a bit more than just how I started, but perhaps it opens the door to discussions on the pros & cons of sightreading stuff way too advanced for you - something I suspect that a lot of teenage males get into. 

Ian

[ciao_xx_bella]

Well, we had always had a piano in our house (steinway) but it was purely for decorational purposes. Nobody played it. My father used to, but didn't anymore due to too many broken wrists. Anyway. I was learning the recorder in pre-school like most little kids seem to, and so I knew the treble clef. I dug out some of my father's old music, Mozart sonatas and Bach fugues, and somehow managed to teach myself the bass clef, whilst playing through them REAL slowly. This was around 6 years ago, when I was 7. After a few months of this, my father taught me himself, and then about two years later he found me another teacher once I had surpassed his own ability.  

[Waldszenen]

[Glissando]

This started me on a path of trying to sightread my way through most of the standard repetoire - a process that was tolerated with remarkable aplomb by my parents (apart from the occasional 'Do try to keep the door closed dear').

Ian

ROTFLOL
Oh man, that one hit home. Same here. Gosh my poor parents, having to listen to me sight read Rachmaninoff preludes, Davidsbundlertanze, and other stuff like "Waldstein" when I get over enthusiastic and inspired.
Parents of musical kids- put up with a lot, do they not?

[melia]

My enjoyment for the piano came mostly from playing Clementi sonatinas.  As a child, I played alot of other short pieces or easier versions but I think the above really boosted my self confidence in playing and thus made me practice more! I stopped piano lessons for almost 8 years cause I had to study overseas for my BA but it was my mom who encouraged me to learn piano again after hearing me play those sonatinas.  However, now I am learning much more difficult repertoire. Althought it feels babyish to play those sonatinas again but sometimes I do it as an exercise. I hate to say this but it doesn't seem so fun anymore, maybe I don't play it as well as I did 8 years ago! Now I am polishing diploma level pieces, that are like 10 times more difficult! Anyway, they helped me alot I guess.

[rebel1ns]

parents..only until recently i felt forced to play..but now i definitely enjoy piano much more than i used to

[apion]

I actually really wanted to play the organ (our church organist remains an idol to this day) ...... but my folks only had a piano        ........ and the rest is history.

[kilini]

This is embarassing,
but it had to with Fur Elise and the Immortal Beloved. 

I am such a romantic...

[Derek]

I messed around on the piano for most of my childhood...painstakingly figured out video game tunes and so forth without any knowledge of different keys or what not.  I had a handful of lessons, which I hated.

But then about four years ago I got a guitar teacher who made me realize it was OK to explore on my own! Now, ironically, I'm becoming a rather decent classical pianist in the coventional sense and am an obsessive classical and blues improviser.  Wouldn't have wanted it any other way. In fact, if I couldn't improvise, I don't think I'd bother playing at all.

[possom46]

This might sound daft but here goes anyway (also my 1st post so Hi all!). When I was 5 my brother bought me an album called All Aboard for kids, and on it was Sparkies Magic Piano. From that moment onwards all I wanted to do was play, although I was 12 before my parents would buy me a piano!

[allthumbs]

Greetings possum46

This might sound daft but here goes anyway (also my 1st post so Hi all!). When I was 5 my brother bought me an album called All Aboard for kids, and on it was Sparkies Magic Piano. From that moment onwards all I wanted to do was play, although I was 12 before my parents would buy me a piano!

Welcome to the forum!

Cheers

[erinpez]

I begged my mom for years to let me take piano lessons. We had a piano since I was born and I loved playing around on it. When I was in 3rd grade she finally realized that it wasn't just a phase, and that's when it all began.

[puma]

   When I was little, one day I asked my mom "Can I learn to play the piano?"  Response: "Sure!  We'll get you lessons with a teacher I know right away!"

True story.

[apion]

   When I was little, one day I asked my mom "Can I learn to play the piano?"  Response: "Sure!  We'll get you lessons with a teacher I know right away!"

True story.

Ohhh, that's so cute!

[Disarmedpianist]

...my mom made me play piano.... that's my story. lol.

[Dazzer]

i was forced. and got caned too.

yay...

[allthumbs]

i was forced. and got caned too.

yay...

I heard they do that in Singapore!

[Dazzer]

not too far from the truth.

caning is a an allowed "diciplinary mesure" here. of course, the usual child abuse laws apply, but its a fine line.

[paris]

when i was 4, in my kindergarten one old teacher was coming every week to teach children piano. one day i came to teacher and told him that i want to play. he agreed, and i started. my mum didn't know for that. she was VERY suprised when teacher phoned and asked her to pay the lessons.     thats how i got started.

[squinchy]

I had a friend who played the piano. We were jealous of each other in every field--it was like the academic environs of a top high school in China in a suburbian second grade classroom. Naturally, I wanted to play the piano.

Then I moved to a different town and my mom asked me if I still wanted to play the piano. She explained that I wouldn't be allowed to start if I were to quit in five months or if I didn't practice; I assured her that I would practice and wouldn't quit.

Six years later, I still practice and haven't quitted.

[kwtam338]

My story is this:

Around 2 years ago, we had to buy another piano because my son's teacher said our old piano (a Yamaha low-end model) would not suit him any more. We did some research and settled on the Kawai K-80 for around US$6000. I considered it to be very expensive (yes, I know it's nothing compared with what some of you guys have). So I asked myself - how can we make better use of it? And the answer was (yes, you are right) - play it more often! That's how I (and my younger son) got started. Since then, I have fallen in love with it. It's unfortunate that I can practice 3-4 hours a week as I have a full time job and other commitments. I envy those who practice 8 hours a day. I imagine that's what I would do when I retire, which is at least 10 years away .....

[c18cont]

Hello,

I was started by my sister at age five, as she was a 17 yr old semi-prodigy..(played concert in St Louis area...)...I just liked it, and completed college in piano and choral conducting...

John Cont

[goldenmudpie]

started really young with a piano-for-toddlers-kind-of-thing, then started taking lessons with a vicious teacher who hits people on the hand if they dont play well enough, switched to a nicer teacher, and went from there. hehehe....

still playing and luving every second of it!