Finding a goal or interest ?

[martinn]

Hello
I have been learning piano with a teacher since the end of Corona virus hassle.
As an adult beginner (53 years) I have not really found a concrete goal to set, or repertoire that I would very much like to strive for, besides that I try to keep myself in classical music, and have chosen Nancy Bachus (Alfred) Exploring Piano Classics as my main source of pieces/method to support. My progress is my main driving force, and I am a scientific/mathematical kind of person with good memory. Before starting piano, I had many years of listening to classical music. However, I can’t say that I have preferences for exactly what I wan’t to play, and I like very much different music and composers, it may even change during the months. Also, I can’t even say that I dislike something, otherwise than that I don’t want to keep most of the simpler music in Bachus books as my repertoire. I like practicing and advancing, though and I also recognize that I have much to learn and can’t undertake too advanced music. Could you provide me with some tips ?

[ranjit]

Why don't you create a list of pieces you would like to learn? Come up with a list of say 10 pieces (or maybe 20 if you have an extensive knowledge of piano music). Force yourself to make decisions on which pieces to include/disclude. That should make your musical preferences more clear to you.

[martinn]

Why don't you create a list of pieces you would like to learn? Come up with a list of say 10 pieces (or maybe 20 if you have an extensive knowledge of piano music). Force yourself to make decisions on which pieces to include/disclude. That should make your musical preferences more clear to you.

Yes I will start listening to the more advanced books I have and try to get some preference. I have not listened so much to easier repertoire, because normal classical cds mostly have advanced concert music, which I may not be able to reach and those classical cds have mostly been turning. I already started to find music from more advanced books, that I have not had time to listen to. The reachable music has indeed been neglected, but some of my books came with cds.

[ranjit]

Yes I will start listening to the more advanced books I have and try to get some preference. I have not listened so much to easier repertoire, because normal classical cds mostly have advanced concert music, which I may not be able to reach and those classical cds have mostly been turning. I already started to find music from more advanced books, that I have not had time to listen to. The reachable music has indeed been neglected, but some of my books came with cds.

As long as there is music that you like, you should be able to find simpler music that is along a similar vein. I wouldn't care too much about difficulty, just figure out your goals first!

[lostinidlewonder]

There are many skills to develop on the piano, and memorizing repertoire is just one pathway. For anyone learning with sheet music, sight reading is arguably the most important skill. To improve you need to practice music that is at an appropriate level to sight read successfully, gradually building from there. It will also enhance your overall practice method and efficiency.

I'd suggest getting good at finding all sorts of readable sheet music online. Resources like imslp.org is extremely useful but there are a lot of other websites out there with good collections to learn from.

[martinn]

There are many skills to develop on the piano, and memorizing repertoire is just one pathway. For anyone learning with sheet music, sight reading is arguably the most important skill. To improve you need to practice music that is at an appropriate level to sight read successfully, gradually building from there. It will also enhance your overall practice method and efficiency.

I'd suggest getting good at finding all sorts of readable sheet music online. Resources like imslp.org is extremely useful but there are a lot of other websites out there with good collections to learn from.

Indeed, my sight reading skills are not so well developed, although I can read my ’practice pieces’ with repetition and a bit of refining.

[martinn]

I understand and think adequate sight reading would be a ’dream’.

[dizzyfingers]

Hello
I have been learning piano with a teacher since the end of Corona virus hassle.
As an adult beginner (53 years) I have not really found a concrete goal to set, or repertoire that I would very much like to strive for, besides that I try to keep myself in classical music, and have chosen Nancy Bachus (Alfred) Exploring Piano Classics as my main source of pieces/method to support. My progress is my main driving force, and I am a scientific/mathematical kind of person with good memory. Before starting piano, I had many years of listening to classical music. However, I can’t say that I have preferences for exactly what I wan’t to play, and I like very much different music and composers, it may even change during the months. Also, I can’t even say that I dislike something, otherwise than that I don’t want to keep most of the simpler music in Bachus books as my repertoire. I like practicing and advancing, though and I also recognize that I have much to learn and can’t undertake too advanced music. Could you provide me with some tips ?

You might want to find a piano teacher in your area and inquire about a consultation, specifically a teacher that works with adult beginners/intermediates.  This person will know a lot of repertoire, and will have experience with people similar to you, with respect to your piano journey, which isn't well defined yet.

Also, if you list some of the pieces you've worked on and had reasonable success learning, people here could probably recommend similar pieces.   An ai chatbot could do that as well, and you could keep asking questions ..

Here's a basic goal for you:  learn to play all the scales (12 major and 12 minor keys) in 4 octaves, the fingering is written out in Hanon "The Virtuoso pianist", as well as other books.  This will probably take you a good 6 months, at least.  Use the metronome once you've got a key mastered, this will bring a new challenge.

[martinn]

You might want to find a piano teacher in your area and inquire about a consultation, specifically a teacher that works with adult beginners/intermediates.  This person will know a lot of repertoire, and will have experience with people similar to you, with respect to your piano journey, which isn't well defined yet.

Also, if you list some of the pieces you've worked on and had reasonable success learning, people here could probably recommend similar pieces.   An ai chatbot could do that as well, and you could keep asking questions ..

Here's a basic goal for you:  learn to play all the scales (12 major and 12 minor keys) in 4 octaves, the fingering is written out in Hanon "The Virtuoso pianist", as well as other books.  This will probably take you a good 6 months, at least.  Use the metronome once you've got a key mastered, this will bring a new challenge.

Yes, I will discuss this thing with my teacher, but my lessons are only 30minutes so there is not excessive time for everything. Like I wanted to see what people on this forum would say. And how funny, I used the Christmas break to do precisely those scales, half of them because those had not been revsited, only that I had started previous lessons with one scale a week until last spring. Besides that I did a new early intermediate piece and continued on the two first Czerny 299.

[martinn]

When I listened more to recorded simple music and compared my efforts with the recordings, I would say that I have had most success with Bach, not to say that I would like to do only that, certainly I want to success with other music. And the recordings were helpful, but my teacher insisted on that I try myself first when I started my lessons.

I will certainly think about better sight reading as a goal, to be able to do different music faster.