Hearing

[piano_classical]

I have trouble in hearing what I'm playing.. I mean like, when my teacher's playing like letting me decide which sound is mroe better, I can tell which one's better, but I can't tell it when I'm playing by myself...

I asked the teacher for advice, she said she don't know why too~~

help!

[galonia]

It could be because, when you try to play a note or a passage in two different ways, you are just not playing differently enough!  That's why you can't hear a difference - there isn't one!

What you can do is, the first time, really exaggerate the effect you are trying to make.  Then gradually lessen the exaggeration until it fits into the music more sensibly.

The other thing is, your teacher might have to spend some time with you allowing you to mimic something she does, and listening with you, until you figure out how to do it and hear it for yourself.  Learning to listen to yourself is a very difficult skill!  And it is one which has to be refined over time.

The final tip I have is, tape yourself.  If you can't listen to yourself while playing, you can surely listen to yourself when you're not playing.  Listen, and note what you don't like, then try again and tape the second attempt.  Listen again, and if you haven't made the change you want, then try again.  I've found that taping myself is one of the quickest ways I can learn (probably because I can't stand hearing bad playing - making myself listen to me forces me to quickly bring my pieces up to a tolerable standard!)

[marialice]

I agree with Galonia. Really try recording yourself. It could be that when you are playing you are not hearing what you play but what you think you play (it's perfectly possible that those don't match). When you listen to a recording of yourself it's much easier to listen objectively.

[BoliverAllmon]

recording is the best way.

[xvimbi]

I found for myself that listening to my own playing is one of the most difficult things, if not the most difficult thing, yet it is absolutely crucial for the development of technique. Without the ability to listen, technical progress will be hampered, because, simply put, sound is the end-product of making music, and everything is judged by it. There are two issues:

1. One is so absorbed with pressing the right keys at the right time that one can't concentrate on listening. There are two approaches to this issue. One is to simply wait for the skills to be improved so much that listening becomes feasible. The next step is then being able to sing along with one's playing, and finally, to sing one voice while playing another. The other approach is recording one's own playing, as mentioned already. I always find this extremely sobering, because the human brain (mine anyway) has a certain sound in mind, but my fingers produce a different sound. Yet, my brain thinks the sound came out right, because it has a pre-conceived notion. This leads to the second issue.

2. Listening is difficult; generally, the perception of subtle differences of sound is a non-trivial task, even if one does not have a preconceived notion about the sound. I could initially not distinguish between a chord that sounded slightly harsh compared to it sounding smooth, mellow, etc. This is simply because the human ear needs to be trained as much as the fingers. If one can't distinguish between subtle shadings of tone color, one can also not produce them reliably and accurately. The solution to this is to make an effort to listen very carefully and to work out the relationship between the sound and the motions employed to produce it. For this type of "exercise", play only as fast as you can listen to your playing, because absolute concentration is vital. For best results, the piano must be tuned and regulated properly; do not watch TV while doing technical exercises (if you are doing them in the first place). Finally, incorporate eartraining in your lessons, such as identifying minor vs. major chords, how many notes have been pressed, harsh vs. mellow, etc.

Be patient

[BoliverAllmon]

I found for myself that listening to my own playing is one of the most difficult things, if not the most difficult thing, yet it is absolutely crucial for the development of technique. Without the ability to listen, technical progress will be hampered, because, simply put, sound is the end-product of making music, and everything is judged by it. There are two issues:

1. One is so absorbed with pressing the right keys at the right time that one can't concentrate on listening. There are two approaches to this issue. One is to simply wait for the skills to be improved so much that listening becomes feasible. The next step is then being able to sing along with one's playing, and finally, to sing one voice while playing another. The other approach is recording one's own playing, as mentioned already. I always find this extremely sobering, because the human brain (mine anyway) has a certain sound in mind, but my fingers produce a different sound. Yet, my brain thinks the sound came out right, because it has a pre-conceived notion. This leads to the second issue.

2. Listening is difficult; generally, the perception of subtle differences of sound is a non-trivial task, even if one does not have a preconceived notion about the sound. I could initially not distinguish between a chord that sounded slightly harsh compared to it sounding smooth, mellow, etc. This is simply because the human ear needs to be trained as much as the fingers. If one can't distinguish between subtle shadings of tone color, one can also not produce them reliably and accurately. The solution to this is to make an effort to listen very carefully and to work out the relationship between the sound and the motions employed to produce it. For this type of "exercise", play only as fast as you can listen to your playing, because absolute concentration is vital. For best results, the piano must be tuned and regulated properly; do not watch TV while doing technical exercises (if you are doing them in the first place). Finally, incorporate eartraining in your lessons, such as identifying minor vs. major chords, how many notes have been pressed, harsh vs. mellow, etc.

Be patient

listening to your own recordings can be difficult also. you may think you are doing great, then you listen and find out that you suck.

[piano_classical]

Thanks~~ I'll try it*

but can u please explain me this, what do u mean by sing one voice while playing another??

The next step is then being able to sing along with one's playing, and finally, to sing one voice while playing another.

Thanks in advance.. 

[xvimbi]

but can u please explain me this, what do u mean by sing one voice while playing another??

Like many pianist/singers do: they play the piano while singing a song, i.e. you are playing two instruments at the same time. One can do this with piano-solo pieces too, e.g. Bach. You play one voice and hum the other. You'll have to listen to the piano and your voice at the same time.