Piano revisited

[altariel]

So our joint birthday present to ourselves was an electronic piano [1]. It's rather lovely. I played the piano quite a lot until I went to uni, where I didn't have much time (despite having a piano in my room one year). I wasn't great, good enough to scrape through Grade VII, but I liked playing, although I was self-conscious and lacked confidence when I knew anyone was listening [2]. That's OK now because I have some big comfy headphones.

Blimey, though, my fingers are rusty! All I've done so far is scales. I couldn't manage C major on Monday but I can now. Slowishly, but - look, ma! Both hands!

Does anyone have any experience of relearning the piano? Is it worth getting a book to guide me through? I think it would help to have something systematic to work with. I'm not a natural improviser. I want to play decent classical piano for my own pleasure, where pleasure means a good sound produced with a degree of technical proficiency. Any recommendations or suggestions?

[1] We freecycled the old piano: an entertaining anecdote in its own right, but one better performed than internetted.

[2] Strangely, never a problem playing the organ in church. Something about sitting at the heart of a huge machine inside a vast echo chamber unleashed the Evil Overlady within me. Bwaha!

Comments

[infinitlight.livejournal.com]

I know less than nothing about anything musical, but one of my internet friends got a piano for Christmas and is getting back into playing. She's relearning by practicing scales and working on a small piece at a time (she posts video of herself playing--very cool!).

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Very cool! (Although you'll never catch me posting vids of me playing on the internet, I have to hide away behind closed doors to play!)

[carl-allery.livejournal.com]

Hah, when you've sussed out how to do it, let me know!

I did up to Grade 5 in school then moved on to a different instrument to avoid having to do grade 5 theory. Likewise I now have an electronic keyboard and yes, playing with headphones is such freedom. I indulge in fantasies of being able to play recreationally, but I know that for me it'll be scales and learning pieces. I have shocked myself by figuring out some left hand chords to a right hand melody - something I'd never have felt capable of while playing previously.

My current plan - much like my plan for relearning the recorder and for learning the occarina I acquired and ... yes, well, you see. As far as I can see, it's going to require time and application of bum to seat and fingers to keyboard. So my plan is simply to learn pieces of music I actually want to play and, y'know, there aren't many of my old exam pieces that I enjoy. So I shall have to go raiding my mum's music book collection.

And to cap it off, my friend has recently started learning with a teacher and method based on 'black and white notes' and he turns out to be inately musical and, after a few weeks of lessons, he said to me - listen to this, and started playing the Hill Street Blues theme. Not that he'd learnt it, no, he just thought about it and figured out the black and white notes involved. *headdesk*

I am resigned to doing it the hard way - even harder now because I don't have parents on hand to order me to go and practise. ;)

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Thumping away at scales seems to be the way to go! My fingers aren't nearly as rusty as they were at the start of the week. It's showing up how I never really got the hang of my Grade VII scales, though!

IIRC, I coerced the music teacher at school into giving me extra tuition for Grade V theory and, god bless her, she did it - extra sessions with her after school. Hurray for Miss Parr.

I'm really impressed by your friend too, wow! I went to a series of group organ tutorials once, and there was a lad there (nine or ten years old?) who was really impressive, could play whatever the tutor threw at him. Partway during the second session, the tutor said, "Hang on..." and took away the music. The kid had couldn't read music and had been doing the entire thing by ear. Unbelievably good.

Anyway, back to slogging at the scales... Hope you'll post about your progress.

[azalaisdep.livejournal.com]

I love the idea of you as Evil Mad Organ Overlady. Sadly, playing the piano again is one of those things I shall probably never get round to trying to do, but will be interested to hear how you get on just in case! (I got to Grade VI before I gave up to concentrate on oboe - probably silly because IIRC Grade VII is just about when you start to be able to attempt interesting/insane people like Chopin and Lizst and a bit more Beethoven...)

[altariel.livejournal.com]

My ambition is to learn to play Chopin's Preludes. That should keep me busy for the next decade or so.

I love the idea of you as Evil Mad Organ Overlady.

I loved playing the organ far too much.

[furius.livejournal.com]

Grade VII on the ABRSM system? Isn't it all sonatas from Grade V on?

I'm hoping to get an electronic piano one of these days, then I plan to practice scales and Bach...My piano teachers use to say that it's possible to play only Bach and play everyone else but not vice versa...

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Grade VII on the ABRSM system?

Yep!

Isn't it all sonatas from Grade V on?

I don't know, it's more than twenty years since I took a piano exam!

It's Chopin I want to play. If I had an organ, then I'd learn Bach.

[furius.livejournal.com]

But Bach's harpischord pieces are good for finger control! Chopin's Waltzes are easier to start with if scales and arpeggios are up to par. As long as you have the right feeling/romantic imagination, I don't think Chopin will give you that much trouble in relearning....Everything else is just practice, as it is with classical piano, you can't really *skip* anything....

[altariel.livejournal.com]

*whisper* I just find Bach really dull...! But, yes, you're right that they're good for control, and probably more fun now I have a harpsichord setting.


As long as you have the right feeling/romantic imagination

You've read my fic! ;-)

[furius.livejournal.com]

I was learning Chopin's nocturnes while reading your Eowyn/Faramir fics and yes, they did help ♥ XD Thank you.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Really? That's lovely! *is chuffed!*

[katlinel.livejournal.com]

*applauds your handedness*

I don't have any advice to offer since my experience of the piano hasn't even got as far as Chopsticks, but does it suit you to learn things like piano from books as opposed to a teacher/videos, online or otherwise?

And I hope you enjoy it and continue to enjoy it as that's as it should be. Hurrah for headphones making it easier to relax into it!

Strangely, never a problem playing the organ in church. Something about sitting at the heart of a huge machine inside a vast echo chamber unleashed the Evil Overlady within me. Bwaha! Echoes of Pratchett's Librarian there, methinks, and the Phantom, of course. I can see you in full evening dress, with a top hat, wreaking your dastardly will via the sound waves of The Organ. ;-)

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I'll teach you Chopsticks next time you're here, if you like, it's a riot! (If I've managed to remember it!) My sisters and I used to do it as trio, it was absolutely mad! (Hitting the wrong notes a large part of the fun of course.)

I can see you in full evening dress, with a top hat, wreaking your dastardly will via the sound waves of The Organ. ;-)

*nods* Liking that image, liking that image...

[katlinel.livejournal.com]

I'll teach you Chopsticks next time you're here, if you like, it's a riot!
I shall hold you to that! And I am absolutely guaranteed to hit the wrong notes at the wrong time.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Hurray! It will sound just right!

*nips downstairs to practice*

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Turns out Chopsticks never left me...

UM-chick-chick UM-chick-chick UM-chick-chick UM-chick-chick...

[toft-froggy.livejournal.com]

I didn't know you ever played! I do find the idea of you playing a church organ very appealing. Evil overlord indeed.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I did play! I wasn't great at it. Did you ever see the piano? It was disguised as a bookshelf, like everything else in the house, and sat there sagging slowly further and further out of tune.

[jhall1.livejournal.com]

I can't offer any help, I'm afraid, as my playing of a musical instrument was limited to failing to learn to play the recorder at age twelve.

Blimey, though, my fingers are rusty!

Your secret, that you are really a robot, is now out. :)

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I think recorder is a really difficult instrument to give to children, I found it tricky to play too.


Your secret, that you are really a robot, is now out. :)

D'oh! The Tin Woodwoman.

[qatsi.livejournal.com]

I did up to Grade VI and always scraped through - 101/150 for one of them, if I remember correctly.

I got a digital piano some years ago now and it was like riding a bike for me, which I can see is not much help, but is intended to offer encouragement. Using headphones obviously hides the worst slip-ups, though Mrs Q informs me that the sound merely of banging on the keys sounds like there's some sort of techno going on in there, apparently.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

That's about what I got for Grade VII: switched teachers, mid A-level and (ahem) didn't practice anywhere near enough.

I've done mostly scales so far, but they've come back very quickly... apart from the ones I never learned properly for Grade VII. Next up the really easy Chopin preludes.


Mrs Q informs me that the sound merely of banging on the keys sounds like there's some sort of techno going on in there

Ha! I freaked Mr A out in exactly this way the other night: "What the hell's going on in there?!"

This one doesn't go plunk

[glitterboy1.livejournal.com]

What an excellent idea for a present! Another friend just bought herself one, too, and has been having a whale of a time.

Your fingers may feel rusty, but it does sound as though there's a lot of memory still there, too. Good for you! I hope you have fun rediscovering and exploring...

Re: This one doesn't go plunk

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Thanks, gb!

[ideealisme.livejournal.com]

I got a piano in April 2007 and started lessons with a teacher for Grade 7 last year. Unfortunately I ran out of money and had to stop and haven't been practising much since :( I must pick it up again soon.

[ideealisme.livejournal.com]

Here's me playing a few bars: http://ideealisme.livejournal.com/145700.html

I doubt I'm anywhere near your league, if you're an organist. I have a weird hang-up about organists - I feel I can never compete with them, they're on a totally other plane :)

[altariel.livejournal.com]

You sound great! That's a real inspiration, thank you.

I really shouldn't to overstate my organ-playing ability: I only played a little at my local church, and never had any formal tuition beyond a few group sessions. But I did love playing - and, yes, proper organists are proper impressive!

[altariel.livejournal.com]

:-( That is a real shame. How did you find picking it up again? Had you not been playing for a long time? I took Grade VII c. 1989, but I haven't really played at all since. The scales have started to come back over the last few days, but even Fur Elise is currently beyond me!

[trixieleitz]

Ooooh piano! I was just thinking the other day that I wished I had learned piano....

I have a simultaneously amusing and disturbing mental image of a very small you ensconced in the tortuous bowels of a very loud machine, bending it inexorably to your will. Sort of like the Intendant, but with better dress sense.

As to the freecycling, I think you should re-perform it in the presence of a video camera, and then internet it :P

[altariel.livejournal.com]

It's funny how people have liked the idea of me sealed in an organ...

Love the idea of re-performing the Freecycle Piano Event, although not sure I could capture the special magic of the moment.

[dkpalaska.livejournal.com]

Oooo! *is envious of birthday present* And must agree with others: the Evil Overlady of the Organ is tremendously appealing. :)

I am no help on the relearning part, I'm afraid, but wanted to offer reams of encouragement and kudos!

I will say that I'm in love with the Suzuki Method of learning, going through it now for my son's piano and my daughter's violin. My ear is not nearly as good as their fresh, young, uncorrupted ones, but I've still been able to pick up beginning violin relatively easily. More pertinent to this discussion, however: Suzuki learners get to play wonderful and relatively complex pieces very early on. At least, compared to my friends' kids who are learning the traditional way. So perhaps you might check out their earlier music books/CDs for easy-but-not-cheesy pieces to initially practice on?

At any rate, have fun! Maybe you'll even be inspired to write some fanfic about a character relearning something challenging... *wanders off with a hopeful look*

[altariel.livejournal.com]

It's funny/alarming how much people have liked the Evil OverOrganLady!

Checking out the Suzuki books is a brilliant idea, thank you very much! Particularly as mraltariel starts to get more confident (he plays the guitar but never learned the keyboard). It looks like a lovely method to experience both as parent and child.

Fanfic... hmm... I guess Faramir didn't have much time to practice during the Ring War. Also, there was the necessity of quiet at Henneth Annun!

[greylin.livejournal.com]

Go you! I don't suppose you or someone in your family has kept the music you used to play from? It can be helfpul to go back to things you used to know, no matter how long ago, because the fingers never quite forget. I got to Grade VIII piano and A level music - I was on the verge of taking a music degree, then I fell in love with a French boy and did languages instead. Heh. I wish I'd learned to play the organ. It must be fabulous to fill the whole building with sound.

But Bach, dull? :splutter: All those patterns, sequences, symmetry, suspense and resolution - what's not to like?

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Luckily, I have pretty much all the music I used to play with, along with a big pile I acquired from a friend of my mother's, which I never I had a real chance to sort through (A-levels intervened). So that's a pile of brilliant stuff to work through.

*is awed by your musical chops* I mustn't overstate my organ skillz: all I ever did was thump out hymns in church for a couple of years and had one or two group tutorials. But getting to mess around with it in an empty church was fantastic.

Bach: I know, I know, I'm a bad person! I see the elegance and formal beauty, but I'm only ever pleased rather than stirred or moved. The dullness is all mine! I am willing to have the error of my ways shown to me. (See also my tongue-in-cheek poll on the subject.)

What happened with the French boy..?

[greylin.livejournal.com]

Oh, your poll was cruelly hard! I'd probably cop out by voting Bach for sacred music and Beethoven for everything else.

The French boy went the way of most teenage romances, I'm sorry to say. Damn that English channel!

[ithilwen.livejournal.com]

An electronic piano sounds like a wonderful gift to yourselves! I'm sure you just need to practice, and you'll find the skills coming back. you probably don't need anything as elaborate as a formal coursebook.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I'm really enjoying myself so far, and your instinct about a formal coursebook seems to be turning out true: I've set myself some scales to practice, and chosen a specific piece to work on. So far so good!

I also found a brilliant app for my iPhone which lets me record practice and monitor progress, and that helps to motivate. Loving all my new toys!

[ithilwen.livejournal.com]

I figured your skills would come back quickly. Playing the piano is like riding a bike; after you've learned to do it, an absence just means that when you try again you're going to a bit wobbly at first, but that's just your body renewing its muscle-memories. Re-learning's nowhere near as hard as learning the skill the first time!

So many shiny, tempting iPhone apps... I may have to break down and treat myself to an iPhone this year. As addicted as I am to my internet access, it would be a sensible purchase.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I've found that the iPhone has helped with the net addiction: I can keep my main computers switched off, which prevents long bouts of aimless surfing, but can check email rapidly (and answer it rapidly too, because I don't want to spend too long fiddling with the interface).

By all that's godly, avoid the word game Whirly Word! Hours and hours and hours...

[ithilwen.livejournal.com]

Why does every electronic gadget come with at least one utterly addicting game? It seem to be a law of the universe!