Piano in lockdown!

[Frederik33]

Hi,

Anyone else picked up their piano playing in lockdown? Did my grade eight at 18 or 19 and did take lessons pre kids which I enjoyed. Since having children my interest has been mostly confined to playing them nursery rhymes when they were small, supervising their practice and playing carols at Christmas. I can't afford lessons for myself.

I sat down at the piano yesterday evening and was there for nearly two hours. I picked up some Schubert to practise.

Anyway thought I would start this thread to see if anyone else has started playing again to relieve lockdown boredom?

Does anyone have any practice tips, websites or resources for amateur pianists they'd like to share?

Tia

You can get access to so much sheet music with a monthly subscription to scribd.com or pay per item with the Musicnotes app. There are also piano chord charts on Ultimate Guitar (they have a useful app too) although only useful if you like charts - most classical musicians prefer proper sheet music.

Yep. Me also. Am going through the grades day by day. The muscles in the fingers need re-activated

Have a lovely acoustic guitar here. My son's . I'm thinking about teaching myself online. Have a degree in music so at least I know the basics

I've got a piano I never touch, was full of grand ideas of mastering it over lockdown but don't even know where to begin 😅

Played a little as a kid (my mum taught) but never did grades etc, so essentially starting from scratch

We have been very lucky during lockdown in that one of our neighbours is a concert pianist and has been 'practising', the whole apartment building gets a good 2 hours of wonderful music every afternoon, just lovely!

Hello, I've been re-learning piano for about 2 years (so, started again before lockdown) after stupidly giving it up at age 14. Oh if I could go back and have a stern word with my teenage self.

I am working up to taking Grade IV some time later this year. I have a weekly lesson, at the moment we are doing this via zoom.

With your skills I should think you could teach yourself anything? There's loads of free out of copyright sheet music available on the web.

I also buy music books second hand via Amazon and Ebay.

It's a beautiful hobby to have, very mindful and stimulating. It's a long old slog to learn the piano to a decent standard but you have done most of the hard work and surely only need a few months of practice and you'll be able to play more or less anything!

This sounds like me :) I had weekly lessons aged 6-18 and could play at grade 8 standard. It's been many, many years now and I can play a few things from memory, but my technique, muscles and ability to learn new things are poor. I wish I made more time for it, but tough with a toddler around. When things get back to normal I might start lessons again.

Me!! I got up to grade 6 when I was 14 and then gave up but tinkered every now and then. My piano teacher was very fond of classical stuff so I learned to play loads of chopins waltzes and other stuff which, looking back at them now, must have been fairly advanced for the 10-14 year old I was then!!

During lockdown (although I'm still working full-time so not much free time) I've learned a piece that my son heard on the radio and fell in love with - its fairly straightforward but continuous quavers so has tested my concentration levels. I've loved it and am now considering getting my ancient piano repaired and properly tuned (keep finding dead notes and there are definitely more than two which are 'out'!!). However my parents have a gorgeous baby grand that I love to play so might take the music over there . Wish I could play by ear though.

I recommend IMSLP for free sheet music. There is loads on there! For example, check "Satie" and a good portion of his solo piano music is available open access.

My tribe!

Another who played to grade VI as an early teen but I haven’t played in about 20 years. With money saved during lockdown (we know that’s fortunate) we are buying a digital piano in the next month or two. I’d prefer an acoustic but it’s going in a living room so headphones are useful and we have two very young DC rampaging around so now is not the time for extremely nice things.

Can’t wait to get back to it. I’ve done my homework (I think) and looking at the Kawai KDP110, if anyone desperately wants to encourage/discourage that (entry level pricing but see point above about bull-in-China-shop DC... greater expense can wait a few more years!).

Oh me!

I was doing my A.Mus at 17 and then life got complicated. I never really gave it up entirely but piano definitely took a back seat.

I started lessons again a few years ago, and during lockdown have been working through Czerny exercises, plus setting myself some goal pieces - working through Chopin’s Nocturne Op 55 No.1, and relearning Khachaturian’s Toccata, which has been fun.

Plus my arsey downstairs neighbour chose to isolate elsewhere, so I felt free to play with impunity. He’s back now though

Me too! I was having lessons before lockdown but have started playing a lot more than usual and it is very satisfying to actually make progress. I passed Grade 7 a few years ago but hadn't really made much progress until lockdown. I have been mainly playing sad Chopin waltzes but am also working my way through a couple of books on improvisation to try and "feel" more musical.

@CoveredInBeeeees - I have a hybrid piano. It is a real acoustic but you can also put it into electronic mode and use headphones - essential as I live in a flat and don't want my neighbours to hate me!

I don't play but DS is teaching himself a beautiful piece of music that he found. He wants to surprise his teacher when he goes back to school. Sadly he has a keyboard as we don't have space for a piano for him.

Hi everyone just catching up, many thanks for all your replies people seem glad to have found the thread so that's nice.

Didn't know about Musicnotes app will look that up AND IMSLP. My muscles are in bad shape too LesLavandes just remember nice curved fingers! Also that some of our fingers are stronger than others which is why when you play a run of notes it can sound bumpy not smooth.

Good to hear people are enjoying the chance to practice during lockdown. As I say I've only just started but it would have been my Dad's birthday yesterday and he used to like it when I played so that gave me a push.

Nice some people are having lessons my daughter's music centre say piano teachers are hard to find these days!

As for not doing grades I am not sure I enjoyed that approach that much my kids don't do them but my daughter can happily play in front of many people.

Like all the composers you mention
Coveredinbeeees I have a Yamaha digital piano which I bought about sixteen years ago for £1100 and I love it feels like a real piano but more practical.

Does anyone have any tips for learning to play by ear?
Would really like to learn, but have never been able to read music.

1Littleweed I have just bought a keyboard (can't afford a digital piano!) from Yamaha and it gives me 3 months free with Flowkey.. an online tuition programme that you use as an app on phone or tablet. It can hear what you play and takes you from how to sit on a stool... so absolute basics. I took up the guitar a couple of years ago aged 50 and am learning but am still very much a beginner and couldn't read a note. ..now I can read easy stuff, and fancied getting a keyboard as well.
I'm enjoying it and while I'm finding the bass clef a mystery (only got the keyboard last week) I know that if I give myself half an hour a day i will make sense eventually
The app combines learning by ear with teaching you to read music and has good reviews . I have learned the guitar so far by online (not youtube) tuition and am around grade 4 currently so it does work!

Thank you StillMedusa, I'll have a look at that.

I couldn't get on with Flowkey. Following the scrolling music on screen made me so dizzy that I almost fell off the stool.

I'm working my way through the Goldberg variations. I hated Bach when I did grade 8 and didn't touch the piano for years - I sang instead. I cannot sing at the moment. It just feels fundamentally wrong, but picking through Bach really calms me.