Does anyone fancy a piano chat thread?

[LemonViolet]

I’m awaiting delivery of a new piano, squeee!!! I haven’t played regularly for 20 years. I got to grade 6 as a teen, failed grade 7, carried on tinkering for a bit but have not really lived anywhere with a piano since age 18 so am well out of practice.

Whilst I hope/plan to put a baby grand in our front room, once it is done up - which may be some time - at the weekend I just realised, what am I waiting for, I want a digital anyways for playing at less sociable hours, so went ahead and ordered myself a nice Kawai digital and it arrives on Friday!!!

There’s a music chat thread on the extracurricular board but that’s more parents discussing their offsprings’ exploits, I have seen on the music board it’s quite pianissimo but there clearly are other grown up women around here playing/learning/relearning piano for our own pleasure, entertainment, therapy etc! So thought I’d post to see if anyone else is interested in hanging out on a piano thread to chat about our piano journeys, successes and failures, pieces we like, what we’re practicing etc?

It could be called the piano bar or the pianist beaker, seeing as this is MN

If there is one I’ve just failed to find, please point me in that direction.

Sounds great. I had lessons as a kid (which I didn't enjoy very much) but rediscovered my love of piano about 8 years ago. I have a digital piano - Yamaha. I've been learning some classical pieces, John Field and Chopin. I can play a few pieces right to the end but not many! I'm a very slow learner and I can't read sheet music very fluently. Lately I've been watching more YouTube tutorials. I'd like to be able to play more rock/pop stuff and I've just enquired about singing lessons as it would be lovely to sing and play. Or maybe even try and compose my own songs!
Congrats on the new piano. I think digital pianos are underrated. It's so great being able to turn the volume up and down or plug in headphones!

Pianist beaker 😂 brilliant.

I’ll happily join! I finally changed my piano for a digital in January. I’m not getting much time to play but when I do I’m happy I made the switch. My old piano is almost 100 years old I think and even when I got it age 10, it wasn’t at concert pitch etc. Never bothered me and it had a beautiful tone but over the years it’s just got beyond repair.

I’m a tutor now and enjoy teaching piano among other things. Wish I had more time to actually play though! My usual go to if I have a few minutes is Yiruma at the moment.

I'd love to join!

I got my Grade 8 as a teenager but can just about manage Fur Elise now . I had one really good bonus from work About a decade ago and blew it all on a Kemble upright, one of the last pianos to be made in the UK I think? It has a beautiful mellow tone and I love hearing dc playing on it now.

One day when I'm retired I'll finally learn that posthumous Chopin Nocturne in C sharp minor.

I hadn’t played regularly for 25 years. I got to grade 7 as a teen, didn’t sit grade 8, carried on tinkering for a bit but had not really lived anywhere with a piano since age 18 so was well out of practice.

^^with some changes you are me!

Got a digital (love it) 4 years ago. Had a go and realised I needed lessons. Restarted at grade 4, got interrupted by covid, hope to sit grade 8 this year.

The random stuff I remember never fails to surprise me. Love it, wish I’d done it years ago but an forever grateful I am relearning not learning from scratch as an adult!

Lovely thread, I’m thinking about getting a digital piano. I’ve played all my life ( I’m in my 60’s now)except last 15 years. I was the school pianist all of my infant teaching career so am brilliant at happy birthday and cauliflowers fluffy but it’s year since I played a sonata!
I’ve got some arthritis in my fingers from years of piano and knitting but would love to start playing again for pleasure now I’m retired. Haven’t had a piano since I moved 15 years ago.
My son has a Kawai(?) digital and loves it so am planning to do some research. He says I should get one with weighted keys?

CAULIFLOWERS FLUFFY!!!

Yes definitely weighted keys. I’m perfectly happy with my Yamaha p45, I didn’t have a lot of choice due to budget but considering how worried I was about the change from my piano - perfect touch for me as well as the lovely depth of sound (although one of the issues was that it had become tinny over the years) - I really do love it. And TBH, having no separate room to keep it in, having headphones does mean I can play more really. No more paranoia about waking the kids or annoying the neighbours!

And cabbages green...

Great timing as I'm thinking about buying a digital piano. I'm definitely not in the same class as the rest of you - no lessons or grades - but taught myself well enough to be happy playing, even though a trained ear would probably despair!

I got rid of my old digital keyboard about 8 years ago, along with all the sheet music, but now really regretting it. Just trying to decide if I'll use it enough to justify a new purchase..

Ah what a timely thread! I can barely play at all; have made sporadic efforts to learn but never stuck to it or worked hard enough. Recently decided I'd have another go, found a teacher, then my quite old Kawai digital piano stopped working, and I bought a (cheap) Yamaha yesterday! I'm excited about getting it, it should be delivered within two weeks.

I'll be following the thread for inspiration to keep going. Envious of people who learnt as children, it must be a lot easier to pick it up again and improve.

What a lovely thread! I played as a child, did Grade 3 but then lost interest as I found the music my teacher taught dull. I started again 16 year ago and bought a digital piano but quickly realised I wanted a "real" one. I traded it in for a hybrid - it's an acoustic but you can plug in headphones and use it in silent mode. This is ideal for me as we live in a small flat and have neighbours on every side, plus there is nearly always someone in the same room watching tv or studying.

I found a great teacher and worked my way up to Grade 7 (which I scraped through). This made me realise that actually I was more interested in playing jazz and songs. My teacher didn't teach through lockdown and I ended up signing up to Pianote which is a digital learning platform and I have to say I love it! I've learnt so much that I didn't touch on in my years of studying. I don't think I will go back to having a teacher, at least not for a while.

What's everyone's practice routine, if you have one? I struggle with consistency

I did this! I stopped at grade 6 piano but never passed grade 7. Got myself a Yamaha digital and love it. My DC1 now learns at school and plays it as well. Just started teaching DC2 (going to year 2 so can’t start at school yet) using Faber piano adventures. I love playing but mainly now popular or easy arrangements. I find it relaxing and love sharing it with my children.

I had dreams of sharing it with my children too but they had other ideas!

I got to about G5 as a teen but then stopped. Inherited the family heirloom piano 18 months ago and play a couple of times a week. I am much lazier these days - I can play 'properly' but mostly play pop and a lot of it by ear. I'm also having singing lessons, but NO WAY can I sing and play at the same time.

@Serenissima21 wow just look up pianote and it’s £497! I am always wary about these as they start at a point where they assume no keyboard knowledge. What do they teach you if you passed grade 7? Is it playing leadsheets and chords? Anything more than different inversions or the chords?

@childrengrowinguptoofast
No, that's the price in dollars so pounds is a lot less. Also that's lifetime membership (a special offer that's running at the moment). You can join for a year and you can cancel within (3 months I think) if it's not for you.

Yes, there is a lot about leadsheets and chords but there are also modules on jazz improvisation, cocktail piano, blues, technique etc. I have found loads of material to study despite skipping all the beginner's modules. I had loads of gaps in my knowledge though - someone who had a better piano education might be different!

There's also a lot of interaction. They have question and answer sessions to help you problem solve. Overall I've found it really helpful and it renewed my interest in piano when it was flagging.

Oh oh can I join? I didn’t learn as a child (no room for a piano), but I do have grade 6 flute. A couple of years ago we bought a house which came with the previous occupant’s much loved piano. We had it tuned last summer (when it found its permanent spot in the house) and so I’ve been teaching myself. I’m nowhere near as good as you lot but I enjoy playing. I find it quite calming! I am mostly working on mid 20th century pop/modern with mostly chords on the LH, but also some g3-4 classical pieces.

I’m interested... I played maybe a couple of years at primary school but didn’t really enjoy the lessons. Played a woodwind instrument at school, didn’t sit any formal exams other than Standard Grade music so think I was about Grade 5 then but nothing since. I would have to buy a digital piano now, nothing too expensive as I don’t trust myself to maintain interest but what I would really like is online lessons with music I enjoy - pop/rock. Where could I find this?

During the first lockdown I started playing about on a keyboard someone had given me for the kids but soon realised how limiting it was! I took a deep breath and bought a digital piano and I’ve used it so so much since then. I’ve never had a lesson, just taught myself from books and YouTube, but I can happily play up to about grade 3-4 pieces and have ambitions to keep pushing myself. It’s really just to amuse myself but I love that’s there’s so much out there to play, so much variety. I have banned myself from buying more books as I have a shelf full now! I enjoy playing classical the best but sometimes sit down and bang out some pop or even turn to my copy of Come and Praise I got from EBay and hammer out Autumn Days and Give Me Oil in my Lamp!

A few mentions of Yamaha - is this what I should be looking for? I want something with a piano feel, rather than keyboard.

This is what I have: www.gear4music.com/Keyboards-and-Pianos/Casio-PX-870-Digital-Piano-Pack-Black/2320?gclid=CjwKCAjwgISIBhBfEiwALE19STBEU4qVZWbt2q434VZDhrGhkq7Mb05FzgWVXpwf9AC414AB0HIr1xoCpYMQAvD_BwE

I looked for a long time and read reviews and I thought this was the best for my budget that they had in stock (there was a shortage of pianos at the time, I don’t know if there still is).

It definitely looks like a real piano which I like but I’ve never really played a real one beyond a few tinkles so I don’t know about playing. The sound is pretty good - I can tell there are limitations on it but for what I play it’s absolutely fine. You can also do organ/harpsichord/rock piano which is fun sometimes. I don’t use any of the functions on it apart from that.

It looks great but beyond my budget at the moment ☹️

I bought my first acoustic piano this year after years of digital.

Was a bit of an impulse purchase during lockdown. I ordered it over the phone
It worked in saving my sanity though so I'm glad I did it.

This is a great thread- and very timely for me too as I've just restarted learning the piano almost 30 years after playing as a teenager. I got to grade 5 and then stopped due to moving away. I also inherited my childhood piano and have it in my home now, as no one else in my family plays. Recently I found a great teacher who is really inspiring and I've decided to take my grade 5 exam- hopefully next year.
@DreamingofBrie that Chopin posthumous nocturne in C-sharp minor is what made me want to restart, funnily enough. It's beautiful- and looks less tricky than some of the others- but I'm not quite ready for it yet 😁
While my teacher is on holiday for the summer I've set myself the task of learning all scales up to grade 5 (many are very rusty- but I'm making good progress) and going through all the ABRSM theory books up to grade 5. As a goal I've booked myself on to a weekend workshop at Finchcocks at the end of October so need to be ideally grade 5 level by then.....

www.gear4music.com/Keyboards-and-Pianos/DP-6-Digital-Piano-Bench-Pack-by-Gear4music/1UU5

Would something like this be terrible?

@Serenissima21 thanks, I have a lot of gaps too. When I got my digital piano, I learned to play leadsheets from YouTube and blog posts. ABRSM curriculum near talked about chords in that way. In contrast the Faber piano adventures have I and IV chords and leadsheets from level 2. I wonder if it’s a British vs American way of teaching.

I will have a good think and see if I can afford the pianote.

@Undervaluedandsad have a look at the Yamaha page uk.yamaha.com/en/products/musical_instruments/pianos/index.html

They have all the digital (and acoustic) pianos. You can see what all the different series are and decide what your budget can stretch to.