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.

She's beautiful @Knittingnanny.

I have been recommended a local tutor but would prefer face to face lessons rather than remote learning. Really pleased to hear that this is likely to happen again soon WildRosie sounds like you had a great lesson🤞

What a beautiful piano 🎹👌

How often do you all practice scales etc? I am making myself do them on most days as a warm up. Thinking I should be doing more.

I practice every day for five or so minutes Mc3209. It does help with finger dexterity.

I don’t really set a time to practice, I should though.

I’ve just bought cheap used copies of these jazz books to try and get used to improvising a bit (but within a set of rules if that makes sense… less daunting!). Not sure if I need to learn new kinds of scale for this? Would be nice to TBH.

Also my studio ghibli music book arrived today, it’s sooo lovely.

Forgot the pic

@Mc3209 I try and do 20-30 mins of scales each time I practise. Some I no longer need to practise but there are some which are so much harder- E flat minor, B flat minor and F sharp minor to name a few. I try and do the arpeggio for each scale at the same time. Although I've got a long way to go, I've improved so I'm trying to stick with it. I tend to start with scales then move on to the more pleasurable playing as an incentive....

Thank you @LemonViolet I am definitely sticking with the digital now, I love it. Maybe one day I’ll get an acoustic or a high end digital but I’m perfectly happy with what I have. I’m playing so much more!

I didn’t feel sad when it actually left the house, I’m glad I’d done my final play last night. Just happy to move on now. I was ten when I got it, although I had my first keyboard at 2 :o

It definitely helped that my ghibli book arrived today - one of the pieces in it is from Howl’s Moving Castle too :)

I ended with trying a new sonatina - kuhlau’s third. Jeez. It’s sort of… not intuitive? You know when even with a new piece you can sort of predict where it’s going? At least with some styles/periods anyway. But anyway I totally couldn’t for most of this. Definitely one to work on 🤣

Wow that’s dedication to scales lila I’m impressed! I haven’t done any of the difficult scales in years. I should print a chart. I do like a chart. :o

I’ve had a quick look about different scales used for jazz and the book I got mentions the Dorian and the mixolydian which seem easy enough to remember in terms of notes, not looked at fingers yet though.

@SingToTheSky: modes is a good place to start regarding jazz scales. Both the Dorian and Mixolydian scales (modes) are already in the major scale - albeit starting on a different note. Dorian mode starts on the second note of a major scale, and Mixolydian starts on the fifth note. There's a modal scale for each note in the scale. Aeolian mode is what is commonly known as natural or relative minor and starts from the 6th note of the scale. Knowledge of modes is vital in jazz because of chord theory. Chords determine how you'd approach improvisation. .

There are loads of "jazz" scales but one of the most important for beginners is the blues scale.

There's a series of books called Popular Music Theory (by LCM I think) which is great for explaining jazz scale theory.

Thank you so much bugger that’s really helpful! 🤩

I’d forgotten all about those tricky scales and chromatics and contrary motion!
So I think I’m approx grade 4-5 after a long playing gap as I can sight read just about the grade 4 solos book. I’m amazed I can still move my fingers like that, yes musical memory must be very strong.
I’ve played all of the major scales hands seapately this morning and the easier ones hands to together but off to youngest grandsons it’s birthday party now so will have to say goodbye to my new toy for a few hours.
Despite him saying he hasn’t got a clue, my husband sat down at the piano when he had finished assembling it and managed to work out the melody line for a couple of children’s songs so I might read the manual and work out a lesson schedule for him.
Here is the little clay model of an exasperated pianist I was given as it reminded them of me....

Frustrated pianist

So many typos in that post!

Haha love the little model!

Jazz scales sound like a foreign country to straightlaced-trad-ABRSM me. The jazz grades were just starting when I was a late teen, I remember asking my teacher about them but she didn’t know anything about jazz either and that was that. It seems really intimidating from the outside tbh. I remember feeling sceptical about the “improvising” during pieces prepared for an exam - surely you’d have played them so many times you’d have prepared the “improvised” bit as well it’s just not written down?

We’re on holiday this week, no piano here! I miss her! It’s nice having time to relax though. Work is very full on at home, and we are in a beautiful part of the country now. Plan is going to the beach today.

@LemonViolet: I don't think the abrsm jazz syllabus has ever changed. . I don't think it's particularly popular sadly. I only know of one person who did it (grade 4 I think). I'm not even sure if lcm have their jazz syllabus any more.

I think improv is probably less spontaneous and more formulaic than we're led to believe. . I think you also have to love jazz as a genre to even consider playing it. Although I prefer pop and jazz to listen to, I usually end up playing a classical piece because there are actual notes to read (although my reading is a bit dodgy now too).

straightlaced-trad-ABRSM

Are you me?! :o

Although actually my exams were Guildhall I think 🤔 I get confused!

Anyway I bought a cheap copy of the grades 1-5 jazz scale book too. Once that arrives I’ll give all three of the jazz books a proper look and try stuff.

One of the pupils I used to teach at the music school loved to improvise, I wished his parents had listened to him and got him a jazz piano teacher instead of or as well as us! I wonder if he ever did seek that out. Talented lad but difficult to keep on task. Looking back he was clearly my first encounter with ADHD (apart from myself that is 😁).

I also bought the grades 1&2 book we used to teach from, as a nostalgia hit (but can also use it with pupils in the future, not for exams obv as out of date but just for the pieces). I ordered another book with it, but the guy phoned to apologise as he’d sent the wrong one. I said I didn’t mind but it actually turned out that I’d also taught a bit from the accidentally sent one! It’s the prep/intro level book that goes before the grades 1&2. So that’s worked out well :) I must message him to let him know.

I’m itching to get the Smallwoods piano tutor book too. I must have got rid of my mum’s old copy but I actually think I could get some use out of it with pupils now, I really don’t like sticking to just one book for teaching.

Smallwood's! Blast from the past! I learned using Smallwood's and I also bought a copy (mainly for sentimental reasons) a while back. It's sooo old-fashioned (in a good way). So logical (unlike some other teaching methods (looking at you, Piano Adventures).

Just realised how much I loved teaching piano. Jealous of those who are .

I found all my old piano course books.... Michael Aaron ones!

I see I only have grades 1 and 2 books though so that gives me an indication of how far I got - not very!

I’m enjoying my piano so much and losing hours of the day to it. I’m amazed at how I can remember which fingers to start each scale on. I’m starting each session with 3 octaves of all of the major scales and arpeggios. Even a Hanon or 2! Plan to remind myself of all of the minor scales next.
Managed a half decent rendition of the whole of Fur Elise and ist movement of Mozart sonata in c major today so have decided I will concentrate on learning those properly
Thanks to whoever directed us to the digital online music printing. Amazing to be able to have it transposed into the simplest key! I ordered my favourite Beatles “Til there was you” and Josh Groban “To where you are”
Unfortunately I clicked B major instead of c major for both of them!

Oooh B Major - ouch!

Lovely to hear you're enjoying it so much, @Knittingnanny

Für Elise was every girl's dream growing up in my circles. Not familiar with the third movement of the C Major sonata. Muscle memory is incredible isn't it?

That’s so nice knitting 🥰

Aww bugger I’m sorry you miss teaching. Is there any way you could get back to it now? IME a lot of people are happy with casual lessons and not wanting something super formal and exams etc.

I managed to play a bit yesterday. Ghibli music again and some Kuhlau. I really need to make a list - perhaps to stick on the wall - of the Clementi and Kuhlau sonatinas that I can play and the ones I want to work on. The problem is because I tend to play several each day they kind of all merge into one in my head 😳 so I can never remember how any of them go, and sometimes can’t even remember if I’ve finished one before or not 😳

I’ve come to accept that my ADHD side will NOT tolerate just working on a couple of pieces though. Even when working for exams as a teen (I only ever took exams for grades 5/6/7) I’d spend hours playing other stuff. So just choosing a sonatina or two to focus on ain’t gonna happen 🤣 but a list would help give me a bit of direction I think.