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.

Replicate

@DaphneDeloresMoorhead Ive loved classic fm from its very beginnings, when unbelievably critics said it would never last due to it only playing bits and pieces of classical works not the whole piece. Well how wrong they were! It’s introduced classical music to some many including my husband and little grandchildren. 16 years ago he’d only ever heard of and liked Vivaldi 4 seasons, now he recognises loads of stuff and learned about different styles and eras etc.
We have it on in the car all the time and I tell the little ones what sort of music it is. The 3 year old can comment on “ ballet” “ sad” “ skippy” etc .

I seem to be 'two steps forward, one step backwards' at the moment. Frustrating but not new. On the plus side, my teacher has put her piano up for sale which hopefully means her new baby grand has been delivered. I'll find out at tomorrow's lesson.

I can touch type - at work I’ll often be typing notes whilst not looking at the keyboard or screen as I’m making eye contact with a client whilst we’re talking - but for me touch typing is like playing from music, not looking at what my hands are doing. Whereas playing without the music, I don’t know where to look, and looking at my hands can make me fluff up! But it does allow me to concentrate more on the dynamics and tone and emotion, I find my hands get a lot more expressive, more whole arm/body involvement in my playing.

I’m hoping it’s just repetition and repetition and repetition to learn from memory, until it becomes ingrained in my muscles.

@LemonViolet yes, I am also doing the Florian Mittrea weekend in June! I'll see you there! Which room did you book? It was honestly so hard to choose between all the courses – loads of them looked amazing and I literally could've done one every month! Not sure my husband would be too impressed with being left with the kids so frequently so I had to tone it down...
I'm going to start having a look at the grade 5 syllabus soon.
@DaphneDeloresMoorhead I love nocturne no.72. In fact I love most of Chopins' nocturnes. My favourites are no. 27 in D flat major, no. 32/2 in A flat major and his post humous one in C sharp minor, which is next on your list. I got it out just now and the first page looks surprisingly accessible. But that section where you have to play 35 notes with the right hand in the time of one minim is putting me off!
On an easier note, has anyone played L'Orage ? I think it's by Bergmuller and was on a recent grade 5 syllabus. It sounds pretty good- dark and sinister and I might have a go at that too.

All the second floor rooms were gone so I chose Gouldhurst.

Haven’t played l’Orage but just looked it up on imslp - it’s in Op109 - I like the look of it. Might print it and give it a whirl.

I’ve been playing the Pachulski Prelude in C minor (on the G5 syllabus) the last few days and it is really lovely.

Teacher's new piano is awfully smart and takes up a surprising amount of room. I'm not keen on the tone and it's also a lot louder than I'm used to. None of these are my problems, mind. My personal opinions and I only have to play it once a week.

@WildRosie what kind of piano is it?

I can't remember Lila. It's a baby grand by a make I've never heard of. German parts but assembled in China. She bought it from Forsyth's in Manchester.

Ritmuller! I remember now.

[quote Knittingnanny]@LemonViolet despite playing for over 55 years at varying levels and regularity I’ve never been able to play anything from memory apart from scales and arpeggios! It’s obviously not my learning style.

I’ve never learned to touch type either. I’ve probably played happy birthday thousands of times but still need need a written melody line , although I could then harmonise it ad lib
My eldest son never uses written music, he hears something and can re relate it on the piano or guitar. But he never took exams.
I’m working on Mozart sonata K333 and it’s getting there. Going to add a Beethoven sonata in to my practise schedule next as I got a book of them in a charity shop recently.
I love my piano![/quote]
I've been playing for 41 years and the only piece I can play all the way through is Debussy's "Petit Niger" or whatever it is allowed to be called now. I can play the first half of Fur Elise without the music too.

@WildRosie

Teacher's new piano is awfully smart and takes up a surprising amount of room. I'm not keen on the tone and it's also a lot louder than I'm used to. None of these are my problems, mind. My personal opinions and I only have to play it once a week.

I don't like my piano teachers instrument much either, it's too tight and loud. My Zimmerman has a really nice tone and plays my romantic stuff really well. I can't wait fir the day I get my Bosendorfer grand restored... that's going to be a thrilling day indeed. It's a complete restoration job and subject to an inheritance 😂 🎹 💰 💰 💰

Just wanted to drop in this evening to let you all know I got a distinction on my grade 4 theory- 71 out of 75! I'm so happy!
Hope everyone is well. I've started the post humous nocturne in C sharp minor. It's going better than I thought it would. No polyrhythms (so far)!

Well done! I love that nocturne.
Ploughing on with my determination to return to my 1975 grade 7 level, running alongside my determination to return to pre first baby 1982 weight!
Piano is going better than the dieting! Although I’ve dipped under 9 st for first time in nearly 40 years.

We have both tested positive for covid so lots of piano time over the next ten days!

Oh @Knittingnanny. . Still - every cloud, eh?

Feeling dreadful today but only from the throat upwards! I’m still planning to play!

Hmm, disparaging fellow musicians with a different approach to you isn’t a particularly nice way to convince us to pay you for a service, is it? Reported as spam, this is a supportive thread for pianistas, not somewhere for you to advertise whilst insulting us. We all have different approaches and no one has a monopoly on what “music is all about”.

Hope you’re feeling better @Knittingnanny I’ve also been very poorly recently but it seems it’s just a terrible cold as Covid negative!

I wasn't asking anyone to pay for a service and honestly had no idea that I was insulting anybody. I'm just suggesting that besides learning to read music it's also rewarding to play 'by ear'. Just learning a few basic chords that fit under simple songs can be a lot of fun.

Your post advertising your service, which has been deleted, is the only thing you’ve ever posted on MN. That’s called spamming and is unwelcome.

Aaaaaaanyway…… how is everyone getting on? I’ve been struggling to spend much time at the piano last few weeks due to illness mainly. I’m too exhausted to concentrate a l lot of the time, it’s been work sleep eat only.

I've been experimenting with some Bill Evans chord voicings from YouTube. Sounds great on YouTube but somehow when I play the same thing it sounds crap. .

Otherwise, not much to report.

@LemonViolet I feel ok one minute and horrid the next, very up and down and random
Out of “ prison” Friday midnight so will be able to walk or stumble along the beach on Saturday
I’ve ordered Ronald Binge “ water mill” as I love the tune
Pressing on with a Chopin waltz , the grade 7 piece by Tchaikovsky and going to choose a Beethoven sonata to start next. I do remember learning the first movement of the moonlight but I find it a bit tedious so will have a look at the others
I’d love to be able to play Danse 5 by Granados which is a grade 8 piece but I think it’s beyond me
I can make a passable attempt at Rondo Alla Turca now. Without any double octaves though! As I’m only learning for myself I’ve given myself permission to adapt that section.
Covid husband has been doing a bit of piano in our “ creative” room but he’s better at sketching and has done this picture of me!
I wasn’t wearing a blue dress so not sure what he was looking at but like the narrow waist he’s given me!

Aw that's a lovely picture Knitting! Talented household...

Had another fab piano lesson, get so much out of them !
Bought far too much new music - Clementi, Bach little preludes and Grieg Lyric pieces. Those are at the suggestion of my new teacher. I've also bought a piece from the film of Sense and Sensibility following a delightful weekend in Bath. It's My Fathers Favourite, I'll try to link