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.

I’ve just voiced my thoughts about getting a piano to dh who has never heard me play! In the 16 years we’ve been together I haven’t had a piano in the house, just played when I was in my classroom or on supply ( cauliflowers fluffy of course)
He said he will buy me one. He has no idea how much they cost! The one my son has was £1300, dh is probably remembering the battered old upright he bought in 1990 for one of his daughters to learn on which cost a tenner from a friend!

What’s the 100 day challenge?

Starting to wonder if Pianote are paying some of you to talk them up clearly it works well for some people though. I just can’t see me fiddling about with an iPad at the piano. I don’t have an iPad for starters! Proper sheet music for me I thinks. But I am coming at this as someone who already reads music fine.

@How2Help how interesting that they still had a record of your old exam results. I noticed on their website that you can request old results, so I might give that a try 🤔

@boxcar, it’s the “ special events” organising that I miss now I’m retired! The carols ( Mary’s boy child, wind through the olive trees, and my favourite John Rutters shepherds pipe carol), the harvest songs, Easter songs, the year 2 leavers songs, etc
I left all of my music at my last school where I’d been for 12 years. Sadly they didn’t have another pianist and after a couple of years got rid of the fabulous shiny grand piano in the hall along with all of my precious song books.
Apparently when a particular style of infant school was built here in Hampshire in the 1960’s, the first Headteacher could choose a grand piano or “ sound system” ( a wooden gramophone I think!) for the assembly hall and a couple chose the pianos.
Teachers training for infant teaching just before my era, ie those training in the 1950’s and 60’s, had to have piano lessons as part of their course.

Happily adding myself to this group - what a great thread @LemonViolet!

I passed grade 6 as a teenager and was almost ready for grade 8 when a levels took over and I didn’t really have access to a piano at university.

I now have my childhood piano at home and play a couple of times a week but I can only play from sheet music - not from memory or by ear so I’m trying to build up my improv skills but it’s really hard. I’ve played from sheet music since I started lessons at age 4 so it’s really ingrained in me to play that way.

@LemonViolet 🤣 Definitely not on the payroll! But as an absolute beginner I have found it extremely helpful. And never having read piano music before I am really starting from scratch.

If anyone has helpful tips regarding reading the music I would be all ears/eyes. Thank you 😊

I played keyboard as a kid and had to play a couple of piano pieces for exams. I begged my parents to let me give up and they eventually gave in.
I bought a second hand digital piano a few months before the first lockdown and had started to teach myself piano (and cursed my parents for letting me give up twenty odd years ago).
My husband bought me piano lessons for Christmas so I'm having a lesson a week now. It's hard getting the practice in with kids and work and life and it's definitely harder now that I'm older-things don't go in as easily! But I love it.
My daughter is watching YouTube videos and can't read music at all but can play beautifully, I'm both impressed and very jealous of her!

@LemonViolet it's where you post a practice pic/video for 100 days on Instagram - obviously it doesn't have to be posted anywhere and your work doesn't have to be perfect (it's practice after all!).

I found it pretty useful though because it made me want to practise every day, even if it was just for 20 mins as I wanted to maintain my consecutive practice days . And because I knew there were days when I could literally only fit in 20 minutes, I became a lot more focused on what I wanted to achieve for those short practice sessions.

Ooooh, great thread!! I am another who was a keen pianist in my yoof who let it slide for a good twenty years while I was busy doing other things, then took it up again

My lovely teacher moved away last year and I have really let things slide. Would pianote suit someone who can already read music and knows her way round the keyboard but just really needs a kick up the arse?!

@CoffeeBeansGalore if you’re new to reading sheet music I would honestly start just by writing the letters above/below the stave. You will soon train yourself to recognise them!

@StillMedusa that’s the problem I see with pianote. I can already play leadsheets with melody on right and chords on left (including inversions and broken chords). I can also sing with chords on both hands. But what I can’t do is play a tune I can sing, let alone coming up with my own chord progression. I don’t know how people can sit at the piano and just play everything asked of them without leadsheet or sheet music. They couldn’t have memorised every song and their chord progression surely?

@Azilliondegrees Thank you. I actually printed off a copy & noted it up the other day. Now stuck to the wall above my piano. I will keep studying!

For those who have done classical piano exams when young and know their scales well, I find articles and YouTube videos like this plugs the hole in our knowledge
tommyspianocorner.com/mastering-chords-on-piano-for-classical-pianists/

For people using things like Pianote - do you put the iPad on the music stand? Probably daft question.
Yes, although it's a cheap tablet not an ipad. I do that if I'm watching a video and playing along. I do print out some music too. I have also started using an app called Mobile pages (or sheets??). You can use it as a music library and it makes page turns easier! I've only just started it though so not really au fait yet.

@CoffeeBeansGalore if you're starting completely from scratch with no knowledge of notes, time signatures, rests etc you could get a couple of the ABRSM theory books and work your way through those- start with grade 1 and 2 and go from there. ABRSM also have a great app- it's called "music theory trainer" which covers all the basics up to grade 5. Depends how thorough you want to be- I've found it useful for reminding myself of things I'd forgotten years ago!

I’d like to join - although may not post much, as about to go away for a weeks staycation
I’m an adult beginner- now Grade 1 level (which is actually an achievement for me!)

What I struggle with most is rhythm - I think I have none! Any tips on getting music to sound like music? (And not just a series of notes).

Been doing lessons on zoom in the past year, my teacher is not the most patient- but I think this is because he’s a natural musician and doesn’t get my struggle to learn - I’ve got further with him than anyone I’ve tried to learn with before.

I have a digital piano - but the keys are not fully weighted. I’d love to really get better at playing so I can justify a new, better piano.

I look forward to reading the thread. X

Soooo, after reading this thread yesterday, I’ve just bought myself a digital piano. It’s a relatively cheap one but given the piano I practised on back in the day was no great shakes, and this one has reviewed very well online, I’ve gone for it and grades 1-3 of the piano book someone upthread suggested. This is a fun hobby for me. At the moment I don’t plan to take lessons, I’ll use the book and whatever I can find online to start with. I’m aiming to be able to knock out some basic songs. I remember being proficient in Für Elise (wasn’t everyone) because that was the only song I enjoyed when I was taught, so I actually practised that one. It is in one of the books I bought, so I’m aiming to get back to that level but I think that might be Grade 3 so I need to build back up. My sight reading definitely isn’t what it was.

It’s piano day!!!!

Shipping notification says it’s any time before 6pm. Apparently it’s in Milton Keynes that’s only just over an hour away with a good wind. Squeee!

Hoping I’m strong enough to carry the bits upstairs to where it is going to be in my study, and set it up there myself. DP won’t be home until very late tonight, if I can’t get it upstairs myself I’ll be setting it up and playing in the hallway

Happy piano day! We're going to need a photo. And a recital.

@CoffeeBeansGalore definitely second the recommendation to do some music theory books. About 12 years ago I taught myself clarinet for a year, then had fortnightly lessons for a few months and passed grade 3, but didn’t keep it up after a house move (and a first lesson with a new teacher who was discouragingly dismissive of what I’d achieved). I did some of Paul Harris “Improve Your Theory” workbooks at that point and found them really helpful. Obviously ABRSM have their own theory books too. But doing the exercises on paper definitely helped me consolidate my understanding of it all. When I learned as a child, my teacher would make me do the theory exam for each grade a term before doing the practical. PITA at the time but in retrospect I am grateful as I have/had a really solid grounding now.

@Undervaluedandsad ha sorry for being a “bad” influence!!!! What I’m most looking forward to about playing this time around is playing what I want to play not what someone sets me to play. Of course we practice things if we are intrinsically motivated to do them for our own enjoyment and sense of achievement rather than someone else telling us to.

Thanks @Serenissima21!!!!

Am just clearing the space for it now and giving the room a deep clean in preparation.

Happy piano day! So exciting! Keep us updated

Wow - the excitement of a new piano. . Can I join please? I'm another Kawai digital owner and love it. Trouble is I'm working full time and I've got out of the habit of playing. Naughty me. .

I got to g5 as a youngster, didn't touch the piano for 30 years then decided to get myself some lessons and took - and passed - g8 Jazz Piano at the grand old age of 55. Got Popular Music Theory at the same time. I'm ridiculously proud of myself (until I see a tiny 5-year- old knocking out a hideously difficult Chopin on YouTube... .

Much as I love jazz, my current love is Chopin and I have a copy of Fantaisie Impromptu languishing in a drawer. I'm afraid to look at it, never mind play it .

Looking forward to following your piano journeys and hoping to take some further steps myself.

Just found this thread! I could also be you - got my grade 8 at school, used to compete a bit, was supposed to go to Uni to study but had to drop out due to injury. Life went in other directions then the last few years felt that need again, and my lockdown purchase was a Yamaha U2 upright - I prefer the more mellow sounding pianos but they were much more expensive, Yamaha is a bit bright. What I would give for a Bechstein ! But the Yamaha and I have semi bonded.

Anyway that was 18 months ago and it's been a bit dispiriting, as much as I love the piano - I just don't have the discipline anymore, I think because I want to play but I know I have to go back to basics, but I can't figure out what to do.

I remember just being able to sit and play, now my fingers won't do as they're told - I can get through fur Elise (which I used to hate) but it's definitely not good!. I know unreasonable expectations, right :D

Any tips? I know to get back on my scales & arpeggios. I did buy a Grade 5 book but can't seem to get my head around them, should I drop back to proper basics, Grade 2-3-4?

Also - maybe it's an age thing but when did fingernails grow so quickly I seem to need to clip them twice a week now!