Instrument Players - Come and chat (Part III)

[CoteDAzur]

We continue our musical journey on the 3rd thread for amateur adult instrument players

Here is our 1st thread and
here's the 2nd one.

Loose - You are very lucky to have your piano arrive before the lockdown

Cote I was so relieved! I was mentally prepared for it not to be delivered but I'm so pleased to have it.

Think of all the hours of practice you will now have time for

Hello everyone! Can I join you? I am a piano student adult learner. I did a few (reluctant) years as a child. Restarted after my first son was born (15 years ago) and worked my way up to Grade 7 before deciding that exams were not for me and have pootled about ever since. I have a teacher but don't feel I am making huge progress tbh.

Anyway, I have been in lockdown for a month (Italy) and playing every day. I am actually improving. (So it seems that the main problem was me not practising very much...) Despite having played for years and years though, I definitely don't feel like a musician. I feel like a bit of a fraud, anyone else?

I am definitely a fraud, but a fraud who likes to play.

Seventy - Welcome I'm in France, not far from Italy, and we're also in lockdown. The piano is getting a lot of attention not only from yours truly but also from DC. Bring stuck at home all day is great for everyone's progress.

I lost this thread and it took me a while to find it again How are we all doing at home? Does anyone have neighbors complaining because if the noise of your instruments?

I started these two pieces, one by Purcell and the other by Fischer:

m.youtube.com/watch?v=xiCa0YAT8l0

m.youtube.com/watch?v=DBmelk2BLDc

Hello everyone. Work got very busy for a while but it's better now so I'm back to having more time to play again - thank goodness! Mostly playing scales and blues and random lead sheets.

Is anyone else having video lessons? My musicianship lessons are via skype anyway so they have just continued, but I've switched to video piano lessons as well now. They seem to work ok but in person would definitely be better.

How are you getting on with your pieces Cote? I like the Fischer especially.

Seventy, I used to feel like I wasn't a musician, despite playing for so many years and collecting lots of grades. Then suddenly about 18 months ago I stopped feeling like that - I must say, it was very nice indeed!

I'm having lessons over FaceTime but they are a poor substitute for having lessons in person. The sound is not consistent and she follows what I play on her own book, which does not always have the same notes and ornaments. Besides, my harpsichord lessons are now on the piano I have at home, which is really not great. Still, we stay in touch this way and it's better than nothing.

How are your lessons going?

I finished those two pages and gone on to Handel's suite #4. It starts with a very long, complicated, and fast Fugue so I started with the Sarabande

I think the skype piano lessons are going ok now we've got used to it. I'm quite focused on theory and general exploration - eg getting ideas about voicings and ways to approach improvisation, rather than working on refining pieces, so I think the sound quality isn't so crucial for what I want to get out of the lessons.

Cote have all your other conservatoire activities stopped - eg the singing? I guess the group things have?

Everything has stopped. Everything! All our concerts are cancelled, and the Conservatoire won't reopen until September.

Regarding improvisations, have we spoken about Alma Deutscher before?

Ah yes Cote, you posted a video a while back and it was the first time I had heard her. It's great! It seems quite rare to hear classical style improvisation...I guess it tends not to be a big part of traditional lessons? I certainly never did any in all my years of childhood lessons...but then I don't think Alma's musical education has been traditional! I always thought it was magic and something only specially innately talented people could do but it's a learned skill...although it sounds magical and it can also feel magical to do it. Sometimes it just feels like the music is playing itself, even at my newbie level.

I can't begin to imagine how I would learn to improvise. My teacher wants me to start basse continue but theory knowledge is just not there yet.

Well I guess that's why it's so good to have a teacher who can help. 18 months ago I couldn't do it at all and now I can, so it's definitely learnable if I can do it!

I saw this article recently that might be of interest - www.theguardian.com/music/2020/jun/06/why-classical-musicians-need-to-learn-how-to-improvise
(The man interviewed has written a book on how to improvise in historical styles).

I don't really know anything about baroque/classical improvisation. I watched a youtube video about basso continuo but the thought of learning a whole new notation system (and way of thinking about chords - seems to be all about the bass notes rather than naming the chords in the contemporary way?) was a bit overwhelming!

I lost this thread, long time no see. I broke my wrist badly in a cycling accident last January (requiring surgery/ internal fixation) and have not really played much piano this year.

Côte how are you coping without lessons? Our local conservatoire is open: not officially for lessons (though unofficially lessons are taking place for older students) but they held the "fin de cycle" piano exams last Wednesday, to enable two students including my DS17 to get round the age limits for applying to the regional conservatoire.

I need to start playing again before I lose it all - need to find another teacher really - although in due course I will be able to get DS to teach me ;)

Hello, mind if I join you? I'm a very lapsed player, and lockdown brought me a bonus guitar from my husband. I'm currently toughening up my fingers and wondering why a ninth on the piano is fine, but I'd like fingers at least 1cm longer for the guitar to achieve some of the chords. I'm a complete newbie and following YT tutorials. My last exams were Grade 8 flute/Grade 6 voice some 30+ years ago and a poor pass at Grade 6 piano, which was a fluke as I'm a really bad pianist. I still have a piano, but it's too out of tune to play right now.

Glad to read of your exam successes. I think I'd be way too jittery to go that route now.

So sorry to hear about your wrist Misti. That sounds horrible. Hope you are able to ease back into normal life and some piano now.

Hello CrepuscularCritter you're very welcome to join us! So are you focussing on guitar at the moment? Such a nice accessible instrument and I imagine you are getting the hang of it quickly with all your past music experience. What kind of music do you like to play? I tend to play pop, blues and jazz style. I am trying to get better at reading piano sheet music but I find that side of it a bit of a chore. I don't think I would like to do a music exam these days either!

I don't know whether it's an age thing, but I seem to be finding the guitar more difficult as a beginner. Or maybe I just have different expectations of myself. But I'm mainly going for pop/rock and choosing anything that's got relatively few chords. I'm loving the mellowness of it.

And Misti that sounds ouch. I think it takes a while to get back from that sort of injury. I did something similar three years ago, but I think guitar (right hand) is easier to manage than piano now I'm healed. My thumb is much less flexible than it used to be.

Critter all instruments get harder to start as you get older ... but I think guitar is one of the more rewarding instruments because you can play recognisable pieces very quickly.

Check out the Justinguitar.com site, it's an amazing resource. My son went from complete beginner to reasonably competent player using Justin's video courses over a summer holiday.

My broken wrist is my left wrist which is bad news for guitar as my wrist flexibility is impaired, but isn't too serious for piano (slight impact on ability to play octaves comfortably).

Not that I get much chance to play piano these days as DS monopolises it when he's not at school.

That looks great Misti, thanks. Also encouraged by the relative timescale to be able to entertain myself. I shall crack back on with renewed vigor!

Mistigri - I am very sorry to hear that you broke your wrist That sounds like a nightmare. You must be so eager to go back to playing the piano. Are you going to be prescribed kiné sessions?

Our conservatoire was technically open but each teacher continued their lessons as they could, by email or FaceTime. Mine went on but it was not the same, since she couldn't hear the nuances and could not show me what she meant by just playing it herself. It was very frustrating.

Passages de cycle happened through contrôle continue here, without exams. DC1 passed to 3ème Cycle and DC2 passed to 2ème Cycle with just a couple of recordings. I am so It won't be so easy for me to pass to 3ème Cycle next year!

Welcome Crepuscular