piano music for the "used to be good at it at school, (grade 8), not played really for over a decade, now have piano sat in front room making me feel guilty" sort of person

[rempy]

I used to be able to play classical music rather well. My sight reading was rather less well. In fact quite poorly in comparison to my musicality (is such a pretentious word allowed on mumsnet?)

So now I have my piano at last, and I don't really want to spend the rest of my life playing exam pieces and other stuff that I know by heart,but I pick up music in the shops and it is looking bewilderingly difficult, in keys with far too many black notes.

Where can I find music that is either graded but not exam fodder, or would suit someone who wants to trill about with a bit of Mozart, without the horrifically difficult bits?

And where online is recommended to buy?

I was in a similar situation, and started off by buying a book of christmas carols, just to get my fingers warmed up IKSWIM - very topical so no one will accuse you of shirking!

Hi rempy. I am in the same boat. I was good at school, in fact I even went to music college for a year before I gave it all up. I still have my piano and can't sell it even if I wanted to (as I wouldn't get a quarter of what it's worth). The damned thing has been dragged through 4 house moves and is now in a room that it will never ever get out of - literally. And it makes me feel guilty.

It's hard to find music that isn't too easy but isn't so difficult that you'd need to practice it for hours and hours (which, let's face it, just isn't going to happen once you're a mum).

Will watch with interest.

Mmmm, have wondered about getting lessons again, but don't know how to go about saying "well, I really only want you to introduce me to suitable pieces of music, so that would only take mmmm, at most about 5 lessons, then I dont want to see you again"

And I have a 22 month old and a 14 week old so actually lessons are a bit of a fantasy at the moment.

What carol book? Would you recommend it?

I am pretty good at sight reading the music of tunes I know if that doesnt sound daft - so although it would be fun for christmas, I dont know if it will help in the long run.

Nah, you won't need lessons rempy. Just build yourself up slowly. I'm at the stage now where I'm looking for a challenge, but when I started playing again I really needed to go back to basics. Bach 2 Part Inventions and Beethoven Bagatelles was where I started, but they're not the best fun really. I also enjoy playing show music, but it's so hard to find arrangements which aren't just accompaniments.