Hi, I'm a new member of this forum. I'm an adult beginner (34 y/o) living in College Station, Texas, USA. It's been a year since I started piano lessons and I'm enjoying a lot so far. It has become my main interest outside my day job.

The lessons and my teacher are great, but I feel this adventure would be a lot more enjoyable if you can share the learning and the progress with other people. I guess it is natural that the lessons are individual (and maybe it is better for the progress), but this means I'm not in contact with any other student to share things. There was a meeting, organized by the teacher, in which we played for each other, and it was really fun. I tried proposing that we can meet monthly or so just to play whatever we are learning or whatever we want, without pressure, just for fun, but there was no enough interest or energy to do it. I must say that I'm very shy and I suffer from social anxiety, making much more difficult to organize something like that. I was actually amazed at myself that I could propose it in the reunion, but it didn't work

So, I thought to ask two questions to the people in the forum:

1. Are there any people from around College Station that are interested in meeting and playing "mary had a little lamb" or just talk about tricks or cool things you have learned with the piano?

2. Do you people have any tips or suggestions about what is the best way to implement this kind of "piano club"? I mean, what are the ways to keeping it interesting for the people, the frequency to meet, etc.

Best wishes to everyone.
Walter

You could try posting on craigslist, and if your local music store has a bulletin board, you can try putting a flyer there.

Try an ad in your local newspaper.
''Want to share ideas and pratise tips ?''
I am currently trying to get a beginner piano club together so that we can share ideas.
Call now...oh and if you call within the next day I'll give you free sheet music of Einaudi...but wait...thats not all....If you call within the next 2 hours...I'll let you play on my Steinway..

anyways, something like that..

Peter

If you think about it, this place is your piano club...

I think these are good ideas -- Craigslist and some local newspaper. The odds are you just aren't going to run across a whole lot of people who want to do that on here.

There are also websites for that kind of thing -- look at www.meetup.com

I would guess that it would be tough to find enough folks in a town as small as College Station. You might have better luck if you were willing to expand out to Austin or Houston.

Another potential avenue is that the Austin chapter of the Music Teachers Association has a monthly news letter. Perhaps you can get a blurb in there (you could offer to pay, that would probably help ) asking teachers to "spread the word" to their adult students who might be interested in getting together for regular "jam sessions" or recitals or piano clubs or whatever you want to call it.

You can certainly try CraigsList (hey, it's free), but I don't know if enough people in the group you're looking for would be actually looking out for such a post.

You might want to try a Piano Forums Party/Gathering first, to drum up some interest.

See this section for some ideas...
http://www.pianoworld.com/ubb/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?/forum/22.html

Hi Walter,

I've had the most success at finding musical buddies through becoming a regular visitor to my local music shop. Anywhere that other musicians may go is worth trying too, either by asking around or putting up a notice. That includes anywhere that teaches music or sells music related products. Libraries and supermarkets are other places that might have community notice boards where you could hang a short message, a picture of a piano, and a little fringe of tear-off strips with a contact phone number on.

Also, don't rule out people who aren't specifically pianists. There are others interested in music - including singers, flautists, guitar players etc who may also make good buddies to swap ideas with and have a crack at playing together. I have also heard that old folks homes are a good place to find people who are interested, and who can make both good music buddies and an appreciative audience. I've never actually tried that one out, but piano has been popular over many generations and there are bound to be a few residents who would love to talk, and to share their skills and knowledge.

Good luck with your quest.

Chris

Thanks to everyone for the ideas! I feel inspired to do something, to implement some of them. I hope the feeling lasts (I tend to loose my self confidence quickly )

By the way, congratulations to everyone for keeping such a nice community around here. I was just listening to some of the pieces in the Recital thread, and it made me want to participate in the next one. I have to overcome the (apparently common) red dot syndrome, though.

Best wishes,
Walter

FREE FOOD

I can understand and relate to your wishes, it would be nice to be able to also have a real group to learn from and interact with in addition to our virtual friends on this forum. Too bad you are not geographically close by or I may join.

Good luck to you!

Key Notes

qfwfq: Did you get anywhere with the club idea? I am also thinking trying to organize a club locally..

What a great idea! This will keep us (especially those who don't attend regular private lessons) accountable for piano practice and performance.
You can look up at http://www.meetup.com
I have found some interesting groups through that site - it is categorized according to your interests and locations.

Yoke Wong

I think this shows how important music can be in peoples lives. Even people who are shy and suffer from social anxiety (which I do too a little bit), because of their love for music can thrive in a (music related) social situation.

I don't have any recommendations other than what has already been posted but I would just say keep talking to people and keep the idea going and eventually it will all come together.
Good Luck.

You've gotten some great suggestions. I've tried to put together a piano group in our town, and had no success. There just aren't enough committed people. However, I did find 1 person to play duets with, and that is working out great. We have even gone to each other's lessons and played the duets for the teacher as part of the lesson. If you don't get a group together, this might be an option for you.

In the early spring, I took an adult piano course at the local community college. On the last night, we went to the instructors home for drinks, snacks and a recital. (Hey, adults have "way cooler" recitals than children). We had a ball. The food, the drinks, the fellowship was even better because we had this thing called the "piano" in common. Good Luck on your piano club. If you were a thousand miles closer.... I would join.

It's tough, isn't it? I tried Craig's List and www.meetup.com as well. When I tried to start my own local Piano Meetup, only one responded, said he always wanted to learn to play piano but couldn't play at this point. (I referred him to this web site/ABF for help). I finally joined a local Jazz Meetup group hoping to meet a variety of musicians, as well as pianists, but although about 40 people had signed up on line, nobody ever went to the meetings (held at a local restaurant). http://jazz.meetup.com/165/

Also, when I took lessons from a teacher who taught at my local community college, I asked her if she had other students interested in some type of piano group or duets, and she said no.


Hope others had better luck.

i too am trying to get a group together, not necessarily all piano, but enough folks who are interested in playing together for the sheer joy of it! I haven't heard any thing yet, and while you're a little close to me, it would still be quite a distance to drive. Good luck!

I answered an ad I saw on Kijiji. (it's a local advertising site - much like craiglist I think) We have 4 members but only me and one other show up regularly. It's ok though because we were the only two piano players and working on duets requires a little extra time prior to working as a group. Good luck with your search. Working with another player is a whole new thing for me. I'm an intermediate 'solo' player but VERY 'beginner' with duet pieces. It is fun and a great learning experience!! We also spend a little time 'performing' our lesson pieces for each other.

Okay! then there is hope:-) I'll check craiglist and go back to the music store, (one has closed so I can't find out anything that way)
Thanks! take care