my first piece was "march of the wee folk" if memory serves.

Ken

Isn't this forum for Adult Beginners? it would imply then that we didn't learn tunes as children :-)

actually I think, as an adult, the first thing I learned, from page 2 or whatever of a method book, was, umm, a stripped down Danny Boy theme!

I progressed quickly, I was learning Chopin's Prelude in Eminor after 2 months of lessons I think.


-Paul

Mound,

SPot on about the children comment. I studied for a year when I was about 11 or 12 because my parents forced me too (though obviously not hard or long enough). As such, a full 20 years later, I am at it again, having just taken my second lesson in 1.5 weeks. This stuff ain't easy, that's for sure, but it sure is fun. It's the tempo that gets me bogged down more than the notes.

Anyway, for what it's worth, I can still remember "Big Chief Indian" after all these years. What's worrisome is the notion that it has been playing around in my head for all these years.

Working on Mozart's Minuet in B flat now. Apparently, he wrote it when he was 6. At that age, I think I was just discovering that you shouldn't eat rocks or dirt.

You are right, Chick - it's the beginning and middle that make it a piece worth learning, in my opinion. And it isn't very hard.

I'm probably dating myself, but as a kid I remember "Spinning Song" from one of the Michael Aaron method books. Anyone remember that one?

WynnBear - I played that one just last year. Spinning Song, Albert Ellmenreich OP 14 No 3.

I remember talking with my teacher when I was a child. I remember how I told her I hated Beethoven and I didn't want to learn anything he had written. My father had recordings of the symphonies which he played nightly, alternating with recordings of other of Beethoven's works. I learned the Bach's prelude in C and fell in love with its quiet cadence and reflection of life living. On and on, over and over; I've rocked myself out of sorrow, lived my life in minutes and resolved all my problems.

I learned Fur Elise on classical guitar. I too am kinda sick of hearing it though..

WynnBear: That's too strange, my teacher just handed me two new pieces last Saturday, Spinning Song and the theme from Mystic River.
Jon

Fur Elise - It was the first thing I played on the piano...........I mean ever. I couldn't read a note of music but I had to play it. Thats how I started.

Humoresque in G Major

It is from level one of the Royal Conservatory system.

for someone who started piano during their freshman year in college, you sure understand quite alot about what to look for in music...

o and my first piece-.-'' , either fur elise or mozart's alla turka (of course i didn't do a very good job on the latter one.)

Wow after seeing all the above posts, it's so encouraging and I cant wait to start ...

By the way, when you talked about your first piece like fur elise, how long does it takes you to play starting from zero (meaning dun know the fingerings, see notes etc etc ..) is it 1 yr ? 2 yr or more ?

As a beginner in fifth grade: "The Woodchuck" from Schaum's A book

Restart #1 (in college after a 5 year break from lessons): Bach 2-Part Invention #1 (in C major)

Restart #2 (almost two years ago after a 23 year break from lessons): Mendelssohn's second "Venetian Gondola Song" (Opus 19, No. 6)

Interesting note of Fur Elise: my teacher says that a common question parents have when starting children with her is "how long until they can play Fur Elise?" (or as she puts it "how much will it cost until they can play Fur Elise?").

I don't really count my John Thompson book pieces as "real" pieces (from 25 years ago), so I'll just go by what I played in my first recital, which was "Baby Elephant Walk". I really didn't like playing that, but I had to. My second recital piece was "Fur Elise" which I can still play but need to polish with more legato.

I'm sure I did some of those very simplified beginner pieces too, but to me Spinning Song was the first piece I did that sounded like real music.

Enjoy it!

My first real classical piece was Sonatina in G by Beethoven. I don't consider pop pieces or arrangements to be real pieces.

Same here.

Maple Leaf Rag was my first piece, unless one would consider March in D or Minuet in G from Anna Magdalena to be real pieces.

Maple Leaf Rag? What speed did you play it at?

And yes, I do consider those other pieces to be "real".

The recording I have from right after I had the whole piece memorized and in my fingers drifts between 90 and 100 quarter notes per second, for a total of 3:04 to play the whole piece, all repeats included.

But it wasn't my first piece, if one considers those others.

Is the basic meter of the right hand in 8th notes or 16th notes? I don't have a copy handy.

I think the basic meter is in eighth notes. The left hand part is generally 4 1/8th notes per measure.

I am learning myself from my daughter's lesson books and playing first piece "Clementine". Does this count ?

Nope. Signa, the original poster in the thread, defined original piece as "any piece written or transcribed for piano solo originally, not a simplified version of such a piece/song, whether it is classical or not."

Don't feel bad. I've been at it for nearly a year and haven't finished my first "piece" yet either. Although I'm working on Fur Elise and should have the first part of it done by the end of the month. I have the fingering and timing down, I just need to get it up to tempo. The other two thirds may take a little longer.

The first real piece I ever learned was Fur Elise--the entire song when I was 15. (I did have a few other putt putt songs I learned, but I can't remember them.) I only took lessons from my mom for a year or so. I taught myself to play Fur Elise.

After that I learned the 1st Movement of Moonlight Sonata when I was 20. It took me about 6 months to really play it sort of well. It took me a year to play it with any sort of feeling. That was over 15 years ago. I just started up again 1 month ago and I practice 1 hour or so a day--at night.

I am learning Wedding Day at Troldhougen now. I am almost through the entire song now and can play it fairly well with some serious rough spots. (The 16th notes on the left hand.) But, anyone who knows the piece can recognize what I am playing.

I am playing on a serious junker Kimball that is 100 years old and was free. I have played alot of the Chinese grands and I can't stand the action or the bass response, (non-existant). I will probably buy a Kawai or a Yamaha (baby grand) soon as I can't stand it any longer.

I will someday learn Fantasy Impromptu and finally the 3rd movement of Moonlight Sonata. After that, who knows? Any suggestions?

I think in the next world I will personally find Beethoven and thank him for writing Fur Elise. He introduced me, and many of us, to the beautiful world of piano music. Now, my kids play it ALL THE TIME. I don't believe I will ever tire of that piece of music.

David

Oh thanks so I still have not reach the stage of playing "my first piece" as yet. Well, no despair

My daughter piano teacher is very kind and she gave me a theory grade one book as a gift and she bought for me the Alfred piano lesson grade one as well. I am learning hard on my fingerings especially the 4th & pinkie.