Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner New Visitors and Lurkers Please Read...

Hello to all Piano World forum members.

My name is Kenny, I am 24 years old, and I am from Long Island, New York. I began playing piano when I was 5 years old, when my parents purchased a Charles Walter upright for me to learn on. After being taught by an older family friend for a few years, in the third grade, my parents enrolled me to study piano at the Stecher and Horowitz School of the Arts in Cedarhurst where I recieved a much more formal musical education. I was a student there until the school closed its doors in 1999.

Unfortunately, this also put a hiatus on lessons as well for a number of years. I began taking lessons again last year, and have completely rediscovered the joys of playing an instrument.

So I hope to be a contributing member to these forums, and hope perhaps to meet some local members.

Hello everyone,
I am 31 years old. When I was 12, I entered a special musical program at school and played clarinet in a wind orchestra. Everybody played a wind instrument or percussion but they wanted us to be initiated to keyboard. I enjoyed the keyboard part so much that I asked my parents to buy me a piano and have piano lessons. They started by buying me a small keyboard which I spent hours trying to play classical music. It is only 3 years later (when I was 15) that my parents bought me an old 1889 Dominion upright and then it took another year before they agreed to pay for lessons (my grandmother played piano and my mother hates piano). Then I went to college studying music (piano) and sciences. I have what I think is equivalent to grade 10 RCM (comparing the RCM piano syllabus and my background). In college I practiced on grand pianos so when I left college and went to university, I stopped playing piano part because I did not have much time and part because I had a very hard time with my old 1889 Dominion. I did not have money to buy another piano. Now I am a mechanical engineer and I am getting back practicing piano after about 11 years. I still have my old 1889 Dominion, but this time I am going to buy another piano.
Regards

Hello! This is a fantastic forum, and I look forward to learning from others and contributing when I can. I studied classical piano for about 10 years as a youth, then lost touch when I went to college. I am now 27 and just getting back into the swing of things after almost 9 years of neglect. I found a phenonemal instructor (former concert pianist and University professor), and I am diving back in head first. My first goal was to re-learn several of my favorite pieces I played as a teen, and now I have just recently started a few new pieces that build nicely upon my previous training. Piano is a deep passion of mine, and I greatly look forward to developing my skills while entertaining myself and others over the course of my life. My next goal is to buy my "dream" piano in the next few years...love Bechstein but very fond of Bosie and Yamaha as well. Cheers.

-Hedge

p.s. Also an avid classical music collector...have several thousand titles as well as a fairly large collection of sheet music

Hello! Just joined this forum today, I belong to other forums for my other interests and wondered if there was a good one for piano, stumbled upon this one through a google search. I took piano as a 12 year old, only got to grade 2, hated practising and quit!(stupid!) Picked it up again as a adult (thanks to my husbands encouragement) and studied Royal Conservatory, took my grade 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 exams, plus theory, harmony and history. Now I teach piano but still have tons to learn, I am slowly working on grade 10, but with my job plus teaching don't have as much time to practice as I should, but I am not in a big hurry and am enjoying it so that is what counts. I have some problem areas to address and hope to find some good tips on this site!

Currently working on:
Liebestraum No. 3 Franz Liszt
Arabesque No. 1 Claude Debussy
...and plan to start soon on
Moment musical Franz Schubert

am also fiddling around with a book on playing rock piano, so far lots of fun, one of my students is really interested in that so I thought I would learn more about it myself.

Hi,
I am Rebekah under 'philamlife'. I've played the piano since I can remember. I taught my kids to play the piano. They are now adults and have their own family except my youngest. I love music.
I am always open to different ways of approach. I have changed books and approach with each child in the past.

Nice meeting you all....

Hello all!

I've been on the forum for a couple months now, and am really loving all the information and insights I get from other forum members.

I started playing in my childhood when I was about 7. My grandmother gave us her old (really old) upright cabinet grand. It was horrible, didn't have most of the ivories, strings were rusty, hadn't been tuned in decades, and was musty smelling from sitting in a backroom that was shut off from the main house during the winters. But, it was the only piano I knew. After playing on that for a few years and teaching myself from Schaum lesson books that were my aunt's, I started lessons. Eventually my parents looked for a real piano since several hammer shanks had broken and didn't play anymore on the old upright. Another junky piano made its way into my life - a gently used Wurlitzer spinet. At least it was tuned and didn't sound like a haunted saloon piano. I was an industrious kid and saved up money from working in the summer and at about age 15, bought an old Baldwin 7' grand at an auction. My parents got a tech to come and tune and regulate it and eventually we had it restrung and new hammers and dampers put on it. It was my love for many years. I started college and was so dismayed my first semester as a music major because there were so many people that were soooo much better than I was. I turned my back on the piano, sold my Baldwin to finance school, and didn't touch a piano again for nearly 20 years.

I never stopped listening avidly to piano music, but I didn't have access to a piano, and life went by so fast that I was turning 40 before I knew it. One day, I happened accross a recording on YouTube that captivated my attention, a rather simple, but beautiful piece, and listened to it so many times I hate to really say how many. I had become obsessed with having to get back to the piano. I turned to my old friend "Craigslist" and began looking for a piano. Of course, I was a snob and would only accept a grand into my life. I still mourned my old Baldwin (except that her name was Lenore - I always name instruments). I never thought I'd be able to find a piano I loved like that piano. I even tried to see if I could find HER again, but no luck. The people I had sold her to had long since moved away.

I eventually sighted an ad on Craigslist for a piano that somehow fell in love with at first sight. I skipped work for the day to go see her. "1887 Knabe 6'4" grand - Mahogany, will trade for fishing boat or $2000" was the ad. I came with $2000 in a cashier's check and had movers on standby. She was sad and neglected, but still lovely. Out of tune, but with a voice that stirred my soul and made me cry. Somehow, I was able to still bang out a bit of the 1st and 2nd movements of Moonlight Sonata, and couple Mozart pieces, and a few Liz Story pieces that had stayed in my memory. Horribly out of tune, but underneath the out of tune, there was something I really liked, maybe even loved. I called the moving company, they could be there that afternoon, and I paid the man and left.

He told me that the piano had belonged to his great-grandmother who was an accomplished pianist back in the day. The piano had been her most prized posession, and she had left it to her daughter who also was an accomplished pianist. The daughter had it until she was well into her 90s and went into the nursing home, and insisted that one of the family keep the piano. The owner I bought it from was that someone. His kids never played, and they had taken the piano from Louisville to Houston, costing quite a bit for the special piano moving, and now that the kids were gone, nobody played, he just couldn't see moving the piano again when they moved from Houston to Austin.

I had the piano for a month before I got a tech to come and tune her. I didn't want just any tech, I wanted one that I could relate to. I was always picky about how the keys responded and the voicing. I knew that 20 years of absence from the piano would not change that particularity. I searched for a few weeks to find a tech that was familiar with my brand and type of piano. The tech I ended up having come to work on the piano not only had worked on a piano like mine, but his mentor owned the exact same kind of piano, and he not only knew the piano, but had worked on it and loved it.

After having a couple months to really start playing again, I decided that my piano, still unnamed, needed a rebirth (or rebuild). After a staggering estimate on the cost of the rebuild, I decided to go ahead with it, and my unnamed piano left me for what I hoped was only 6 months, but what I was cautioned might be 18-20 months. She had an old, obsolete action that would need to be replaced by a modern Renner. Also, obviously, new shanks and hammers (Abel). New dampers, refinishing the cabinet with french polish lacquer finish. But thankfully, the strings were relatively new, the soundboard was intact, with plenty of crown, resonance and sustain were awesome, bridges in perfect condition, and the pinblock was tight - though it had been fitted with upsized pins when it was last restrung.

I had planned ahead for the absence, and found a lovely little Chickering Art Deco grand to be my "meanwhile" piano. I lucked into quite a little gem. Not only was she beautiful to look at, but had quite a voice. As most baby grands (5'2") her bass sounded kind of tubby, but after the lower octave and a half, she was quite lovely. A couple of tunings and a day of regulation and some careful voicing attention and she was ready to sing. A good friend of mine knew my eccentricity for naming my pianos... he decided that I should call her Molly. I didn't think that was who she was, but went with it for the time. I started lessons again, with "The Art Deco piano known as Molly, but probably named something more sophistocated" with a piano teacher who, much to my delight, was way more eccentric that I am. After several months, she "met" The Art Deco piano known as Molly... and after playing for awhile, she said the piano told her that her name was.... "Audrey." I agreed, The Art Deco piano formerly known as Molly, now known as Audrey, and I spent almost two years together.

Two years? Wasn't the restoration project a 6 months thing... oh yeah, that was my interpretation of what 6 months to 18-24 months meant. Always the optimist! When at last, my piano, my Knabe without a name, was making her way towards her homecoming, I had moved, and so Audrey went to live with my piano teacher. I expected The Victorian Knabe soon to be known as XXXX to be arriving shortly. It had been almost 18 months. I was to wait another 6 months. During that time, though, my teacher came with me once to the shop to see the piano in progress. On the way home, she simply said, "Anastasia... her name is Anastasia." We both burst into peels of laughter because it was so sarcastically reminiscent of the woman claiming to be the lost Romanov princess, Anastasia. I think my piano would be older than her, actually. But, Anastasia she is, the piano, anyway.

So, since Anastasia has come home, I can scarcely stop looking at her... such lovely hues of red-purple-brown her Rosewood case has. Such legs!! Gretta Garbo has nothing on her. Ah, and her voice... I could listen to her all day. Except, on the days that she and I don't get along... I have come to remember how changeable a piano is. Some days are beautiful days, other days are so much less than beautiful.

While I am still reviving skill lost to 20 years of neglecting my skills, I am loving each day with my piano, and playing music again! When I come down the stairs and see my piano there, big, curvey, a beauty from an era long gone by, I am overcome with joy that I get to be the custodian of this beautiful musical being. Then I sit down to play, and I promise her that one day, I will do her justice.

Thanks for indulging my eccentricity... I didn't mean to write such a long post, it just flowed. I hope to learn from you all, share with you all, and eventually meet some of you in person.

[img:left]http://s789.photobucket.com/albums/yy179/crogersrx/[/img]

Sarah, so true... everyone thinks that playing just happens like turning on a light switch. Anyone who is really good at something has to have talent, and LOTS of practice. I recently worked up a piece that I have always loved, and by the time I was ready to play it at a recital I could hardly stand it, and apparently neither could my neighbor... LOL! The cats seemed to be fine with it though...

Best wishes on your re-entry into piano. If you love it, go with it, and don't stop.

Hi forum people .
I'm Samuel from South East Asia and I turned 13 a few months ago.
I started learning piano this year and my interests were caused by pop songs. (so i wasn't in classical yet xD)

I self taught my self the songs I like and eventually my parents bought me A carlseiler piano.
And piano lessons came and I'm working my way over the edge . My technical skills are still lacking but my memory (came from bookworming when i was nine) was what made me stood out a little.

I'm currently working on Hungarian Rhapsody no2. I've seen old people play but not young( like 12yrs old young) .

I hope to major out in music . And study music and only music . ;D .

I suppose I should introduce myself, now that I've posted on the forums.

I'm Adam, living in Oakland, CA and am 30 years old (or an old man, according to my younger-by-2-years girlfriend). I've been playing piano for 18 years now, though the first 3 were self taught by ear. I majored in piano pedagogy at the University of Oklahoma (under Dr. Jane Magrath), and thoroughly enjoyed my time there, though I'm not working in the field.

What prompted me to join the forum was the luck of realizing that a new piano, with a sound and touch I actually like, was actually in my price range. For the last 8 years I've made do with a digital, which, while pretty good by digital standards, just didn't satisfy the way a real piano does. So one day in November I decided to check out a local piano shop, "just to play" as I had assumed that the kind of touch and tone I was after would be out of my price range. Then I sat down at this lovely Ritmüller upright that has no business sounding and feeling as good as it does for its price, and the rest is history...

A few pics of my new love:






My repertoire is fairly mainstream - I've stuck mostly to the bigger names, though I am now getting interested in exploring more of the repertoire - my favorite composer would definitely be Chopin, and favorite era would probably be late-Romantic. To give you an idea of where I've been musically, here's what I played in my 2 college recitals:

Brahms - Op. 116, No's 2-6
Beethoven - Sonata in E minor, Op. 90
Shostakovich - Preludes Op. 34, Nos 9, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 22
Chopin - Polonaise in F-sharp minor, Op. 44

Bach - Prelude & Fugue in E-flat major, WTC II
Prokofiev - Sarcasms Op. 17 Nos 1 & 5
Schubert - Impromptu in C minor, Op. 90
Scriabin - Etudes Op. 2 No. 1 & Op. 8 No. 8
Liszt - Vallée d'Obermann

(I have most of these available to share online, if anyone's interested.)

As for where I'm going, now that I've got my own piano (my first real piano that is entirely my own), I'm excited to get back into playing shape and tackle some more repertoire. I'm currently working on the Chopin "Tristesse" Etude and the Op. 40 polonaises, though what I'd really like to do is get my technique up to par so I can tackle Bach-Busoni's Chaconne once and for all.

I'm looking forward to spending way too much time here!

Happy Playing!
--Adam

Hello all. Thanks for this forum, it's great.

I'm a 45-year old adult beginner. As my handle indicates, I am a beagle owner (yay) and also a lawyer (I know, I know... but I do have a sense of humor about it; in fact, if you know any good lawyer jokes, I love to hear them).

I was a trombone player through school, and liked to consider myself "semi-pro" during college... had some regular paying gigs, mostly jazz clubs, but nothing a guy would ever earn a living at. I have a decent background in music theory and a good working knowledge of chords and scales.

I have always fiddled with the piano and wanted to do more. Over the years I've found sheet music of various pieces I wanted to play and I've learned them by memorizing, but I can't really read at the keyboard at all. I've also become somewhat adept at making up basic piano accompaniments from guitar tabs or printed chord progressions, and although that has served me well enough from time to time, I've always wanted to really be able to play.

Recently, Mrs. Legal Beagle brought up the idea of getting a piano, and she has rekindled my desire to "really" learn to play. Plus, she is a very talented singer and I've been meaning for a while now to learn some of the popular pieces she likes to sing so I could accompany her and we could share that experience together. What fun that would be... I have visions of the two of us whiling away the winter nights working up some boffo performance of a Norah Jones tune or something to perform at family Christmas or Thanksgiving.

Anyway, I've just begun my piano search (I'm currently stuck with an electronic keyboard), and I'm also searching for method books, etc. that will help me build the skills I want. I've already received some good advice and recommendations on these boards in that regard, and I thank you.

I've been lurking for a while now... and I thought I'd introduce myself. I'm 37 - and I have played the organ since I was 8. But in my late teens I decided to learn piano as well - I was tired of just fiddling around with pieces. I had lessons for a couple of years - but my father got sick and I was too busy with family stuff to continue. After he died I got sick myself and my music went on hold again. But a couple of years ago I have come back to it with a vengeance! I love playing... and I love teaching. I have taught organ - but I'm working toward my teaching qualifications on piano now.

The forums are brilliant - and I look forward to participating more in the future!

LimeFriday

my name is maria, i am 27 and live in england.
i am married with 3 children aged 6, 3 and a 7 month old.
i have loved piano's all my life and have always wanted to play. this year i have brought my first piano which is a yamaha. I am just learning by myself as much as i can while being extremely busy with 3 children.

hello everybody!
i'm new too. in fact i've just created my acc a while ago.

well like everyone else i have my own story. i used to hate the piano like crazy when i was little. like i didn't want to learn at all and my parents sorta.... coaxed me to continue. and i did. but i've never liked it. however i "grew up" a little and stopped complaining and instead became a robot-like pianist and just attended my lessons and stuff. my sister's a great player hence my parents assumed i'd love to play too. well when i was 12, i told my mother i don't want to continue anymore, that i HATE it. at that time i was taking two courses together: YAMAHA and ABRSM. but i kinda enjoyed yamaha because i had a friend there but AB is one-to-one individual work. so i told my ma i want to discontinue my AB and go on with my yamaha. my mother wasn't happy about that. she thought it is a waste because she THOUGHT i love it but haven't REALISE it. but i really hated it. and she kept saying i never told her i don't like it, seems like she really did forget i used to cry whenever i see the piano teacher coming. haish.... and i still continued with the yamaha course. until when i was halfway through 13, i didn't want that anymore too, because the only friend i had there had stopped too. so i didn't attend anymore lessons.

later when i 14, about June, i suddenly decided i wanted to continue. i know. it's that mysterious. i suddenly felt like i wanted to do THIS right. and i had another teacher to teach me. she taught me the Trinity grade 6 course. i didn't 100% enjoy the lessons too, half practised and half didn't. but that teacher was cute and let me play nice songs and i liked her. unfortunately she had to leave for somewhere else and i changed another teacher. that teacher let me start ABRSM grade 7 and i really loved it then. i started that around march 2009. and just november 2009 i suddenly decided ( i know... i make strange decisions all the time) that i wanted to sit for the grade 8 practical exam. ok, i haven't taken an exam since grade 2 and haven't picked up on my techniques and scales for ages. but i felt that this is the right time to start and i can prepare for the exam before August 2010. hence i changed a teacher (i thought i had to find a better one) and now i'm 15 and "on the way" with my grade 8 syllabus. it is not that hard (well it is QUITE hard lol!), just needs a lot of technical practice.

i'm so grateful i found this really fine teacher who knew how to help me manage and gave me lots of extra lessons. oh, and to all those out there who are also preparing for your exams, GOOD LUCK!!!!

Allow me to introduce myself - my name is John Charles. I studied classical piano from age 6 to 14. I kept up my repertoire throughout high school which consisted primarily of Chopin waltzes, polonaises, nocturnes as well as selected works by Schumann and Shubert. I stopped playing in college during my mechanical engineering studies. In my professional life as an engineer, I played minimally. WHen my mother passed away in 2002, I gave the family Kholer and Campbell console to my nephew who is taking lessons.
I have recently taken up the piano again - I purchased a Yamaha type U-10 studio upright and converted the guest bedroom of my condo into a music studio. I found an excellent teacher in the music department of the university and take lessons weekly. I am currently working on building back finger independance and technique. I'm working on the Rach prelude in g-minor (op. 23, #5) which is a challenging piece for my re-entry I admit - now that I've committed most of the piece to muscle memory I am working on polishing it and increasing the tempo to 1/4 = 107 from 1/4 = 80 which is the speed I can currently play it fairly flawlessly. Has anyone played this piece and if so, are there any words of advice with respect to practicing it? Also, if anyone has had any experience with soundproofing a room, please share - now that I'm playing again, my neighbors have made several comments about the "noise". I'm looking at several different acoustical insulating material systems, some of which are actually rather atractive. I don't want to tear down any existing structure unless absolutely necessary.

Thank you for welcoming me into the website and I look forward to sharing.

Thanks!
John Charles

Hi, I'm new to the forums.

I was classically trained from age 3 to 14, when I ran out of teachers in the small town where I lived. I self-studied until college. I was allowed to study with my school's music professors, even though I wasn't a music major.

It has been 10+ years since I've had regular access to a piano, but I have just purchased a Yamaha digital piano and I plan to play regularly again. I have no plans for lessons at the moment, although that could change.

Also, I'm a runner.

Hello.
My name is Connie, I'm 22 and from Norway.
I've been playing the piano since I was about 16 - when I started studying music at high school, and I got my first piano (an el-piano) when I finished high school so that I could continue playing.
However, I haven't been playing much the last couple years, but lately I've wanted to pick up on it and get back on the notes. Hehe.
I'm currently a hairdresser apprentice, and have too many hobbies for my own good. :P
I love playing music - playing the guitar, piano, singing, making my own music and do covers. I listen to music all the time.. and I Mean.. ALL the time.. even when I sleep. Ridiculous really. Can't live without it
I've recently started to love reading - which I didn't like at all before. Funny. And that has also made me start to write my own book. It's going pretty slowly, but that's because I choose to write only when I WANT to
Other than that, I like drawing, and sometimes painting.
And I do appreciate a good film every now and then

I hope that this forum will keep my motivation and inspiration to keep on playing the piano

-Connie

I am an old man who came back to the piano after more than 40 years of neglect - no technical excercises, no scales, no proper study of repertory -playing only now and then.

Approaching retirement and with arthritic fingers, I decided to learn to play again: four years ago I began with dear old Hanon and shortened scales. I have made more progress than I ever expected. I have no idea of the level at which I am now playing, somewhere in the intermediate range I immagine: Chopin' Minute Waltz, fast and clear, light touch, little pedal, and Schubert Impromptu in E Flat - same approach as with the waltz. I have also learned a number of other pieces (Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, Albeniz, Scarlatti, Galuppi, Poulenc, Debussy, etc.), but I have no idea as to their level of difficulty. I have never taught piano so I cannot properly evaluate the pieces. I actually remember much of what I was taught, but it is quite a different thing to put it into practice. Takes time!

This Forum will certainly teach me a great deal and I hope to contribute to it as well.
Thanks and glad to be here.




UncleGeorge

Hi,

I'm starting lessons this Thursday for the first time in a long time. I had lessons when young, but I hadn't lived with a piano for about 20 years until a got one a few years ago that was donated through a church where I was singing (a Poole upright from 1925 that was originally a player piano).

Hope the first lesson goes well. Guess I'll play Aveu from Schumann's Carnival Op. 9 for my teacher (the one of two pieces that somehow stayed memorized during my 20 year hiatus since I played it whenever I happened to sit at a piano). My goal is to take lessons throughout the year and practice 1 hr each day.

Congratulations on starting music lessons everyone and welcome to Piano World Pianist Forum. Don't by shy. Feel free to post comments, and questions in the main forum.

John

Hi,

I've been playing the piano off and on for about 15yrs, more off than on. I have had about 4 years of lessons.

I want to be concert pianist level some day, and practice for 3 hrs a day (it's all I can do what with work and all).

Im currently taking lessons again and am playing/ working on:

* Chopin Etude Op 25 No 2
* Scriabin Preludes Op 11 Nos 2, 4, 14, (24 maybe)
* Grieg Notturno / Sailor Song
* Czerny Etude Op 740 No 50