Greetings.

I am wondering if any kind souls would be willing to humour a newcomer and help a trifle with a request. I seek your knowledge if any would will to impart some upon myself.

A rather long, but eventful, story short, I, as I am sure many of you here do as well, feel a passion within me to learn the trade of the piano - it calls me now - and unfortunately having stumbled upon this desire so late in my years (well, relatively, I'm still at the tender age of 26) I find my life is now filled with other, equally wonderful joys aside from piano. Thus, my practice time must be limited lest I eschew my other worldly bindings and satisfactions. I must make my flirtations with the wondrous piano at once both efficient and satisfying. Progress satisfies me more than anything and here I seek knowledge to that end.

What I would like to assemble is a portfolio of techniques from which to build a solid pianistic foundation. Ground up. I am seeking to create a practice routine if you will as well as acquire some repertoire to support those techniques; I would like to pick out a few select pieces of relative ease (with respect to the employed technique, perhaps in a graduated fashion) to support those techniques.

My question for you all, oh knowledgable and kind travelers of infinitely more wisdom in these endeavours, is the following:

What are the core skills which MUST be developed in order to tackle the more challenging musical pieces? How would you structure a practice routine to build those core skills for one who may find time a limiting factor? Let us assume an hour of practice a day would be maximal. And what are some repertoire pieces which you might recommend that would showcase those techniques that a beginner might find aurally pleasing?

A beginner, in my eyes, stands as one who burns with a desire to learn and has already the necessary foundations of basic sight-reading and as well some rudimentary musical chops (basic scales, chords, musical theory) who would like nothing more in life than to develop some expertise in a field he so adores. To that end, something along the lines of:

"One must know arpeggios. Perhaps you could try the following routine for 5 minutes a day coupled with the lovely [insert song containing beautiful arpeggios and not-impossible-for-a-beginner-to-play here (does such a wonder exist?)]"

"One must know chromatic scales. You might find the second interruption of Fur Elise is helpful in developing those abilities. You might also appreciate the beauty of the piece, being composed by the reknowned Beethoven and taught to students far and wide for many past centuries."

"One must know hand independence, and voicing of chords. It would serve you well to turn to some selected [insert easier works of Bach here] which you may find equally challenging for a beginner as it is sanguine."

Etc.

My eyes, and ears, are wide open to all of your suggestions. Please enlighten me.

I thank you in advance, and I hope other inquisitive minds akin to my own may find this information as helpful as I will.

Play on!

Such things cannot be so succinctly put, unfortunately. Except with this: get a good teacher.

Welcome to the forum, by the way.

Essentially, you desire to use your time most efficiently. There is so much knowledge on this forum. I'm certain folks can help you in that respect, as well as myself, as I am also looking to learn efficient use of my time.

I'm at the point in my progress where I am attempting to put together the best routine. It occurred to me the other day that, I may have less than desirable practice skills. Actually, I'm happy with my playing given the time I've been at it, three months. However, I know I could and should be further.

This is what I have figured out so far and need to apply. Of course, this is in the context of a newbie like myself.

One must recognize the notes on the staff quickly. Not just the ones you have been playing for the past few days. Also the ones in the book you were using the previous week or month. I found that if I had not used some notes for awhile, I would need to take seconds to identify it. This really becomes an issue when playing for an instructor and she asks you to play something you have not played in awhile. The solution is to get books, games, whatever to ingrain the notes in head. Flash cards, whatever. Spend time each day with this this.

One must know his rhythm. Don't take this lightly. If there is any hesitation or errors in rhythm, you just plain won't progress. My new instructor is making sure I tackle this early, and I'm thankful she feels as strongly about it. Others here have spoken to the importance. Rhythm must be right. Get a book, do what you need to do. Practice it daily.

One must develop good mind, hand dexterity. You know your notes and rhythm. Your fingers must now put down what you know to the keys. Exercises such as Hanon are a must. Daily.

That's where I'm at anyway. I'll be working on all three of those, every day. That and my lesson book material (Alfreds Basic), and I think I'm golden.

But, I'll be listening in here to see what others offer.

To develop good sight-reading, you can just go through some pieces that are easier than your actual skill level.

For this, you just start playing and keep going no matter what!

So if all you can catch sometimes is just the melody, or just part of one hand or the other, just keep going and do your best. The main thing is to not stop. Even if you end up leaving out half the notes, it's okay. Of course if you really have to leave out THAT many notes, it's probably too hard a piece to sightread.

This helps you also to pick out what is most important in the piece.

If you just practice doing that a few minutes a day it will really help.

I think I'd want to know about what kind of things you've already played and how you feel about those experiences before trying to recommend anything else.....but as was said earlier, nothing can substitute for a good teacher.

That way you won't end up with 'holes' in your skills and abilities (hopefully )

From Emily

At 26, be able to read music and know where the cords and notes are before you get to the next beat. A good teacher can help as well. Don't do this alone, get someone to help you for at least 6 months.

and always better to start slow and get it right, then add the speed to get to the proper tempo.

If you already know chords, scales and arpeggios is sound like your off to a great start.

I agree with Morodiene.
It would be a good idea to get a good teacher since you are looking for some very specific things.

For the most part, and especially in the beginning, I think people tend to do the opposite. Analize a peice of music and identify what the scale and chord qualities are etc.

Other than the technical things you are looking for I would say play what songs appeal to you. Bach menuets are nice, Greensleeves is a nice peice as well. I happen to like Rock and have alot of song books (Tori Amos, evenesence etc) so I will pick a song I like and work on that.