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I used to ask about stuff, but now I´m mainly lurking. I think I´ve gotten all the answers I need, thanks!:-) Also I have to practise so much for an upcoming concert that I keep my computer turned off most days.

But I´ll probably be back...sometime.

Hi, I'm a newbie!

Well, I am only seventeen but I have been playing since I was seven, I "graduated" from Alfred's basic piano library a few years ago. Right now I'm preparing to accompany for a musical and a spring recital and a small recital at the end of next summer. I also recently auditioned for colleges since I want to major in piano performance. Better marry money.

I don't really have the long "history" some people do, since I'm only really beginning my career, but I do love it a lot, so I'm glad to be here!

Hi, I'm David, I've made a few posts on here but I'm basically new, having just discovered these forums maybe two weeks ago.
I'm 16, been playing since I was 4 and seriously since age 13. Currently studying piano at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, after graduating early from high school in San Francisco. Pieces I'm currently working on are Chopin's F minor concerto, Polonaise-Fantaisie, op. 61, Beethoven op. 22 sonata, and Brahms op. 119.

Hello, I'm pianist from Lithuania & big fan of Chopin and his epocha.
I was happy to find a place in www, where are so many enthusiastic pianists together
so I hope that neither me nor my interests about the XIX century music and instruments won't be lonely here

Hi!

My name is Natalie and I just joined the site yesterday. I started playing piano when I was 4, and took lessons until I went to college (about 17). I played a little on my own in college and haven't played in the past 5 years. I have just quit my job in advertising to go back to school for fashion design, and have decided to return to all of my creative loves.

I just posted a question on the general piano forum on types of vertical pianos (I am looking at two Schulze Pollman 126's tonight, and a 52" Haessler), and while I have only been looking for a week, I want to buy my piano tomorrow, and would welcome any advise.

So far this forum seems to contain so much information, and is making me even more excited to jump back into playing. As for my interests, I love classical music - and my favorite composers are: Chopin, Beethoven, Hayden, Debussy, etc.

Nice to meet everyone!
Natalie

Hi There.
I am Phil.I am self-taught.Been playing for 30 years.I don't read music.I work as part of a two piece band Piano and guitar with a drum machine playing Irish,pop,rock,country etc.I have been lurking here for while now.

Hello!
I'm Victor, I just joined yesterday. I'm 18, from the US. I took lessons since I was 6 years old until last year. I never really took my lessons seriously though until the very beginning of last year. I'm in college now, a long way from home. The closest pianos I have are about a 10 minute bike from my dorm (not bad, I know), but all the pianos there are old, out of tune, the keys are uneven, etc, but it's not that hard to deal with. Although, it definitely makes me miss my piano at home all the more.



What a coincidence! When I first started learning pieces of my own, only learned Chopin nocturnes. I wanted to learn the exact same Mazurka, but unfortunately my piano teacher did not have the sheet music for it.

HI Everyone,
This looks like a superb forum and I'm very glad I found it.
I'm 41 years old and have been leaning to play for almost 3 years. I only started to try to encourage my then 6yo son. He stopped taking lessons years ago, but I got hooked!

I tried to learn guitar when I was younger which gave me some grounding in the treble clef and music theory. I am not naturally musical, I guess I enjoy the challenge.

To play (learn) on, I inherited an vertigrand Steinway, dating from ~1876. Very nicely restored, some kind of walnut finish. Piano teachers just stared at it when they visited.

I have 3 pet rats (who sometimes nibble my toes when I practise), 3 small children and a baby, so practise time is pretty precious -- takes a lot of self-discipline to find it.
I also have long-term RSI so I play with splints on, and can't hope to play anything with big stretches in them or it would hurt my hands.

On top of all that I'm too shy to play in front of anybody outside the family, so I don't have a teacher. I am self-learning out of children's tuition books (Piano Time series at the moment).

But I enjoy it, so what the heck, eh??!!

I'm from California originally but have lived in England for the last 17-18 years. bfn -julii

Hi Everyone...

I am 50 and getting started on the piano very late. I have played the guitar and string bass for many years, so I have some musical background.

I have started to teach myself a bit of piano by basically reading everything I can get my hands on. I am working on Czerny Op.599 and Op.777 and plan to start studying Burgmuller Op.100 soon. I have also tried some J.S. Bach, but I'm not quite ready for that yet.

I live in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area and I'm looking for an appropriate teacher. I am considering calling the Settlement Music School to register for lessons. If anyone is in, or near Philly and would like to suggest a teacher I'm all ears.

I'm looking forward to getting to know those of you who share my interests. See you in the forums!

Roger S.

hey there..im ann. i've started playing the piano since i was 8.learnt until i was 14 or so. Did not enjoy piano lessons at all. never practised. hated theory. Got scolded by my piano teacher on a weekly basis. So all in all. i did not like playing the piano. In fact, i dreaded lessons and celebrated when my teacher could not make it for class.So i quit after realising it was a waste of money ,at grade 5 i think(yes i never did get very far). However, a couple of months ago, i played on my aunt's grand piano and i just suddenly realised that i love it! i woke up the next day and played for 3 hours straight. Before that, i had trouble practising for more than 15 minutes! SO now, i really love classical music and i can spend hours on the piano.

The pieces im working on now are..
Chopin Fantasie Impromptu
Chopin op 9 no 1

Hello, my name is Paul. I've pretty much been playing ever since I could reach the keys as a child. I took lessons when I was seven and stopped at twelve, which seemed to be enough time to get the basics down; but more importantly, be bonded with my instrument. Since then I've been teaching myself techniques here and there and have been composing.

I do consider myself to be more of composer than a pianist, but yet I feel it's necessary to progress further in piano techniques to open more doors for my composing. So I've developed this habit of learning only parts rather than the whole pieces. Most of the material I'm learning is from the Romantic era, but my favorite genre is ragtime and other fun (almost carnival?) styles.

With that, the pieces I'm sort of learning are mainly Liszt and Thalberg. I don't play these pieces well, but I suppose I have fun playing them and that's what matters to me most. I can play most of the Grand Galop Chromatique, and I'll play some etudes poorly here and there (La Campanella and Thalberg Etudes specifically). Right now I'm focused on trying to get the majority of Arcadi Volodos' transcription of the Turkish March and also trying to get the last bit of Moise Fantasy by Thalberg because I absolutely am in awe with that three hand effect.

Anyways, I'm mainly here for browsing and looking for anything I can pick up on. Nice to meet you people.

Hello.

I have played guitar (mainly electric) for about 5 years and picked up piano about a year ago - making slow progress.

I have been attempting the perennial 'Moonlight Sonata', parts of Chopin nocturnes (9 2 (Eb), 55 1(Fm), 72 1(Em)) and somewhat ambitiously Rachmaninov's C#m prelude. I'm more interested in the romantic and baroque periods than classical. On classical guitar I can play one or two Albeniz and Granados pieces.

Pieces I'd like to play include Scriabin Etude 8 11 (Bbm), Rach prelude in Gm and one of Albeniz' Malagueñas. Better get practising.

My 5 mins over, just here to pick up all that I can.

Hey,

My name is Dakota.I'm Fifteen, and I've been playing the piano since I was 5 years old. I'm a big fan of music from the Classical and Romantic periods, but I also like the music of Scarlatti, Couperin and Bach.

I am currently working on a couple Etudes from Czerny's School of Velocity, Mozart's Sonata in A minor, and Chopin's Military Polonaise.

Dakota

Well, let's see. I'm 35 years old and still am excited about playing the piano...I have studied different genres but seem to always come back to the classics over and over again. Especially Beethoven and Bach. I've taken private lessons, played in competitions, given concerts, played in bands and have had just about every kind of performance experience imaginable. (The good, the bad and the ugly) I guess I would consider myself advanced but still have so far to go. I've never completely learned a Beethoven Sonata (all three movements)....and that's always been a dream of mine. Maybe this year? Piano has always been a source of therapy and relaxation for me. I love this forum. It gives me a sense of support and community. There are a few members who I would definitely consider mentors.

Hi everyone,My name is Mark. I'd like to share my thoughts and emotions about the piano. Brief history always been an ear player, no formal training till about 9 months ago. My teacher is 85 yrs. of age so I guess she may be old school. Learning to read was and is the biggest challenge I've ever faced. My instruction material is from the Sherwood Music School Chicago. It was printed in 1929 and consists of studies,exercises, lessons and tests at all levels from prep. A to Adv. B in over 20 different packets. The course back then cost $500.00 Has anyone ever heard of it?To say my nature is usually hyped up and anxious would be correct. I have been able to relax somewhat at the piano. I don't have the feeling of someone slowly driving a needle into the back of my neck.

I have the Shmitt book also for finger independence. As soon as I feel tension in my arm I stop. I'm aware of my posture and sit so that most of my skeletel framework is supporting me and not using my muscles. The amount of downward pressure is amazing to me just to push a key that requires only a few ounces. Some days seem lighter than others. How long before you can move freely and not have these involantary muscle contractions? Also the reading sometimes drives me insane. I try not to look down and get a tactical sense, where my brain knows where my fingers are. Keeping my eyes on the page is another difficulty to say the least.

My last thought, piano and the art, has been on my mind since as long as I can remember. I'm 48 now and chose to work long and hard so that I'm pretty much retired now and can devout my time to piano. Is there a term out there that would describe these symptoms-( If I do fairly well playing, it sets my mood for the day. If I struggle or like when I struggle it puts me in a mood of despair shall we say?) Post Traumatic Piano Stress Disorder ? Thank you in advance to anyone willing to reply. I have many other points of discussion.
I live in Glendale RI
Be Well!
Mark

Whups - guess I'm a lurker too...

I started piano lessons at 8 and dropped out at 10 because I wasn't really into it and hated those kiddie pieces. Would have been different if I'd been taught bubblegum rock!

First restart was in pop piano (just enough to play some carols in time for Christmas) in 1997. Second restart was in 2002, but fizzled out in less than a year. I restarted again almost a year ago, but my progress has been slow. I use the Alfred's Adult Beginners' system and am halfway thru book 1 (on my own).

I'm very fortunate to have a very nice instrument - a Steingraeber & Sohne 130 - which is really way too much piano for way too little talent.

My aims - I'd like to be able to just play any melody I can hum and improvise harmony around it - just to entertain myself. But I'm also open to doing formal studies like the ABRSM system we use in Singapore. Just haven't found a teacher I like tho'.

Hi everyone! My name is Joshua Kim, I'm 21 years old and just started playing piano 5 weeks ago. I've loved classical music since I first heard it in 6th grade(that's when we got rid of our tv and bought a huge stereo system) but especially liked the violin and piano. However, I always just enjoyed listening and never really played(learned the basics in 3rd grade but I hated it. only time i spent at the piano was during the hour long lessons once a week). But about 2 years ago, i started having a really strong desire to learn the piano and finally, a month ago, i started learning at a place called woodwind academy in flushing, ny. Since then I've practiced about 60 hours in total. Currently I am working on Mozart Sonata #5, Bach invention #4(both are extremely challenging for me and as i'm learning more about dynamics and finger techniques, just getting harder. But I LOVE IT!!) and am warming up my fingers using a book called Hanon. The piano I have, or keyboard is a dgx-550. uhhhh, my current goal is to get into a well known university as a piano major, preferably in new york, within 7 years. I guess its somewhat a dream? hahahaha. Until then I will work on my Philosophy degree and MDIV degree. I'm hoping by a miracle I get into Manhattan school of Music or Julliard. So if anyone can give me info on these two schools it would be great!! can i even apply to these schools at the age of 28-29? I tried looking it up on their respective sites but found no information on age. Anyways, I'm so happy to have found an active highly populated piano forum!!! Hope I get to know everyone and learn a lot from everyone's piano experience as well!!

Hi, I'm Jess. I'm 18 and I've been playing piano since I was 11. Right now in my lessons I'm learning the grade 8 ABRSM pieces although I probably won't take the exam. Out of lessons I'm mostly playing Bach and Chopin.
I play on an old Renn Hounamn upright piano. It's out of tune and some of the keys don't work but I love it to bits (but not so much I'm not saving up for a nice one!)

Hi, I'm Mouli from India, learning Piano for the past few weeks. I have some background in Music, and attempting Grade 2 now with Trinity.

And, I've been following this forum for the past couple of days; it's interesting and useful. Thanks for such a good stuff!

Mouli

Hi everyone,

I'm a new member, I've been reading posts for a few weeks ("lurking" sounds kind of creepy to me). My friends are mostly musicians, but none are classical pianists, so I thought an online forum would be a good chance to talk to other classical pianists.

I own a beautiful Kimball upright. I've been playing about 2 years, and practice anywhere from 2 to 5 hours a day. I've played other instruments and studied theory for many years, so I'm able to try some advanced pieces. Chopin's Etude in C minor, op. 25 no. 12, is currently my biggest challenge. I'm lucky to have found the perfect teacher for me, also she is a wonderful pianist.

One question - does ANYONE here like Lang Lang? I'm starting to feel bad for him after reading some of the posts, I didn't expect all the hatred.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to spending time on this forum in the future.