Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum OT, Tell us about yourself

I am 29 years old from Melbourne Australia. When I was young I learned the piano for 9 years, but I gave it up in high school and haven't had any lessons (or practiced) for the last 12 years.

I've only just got myself a new (digital) piano and have started practicing some pieces I used to play back in the day. They're slowly coming back to me, as are the memories of all those scales.

I'm not sure where I intend to go with this; I am, however, interested in composing and even recording my own music, as I did compose music for the short films I made while I was studying film, and enjoyed that.

I got to grade 7 (AMEB) piano back in the day, but still feel like a beginner now.

I don't know how much time I'll be able to devote to re-learning the piano. I aim to do it a lot just for enjoyment, and to see what kind of music I can come up with, but I also wouldn't mind becoming good enough to do the odd bit of accompaniment, or join a jazz band of some sort (I used to play in a school band).

BIG EDIT: I'm not an adult beginner though... So this is hardly the place to introduce myself, especially after 450 posts... :P WHOOPSY!

I'm Nikolas Sideris, currently 32 years old.

I used to live in London, as my signature implies, but I'm living in Athens, Greece now.

I almost hold a PhD in composition (viva/interview pending, my thesis has been submitted), as well as an MMus in composition and diplomas in piano, harmony and counterpoint.

I work in the computer games industry, as well as composing music for the concert hall. I work almost exclusively as a composer, alhtough I did do a few concerts a few years ago...

I also teach a few selective students piano and through the Internet I provide composition lessons (again to a few selective students). Believe, lessons through the Internet can be done, but it's quite a lot of work!

I have a wife and two young boys, all of whome I adore! Older one started school this year and he's quite excited. Younger one is going to pre-school, but is looking forward to start learning how to read and write already! He's only 4 years old!

I'm Allen, and consider myself an adult "re-beginner." I took lessons in 1989, and haven't done much practicing since. This past August I decided to get serious once again and really try to learn piano, a lifelong goal.

My piano is a 1921 Ebersole player piano, player parts removed and under reconstruction (on hiatus right now) made by Smith and Nixon in Cincinnati. I refinished the piano in 1989.

I turn 39 at the end of October. Been married 13 years, and have a baby daughter nearly 7 months old. As soon as she can reach the keys, she's learning piano.

We live in Covington KY, just south of Cincinnati.

I'm currently unemployed, and am an electronics technician by trade. I'm also a writer with three regional history books published, a fourth on the way in January.

I'm also currently rewriting my first horror novel, that one day I hope is published.

Hobbies include antiques, especially old radios and phonographs. I collect 78 RPM records from the 20s through the 40s and listen to them on my Victrola. I also love old cars and have a 1967 Mercury Park Lane convertible that is mostly restored by this point.

Being a lifelong Peanuts fan, I grew up reading the Peanuts strip collection books, and admired how Schroeder played complex Beethoven pieces on his toy piano. I believe that it was because of Schroeder that I wanted to play piano. I am currently practicing Happiness from the musical You're a Good Man Charlie Brown.

That's probably enough about me, it's really time I should practice!

Hi, i'm really new to the forum, just thought i'd introduce myself!

I'm Talia, 17 years old from the UK. I've been playing the clarinet for 6 years and the piano for about 10 months and I love music! It's my one and only passion and I hope to study music at university. Aside from music I enjoy dancing, computer games, being childish, going to the theatre, (just so you know) I LOVE animals!, going out with friends and partying are pretty awesome too - woo! Guess I'm just your average teenager!

Hello Everyone. My name is Patrick. I’m 55 years old and live in Dingman’s township Pennsylvania. I never had any formal training in music theory or on an instrument, but have always loved all kinds of music. About 2 years ago, a sudden “whack on the side of the head” made me decide I needed to know more about how music works. So I bought an inexpensive 61 key lighted keyboard and took an online course on music fundamentals. At this point, I had no idea as to how many keys a full size piano had or what the black keys were for. I really enjoyed the course and needed to know more. My next step was to acquire a college textbook on music theory. It seems chapter 1 in this book covered everything that a typical college freshman music student would have learned in their grade school days, like the circle of fifths, major and minor scales, inversions, intervals etc. Needless to say, I am still on chapter 1 and expect to be “camped out” there for a while. Then I purchased a piano lesson DVD course. This inspired me to upgrade to a kawai 88 wooden key digital. I really like (OK Love) this piano. Since it arrived at my house about 8 months ago, I have spent a minimum of 1 hour a day, everyday without fail, playing something. I would really love to have a real acoustic piano and a real human teacher, but it’s not practical for me at this time. This forum is a breath of fresh air in a complicated www. People from all over the world, with various backgrounds and skill levels, coming here to talk about piano stuff and not holding back! The candor is astonishing. I hope one day to actually have the nerve to upload something I worked on and also to perhaps help someone who shares my non musical background.

Hello Talia and Patrick, and welcome to the ABF.

Talia, you sound like my niece, who also loves animals and partying She's a sophomore in college and had to find an apartment where she could have her cat with her. I think maybe she wouldn't have gone away to school if she couldn't have done that

Patrick - there's lots of self-teachers here, so you're in good company. I, too, like it that there's people from all over the world. We have an on-line recital coming up on Nov 15 here in the ABF, and one of our members usually publishes a map with a red dot for everyone who's participated. It's pretty fun to see where we all come from.

Hope to hear lots more from both of you.

Cathy

Hi, I think I introduced myself in the wrong thread the other day so here I go in this one:)
I'm 23 years old, I live in a little town called Mulliken Michigan. I am currently studying to be a nurse, but lately I have been thinking about going into music because I love music and playing the piano so much! I can not afford a piano so all I have right now is a Yamaha keyboard with just 61 keys; but it does the job. The last time I took piano lessons was in middle school I think. It's been so long I can't remember exactly how old I was. I do know I took lessons for about 2 years on and off, and the last lesson book I completed was Alfred's lesson book level 6. I do not know how many piano levels/grades there are. Anyways I love to travel, I might be moving to Alaska in the spring^_^. I also like to read, talk online, go see movies, and hang out with my friends

Hi

Good Idea--Check my profile, too

GPA (Stands for Grandpa)

Welcome Augustina. Nursing is a very good profession to get into. Don't totally throw out that idea.

You can always study and play music, even professionally, as a secondary endeavor. IMO, it can be difficult to earn sufficient wages as a musician unless you are an exceptional player, singer, and/or composer.

If you are going to pursue music as a career, do it now while you are young!

Whatever you choose to do, enjoy the journey.

Cheers!

Actually I'm almost done with nursing,just going to try and get something in music also starting next semester^_^

Hi guys and gals. Seems like lots of "I'm New Here" posts where each person is posting separately. How about using this thread? Keeps everything together. And Welcome!

Hi everyone.
I'm Kevin. I'm 40 and from near Philadelphia, USA. I've been trying to learn piano on my own for about a month now and I am having lots of fun. I have three kids who are presently taking music lessons and two more who will be ready in a few years (if they have the desire). So, because finances are not infinite, for me that means either learn piano on my own or wait maybe five years. One of my top motivations is to be involved in my kids music interests. Another motivation is a lifelong enjoyment of music and a desire to be able to make music myself.
Learning on ones own is obviously very difficult and I have some questions about some very basic things. So, I was very glad to find this forum that seems to have many helpful participants. Hopefully I will progress to the point where someday I will be able to offer helpful advice on this forum.

Hi all,
I'll add a reply here. I've been registered a while, but hardly post and only recently started reading more often.

I'm in Northern Virginia. I recently moved here from Colorado.

I took a few piano lessons back in high school, and have inconsistently done some self-teaching over the ~15 years since (sometimes years at a time of not touching a piano). I just restarted formal lessons, though.
My passion is really Baroque, and as soon as my keyboarding skills are advanced enough I'm going to switch to harpsichord. But that also means I have to find one I can use for practicing in my apartment (where do I get one of those Roland C-30s ???).
I've also dabbled in choir, guitar, violin, and recorder over the years.

Besides music, I love animals. I've been riding horses since I was about 5 (owned a couple in Colorado, but not now that I'm in the DC metro area), I have two cats, and I volunteer with the humane society every week.

Work keeps me behind a computer way too many hours of the day, so I like having activities that get me elsewhere in my downtime (although the forums don't help with that ) .

Dadof5 and Hummingbird, welcome to the forum!

Dadof5, it was actually my kid's teacher who got me interested in learning piano. I've always wanted to learn but thought it was not possible for older people to pick it up. So at least for the 1st year, we shared the same teacher

Hummingbird, you're like me. I'm in this forum a lot because I'm already on the computer all day anyway...:) With your years of learning, you can join the recitals and the monthly Bar.

Welcome Dadof5 and Hummingbird!

Hi there! I am a 27 year old adult beginner from Dayton, Ohio. I’ve had formal lessons on trumpet (4 years) and violin (3 years), but the small Casio keyboard in the corner of my house has always called my name. After being inspired to take lessons by a John Bayless concert in Amarillo, Texas a few years ago, I recently sold my cheapo keyboard and purchased a WK500 to practice on. I’m very excited about having a wonderful teacher and taking formal lessons at a neighborhood studio.

In real life I am a full time college student and a Licensed Substance Abuse Counselor. I enjoy cheap horror movies, electronic & classical music, and playing chess. Nice to be here!!

~nomad

LOL You'll fit right in around here! Sometimes there are threads that are just that

Seriously, welcome to the ABF, and enjoy your new piano.

Cathy

Wow! Lots of new people... welcome to all!

Hi everyone,

I'm a Belgian guy who's turning 24 in 2 days I've been lurking here for a few weeks or maybe months now, and I'm amazed to find this place of peace, amazing creativity, enthusiasm and knowledge on the internet!

About myself: I spend the biggest part of my time and day with being a medicine student and hope to become a doctor one day, although I haven't really figured out which specialty I'd like to practice. However, surprisingly and seemingly contradictory to my daily activities, I've always had this inner drive, urge to do something creative, but unfortunately up to now haven't really been able to figure out what exactly. Maybe that's why I chose for my second love, medicine.

The only creative "craft" I think I am really good at, is drawing. As soon as I could hold a pencil, I've been drawing, often hours daily, as a kid. I think I drew since the age of 2. But somehow illustrating has never fascinated me in the same way as other creative 'crafts' (eg music) have fascinated me. I feel like drawing is somehow too much of an 'applied art' for me, something I cannot put my entire feeling and creativity into, a bit too restricted maybe.

Further creative "milestones" :p I played the violin for 9 years, from age 9 to 18. Studied graphic design for 1 year full-time and 1 year in evening classes, but somehow found myself in the same conflict as I had with drawing: too much of an 'applied' art, not enough expressive freedom? I also took acting classes for 2 years while in college but was no good AT ALL :p Maybe I didn't believe I could act enough, maybe I didn't 'become' my characters enough. But I decided to give it a rest, maybe I'll get back to it one day to give it the real chance it might deserve.

Last semester I studied in Barcelona for 6 months, with the Erasmus project. I had a heck of a time, probably the time of my life... I met my girlfriend there. I got to know myself there. I met so many honest, creative, unique, inspiring people... Might sound a bit unworldly, but while in Barcelona, I started rethinking who I really am, what I love... and I came to the realisation 'art' (and I mean first and foremost the feeling of being involved in an artistic creative activity rather than the perfect technical skills needed to execute, which I unfortunately don't posess) is a part of me. I only feel fully satisfied, happy, free, when I can express myself trough whatever art form... I also met some very musical people who became friends, and on long, warm, Spanish nights we Erasmus friends used to have an Italian guy play the guitar, and sing along... Nights I'll cherish forever in my memory... I discovered I LOVE to sing and especially love to sing jazz songs... So I decided to take singing classes back home, which I've been doing for 2 months now. I also wanted to support my singing, support myself better musically and technically. So I decided to learn to play the piano at the same time! My dream is to one day accompany myself as a singer of some nice, simple, but oh so sweet jazz tunes... or be a part of a small jazz band... I don't know, that'd be LOVELY!! While studying the piano quite a lot for the past months, I've discovered that I also quite like the classical part, as it brough back memories from my violin lessons (I really enjoyed the recitals :)). So I guess I am still honoring my personal tendency of getting myself into situations where I can't choose, as has happened to me in all the artistic adventures I've undertaken in life...

But right now I'm very motivated to prove myself wrong concerning this theory. Planning to stick with piano and singing this time! And loving every minute of it!

Sorry for the wayyyyyy too long introduction. I guess like most piano players like playing more than listening, I like to share more of my life story than would be interesting to many .

See you around and looking very much forward to spending time here!


Manu

Welcome to the ABF forum! And also, thanks for commenting on the recital!
Having just read your introduction, you sound very much like I was many years ago. (except for the violin and wanting to become a doctor). I am an artist by profession, but in college did art, music and theatre. I'm only telling you this because of something my piano teacher and I talked about today. Everything we do in life has bearing on how we play, interpret, and respond to our musical endeavors. I feel very privileged to have had the background in musical theatre, art and piano. I left piano for over 30 years, but have recently returned (after all of life's other things). It sounds as though you have a wonderful background for whatever you choose to do. Of course, we all hope you continue in your musical endeavors. Hey, join in the piano bar or the next recital - we'd all love to hear you no matter how long you've been playing!
Cheers!