Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Achievement of the week - what got you excited?

Sand Tiger, it sounds like you are not healing. This has got to be painful,and wearing you down. I hope you see some improvement soon. The older woman at the church sounds like a real delight - and inspiration- to listen to!

Zoe - I agree - duets are so much fun (I had to laugh though about the running out of breath part! ) I am wondering if my new teacher will play duets with me. I haven't asked yet.

Bessel - you home must have been Rockin' ! what fun!!!!!

MaryAnn, have you tried contacting the US consulate? I know that the one here has a lot of info for ex-pats (I'm Canadian, but I've used their site for info ) What about contacting someone at the military base? I bet you'd get info and some kind of help, even if it is just help getting a name to start with. Tension is a huge issue for Adult Beginners - every time I think I've got it licked, I work on new pieces and find it creeping back in. It takes a lot of practice. Has your teacher showed you the "drop" technique/exercise?

Morte - welcome and congratulations! How exciting to have your first piece coming together so quickly!

Warlock - that's a lovely piece to be able to play. It is the European Community's anthem. I've always liked it.

Micheal - I played Happy Birthday for my hubby this week --- I confess though I just mashed it out by ear ... nonetheless, he was amused. I think that is certainly a piece worth learning by heart, there will often be opportunities for playing it! (Hey, and a good exercise would be to play it in different keys, in different styles!)(oh dear, I think I'm becoming obsessive!)

Toastie - congrats on doing so well on most of your work. I know exactly what you mean about being too tired to get anything right. I've come to realize the physical "warning signs" that tell me there is NO point in even sitting down on the bench!

My ATOW is that I have the recording done for the first part of my recital submission (I've got 2 very short pieces). I must say I am absolutely delighted with this one and can't wait to share it! I also had another super lesson with my new teacher (I guess I'm going to have to stop calling him "new" soon!).... He "passed" me on 2 of my pieces and we're going to move on to a new one while polishing up another of my old favourites. I'm working on scales and arpeggios and he showed me how I was really wasting motion and before going ahead to new scales he wants me to improve my finger positions (I tend to keep my fingers up in the air). I continue to be delighted with his style of communicating - he is giving me a wonderful new perspective on the older pieces and it is very exciting.

I suppose in part the changes I'm feeling in my playing are due to the timing - after a long plateau I'm feeling progress. However, I really do feel that changing teachers at this particular point in time was probably a very very good thing for me.

I've got back all the excitement that had faded over the spring and summer months.

Now THAT is an Achievement with a capital A!

This is wonderful news that you have regained your enthusiasm. It really shines through in what you just wrote. Your "new" teacher sounds brilliant; a person who inspires such positivity and excitement in his students is truly special. I think this is the best thing that could have happened to you. Well done!

Casinitaly you sound so excited it is rubbing off on me!! I am so happy to hear about how things are progressing with your new teacher. It really does appear to have happened at the right time! I am finally going to meet my new teacher tomorrow. I can't wait.

In the meantime, I've been practicing the flute/piano duet piece with my old teacher. Yesterday we went through 2 pages. I'm still having some trouble through the transitions but it is already sounding better. I had a few timing issues on quarter note rests because she is Playing 16th notes it feels like that one note rest goes on forever for me! It was still lots of fun and as I managed to pick up my tempo a bit she was running out of breath like last week. It is very different playing this way (no melody) and playing chords in right hand and bass in left hand. I think that's why I'm struggling through the transitions. It's harder to anticipate a chord change than the melody change.

Finally my other cool thing was working from the Tim Richards blues book. What fun. Im trying to smooth one piece out and record it and put it directly in that thread or piano bar.

Sounds like there have been some awesome things going on for folks.

For those who are struggling with pain when playing please have this checked out by a doctor. I have another friend who had to stop playing for months because of similar pain. Only rest seemed to help.

I mentioned the cold pack so that others might try it. I do it immediately after playing. A cold water bottle is my preference. My hands and wrists are doing as well as they have all year. The limited practice time is a major factor. I've managed with the discomfort for years. I have learned to listen to my body and to "shut it down" when discomfort crosses over to pain. The gloves, the cold pack, the limited practice schedule all help.

Zoe's posts about flute duets remind me how much I have neglected my flute. I doubt I will go back to flute. It takes so much more effort and practice for an adult beginner to coax any semblance of music out of a flute than a digital piano.

Week 34: Recorded my original piece Shimmer for the ABF recital. I am dismayed to learn that using the audio splitter means the recording is mono. I record again without the splitter, but that means no audio feedback while playing. The result is a clean recording in stereo. It isn't bad, certainly better than the mono recording.

I peck away at a Christmas song, God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman. It remains to be seen whether I can get that to performance level with my 15 minutes a day of practice time.

I was not affected by the storm Sandy, but had relatives who were. Thankfully all are safe. I am sure some on the forum were also in the path of the storm and hope that all are at least safe. Property can be replaced, lives can not be.

I have been thinking about how to move things around so I can keep the digital set up. The current situation is the piano under the bed and then setting it up and taking it down each time. This may be a project for the new year or beyond, but I am thinking about it now.

Sand Tiger, that sounds like a disincentive to practice, having to set up and take down the piano all the time. Before I had a sewing room, it was a real hassle to take out the sewing machine and all my tools and fabrics every time I wanted to sew, and then put it all away again so we'd have a table that we could eat dinner on. It was not very conducive to spur-of-the-moment creativity. Hopefully you'll find a good place for your digital piano, so you can play it as the mood strikes.

cas, so happy to hear how much you are learning from your new teacher. (I think you can keep calling him that until you've been with him longer than your previous teacher. )

I had a strange lesson this week. Our electricity was still out, so I had my lesson by candlelight. That part was surprisingly okay, but the bad part was that the room temperature was 56 degrees. Brrr! I kept a cup of hot tea by me, to warm up my hands between pieces. I don't know if it was my imagination, but it seemed that the piano sounded especially beautiful in that environment -- the sound was bright, clear, and crystal-like. Could that be an effect of the cool environment?

I played my recital piece at my lesson, and it's almost ready -- just a couple of places left that I have to work on.

I'm working hard this week on my C minor scale, trying to increase the tempo and smoothness. This is an essential part of the Mozart sonata that I'd like to wrap up soon.

Ah candlelight- I love it.
It might have been or maybe your hearing became more acute in the dimmer light. Interestingly, I used to assume people in the nineteenth century didn't read, play piano/music and write letters in the night by candlelight but stopped these activities after dark. Not so- they did- it's untrue the eyes suffer by candlelight- they were used to it and electric lighting is bright and artificial. If we start to sit in candlelight the eyes adjust and you find you can see clearly after a few minutes! I have done it many times and it's like magic- suddenly you can see what you couldn't see before- it's like a veil is lifted! I keep meaning to play my Piano solely by candlelight one night...

Those days the composers and pianists probably were playing in the temperature you describe MaryBee- the women used to have lacy fingerless gloves when playing to warm the hands. Piano keys can get very cold! I know cos I can't affiord my central heating on.
Hope you get your power back soon.

Sandtiger hope your wrist gets better.

Had you ever wondered what those candle-holder mounting points on old upright pianos were for? :-)

Awesome casinitaly! I have been doing scales too and had a great lesson Friday. I am finally getting better with my timing and finding my sight reading is improving too- I am recognising more notes without having to look them up on a keyboard diagram first. I am looking for markers and working out the spaces. Sometimes I am playing them automatically without thinking oh is that A, oh that's F etc- if you know what I mean. Brian's e book is helpful too- had a read of some of it and will finish reading it all and start applying his method.
My teacher showed me how to play with the metronome to keep time as well.

Hey, I know about them- my old Piano has the remains of brackets- his sconces were pinched before I got him..boo! He must have been played after dark back in the 1910s cos he has wax stains on his lid!
I meant a while back- before I had a piano and assumed folks read books or wrote not long after dusk then stopped and went to bed unless they were at a party and had loads of candles on the go!

Hope it is better now Sam.

That's very good- was it your first lesson?

Wow so much achievement while I was not able to read the forum. I don't have MacBook Air any more. I "loaned" it to my friend and old piano teacher who is in a financially tough situation. She wants to try Skype lesson but cannot afford good computer. She is feeling so down. Not sure how many student she can get through Skype but I decide to bite a bullet and give it to her. I'm not rich but I think sometimes people need to feel that someone cares. I would be so happy if she could get out of the funk. I do miss my laptop though. I'm saving money for iPad for Chrustmas. But for the next few months I have to type on iPhone. My husband feel like I'm so silly. Maybe I am. I cannot wait for Christmas. And I do pray for her every day.

My lesson is going very well. I told my teacher that I saw Garrick Ohlsson in London. He played Brahms First Pisno concerto with London Phil. She then pulled out the score and started playing very beautifully. This woman is genius. She sight read practically everything. I felt like the beautiful evening has come back. On top of it, she loaned me the score and told me to try the adagio section of the piano solo part. She said lets try a few lines - her playing the orchestral part and me playing the solo. I was very stunned and feel so fortunate that I have a teacher who could teach me concerto. She has Two grand piano.

Farmgirl you are a kind and generous person! Your friend is lucky to have a friend like you! I also hope things start looking up for her. Your teacher sounds amazing. You totally deserve her. What an honor to get to play that music. Good for you!

Edwardianpiano - isn't it exciting to be reading music! Keep on working at it and you will be amazed! Last year I started the 4 Star books and doing just short exercises each day made a big difference. My son started doing the same books recently and his reading has improved lots over just the last few months.

I second all those comments!

Thanks Zoe. Hope your son continues enjoying piano.

Zoe thank u for the kind words.
I hope my friend feels better too.

Cas, happy to hear your new teacher.
It sounds like you are having growth spouts (not sure such word exists).

MaryAnn hope your hand heals soon. I did have similar problem years ago when came back to piano first time. I think it went away as I start to play with elbows tucked in and playing softly with curved fingers. I was told to play it like brushing the keys making very soft sound while paying attention to my elbows. I noticed that tension went away when I do that. I try to remember the feel afterwards I used to play like a scarecrow with so much tension with elbows sticking out. I hope it helps

My 1st lesson.

Warlock214 - that sounds exciting! How did it go? Please tell us more about it!

Sounds like you did brill Warlock!