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Thanks Cathy! I'm glad there's at least one person I'm not boring!

The only thing better is learning old stuff

Been there, still doing that. I have notes going back to 2005 on one of my standard repertoire pieces, and I'm still working on it

Or is that not quite what you meant?

Cathy

MaryAnne,

Highly recommended: Alfreds Scales, Arpeggios, Chords and Candences - amazon link

I can't imagine not having a reference work to look up standard fingering or to correct occasional brain cramps. This book has all the major/minor scales with fingering for multiple octaves. All the arpeggios with fingering. And the chords for every scale degree in every key. For eight bucks you can't go wrong IMO.

Don't be silly, Sam. I'm sure there's way more than one person you're not boring!

JimF: thanks for the tip. I'll get that next time I'm ordering from Amazon.

This past Oct, I started taking lessons (after wanting to for eons).

As of about 2 weeks ago, I could competently play through this at proper tempo and from memory:
Prelude #3 by Carolyn Miller (early intermediate)

Last week, I started the next piece (a bit easier) and can play about 3/4 of it decently, albeit a bit slower then full tempo., from memory:
More Fireflies by Carolyn Miller (late beginner)


3 pages of fun each :-D Fairly beginner stuff for most, but they are real pieces and they sound like real pieces (unlike some page out of alfred :P).

Welcome to the thread Gomer. It sounds like you are really off to a great start.

My lesson this week was a rollercoaster. She loved my scales in 10ths and another exercise and complimented my progress on the MacDowell piece. I gave her a copy of MaGraths for Christmas and she shocked me with a gift of a very nice Ravel CD as well as a nice new score for one of his Preludes - which I'll start this week. The downer was my performance of the Christmas Song. I had played it without error not two hours earlier at home, but somehow managed to mangle it at the lesson. Arrrrggghhhh, I feel like such a head-case sometimes. I'm having guests over for Christmas so I hope it goes better by then. I also wanted to get in a recording, if possible, but we are having a pool put in and it seems every morning during practice there are jackhammers,tractors, chainsaws, etc. all wailing away not 30 feet from the piano. Arrrrrrgh, the dogs will love the pool at least, and they never fail to love my playing .

Wishing all of you a very happy holiday season full of great piano performances.

Jim

This was a one step forward, two steps back week for me. I arrived at my lesson on a cold, snowy day and absolutely could not play. I started with my Bach piece and could not make my hands move fast enough. I couldn't even get through the first measure. It really shook me up, even though I knew that it was probably just from the cold. That added enough angst that I played everything with tension, making a ton of mistakes. I practiced a lot this last week, four hours a day or more, so it was frustrating to do so poorly in a lesson. However, I did learn a lot during my lesson. My struggle with the Bach prelude is because I have been trying to learn it in too large of chunks and I am playing too fast for this stage of my knowledge. So I need to SLOW DOWN, analyze the progressions, and play HS. I have also been having pain in my right hand at the base of the fourth finger the past couple of weeks. We identified the cause. I tend to stretch my hand rather than move or rotate my arm when I play. When I tried things with the arm involved, I had no pain and no tension. That is a major discovery because I was afraid I might be developing Carpal Tunnel or RSI. We also agreed that I needed to put more time on scales to improve my technique. I have only been playing a few months since my return to the piano, and I haven't really developed enough confidence and precision on the keyboard. So even a "bad" lesson can be a very good one!

swissMS

Have many 2 step forward and 1 step back days myself....

Progressing, no matter how small the step is....

I downloaded Stairway To Heaven and have roughly got it together - practice practice practice to make it perfect - I also transposed it to Violin music, now that really is a Stairway To Heaven (for a quick death) lol

Passed grade 7 on tuesday with 82/100. Pleased with that.My Bach piece was a nightmare due to nerves but did well everywhere else. Looking forward to playing some new pieces in 2012!!

My AOTW - first lesson in about 2 months, having returned from the sunny, chilly, far south. As seems common in our reports, I managed to flub fabulously on a piece (Bach minuet in G) I've been playing flawlessly** at home, though I made it pretty well through the first half or so of the sonatina I'm working on, which is all I know so far. So, we concentrated on my flubby spots in the former and the "leading edge" of the latter - all good. And very exciting in that I think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel for this movement of this sonatina (Clementi 36 no 2 3rd mvmt)... it's going to come together in this lifetime, really.

And today has me yearning for a nice acoustic, preferably a fine grand in this dream, since I think a fair bit of my flubbing at lessons may be driven by the difference in feel between our dp and my teacher's grand - much harder action on the latter. Or at least that's a good excuse for the moment.


** Poetic license disclaimer: "flawlessly" = "pretty well for me", not "well for a pianist" or better.

I'm learning my "easier" pieces (Für Elise and Gymnopedie #1) at a much faster pace than I thought I would. One caveat - I had "looked at" Gymnopedie for a while on my own a year ago. That was one of my overall goals, to be able to play the pieces at the easier range of my abilities much quicker.

Trouble is, I'm probably not focussing enough time on the Gavotte & Variations ....

My goodness, a whole week with no musical achievements?

Ah, well, it is a busy time of year.

I don't have any significant achievement either for the week - however, like many of you here, I've just completed my achievement of the year and earned my MOYD2011 badge.

Wishing all my AOTW friends a very happy new year and all the best for 2012!

Piano U1 - well done. Quite an accomplishment

bessel - "flub fabulously" - I think I've just found my new goal for 2012 I've always "flubbed hilariously" but it hasn't got the same ring to it, tho it always makes me laugh! "flub fabulously" is much more elegant, something else I wouldn't mind being

Happy new year to all of you for whom it already is, and have a safe NYE for the rest of us!

Cathy

Happy New Year!!

The last few weeks I only practised Black Eyes Boogie second half to bring it up to speed, so I could test it on some visitors on NYE. And I did!

While playing it seemed they got more interested, I think because it has so many fast notes. It doesn't sound like a beginner piece, heh.

And the end had a marvellous effect, because it ended in a glissando and hitting the lowest D. It was an END in capitals. They reacted quite fast after it. The test was succesful.

Thank you Martin, for composing this briljant piece!

Hi I am baaaack. Happy new year to everyone.

This is the first time I opened my laptop since I went to Japan. No piano achievement. My wonderful childhood Kawai piano did not survive the quake. Somehow, I cannot even depress many of the keys Instead, less expensive piano (I have no idea where it was made) used by mom's kindergarden survived. I was heart broken but it really did not matter since I was too busy helping my parents move to enjoy the piano anyway. It was very cold. The old house was tilted and very dangerous. Snow was falling in from the partially broken roof. I could not believe my parents lived in the broken house as long as they did.

I practiced 3 hours today. It's going to take a few days to get back in shape but I feel great being able to do what I would like to do. We have great weather here in Arizona. What a wonderful place.

Welcome back dear FarmGirl!

Your parents are amazing people - I can not imagine how they managed to live in such a damaged home for so long - and in winter too!
They (and you) must be very relieved that they are settled in their new home.
What a good start for their new year.

Chris, Glad to see you have finally mastered that difficult song. Congrats!

Welcome back, FarmGirl! I admire the courage of your parents. Thanks for sharing such an impressive story.

Welcome back, FarmGirl. I hope your trip had its positive sides to it - such a tragedy.

Enjoy your return home, and your return to playing!

Thanks, Recaredo! Finishing the song is special to me, because my teacher didn't believe I could pull it off when I started.

Farmgirl, glad that you are back. I was a bit worried, because there was a new earthquake in Japan at 1 januari. I hope the new home of your parents is a bit earthquake proof.

Casinintaly, congrats for playing each day of the last two years. That is a major achievement.

Andy, I'm sure Gavotte and Variations will be in your easier range next year. But it's already an big achievement that you experience Für Elise and GymnopedIe in that way, because they are not quite easy at all.