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I'm brand-new to Piano World, but not to the piano:

I'm a composer, ( also a former university music prof ) currently living in Arizona but with NY, Paris, MD and MN in my background. (I believe there are some regular posters to Piano Forum who have referenced one or two of my pieces in various posts under several headings.)

What's the preferred protocol for a composer (experienced) to interact nicely with the very varied folks who visit this site? Most of my music is for fully-developed technqiue, but there are also a number of compositions for developing musicians. -- And then there all my original ragtime pieces!

~ Just about my all-time-favorite pianist is the late, great Sviatoslav Richter. I heard him a fair number of times live in NY ( and in 1972 at his summer series at the Grange de Meslay in France's chateau country ). A truly great musician.

I'm absolutely in LOVEE with Chopin Ballade No.1 right now! I'm too busy with my current repertoire right now unfortunately so I've only sight-read through the first few pages, but I can't wait to actually start learning it this summer!

Have you watched Rubinstein giving a masterclass on that piece on Youtube? If you haven't, you should for sure! His comments are really phenomenal.

Hello, newbie here!

My name's Bryan, and i'm from Northern Ireland.

Long time lurker, first time poster. lol

I've just finished all my grades there in November, and decided on doing my first diploma.

I'm working on....
Beethoven Sonata no 13 in E flat major
Schubert's Impromtu op 90 no 2
Liszt's Liebestraume 3
2 Debussy Preludes - La puerta del vino and General lavine.
And Le Gibet from Ravels gaspard de la nuit.

That's my little program i'm working on

Favourite composers are Liszt, Ravel and Debussy, in that order

Nothing else i think that's too important!
I've just got my first grand piano and hope for it to be delivered near the end of the month!

No I have no seen that..I've only seen his performance of the piece. It sounds really interesting. I'll make it a point to watch it tomorrow. Thanks for the information

Hi folks. I hope my name isn't too immodest. Yes, I am a teacher. But I have to say that I am not the ordinary teacher. I have my own unique methods that I'd love to share with you. Drop me a line or just let me know you're out there and we can talk.

Hello, my names Yu Shimizu and I'm in Tokyo Japan.
I've been on the piano since around 5 or 6. I don't quite remember too well when I started but all I remember is that I didn't practice at all because I hated it haha. So I quit at 11 years after a lot of on and off playing. Recently I rediscovered my love for piano, and I am currently working on Pictures at an exhibition, Lyadov's Music Box, and Scriabin's 42 no.5 (not like I can play them too well but whatever :p). I don't have a piano at home, but my schools real near so I just bike there to play piano.
Looks like a lot of the people here are way better than I am so I'll be asking advice for some of the more difficult passages.
Favorite Composers are mostly FSU, Russian, Prokofiev, Mussorgsky, Scriabin, Rimsky-Korsakov, Grieg, etc.

Hope to learn a lot during my stay here!

Hi everyone

I'm Paul Dykstra, concert artist and teacher based in Portsmouth, NH. The piano and its great repertoire have always been part of my life, thanks to European parents who valued music highly, and made Sundays a music day- all day long! I remember hearing most of the great piano concerti and knowing them aurally by about age 12. This has proved to be an invaluable training in its own right.
Recent projects have included playing the Mozart Double Piano Concerto with a colleague in Concord, NH, and Rachmaninoff Cello Sonata with my friend Beth Pearson. I have some youTube clips from an '08 recital as well, just type in Paul Dykstra on youTube.

Thanks! PS I'm ALKAN55 because we share the same birthday!

Gee, that would make you pretty old by now, eh?

Hey everyone

My name is Derek Vroom, I am 18 and going into my second year of post secondary studies. I learned piano through the suzuki method from when i was 6 to 14, and quit when I moved from central Canada to western Canada. I grew up playing a Yamaha upright (not sure the model) but last year I bought myself a Casio digital piano (weighted keys and all that crap) It wasn't overly pricy, and I guess it does the trick... It took me until about a month ago to get back where I used to be several years ago and I can finally see myself getting better.

I just started lessons again 3 weeks ago and my current works include Moonlight sonata (3rd mvmt) and chopin's Nocturne in C# Minor (theme of the movie 'the pianist') and various pieces from the grade 8 celebration series I borrowed from my friend.

Hello everyone!

I am also new to this forum and from the little browsing I've done I think it's great!

I have studied musicology, I compose and I am an arranger/audio engineer.

Piano-wise, I study piano since I was 6 years old and in some months I am getting a diploma (hopefully :D)

I own a Yamaha C2 Grand Piano, a Motif ES8 and various synths (as well as some "soft pianos" when time does not allow to record the real thing...)

Nice to meet you all, it feels great to be part of the piano community!

Hey,
My name is Derek, I am 19 years old going in to my Junior year of college as a Piano Performance Major. I started playing piano in 7th grade. My mom used to play the piano for me and my brothers and I always thought it was neat so I would mess around on it and eventually it became my passion.
My favorite composer is definetly Beethoven, followed by Liszt. I'm not really too big of a fan of Chopin or Debussy, but was required to play them!!
One of the hardest things for me was learning how to practice and how to schedule my practicing sessions. I never would have guessed how much time is needed to perform excellently prior to becoming deeply involved with the repertoire.

For my Junior year I am preparing three pieces over the summer for my Junior recital.
Liszt Transcendental Etude 8 Wilde Jagd
Beethoven Fantasy op. 77
Ravel's Concerto in G major

I have been roaming around the forums for over a year now, and always enjoy reading the opinions of others on similar problems I might have had.

Hi!

My name is Chris, and I've just joined and before that I lurked for maybe a few weeks. In the short time I've been here I've learned a lot and this place is a great resource!

About me, I'm 21 and am taking a semester off to try and hone some of my technique to get into college as either a sound recording major or a music performance major on piano. I'd consider myself a beginner/intermediate level player. I started playing when I was 8 years old, but lost interest and didn't play again until I was 18. Over the last two semesters I became highly influenced by Sviatoslav Richter and Horowitz and decided I wanted to play classically. I have a long way to go but seem to be advancing quickly. I love Debussy, Chopin, Ravel, Liszt, Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert.

This summer I'm going to try and save up a good deal of money to buy a smaller size grand with my parents. I currently play on a $700 Benjamin Adams digital piano that is almost useless (it's not made anymore, apparently).

Glad to be here!

Hi! I've been a long-time lurker and I finally decided to join this forum after all.

I'm 13 and I've been playing the piano scince age 3. At home we have a (beaten-up) Kohler and Campbell brown upright.
I Love Beethoven, Mozart, and Schubert and I'm a fan of Bill Evans and Enya as well.
Besides playing piano, I also play Acoustic guitar and Flute.
I have perfect pitch, which I don't at all mean to brag. It's just basically the reason why I love music so much. It helps me tremendously in learning pieces by ear, because I am visually impared. I have trouble reading music fast, so I mostly play it by ear. heh.

Hi - I've been visiting for a few months and just recently started posting, so it seems polite to introduce myself. I'm 42 and have been playing since I was 6, taking lessons pretty consistently. I majored in Business and German in college. My small college didn't offer a music major or any music classes, but I had the privilege of studying with a Curtis instructor during those four years. After a few years in the business world, I went back to college for two years and filled in the gaps of my music education. I am currently studying with a Taubman trained teacher, who has helped with my stiff right wrist. I teach 2 days a week, which is perfect for me because it still allows me to be there for my daughter 3 days a week after school. I belong to a professional teachers group and a performance group which I love. I finally sold my old Yamaha and bought a Steinway L which I'm THOROUGHLY loving!

I'm so thrilled to find PW and connect with others who are as passionate as I am about the piano. I love to read the posts and see the varied opinions here. I'm currently working on the Chopin Barcarolle, Debussy's La plus que lente, and about to add some Scriabin to the mix. I have very limited computer knowledge, so I'll have to figure out how to scan music samples into the text and add youtube links. Looking forward to reading your posts and contributing if I can!

HD

Hi my name's Bella and I've been lurking for about a week before joining today after my first piano lesson for five years. My story goes that I was learning piano at the same time I was learning to read and went to various good teachers until I was about 12. I was about to take the AMEB exams (it took years to convince me, such was my performance anxiety) when I was unable to continue with the piano due to reasons beyond my control. I had another teacher until I was 15 but I loathed it as all I played were old 70s tunes that she liked and forgot any semblance of technique and/or theory...

But I always wanted to play the piano and play it properly despite what my hands want to do :P So I found an excellent teacher (I learnt more from her in an half hour today than from my lost in the 70s teacher in three years) and had a bit of a reality check! My technique is very much off - so much so I didn't get to play a piece. She went straight to scales (this is C Major etc) with me being slightly dumbfounded. After a few bits of sight reading she's bumped me up a bit, told me to practice technique and timing and within a few months we should start preparing for the AMEB exams. She thinks I'll be able to take level 4 to start with, which is a lot better than I thought my level would be after 8 years without a proper teacher! It's tough though considering that other kids my age are taking their aMUS A and if I had continued with my original AMEB teacher that would be me too. Nonetheless, I know I can get there eventually. Like my lovely but strict new Russian teacher said about her students my age, they didn't come here great. They BECAME great.

Hope I can do it! *Runs off to practice*

Hi everyone-

My name is Jason, and I just joined up yesterday. I'm 38, and I've been playing since I was 5 or 6.

I love Bach, Mozart, Schubert, Chopin, Mahler, Debussy, Ives, Messiaen, and Ligeti, among many others. I compose as well, in a style informed by Prokofiev, jazz and pop. But the true holy grail for me is late Beethoven, and especially, above everything else, the last movement of the Op. 111.

Sadly though, I haven't played much in the last few years, due to an arm injury I sustained years ago. For a long time now, my right arm becomes fatigued with almost any motion I ask of it. This has been happening for so long, it's become a part of my every slightest habit, and changing the habits that cause the problem is going to be difficult. But I've been resigned to not playing for too long now; it's time to do something about it! Does anyone have any related experience, or forums they could point me to?

My long-term musical goal, which will motivate the rehabilitation of my arms and my eventual lesson work, is to completely work up the last three Beethoven sonatas, Op. 109, 110 and 111. (I'd worked up 110, and worked on 111, years ago, so it's not quite as ambitious as it sounds, perhaps.) Less ambitious goals include:

- Debussy's stately first prelude, Dancers at Delphi
- Messiaen's first prelude, the dove
- Mozart's a minor sonata
- Schubert's compact, beautiful A major sonata

But easy does it. I won't even touch the piano seriously until I understand why my arm is fatiguing, and what I can do about it.

Meanwhile, I'm glad to have joined the piano forum!

I'm happy to have come across this forum. I've been on a similar flute forum for a while, and came across this when looking for some direction in what to work on this summer (particularly looking for graded lists of repertoire).

I am a 43 yr old mother of 3 who accompanies a small community choir. I've played since about 3rd grade, but didn't play a lot when the kids were very young, although I've never totally quit--just dabbled for a while. I am very good at sight reading, and, truly (believe it or not--I see lots of posts here about wanting to improve at this), consider it my Achilles Heel. Being a good sight reader makes you not want to PRACTICE. Looking at some of the RCM/BCCM lists, I play at about grade 9 or 10--you know, if I actually practice.

--Judy

I am new here. I am 18...

I am not too old to learn right. I understand that most of the music that is available is not Lincoln Park or the score from Twilight. I am eager to practice but I want to do three other things; write my book DR, practice guitar, and fix guitars.

What I want from piano is to read music more fluidly. I am as well keeping an open mind to writing my own music with piano to go with guitar solos. Kind of like what Evanescence does and some of Lincoln parks songs. Like I said I know this is not for beginner. This is what I want to work toward.

About my career, what I want is to build animatronics robots that are in movie production and theme parks. I would love to perform on stage but I am not going to rely on it to get off the ground.

Hello! I'm Roeland, and I live in The Netherlands. I'm 22 years old. I'm on university and i'm studying Human Resource Management.

I did play keyboard for one year, but I only played piano songs, so I bought a digital piano two months ago. I also started taking some piano lessons.

I like to compose music, I allready have one finished composition: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRXuQ966LGI But its hard to compose some good stuff, because i don't know lots of techniques yet.

Greetings,

My name is Christopher. I've been lurking around here for quite some time now, and have finally decided to take the plunge and create an account. I began taking piano lessons at the age of 8 because, as with many children that age, my mom made me do it. But somewhere along the line a spark was struck inside me and I fell in love with the piano. Now I'm a piano performance major at UT-Austin, with the intent of earning a doctorate in collaborative piano and becoming a freelance pianist. Besides the music of Bach and Messiaen, my two favorite composers, I especially enjoy playing 20th and 21st century music, art song, and chamber music. I also study organ and composition. Anyway, I look forward to getting to know all of you here!