Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Shaking off the rust?

So, its been a while since I've taken piano seriously. I believe the last time I actually worked at practicing was when I was age 13. After I passed my CM10 test, I stopped playing piano, stopped practicing. For the last seven years, I've been casually playing (maybe an hour a week at most), which is nice, but I noticed the deterioration in skill.I pretty much have a free summer this year, and I wanted to pick piano back up, so much so that I want to spend at least an hour a day doing so. I've been looking at the pieces that I left off on, and find it difficult to even do basic skills such as arpeggios. I tried picking up my Hanon book, but I find it to lack in substance and its not really that interesting. I never found it interesting ever, hah. I was thinking of starting out on easier pieces that catch my attentions such as instrumentals from my favorite songs, games, and movies, but I feel like it wont help me close the gap. I feel like the main problem is that I loathe practicing sometimes, especially if something lacks a melody or even musical value. I don't mind practicing regular pieces, but I feel like I need to recondition my finger muscles in order to do so. My main goal for picking up piano again, is to pick up where I left off. I want to be able to finish the Chopin Ballads and Scherzos. I want to be able to read sheet music at a faster pace, so I can learn new music without hesitation. I want to be able to gain technique, and I realize that this is something not gained in a short period of time.


tl;dr, I'm looking for pieces, books, or songs that will engage me, and help motivate me to practice. I want to regain my technique at a relatively fast pace, but not doing so using Technique books such as Czerny or Hanon. Tips, advice, experiences are also welcome.

I felt exactly the same way. My advice: learn as much chord theory as you can, learn some basic embellishment patterns. (join Piano Magic.com or buy "Learning and Mastering the Piano", if you can't find these on your own) and start picking out tunes and embellishing them using your ear and knowledge of chord theory. Listen to youtube recordings. Where are the emotional accents in the song? The syllables in the lyrics are the markers that will help you memorize the chord changes. Listen, listen, listen for the pauses between these vocal accents -- what do you hear between them? If you don't hear anything, use chord theory to explore ways to embellish the melody.

Once you get the hang of this, start reading intervals and chord charts (don't read note for note). If you find a difficult passage in a song you like to play, anayze it in terms of chord theory and make sure you know the chod inversions and every Nashville Notation System symbol and its function within the chord marked over the measure(s) you are playing -- this is where exercises around the circle of fifths will really make a difference.

Stay away from Czerny and Hammond--been there done that! My rule is never do any exercise outside the context of a tune I am learning from the sheet or arranging and harmonizing myself. I'm sure others have a different procedure but, like you, I get bored doing exercises without an immediate goal or payoff. The procedure I've described is the only one that ever got me to stick with the piano and kept me engaged in the process.

Sorry, Correction: I use the the Roman Numeral system to write out chord progressions, not the Nashville System, which uses ordinary numbers and seems be used primarily in Nashville and by session musicians. The Roman Numeral system is the one used primarily by Jazz musicians, which is what I aspire to, so I guess I'll stick with it. I had been reading a thread about the Nashville System the other day and absentmindedly substituted it.