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

I had one of *those* lessons where you can't seem to manage the simplest of things, due to arriving feeling overworked and overtired. Then you get cross with yourself, and your mind goes blank and you can't even remember where the keys are.

Last week's pieces went ok, but then my brain had forgotten how to connect with my hands and when I tried new stuff I couldn't remember how to read it, and random fingers kept spitefully pressing the wrong keys. And then I harshly berated myself for it for all this for the rest of the lesson, which only made my attempts get worse.

It sounds like you are all doing very clever things and please don't think me rude for not contributing much, it's just that I don't always really know anything about these things, so there's not always a lot I can add! Maybe one day!

My achievement of the week is that I made it through the first 30 measures of the Moonlight Sonata without a wrong note. My voicing is not where I want it, but the piece is falling under my fingers nicely now. I found my initial work with it very challenging because my hands are a bit on the small side. I could play the ninths, but having my hand in the constant octave stretch was very hard at first. Its getting easier each week.

Toastie, I 'm sure your day will come. And I think it'll be soon too.

Heh, my lesson this week went not so well either. It was raining and the wind blew very hard. So I decided to rent an electric car instead of going by bicycle. I left an half hour before my lesson.

The car I found at the corner was full of damages at the outside, so I had to count them all. Grrrrr.

Then when I was ready to go, I forgot that I had to hit the break while moving the poke from parking to drive. Cursing would not help either. So I moved to the second car, with even more damages, hoping this car had not a poke problem. Wrong. But luckily I hit the brake and could move the poke to driving.

The main road was closed, so I had a traffic jam from beginning to end. While it was just a ten minutes ride, now it was an half hour. Halfway my teacher called me asking where I was. Road rage was building up, because my lesson time was ticking away.

Then at the end of the ride, board computer went blank! Wtf! I need that computer to lock off and end the rent. I couldn't contact helpdesk because that communication was through that same computer!

So I parked in front of my teachers house. Looking for a phone number of the company. But it was all web, email based contact. After 8 minutes when I finally found an phone number on the internet, the board computer came up.

20 minutes late and with a lot of rage, I couldn't hit any key properly. Grrrrr... My teacher is very kind and I could make an hour lesson. But it didn't help to relax my emotions. My sound on the piano was bad.

Though I find those electric cars very funny to ride, heh heh.

Glasslove, nice achievement. Moonlight sonata is such a beautiful piece.

MaryAnn --- I can't say I care for any of the suggestions on how to treat your wrist. I trust your dr will have something a little less .....violent!!!

Torguenale - bye bye Czerny, hello Chopin, what a lovely transistion! Plus you are doing really well with MOYD, good for you!

Saranova - I love your in-shop practice story. I wonder how long you'll be able to keep up the charade?

Paperclip -don't you just love those A ha! moments. What you were trying to do sounds extremely complicated. It made my brain hurt just trying to understand it!

Toastie, we all have bad lessons once in a while. Just take it for what it was .. ie, a bad day, and move on. Next week will be better!

GlassLove, - it is such a pleasure to have you back Christine! How exciting that you're working on the Moonlight Sonata --- JimF is working on it too!
I wonder when I'll get to start on it. My teacher seems to have some hesitations about giving me longer works and I can't quite figure out why. We're going to have a bit of a chat next week so I can understand what he thinks I need to improve before moving on ..... I will, in the meantime, enjoy hearing about your efforts!

Oh, I like this thread! Very inspiring.

I've been working on a piece for 3 or 4 weeks. Last night I made it all the way through rather than just concentrating on sections. It was rough with a lot of warts, but shazaam! it felt good!

That's great Patty - Welcome to AOTW!

I forgot to say that having made recording for my submission to the recital, I have been focussing on my Melody (Schumann). I did a "benchmark" recording tonight, to hear where the weak points are. Yes, there are some, but overall, I'm very very pleased with how quickly this piece is coming together. Very exciting!

Hey Toastie, I've had the feeling at lessons that I've seen neither the music nor the keyboard before. I call it "jamais vu" to be the opposite of deja vu.

My AOTW is that my Martha Mier piece is starting to sound mostly like music instead of...well, how it was sounding before. After this one, I have only one more in her book 2 and then I will begin Jazz, Rags, and Blues book 3, which proclaims on the cover that it is for "the intermediate to late intermediate pianist" which makes me sit up straight and take a deep breath!

Toastie I am with you on all this. A lot of it is beyond me, so I don't know what to say but wow - people are doing so well! I have only played once since my last lesson- my hours at work have increased and had so much to do ( boring chores etc) and was a bit flu-y last weekend after my lesson. Been tired as well. I really want to make the time to play every night when I come in from work. I've got plenty to work on from Alfred's!
And congrats to Starr Keys!

I like reading all the stories and reports. The good and the bad, the frustrating and the rewarding. Sometimes the achievement is muddling through and practicing. As for being in over my head, yes, I share that feeling. However, as I put in more time, read more, listen more, it makes more sense. Terms that used to mean nothing to me, I am using in my own sentences, and my own compositions.

For example two months ago, I didn't know the word ostinato or how to spell it. Today, I consciously use ostinatos in my own compositions and can explain what it means. An ostinato is a short repetitive pattern in the music. Bolero is cited as a famous example, but they occur a lot and can be as simple as two alternating notes.

Many weeks I feel like I have achieved nothing, but then I go to type up my weekly post, and I remember stuff, mostly small stuff, but it adds up. I happily notice that the AOTW tribe seems to be growing, with more newcomers and a returnee. A mutual encouragement society it is. Cheers.

Week 47: I am getting acclimated to the new Casio PX-150. I cobble together a five-inch high platform for the pedal so I can reach it comfortably from my perch on the stool. My digital piano is on a desk, so it is higher than a bench or chair can reach. Hence, the stool and the need to raise the pedal. I download several more Canon in D tutorials, and performances. I find one that I can work with, but it feels almost like starting back at square one with that piece. I view a Youtube of Oscar Peterson on the Dick Cavett show (circa 1977). Mr. Peterson demonstrates a few techniques and styles. His playing is so effortless, so fluid, so fast. I download the free music composition program MuseScore and a couple of scores.

I spend some time with the Casio's metronome. The PX-150 doesn't have a display, so it is difficult to get to a precise tempo. To fill that gap I download an Android metronome app for the tablet, where I can type in the beats per minute.

For serendipity on Ground Hog day, I record and upload my new original, Shadow, for the ABF recital. I get a relatively clean take first thing in the morning, but decide I want more pedal. The red dot wins the next two rounds, as I do several more not-so-good takes with long breaks mixed in between tries. It is some time later before I get another recording that sounds reasonable to me. Recording with the Casio PX-150 is so much easier than it was with the Yamaha NP11. There is a record button on the Casio to record to onboard memory. I play back the recording and route the output to my Sony voice recorder via direct connection. This yields a portable MP3 file without having to connect the computer to the piano. I import the file to the computer, and use Audacity to boost the output level, and my file is ready.

For all those reading along that are on the fence about uploading for the recital, I encourage you to participate. Record what you have, or what you can have ready in the next week or so. What you share may not be the near flawless recordings that some others contribute to the recital. However, especially for true beginners, those recordings can be a useful measuring stick for progress. I can hear improvements in my phrasing, dynamics, and technique, as compared to my early recordings. I am only at 11 months, with almost all of that time on a 61-key instrument.

I completely agree with this! The AFB recital is not a contest, it is a supportive tool to help us learn and celebrate the piano journey. Everyone is very supportive! The first piece I submitted was from Alfred's method books. I received lots of encouragement. I was very nervous about it, but everyone made me feel welcome and encouraged me.

Malkin, which pieces from the Martha Meirs book 2 Jazz Blues and Rags do you particularly like? I have Book one, and I have book 2 for duets, I'm thinking about getting book two for solo piano.

Which one are you playing now?

EdwardianPiano, it is tough when you can't play as much as you'd like - but be patient, that's the name of the game. Progess happens almost by surprise sometimes.

SandTiger, - an especially nice post today. It sounds like you're really maximizing your practice area to be as comfy as possible,and making beautiful music. I'm looking forward to hearing your submission.

Both you and SwissMS are right on the nail with encouraging new comers to participate in the e-cital.
I know that the feedback I've received has really be tremendously exciting and encouraging. I too use my recordings to mark my progress. I am still surprised at how my first recordings received such very kind comments. But let's face it - that's the nature of this forum - PEOPLE ARE NICE here - everyone wants the others to succeed and we all rejoice in each other's triumphs.
How wonderful is THAT?!

Wonderful Indeed!!!!!!

Sand tiger - I had never heard of that word until you used it, haha. Sometimes that happens in lessons too. Some words I have to just admit that I have no idea what they mean - sometimes it's even a whole sentence of things that just sound like gibberish. I write new words down in a notebook at home and have bought a musical dictionary so I can look things up. I get quite stressed about this, not knowing what things mean. It's probably the thing that I most worry about in my musical endeavours.

Everyone is doing very well though, doing all these clever things which I can't even mention as I can't remember what clever things you're all working on now.

Sand Tiger -I am not a beginner but still finds out funny things every day. For example I believed Bach's Well Tempered Clavier was Well Tempered Cleaver for a long time. I thought that's why I feel like being chased by a dwarf with a knife when i play it. I also thought Haydn was Heydon.

Ok my achievement - I'm getting used to performing in front of others. I think it's like anything in life, you can get used to it. I still have shakey fingers and fear that I might forget everything but it never happened. I always remember something. I also learned that it's not the worst thing can happen. You just need to wade into the section you know. I had my lesson after the studio class. My teacher told me that we are going to experiment with my Haydn piece. I need to learn the whole piece without looking at my hands. I do it with Bach (most of the time there aren't so much leap) but had never done it in a piece like this. She believes it will make me a stronger sight reader and quicken the pace to learn. So I shall see.

Sand Tiger -I am not a beginner but still finds out funny things every day. For example I believed Bach's Well Tempered Clavier was Well Tempered Cleaver for a long time. I thought that's why I feel like being chased by a dwarf with a knife when i play it. I also thought Haydn was Heydon.

Ok my achievement - I'm getting used to performing in front of others. I think it's like anything in life, you can get used to it. I still have shakey fingers and fear that I might forget everything but it never happened. I always remember something. I also learned that it's not the worst thing can happen. You just need to wade into the section you know. I had my lesson after the studio class. My teacher told me that we are going to experiment with my Haydn piece. I need to learn the whole piece without looking at my hands. I do it with Bach (most of the time there aren't so much leap) but had never done it in a piece like this. She believes it will make me a stronger sight reader and quicken the pace to learn. So I shall see.

Casinitaly--I really quite like all the pieces in JRB book 2! I always seem to like them better when I can play them though!

This book seemed to me like a big jump in difficulty from book 1, although that might have been because the first piece I played was Wild Honeysuckle Rag which is not one of the easier ones in the book, but it is really fun to play

My husband really liked listening to Red Rose Rendezvous, which I have forgotten most of in the last few weeks and he said yesterday that he hoped I wouldn't pass off Misty Night Blues, because he likes hearing it. Well, he got his wish...my teacher said it was clear that I can play it, but it sounds "careful, like you are terrified of playing a wrong note." So my assignment is to be less careful, and especially to sound less terrified.

I've been bouncing with excitement since yesterday evening. A while ago, after posting an 'easy piano' David Lanz to the piano bar, mr SH suggested I learn Cristofori's Dream. I already knew the easy version, which has a similar intro and outro, but much shortened and simplified middle part.

So I started in the middle! It took two weeks to get through, but suddenly, yesterday, I realised I'd reached the outro. This morning I worked through the intro and now all I have to do is practice this nine-page beauty. Taking on the more difficult middle part sure helped with motivation.

Now I really need to go back to my recital piece though...

Feels great when you sit down in front of your piano, come up with nice chord progressions and end up writing a complete song

I just need to catch up with my jobs/to do lists and get a better routine casinitaly!

Yes it's a great forum- kind and supportive. I appreciate it a lot! Goodness me I couldn't upload anything- can barely play- and don't have the equipment either!

Maybe in 5 years' time.

Goodness me I have been trying to do that as well- my teacher was trying to get me to get my fingers in the right places and not move them off the keys and play- hard that is! And not look down at my hands as well. I have to practise this. I'm not even doing Haydn just simple Alfred's, but not simple to me ha ha.
How's it going with you?