Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum OT, Tell us about yourself

Hi everyone!

I joined these forums awhile ago but only recently started posting. Right now, I'm a fourth year science student at university. I've been doing piano for 13 years but have only been enjoying it for the past year. It's so great to find all these people with such passion for the instrument! To think that I was indifferent for so long. Piano playing is such an isolating activity and I'm glad that I found a group like this to join.

All I've done so far is to blast through the RCM grades as fast as I could with minimal practice. I'm going to slow down and hopefully get a more solid foundation in music. My goals are to 1) build up my repertoire, 2) learn to sight read fluently and 3) learn to play by ear and improvise. That will probably take me years and years! I used to play the violin and was part of my city's youth symphony, and I was even concertmaster of my school orchestra for a year. I decided to quit in a fit of rebellion and my playing has really deteriorated over the years. I'm hoping to self re-teach myself when I have time...but with university and piano, that's few and far between! I really love the relaxed and supportive atmosphere of the ABF, by the way.

HI;
Completed the book titled "You can play piano" By Amy Appleby" Can anyone tell me what level that course would be? and recommend study books for me to continue further. Levels 1,2,3, I guess.
E-Mail Stackman518@aol.com


Don Stack

Hi All,

I'm new to this forum. I took piano lessons for about 4 years when I was a kid and originally majored in vocal music in college, but later changed my focus to theatrical arts. Even later I went back to school and studied computer science. Although I've worked in the computer industry for over 20 years now, music has always been important to me. I've kept on singing, but didn't have a piano until about 5 years ago. After messing around on it for a few years, I finally got serious and went back to study lessons two years ago.

I've been making great progress and can't imagine ever giving it up again. I'm looking forward to meeting other pianists in this forum and gaining insight and knowledge about the playing the piano.

Hi everyone! I'm new here and am returning to playing after a 20+ year hiatus. I'm very excited to get started again and will be purchasing a digital piano fairly soon. I live in beautiful BC (Canada) and can't wait to tinkle the ivories again. I'm sure there is going to be a steep relearning curve but I'm up for the challenge.

Congratulaitions! I am so proud of you! I bet you'll get that agility back. Practice makes perfect! You are a great inspiration to many of us 'older' players!

Hi everyone I'm new to this forum so I thought I'd introduce myself...

I've been playing piano for 2.5 years now, beginning in July 2007 when I was 19. 19 is a comparatively old age to be starting piano, and I think this would classify me as an adult beginner as well. I've gone through a couple of threads in the forum and your attitudes towards the instrument, and music are SO inspiring. Playing the piano by myself, I've always thought that no matter how hard I practised (I used to play 4 hours a day) I would never be able to reach the standards of the pros, and if I can't, what's the point of practising at all?

But to come across a forum of people who play the instrument with no expectations of excellence, to find people who play the piano simply for the love and serenity of it, that is a humbling idea. I'm not surrounded by anyone musically inclined (and that's a debatable term as well, I believe that if given the chance, anyone will find that they have music in them :)) and no one close to me plays the piano - which makes this solitary activity that much lonelier.

A little about me... I'm from Asia and I will be turning 22 in a few days. I have a background in design, though painting and drawing will always be my first love. Apart from the 1.5 years of piano which I took as a kid, I have zero musical knowledge. Yup, zero. I didn't play any musical instrument in school, and neither was I from choir or anything remotely close to music. I know next to nothing about classical music (though two years of piano did change that a little) and it was only a week ago that I discovered how wonderful it was. The moment of discovery wasn't some sort of a grand revelation; it was quiet and sweet (I was listening to Chopin). Before, I plowed through my practices, focusing on nothing but getting the notes and tone right. But you can't get the 'tone' right if you don't understand the layers and nuances there is to music, and I really think that comes with taking piano as more than an instrument but a form of expression.

I hope to take my Grade 8 ABRSM in March 2011, but in the meantime, I hope also to have fun. I think playing the piano is a lot like painting, you don't realise its beauty until you allow yourself to take in every brushstroke and key without consequence. To quiet your ambitions, forget about comparisons and professionals, and focus on the art in its entirety. I am extremely glad to discover this forum, and really hope to learn something from everyone here.

I joined before Christmas & lurked for a few weeks. Since Christmas I've posted a few times & have been feeling a bit guilty remiss about not introducing myself before I just jumped in.

I live in Vancouver, Canada. I make a living tutoring English (to school kids & adults) & Social Studies (to high school kids). I'll never get rich at it, but there are other rewards.
I also volunteer in the pottery studio of a community arts centre. & I've been volunteering every summer since 1998 at the Vancouver International Jazz Festival.

I started playing piano in June of 2008, at the tender age of 61. I had played some guitar & beginner recorder for a long time, so I could read right hand & knew a bit of basic theory, but I'd never had any formal lessons. In 2008, a friend needed to store her piano somwhere, & the opportunity was just too good to pass up, so I found a teacher & started learning. Last week, I bought the piano from her.

I try to practice an hour a day, but don't always make it. Nonetheless, I usually manage to spend some time at the piano every day. I like it, even if my skills are still limited, & so far my neighbours still talk to me (I live in an apartment).

I've learned a lot of useful things from the forum just in the short time since I joined. Glad I found it!

Welcome, Jouyoussong, and congrats on your "new" piano. Isn't that great, you don't even have to take time out getting used to it, and you know exactly what you are buying. I think when it comes time to turn in my digital I would like to find a friend who needs someplace to store his accoustic baby grand!

With your connection to the Jazz Festival, is that the kind of music you play (or want to play)?

Jim

I'd like to play jazz eventually. My teacher has been teaching me to play from a lead sheet, but mostly I just practice the Alfred stuff, & right now I've been listening to a lot of ragtime. I like some of most genres of music. I have everything on my iPod from Glenn Gould to Jerry Lee Lewis. Also Bill Evans, Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, Don Thompson, Brad Mehldau.

I think my friend was really happy to know where her piano will be living, too - it made it easier for her to sell it.

Just plinking away here on the Pacific in Baja California. That's the other BC to my Canadian friends. Searching this and other forums for online learning resources for this ignorant beginner. First keyboard purchased Monday and this afternoon is day 3 of learning and playing scales.

ALLTHEBEST in 2010.

I am 44, play multiple instruments (averagely). Live in Perth Western Australia. Planning on learning to play the piano properly in the coming years.

I am Alvin living in Malaysia working as a translator. Well... I am 28 this year and just starting to learn the piano. I really love to play some music but I don't really have much talent for it. Gonna work hard to learn my piano.

Good to meet you guys and ladies here.

Hello!

I'm 27 and trying to learn to play the piano. I took lessons for about a year as a kid, but didn't have the maturity to appreciate them. So here I am almost 20 years later trying to start all over again.

I'm a pharmacy student, so I may not be able to squeeze in an hour every day but I'm certainly going to try.

-pharmB

Haya,

Im 30 and live in London, uk. I took up the piano from scratch when i was laid off from work about half a year back. Im now completely hooked and spend a large part of my day playing -which doesnt leave me much time for jobhunting, but whatta heck :-)

My biggest idol in the fantastic world of the piano is Vika Yermolyeva, a pianist in Amsterdam. She plays a lot of alternative stuff, like metallica and the like. If this is your cup of tea, you should check out her site: http://vkgoeswild.com/

Im currently trying to nail Fade to Black, although im only through the first page yet (after about a week of
hard work lol!)

Thanks to you all for a fantastic forum!!

Jan

Hey guys,

My name is Vinnie from New Jersey, USA. I'm 31 yrs old. I've been thinking about learning the piano for quite some time now every time I hear it. I was recently laid off from work in December so I decided on a whim to buy a keyboard and give it a shot without a teacher.

I got a Yamaha DGX-230 about 2 weeks ago with Alfreds book 1 and am making good progress. No the keys arent weighted but they are piano sized and have graded action, 76 of them btw. For $300 I got the keyboard, power supply, stand, and ear phones. So basically that was the best I can do in my budget without going overboard on something I wasn't too sure I would stick with.

Basically my only goal is to be able to play greensleeves from that book by summertime. From where I am now I think i'll get there sooner than that but I'm not sure.

Vin

Welcome to the ABF Vinnie. Lots of folks, myself included, started out on unweighted keyboards. Likely you will know when its time to seek out an alternative, as I did when I ran out of keys for a low E octave. Until then, there is much to be learned and you've made a good choice to start with Alfred. By now you probably have discovered the very active Alfred Book One thread on ABF. You should have no trouble getting to Greensleeves by summertime if you get to the keyboard every day for at least some practice.


Have fun and enjoy the journey.

Jim

Welcome, Manowar! When I saw your login name I thought you were going to say you were from Kentucky or Lexington! (Home of Man o' War, arguably the greatest race horse that ever lived.) ...but New Jersey?

And welcome to all the other newbies who have posted here lately.

Hmm well... Im not an adult yet! But didnt see anywhere else to post.

About me!

I am 16 years old. I live in Omaha Nebraska.

My musical background started about 11 or so years ago. I became strangely fascinated with pianos kinda out of the blue. I would go pound on the keys of any piano I could find!

Finally about 9 years ago my mom agreed to have me take lessons. My grandma rented a piano from a local store... A console if I recall.

I have taken lessons ever since. With 2 teachers. Recently about 6 months ago I switched to a more professional and jazz/theory oriented teacher. My first teacher was very nice and perfect but only taught up to a certain level.


Other musical backgrounds
I picked up the violin in 6th grade, and in 7th grade I wanted to switch to the cello! The school didnt happen to have an extra cello for me to play, but they did have a bass!

So I went with the bass, and about 6 months later I got a Cello for my birthday But I didnt want to go back as I loved the bass. So I just stuck with it!
I most recently as of november 09' Made all state orchestra!!!!!! :D:D:D I was very happy!

Currently I own a new 3/4 size bass, an entry pro level instrument. It was $6,000, and I play a 120 year old german style bow.
Bass is currently my 2nd instrument next to the piano. I play bass in orchestra, chamber orch, and Jazz band.

***I also play the organ... It is probably my most favorite instrument! (sorry piano people!) I have always had a fascination with the instrument! The real KING of instruments! The largest and most complex instrument ever constructed by man! And one of the most complex mechanical inventions! I started organ about 3 years ago. But have since fallen out due to financial restraints, and no longer having a practice instrument!

But some day! I will take up the organ again! My goal is to work for a pipe organ builder or become a cathedral organist!

I'm 41 years old, from Perth in Australia. One day last year I woke up and decided to learn the piano. After deciding a real one was impractical I bought a Yamaha DGX-630 digital piano with weighted keys. I am really enjoying it. I started from scratch about 6 months ago and am using the Piano Handbook by Carl Humphries. I like the fast pace and the fact I don't have to drone through nursery ryhmes. I'm only up to Unit 2 but I've memorised Greensleeves, Purcell's Minuet in A Minor and the first part of Bach's Minuet in G (BWV 114).

I really love that baroque style. In a few chapters he includes Mozart's complete Sonata in C. I really can't imagine being that advanced. I'm also getting to grips with a bit of theory which I kind of knew from my old guitar days.

All in all I love sitting down at the old "Joanna" and getting in the zone!

If I had to summarise my learning experience on the piano so far I'd say 2 words: muscle memory! I can't believe how I can play simple 2 handed contrapuntal without really "thinking" about it. The hands do their own thing, with only the occasional prodding from my brain. It is really amazing.

(Hello edgeledge, fellow sandgroper!)

Hey, 20thcentury

That DGX-630 is what I would have really liked to get if I had the money and I was sure I would stick with piano. I went with the DGX-230, which is similiar except no weighted keys. They do have the graded action though. Only 76 keys as well. The Yamaha sound is fantastic. So no regrets on the 630? That might be my upgrade by the end of the year.

Edit: I see they got a brand new DGX-640 just out. Havent looked into it yet though.