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

gabi, I don't know on which thread you will see the answer, but this has been identified (by Mark_C and others) as Debussy's Arabesque #1.

My AOTW is that I have done something I have never done before: memorized a piece from playing it so much. This is structural memory, not muscle memory. The piece is Gnossienne No. 1 by Erik Satie. I don't memorize easily, so this is utterly delightful to have this piece, which I like very much, in memory.

CasinItaly, your risotto recipe sounds wunderbar! It sounded so good in fact that it drove me to our favorite Italian restaurant in town for Risotto with Shrimp, rucola, and cherry tomatoes. It was yum!

I had my first piano lesson in almost two months today, and it went well. My teacher loved my Chopin Waltz in B minor, so it can go into the maintenance mode. For her to say "Sehr schön" (Very beautiful) means I am a very happy girl! She assigned me yet another waltz- Chopin Waltz in C# minor. This one looks more challenging. The other AOTW was that we identified two key technique issues that I need to work on. First I tend to keep my hand too stretched out while playing, which causes tension. She showed me how to run scales with a pearled hand, and I could instantly feel the difference in the tendons in the back of my hand! The second is that I am not moving from the shoulder enough which causes me to just reach with my hand instead of moving the whole arm. Again this is causing tension in the tendons. Hopefully now that I recognize what I am doing wrong, I can fix it.

Thanks for the recipe Cheryl. I've just made some stock from guinea fowl remnants, and this is exactly what I'll be doing with it tomorrow. Ta muchly.

AsOTW have been starting to understand the basics of figured bass (today), doing a slow first pass of Froberger's Lamentation ('faite sur la mort tres douloureuse de Sa Majeste Imperiale, Ferdinand le troisieme') in a form that was vaguely recognisable, and realising that I now play all the left-hand down to three ledger lines below the bass staff without thinking about the notes. (They are *very* satisfying to play on the harpsichord and Froberger has lots of them.)

I have fallen in love with the Lamentation, but it's pretty challenging, and will take a while to learn. Two months ago I rejected the idea out of hand, but now I've begun to get to grips with Froberger's suspension-rich style, I'm thinking it's maybe not out of reach.

Christine - Glasslove- congrats on the Beethoven and thanks for the intro to Rollins. I have really enjoyed so much of the music you've introduced me to over the past couple of years!

Oudeis - sounds like a very very happy lesson! Good for you

Wisebuff - excellent progress on your Allemande! Good for you. I agree that it does help to know that even at such high levels of competency there is always something that can be improved or adjusted. Somehow it adds perspective and is both a reality check and an inspiration!

Yuki Kuki - I'm just starting to understand pedals recently. My teacher tried introducing me to the art over a year ago, but somehow.....it just didn't click til recently.

Pianostudent88- I know what you mean about "accidentally" memorizing. That happens to me too (mind you so far my pieces are pretty short, so memorizing isn't really that tricky!)

SwissMs you really are moving along with your Chopin!! Wonderful! and such a compliment from your teacher!

Eglantine, I am not familiar with Froberger - I've got homework to do! Sounds very interesting though, and I'm so intrigued that you're working on a harpsichord.

My AOTW is three-fold. I've made a bit of progress on the Chopin waltz, my pedalling technique seems to be improving - or to be more precise,....it is actually happening! I still have coordination issues, but now I really do understand how it works.

And finally - this is quite an achievement for me because it has been a LONG time coming. I managed to play my Franck "Doll's Complaint" with a very light left hand and a louder right hand. I've never managed to play stronger with one hand before for more than a bar or two. Now I can do it for the whole piece! I'm very chuffed!

Congratulations! My left hand refuses to be tamed. It walks all over my right hand, and has so far refused any training. So I well appreciate the magnitude of your triumph!

Yes, congratulations! That is huge! I'm still not there yet, but I'm working hard to get closer.

Whoa! This thread has slipped to page three! Lots of other action going on. It sounds like everyone is progressing well. My AOTW was finally mastering a four note trill at the end of of Chopin Nocturne in Eb Major. It starts out slowly, gets fast, slows back down and then gracefully unwinds. At least that is what it is supposed to do. I could never keep it even when I speeded it up. My teacher taught how to do it with a slight forward and backward movement and it worked. Yeah!

Hey guys,

it has been a long time since i last posted here. Since Christmas i have been pretty busy and was out a lot. I also had my interest decreasing a bit.

Last week though i had my first recital and i played Bach minuet in G major and Bach minuet in G minor. I was pretty scared as i am not a "in public" guy. I also was the only adult in there. My son played is first recital as well there so i couldn t leave him alone and decided to go for it.

The first minuet went pretty good but i had some mistakes on the second. At the end of the recital a parent came to me to congratulate me on learning the piano and how he would have love to do that himself while his daughters were learning. He said it was really good. Although i really think he was beeing kind with my playing the comment of this guy i didn t knew brought back so much motivation in me. I don't know why sometimes those "events" really help.

So i decided to get back to work after 2 choppy months. I will still work on clementi sonatina. I am starting to know the 1st movement but the speed is definitely not there. I still have to work on that. I would love to be able to play the whole sonatina as my first complete piece.

Also as a more challenging piece i decided to go with Kulhau Op 20 N1. I discovered this with my wife as we were listening to music and i love this piece so much. She asked me to learn it for her. How could i refuse this. I know it is beyond my ability level but i will take this as a longer term project.


Here are for the news guys

@Casinitaly : I think i will try that risotto

@ samrose : I am speechless with the way you play after little more than a year. It is awesome. Could you read music before starting? Did you have any kind of music background?

Two small achievements for me this week.
First I passed my minor scales test, and second, I advanced to a new "sight reading" book. Keith Snell's Quiet Classic's.
Although when I looked through it, pretty much all of it is way too advanced for me to truly sight read, ie. play properly first time through. But there are a lot of fun pieces in there and im looking forward to learning them.

Thanks for the encouragement! I've been a bit burnt out lately.

To answer your questions, no and no.

I finally memorized "Una Furtiva Lagrima"'s piano part, with some of the vocal transposed to piano in the blank areas. I just have two or three tough transitions to 4-finger chords that foul me in the middle and end of the thing, but I have it memorized, but not smooth.

Gee, sometimes I feel so out of place here. Where's the Adult Total Novice forum?

I've been self-teaching on-again/off-again for about a year, and I'm still learning the basics. But I did learn the bass line to Money (Pink Floyd) and Seven Nation Army (White Stripes) the other day. Not songs I intend to ever play to completion, but the parts I learned are so easy.

It's just nice to accomplish something outside of the beginner books and lessons once in a while, even if they are simple little riffs.

Also worked on the first 10 (or so) LH bars of Adagio (Suzanne Ciani), but I won't dare say I've learned it yet.

Congratulations, cheechako! I don't know Seven Nation Army, but I love the relentless beat of Money.

Well, Seven Nation Army is so simple and repetative, I'm not sure it counts as learning.

I really like Nataly Dawn's cover on YouTube.

Two great songs, cheechako. It's always good to have fun.

Today I have memorised the bass line from Purcell's Ground (ZD 221; probably actually by William Croft, not Purcell). 3.5 bars, about 28 notes. Nothing at all. But it's all I need in LH, as it then repeats 10 more times.
A bit like Seven Nation Army!

SwissMS -thanks for rescuing us and bringing us back up to the surface! Congrats on your trill. Aren't trills fun? I love them.

Burt59- Your first recital! Good for you. I don't think the other parent who spoke to you was simply being kind. Think about how many of us waited so very long before starting, ---- lots of people are still waiting, trying to summon up the courage to take the plunge and learn piano. He was most likely genuinely impressed that you had started and managed to perform in public. Don't forget that at most recitals, the audience is REALLY and sincerely rooting for all the performers.

DMT3339 - New music - ah, we all understand that thrill! Have a good time with your new challenges!

Rusty Foursome - 4 finger chords. Hmm. I have not yet come across any of those in my pieces. I find 3 finger chords sufficiently challengine. Good luck coming to grips with them!

Cheechako -- Please don't feel out of place - some of us here have only been playing a few months, a year or two, or three - then there are a few others who are farther along in their musical journey. It is a real mixed bag. Hey, sometimes we talk about which scales we're working on! We're all learning and sharing the adventure. Nothing is to simple or basic to put up as your AOTW in this thread - it is all relative to each person's experience.

Eglantine - will we get to hear your piece when you're done? I like Purcel very much - and whether this is Croft passing for Purcel or pure Purcel, if there is room for confusion, I'm sure I'd like it .

I have had a quiet week. I think my main achievement has just been getting to the piano period.
I have been improving with the use of the pedal, that started about 10 days ago or so.... and I've got the first page of my Chopin waltz (Am posthumous) memorized. I can play it all - V.E.R.Y. slowly.
However I don't think I'll be moving on to the second page til I have this one a bit more up to speed. The second page has a LOT in common with the beginning of the piece so I believe it will be much quicker to learn.

Casinitaly, my Olympus LS-10 is currently with Olympus UK tech services, as it completely packed up. (And it was only 5 weeks out of warranty!) I'm just waiting to hear if they can fix it. It's taking a few weeks. I'm hoping to get the Purcell in recordable shape by the time I get it back.

I have finished memorizing Satie's First Gymnopédie. That means I now have three pieces memorized.

Also I have learned my last three harmonic minor scales, so now I know all 24 major and harmonic minor scales.

Greetings, everyone!

P88 - Hey, I have exactly 3 pieces memorized now, too! Two Clementi movements and a not-Bach minuet from the Anna Magdelena notebook. But I have nowhere *near* as many scales memorized...

Burt59 - your recital sounds great. It sounds like you did a great job! I have never done one, and can only imagine how much playing "publicly" would mess me up... I'm guessing it would be plenty messy. A hearty congratulations.

I've had a quiet few weeks, piano-wise. My latest Clementi movement is really coming together - lots of compliments today from my instructor, though we worked on the final 10 bars as I was least confident there. Now he's got me working on Fur Elise, which some of you may know tickles me pink because I love Beethoven and this is my first. I've got the first easy part going but not very smooth yet, and soon will start having to deal with what I'd call the first fast part. He thinks I can do it, so I'm psyched!

And just to say what's up with scales, since casinitaly mentioned them... I'm working on 2 octaves in anything other than C major... starting with G... shoulda done these long ago, but better late than never!

Just checking in to see how everyone's doing. It's great to see some new contributors here, as well as updates from some of the "originals". Not a whole lot going on here, except that I'm really enjoying my Satie piece, Gnossienne #5. I've been having so much fun with it, that I also started working on #3 and #4. Can't wait for my next lesson, to start getting some feedback on these new ones.