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I'm starting out learning the piano after 30 years away , I played a bit at school but lost interest as kids do .
Do I go for lessons which are £18 half hour weekly from a recommended teacher or try the software $149 http://www.playgroundsessions.com/ , I'm going for a dp so my laptop can be plugged into my dp and the program gives you feedback on your play.

Thanks for the advice


Carl

I think you should start with lessons and see how it goes. It would be better to have a teacher show you correct posture and hand position, relaxing the hand, etc.

Getting a good strong starting point will serve you well in the long wrong. Plus as adults it's hard to overcome bad habits once they become ingrained!

Good luck!

I thought that could be the way forward to be honest , I will ring him tomorrow and arrange my lessons .

Thanks

Please explain to me how a software replaces your practing on a piano?

When you sit at your piano, hands placed perfectly on the keygoard and then you have to reach over to manipulate the mouse to do what?

Normaly, you open a method book and play the piece or you pay a teacher to show you how to play a piece and they listen to you play the piece and moves on.

Finding an effective teacher can be difficult. I haven't heard of anyone anywhere in the world who has ever learned to play any musical instument be it a piano, violin, drum, french horn with software? Most music teacher are not deaf, so they will tell the student what is wrong with the way the student has just played a piece on their instrument.

If you have ever tried to use software to put musical notes to paper, it can be a very slow process. What does the computer do while the piano student is playing the piano 1, 2, or 3 hours practicing scales, or the piece? Does the computer listen to the student and tells the student in bar 2 he was too slow or he played a wrong note in bar 7?

Yes, I am ignorant.

But I am humble enough to listen to you.

I'm not sure fully how the software works but if you click the link I provided it explains it properly Michael , it got very good reviews that's why I asked on here , I'm going to go down the lessons route as I don't want to pick up bad habits early on .

Carl

Or and by the way when you plug the dp into the laptop and play along with the practice piece it can tell you if you are playing too slow and wrong note.

I vote for lessons too. Yes, the software will tell you if you press the wrong key or if your timing is off. However, it will not tell you if your fingering is correct or not, if you shape a phrase nicely, if you play staccato notes in a good way, and most importantly if you have trouble learning something it cannot draw any conclusions about what really is causing the problem and make up some new exercise that fits your specific needs. The issue is that it is not enough to press the right key at the right time. You also need to learn how to make the music "swing". If the score says you should play a note loud (forte), how loud should it be? And how exactly would you play many loud notes without your hands getting tired? This is just a few examples of things that are easy to discuss with a teacher, but that software cannot really teach.

Good luck and happy playing!

I'm an adult beginner, but I couldn't imagine doing this without my teacher, she's brilliant and I enjoy every lesson we have together.

Neil.

Go for the lessons! Teachers see and hear things that software don't. And they are persons, you can ask questions!

As a beginner or re-beginner some feedback on your actual technique is important. I'd be afraid that learning from software with a DP plugged in might ingrain an approach to playing that's too focused on "pressing the right key at the right time". A good teacher will be keeping things properly focused on musicality, even as you are learning to hit the right key at the right time. Seems that would be hard to absorb from a computer software.

I think the software approach might be helpful for someone with a lot of musical experience on voice or other instruments. Just as a method of drilling yourself on the basic mechanics of piano if you're already very musical. Otherwise hard to see it competing with a good teacher at all (except for those folks way out in the boonies who can't get to a teacher easily).

like i said earlier teaching is the way im going to go , would you say half hour a week is ok?

thats what he has recommended

carl

Half an hour a week during term times was enough for me.

My honest opinion is that it has less to do with the teacher or lesson time than it does to what YOU do between lessons.

Lessons on media are worth less than the sale price. Lessons with a teacher are worth more.

Lessons with the right teacher are priceless.

thanks richard ,i take it he will set me goals to achieve before my next lesson

He can set all he likes, Carl. Set your own.

He might help you get started with goal setting but, trust me, this is one of the biggest skills to learn for anything, piano or not.

I'm looking forward to the challenge Richard

Good luck Carlwag, hope it works out for you, please keep us updated with how it goes for you.

Neil.

Yes it will be a challenge , but we lost our 2 year old son in oct so nothing can be as challenging as trying to get over that .

Kind regards Carl

Carl. My sympathy to you on the loss of your son. I couldn't even imagine the pain you are feeling. I hope you can find that learning and playing piano and immersing yourself in music will help ease the pain in some small way.

My other aim is to play at his memorial albeit next year or the year after .

Thanks Carl

That's a super goal to have. My dad passed away last year and at first I felt so tired I could hardly do anything. And then I went back to the piano. I was sad when I played because it made me think of my dad and how so many years ago as a kid I had begged him for an organ and he got me one and lessons for 5 years. I felt sad when I played songs he knew but yet at the same time playing really helped me grieve. I was close with my dad and I still miss him dearly but the music really helped me. Especially in those first weeks.