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

And I'm with you, Cathy. I appreciate my teacher for more reasons than I can count (which is rather remarkable, given the fact that we've known each other for all of five months), but one of the main ones is that she has only ever told me "I believe you can do this."

I played a tiny, rather cute Mozart minuet at the Christmas recital (at 135 BPM, as written). She'd never heard me play it without some kind of mistake *somewhere* (I tend to be very nervous in class, with her as my audience of one, which leads to many mistakes I otherwise don't make), and yet she kept telling me I could do it. At the recital, I did do it, and I've been able to play that piece note-perfect, with or without an audience, ever since. That's largely because my teacher never stopped believing in me.

When I asked her if I could do the first movement of Moonlight, she said it wasn't exactly easy, but that we coud definitely work on it. And then last week, when I expressed my doubts about whether I'd be able to do the second movement, too, she said again: of course you can do it!

So if this woman we are talking about has adult piano students, I pity them. They'd be better off with someone who didn't have such preconceived notions about what adult learners can and can't do.

On the other hand, in general, the best way to get me to do something quickly and decisively is to tell me I'm incapable of it. But then the pressure is on to prove whoever said that wrong, and in my piano studies, I fear that kind of pressure would make me into my own worst enemy.

So thank God for the teacher I found. She's definitely a keeper!

Saranoya, I completely agree with you on this. The right teacher can make all the difference. I am also so thankful for my teacher because she enthusiastically challenges and believes in me. This is my second teacher since moving to Switzerland and she is a keeper. With my former teacher I often left my lesson feeling very down, like I could never do well enough to please her. This teacher has the attitude that if I am willing to put in the practice time, she is willing to take me where I want to go. She is always talking about what I need to work on in my technique to get the skill for the next level. She certainly doesn't see adults as "limited" students in speed or anything else. Her faith in me helps me believe I can do it.

I (and my teacher) are really happy at the speed that I'm picking up the Chopin Nocturne in Eb. It's hardly performance ready but I can play the first two pages and some of it even sounds right

(Caveat: The third page has the hardest runs in the piece ...)

Oh, Allard thanks again and again and then some more. I have been working on this for an hour or so today and I can play the first 12 measures BH and the next four with the RH alone. . This score is from Alfred's Book six that she copied for me. Not a big AOTW but just wait, I'm not quite as good as David Lanz of course and have about as much chance of that as Custer had at the Little Big Horn. I think it get a touch harder now!

Ragdoll, you're learning to play this? Awesome! I can play... uhm, the first measure, Pretty sweet that it's in one of the Alfred books. I don't know if the score differs from the Sacred Road book I have. The first page looks fairly easy. The double notes then are still a bit tricky for me. And those FF 16th notes six pages in look scary. Good luck!

I think you're fishing for compliments Ok! Happy to oblige

You're not that much older, if memory serves - and you're certainly a great example of what the possibilities are for a laterR starter.

My AOTW - although it was not intentional I managed to corrupt the find recital thread.

..but it has made for some very interesting reading, though!

Yes I'm going to attempt this, though certainly not by Spring Recital.

I'm not familiar with the book "Sacred Road" but I doubt the score is the same as there's no six pages to mine . It's only 48 measures in 4 pages. It's the first piece in Alfred's book 6...not to say I have completed the other 5. I still work in several books skipping merrily around trying to find things that both challenge and are interesting or both.

Thanks for your kind words, it will take me awhile to learn this to be sure.

Hmm, not an achievement, but it got me excited.

Today's lesson was very fun. There are a lot of different music sheets of chopins nocturne c-sharp minor, because the original manuscript is lost.

Now we discussed whether a note should be a f-sharp or d-sharp and all the other differences. So much fun. Normally a piece is very clear about it.

Somehow it made me realise that after all those baby steps, there is some understanding of music, otherwise I could never discuss it.

Chris, glad you had a wonderful lesson. It's amazing how understanding hits us from time to time. Unlike children, that's something brings joy to adults and get us going.

I don't have any achievement yet but am happy that I managed to get a time off today. Was a hard week. It's amazing I got recovered from bad cold I had last week. I have lots of things to do today to prepare for my party but it's all fun thing (yay!). I don't need finish critical presentation while listening to a conference call and also Instant Messaging with my reports. And there is a beautiful day outside:)

Ragdoll - sounds like you are really working to experiment and try out new kinds of music - what fun - and what fun you will have with each piece - they all have something wonderful to teach us!

Chris - isn't that exciting! To know enough about something to discuss it, compare it to other pieces with things in common - to be able to look at it with new eyes and hear it with educated ears. Really, it is just thrilling.


Farmgirl - you sure did sidetrack the recital thread!
But let's be fair... you had a lot of help !!!
I can't wait to hear all about your piano party!
Best wishes for a fantastic time!

Well, this isn't one of those "Eureka!" moments but just a tiny progression that makes all the fun of practicing so worth it.

I practice each hand separately before putting a piece together. In fact, since I have a DP and recording and playback are so easy, I record each hand alone and play the other hand along during playback. Last night I decided it was time to put the piece all together. So, I set the metronome waaaaay down, and had at it. Woot! Made it all the way through, albeit slowly, but with no mistakes and a great feeling of accomplishment. Now it's just a matter of bumping up the tempo a little till she's up to speed.

Ah, the little victories in life!

Thanks Cas, yah my taste in music is very eclectic and at this stage (read decrepitude) in my life, if it isn't fun I'm not doin' it!

Not an achievement but answering to popular demand: here it is.

She has her own mind.

I love it!

My girl doberman used to lay on my feet, which made pedaling a little interesting, but she never tried to play piano!

Cute dog!

My achievement of the week is simply surviving it. Work pressure meant I only got to do about 15 minutes of piano each day and now I'm away for the weekend so no chance to practice until Monday.

That's a nice Lab FarmGirl and her cry for attention is sweet. I caught that frame of "her" piano? My granddaughter outgrew her tiny piano and now it belongs to my dog. Yours/hers looks like a Schoenhut?, so's Jessie's but it's little polished ebony upright. Erm, maybe not so polished now.

Farm Girl - great dog-person Have a great party this weekend, and post pictures and videos!

Cathy