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

ElleC - what a wonderful new piano! I heard it in your PianoBar postings -it sounds as good as it looks!

Sand Tiger - I recently discovered 2 works by Pachelbel in my collections - Like you, I had only ever heard his Canon! The other pieces are delightful and I've done a bit of work on one called "Fugetta".

Larry - sounds like some interesting work ou're doing. Walking bass lines are fun!

Dynamobt: Welcome! Chopin eh? Good for you - (we pretty much all love Chopin to bit here, even though a lot of us (ok, me...sigh) can't really play much of his stuff yet.
It seems that your experience gives support to the "the more you play in public, the less stressful it is" theory.

Wisebuff - I agree - it is just great to step out of the PW boundaries and connect on different subjects. I have a few PW friends that I've connected with in emails ...but I haven't met any face to face yet. Something to aim for!

WiseBuff - just popped in saw your post. Someone earlier mentioned (sorry cannot look back pages I'm looking at it on my phone at the airport) that we look like sisters (lol). It was funny but I do think everyone on the forum share the piano genes. We may all have been descended from music loving primates. Anyway, I'm on my way to New York for a meeting. Shucks. I will try to sneak into my company's building to practice tonite. They have pretty bad (out of tune) Yamaha grand on the event / trainging floor. The piano does not have a music stand, so I have to test my memory. There is a sign on top of the piano "Don't place anything heavy". So I figure it's probably ok to play after hours. I will go see Jinathan Biss at the Carnegie Hall to cheer myself up. Happy piano week to everyone.

Hi Cheryl, did not see your post in time. I wish the meeting is in Italy rather than NY. Have a good week!

Augustina - Congratulations on your A!

ElleC - Johann is gorgeous! I heard your recording in the piano bar and he sounds great!

Dynamobt - Nocturne 32 2 is gorgeous! How nice to share it with nursing home residents! I am sure they loved it!

FarmGirl "Don't play anything heavy"? Do they think you will break the piano? At least the sign doesn't say "do not play".

Well, I had to think about what to report as an AOTW this week. I posted a video in the piano bar of me playing my new piano, so I will count that as an achievement. I really like the Q3HD Zoom. It does a good job.

My major pieces are progressing, inch by inch. One advantage of recording regularly is I can at least hear improvement week to week!

I have a very different kind of AOTW this time. On Saturday night, for the first time, I tuned an entire piano in one sitting! It was an early 1980s Yamaha U1 that hadn't been tuned probably since the 1930s
A4 was halfway to G#4!
It took me over three hours, but when I was done it sounded very nice. I'm aware that I'm no professional, but I've been learning how to do it, and it was pretty neat to get fast enough to do it in one shot. My first full tuning took a couple sessions on different days...

I have two really minor AOTW's this week.

The first is that I finally stopped procrastinating on the second movement of the Moonlight Sonata, and I can do both hands separate from start to finish pretty well already. Now working on hands together, which is proving somewhat tricky (probably because I'm not playing slowly enough ...).

The other is that I fulfilled a promise I made in an earlier post on this thread. I transcribed the YouTube video Ragdoll linked to into sheet music. It was fun!



I think it's very impressive that you were able to learn this to the level that you demonstrated in the Piano Bar after only three months playing the piano, and in just a couple of weeks. So, be very proud of yourself. This is quite an achievement, indeed! Also: w00t for your new piano. Others (including yours truly) have used this thread liberally to brag about new pianos in the past. I don't see why you shouldn't .



Respect, for two reasons. One, you managed to actually force yourself to play slowly and without errors, which is, as you say, indeed easier said than done. And two, you can play along to a metronome. It gives me the creeps, but I *know* I will have to learn to do it at some point.



Sounds awesome. I have a sister currently living in Amsterdam. If you tell me where the new job is, maybe I can get her to invite me for a bite to eat at your workplace. And if we're lucky, who knows, we might even be able to sneak in some playing time on the grand .



Your teacher seems to know you better than you know yourself. Or perhaps she just knows that you are prone to chronically underestimating yourself, and understands when to push in order to help you overcome this. Which, to me, is one of the hallmarks of a good teacher. So kudos to your teacher for being that good, and kudos to you for having found her .



If you're half as excited about playing this piece as your post makes it seem, then I have no doubt that you'll be rhapsodying circles around everyone else by recital time . I look forward to it already!



I disagree that there's anything 'only' about that. In writer's circles, they say that good writing comes from 1% inspiration, and 99% transpiration. I strongly believe that something similar is true for playing the piano: beautiful performances come from 1% talent, and 99% perseverance. So every extra minute of focused practice you can squeeze in now will pay off doubly down the road. Way to go!



An A- is great! Congratulations!



Working on it ... one bar at a time. Now that, that's perseverance. My hat goes off to you.



That, sir, is not trivial at all. That's huge! It may have been basic, but it's a great start. Now continue on down the path your on! You'll be composing on the fly before you know it ;-).



I'm helping you hope!



And it was lovely. It must indeed be great to feel your learning's speeding up.



+1.

It's called the Adult Beginners Forum Recital, remember? Most of the participants in it are so advanced that they scare away the real beginners. Don't let it happen to you. Instead, be one of those who encourage others to come out of the woodwork!



Two great compliments in a row (especially the first one). Thank you. I will cherish your kind words for a long time to come. I'm also genuinely happy for you that you managed to jump over the hurdle that was keeping you from learning song #2. And that life has calmed down enough that you were able to come back to us (not to mention, back to playing the piano more frequently!)



My guess is, you do have an AOTW -- probably several of them. They're just not piano related. My advice: when life throws you lemons, cut yourself some slack. And if you have something you want to talk about that doesn't have to do with piano, well ... I've found this place to be quite hospitable to that . Or, there's always PM, which I know you've figured out how to use now. Don't hesitate.



Awesome! I'm sure you'll let us know (and hear) what the exploration brings. I'm looking forward to that already.




Yep. It is. And once you can do it in one piece, you'll be able to do it in others too. So keep at it. We'll gladly listen to your recording whenever you're ready to make one (well, I will, anyway ... I shouldn't speak for other people ;)).



Parental approval of your choices in life ... what more do you want? . Of course you should keep on with the lessons. But you knew that already. Right?



Mind over matter, huh? Sounds like you've pretty much got it down pat. And with a Chopin piece, no less. Color me impressed.



Are you for real? I mean, not only are you one of the best pianists around here, but you can tune your own piano in three hours? I'll repeat what I said above, but this time with a little more vehemence: Color me very impressed. Any pointers on how to get there for us mere mortals?

Thanks guys!

Appreciate the welcome and kind words about my recital. I watched some member videos today. Some talented people on this forum! I think I will learn alot from participating here. It's hard to find adults in similar pursuits around here. There are other adults at the music academy I go to. But, none of them seem willing to perform. It just seems to me to be such a waste to practice as long and hard as we do for only entertaining myself and my husband. I really want to share my music. I just need more work on keeping my nerves in check. Dare I say, I actually enjoyed myself last Sunday. So, clearly playing in public is helping with playing in public!!!

+1

Definitely... couldn't agree more. Actually, I've been meaning to start a thread about this.


Only a little bit still... it's frustrating. I'm looking forward to retirement, it's only 25-30 years away!

FarmGirl - I wish you were coming to Italy too!

SwissMs, I have been doing the regular recordings now too - as bench marks to see how I'm doing --and also as a "reality check". I can really sit and listen and hear where the weak spots are.

Sam - that's pretty impressive! I've done a bit of tweaking on my piano (usually a day or two before the tuning is coming as I'm afraid of messing it up! ) but I've never tried doing the whole keyboard, just the middle couple of octaves. wow...

Saranoya - Glad to hear you're off the fence on your Mendelsohnn and starting to make progress! and transcribing from a video? Very nifty!

Dynambot - you seem to be taking to playing in public like a duck to water!

TallGuy...not speaking to me now eh? hmmm.

Last night I played my Heller piece all the way through at a decent, though slower than optimal, speed - my hubby really liked it! It was the first time he had heard it. I also started on Schumann's "First Loss" and that's coming along nicely. Lesson today, and I hope I can do as well in the lesson as I have been doing at home!

Aww come on! You flatter me...
I use a program on my phone to help me out, so it's not like I do it all by ear. But even still, tuning is very hard. My tuner told me it takes 1000 tunings to really become any good at it, and I believe that.

Week Four: as above with A, D, E and B.
I am going to visit my parents at the end of this week and will have no access to a piano for a couple of weeks . So I am not going to learn anything new until the week after I return ( first week will be practice). I am content that my brain knows what my fingers are doing, what the notes look like on the stave, and where my fingers are on the keyboard, so brain is in control and aware of what is happening , rather than pure muscle memory taking over. So I am happy to stay where I am until after holiday , rather than rush into next scale group. I am pleased with my tortoise progress, lol.

Well done to everyone for achievements big and small.

And I cannot thank you enough Sara. I'll send you a PM later but I am awe struck that you are able to do this. It is light years ahead of me to do even simple transcription from "hearing" something. Bravo girl!

Last summer I went three or four times where my husband works, in the company canteen there was a wonderful (and in tune) Bechstein grand and I played it in late afternoon when the place was almost desert. I enjoyed it very very much! Unfortunately it has been replaced with a Yamaha grand that, according to my husband's opinion, is not at the same level (but still a lot better than our upright, I suppose). In any case, I hope to try it next August.

My AOTW is a big one: today I had lesson, and I formally accepted to play in the recital a couple of solo pieces in addition to the duets with my children.
I consider it a strong motivation for really polishing the pieces, and to start learning to play in front of people - the last being one of my goals for 2013.
As I already said, I will be the only adult...
Now I feel very brave, I hope I will not have a nervous breakdown before 1st June...

And congratulations to everybody for your achievements, this is really a great place to share them!

Dulcetta! We haven't seen you for a while ! Nice to hear you are pleased with your "slow but steady" pace.... Remember, the tortoise won the race

Torquenale - That's really something that there is a piano in the canteen (ma ....nella mensa?)--I'm surprised though, that's pretty unusual, even for Italy! Now I wonder where your husband works! Congratulations on your decision to play in the recital. I think you are very brave. My teacher hasn't mentioned the one at the school yet and I have NO problem with that! I would like to play in a recital, but I don't want to play with only little kids. At least you'll be playing with your sons!


I had a fabulous lesson today! I played both pages of my Heller and then the first half of my Schumann (the new one, First Loss, ) for my teacher and managed to play quite well! woohoo! He showed me some techniques for hand positions for some of the awkward fingerings and coached me a bit of some timing I had not got quite right.... It was great. I was so pleased that I didn't have to say "oh, I played it better at home!" lol.

Ah, C, I've often dreamed of that alternate universe.... you know, the one where you sit down to practice and say to yourself "dang, I played this so much better yesterday at my lesson." Congrats on the progress.

My playing at today's lesson didn't go quite so well. But out of pity my teacher finally gave me a pass on the pesky Beethoven Minuet, which I'm sure she is tired of hearing me butcher.... lets just say fast,really clean, truly legato thirds are still an aspirational skill for me.

Oh well, I'm glad to be done with it for a while. And that leaves me more time for the Chopin, which is my recital piece and is nowhere even close to being played yet.

Also got a new assignment of a little one page Scarlatti Sonata in D minor, so we're back on the Baroque bandwagon again.

Oh, and I am still doing nightly lead sheet work...picking a different song every day and then improvising chords and melody at the same time in the right hand...a real pinky workout.

Howdy! After more than a couple of mixed drinks (called Good Husband) i sneaked back up to the 26 floor of my company Bldg. there were a couple of cleaning ladies on the floor. I realized it was very hard to recall Bach when you are not sober. Also this Yanaha grand is so out of tune. There is no music stand so I really cannot read it unfortunately. I played Brahms too. It turned out to be pretty cool with drinks. Anyway I kind of sort of practiced.

FarmGirl, you have a piano at work? I have yet to try playing after a drink. I got enough issues sober!

Yep. They keep a piano on the reception / training floor. I wish it was tuned but, hey, I have no complaints. If I was Sam or Cheryl I probably would've tuned it myself.

Cas....congratulations. Is there anything you can say contributed to things working out better at your lesson? Did it just kinda happen better?

FarmGirl... Sounds like you had fun.

Tourquenale... You are brave. Braver than I.

Jim... Sounds like you're doing good. Improvising something new everyday. That is something.

Wish everyone the best.