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Hi Saranoya, yes I'd agree that Allard posting that David Ganz vid inspired me to take another run at it without crashing yet. The only remotely "classical" piece I knew (to play at least) was the little Vivace piece. I am finding the Canon gets progressively more difficult the further I get into it but I'm completely commited to it despite how much time/effort it takes and I'm sure it will be a long haul to play it to my satisfaction.

Another thought... this is roughly equivalent to posting to the Chopin thread and complaining that they have such a narrow focus on just one composer.

Oh my, my lesson yesterday did not go as well as I'd hoped but was helpful anyway. Teacher AGAIN pointed out that I should pay more attention to keeping my wrists elevated. I reviewed what little films I have made of my practice sessions and indeed I do tend to let the heel of my left hand fall below the keys more than I should. RE: my new Q3HD, I finally figured out how to use it best for audio and camera placement. Recording my practice sessions has been the best tool for assessing my posture, hand placement, and bodily tension while playing, as well as listening to/hearing my dynamics, etc without having to play at the same time.

My practice has gone well since the lesson though and most of my pieces I'm working on for Spring recital are well memorized. That gives me more time to work on the Canon and other new pieces and just review the older one every other day or so. I'm satisfied with how I'm progressing.

Thanks for the encouragement- seems like it never will! I have to pop out to get a blind for my bathroom and when I come back I will practise til my friend comes over- this should be at least an hour! I tell myself not to feel guilt going out and getting the blind- it is in a sale for £3 and I need one! My Piano keeps looking at me.


Wisebuff- next time you meet the naysayer piano teacher tell her about this 58 year old Brit:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/video/2013/jan/11/alan-rusbridger-chopin-video

Such a tease! It looks like a good book, but it won't be released in the US until September.

Thanks for the link!

Yes, I thought I'd stir some of you up with that one! :-)

Just remember that when praise (or anything) becomes routine, it loses all impact.

In your opinion, yes. If I may interject here, I think we should trust everyone's best judgement if they should praise, how much they should praise etc. I am one of those who are guilty of praising others because I think it's more beneficial. If someone thinks that I gave too much praise, well, then you know better. Just don't take it. I don't want to get into "what's appropriate vs not" type of discussion here because much of it depends on one's cultural and individual background. I came from a culture where people would answer, "Not so badly" or "Just hanging around" to a question "how are you?". During my early years of US, I used to be shocked when people answer "Fantastic" or "Great" to the same question. People here are generally speaking more encouraging than the people in my home region (Northen Japan). My folks used to say, whenever I make mistakes, "There you go again, that's why you are no good". Imagine hearing that right after you hit a wrong chord in the final measure in a recital when I was a child. My folks comments weren't unusual. I wish my folks said something more encouraging. I might have not quit the piano which I liked. Adults have their own fragile ego's. I would like to try to encourage our friends. Of course, it's only my opinion. If you or others think my comments too much, my apologies. Also let me apologize here for my often inadequate English as well.

I agree with you, FarmGirl. Praise is good! Adult beginners in piano need all the praise they can get. Most are their own worst critic. I love this thread for its camaraderie and mutual support. For many adults, it is too easy to discouraged by an apparent lack of progress. I think we need to celebrate each and every tiny advance and it is nice to have someone to commiserate with. This thread does that!

That's good!

Did you see his video? I loved that- he is very inspiring. I'm thinking of getting the book myself.

Edit- here's his website:

http://alanrusbridger.com/playitagain

If any of you can play the Ballade there's a competition! Record yourself on you tube!

http://alanrusbridger.com/playitagain/competition

I have just done a whole hour on Piano!!! The Handel is coming along. I also went back and played earlier Alfred's pieces- was interesting to me to see which ones still stuck and ones I had forgotten. I also recorded myself on my mobile phone playing the very teeny version of Largo from the book.

Don't apologise for anything FarmGirl! I really like reading your posts and think your positive and friendly comments are great! I didn't know you are Japanese- your English is very very good.

I LOVE this thread. It is my go to destination for the three P's

POSITIVE PIANO PRELECTION

Thank you Cheryl for starting it , and thank you to all of the other regular contributors for keeping it going. It has inspired, taught, humored, and comforted me during my musical journey.

Thanks for that clip, Edwardian. Very interesting. If you haven't read it already, you might like the book Piano Lessons by Noah Adams. It has a similar theme, although the piece he set out to play at the start of his journey (Schumann's Traumerei) was a little less daunting, to say the least.

I've been laid up in a ski lodge for a week, with a badly twisted knee.

They have a very nice piano, and if I'm not going to be able to work on ski technique at least I can work on piano technique.

So I spend a couple hours in the lounge yesterday trying to keep my repertoire groomed. As I'm closing up the piano, a woman approaches and hands me a $5 "tip".

I may have it framed. :P

I think that when you write 'one particular contributor', we all know who you're thinking of. But look at the stuff I've written here (go ahead ... I haven't been here long, so there's not much of it ... I'll wait). I could just as easily be considered the one who gives 'a positive reaction to absolutely EVERYTHING!'.

That's because I know myself. When it comes to learning to play the piano, I am, without a doubt, my own worst enemy. (As others here have already said, that's true of many, if not most, adult (re)starters. Which is the reason this thread exists.)

When I write something here, I'm really not looking for a 'brutally honest' assessment of what I have (or haven't) accomplished. I'm looking for someone to cheer me on. I'm looking for another pair of eyes, to help them see what I often can't see on my own, which is: despite my eternal feeling of frustration at a perceived lack of progress, where is the bright side in this story?

Forcing myself to write about something that I might rightfully consider an accomplishment, *each and every week*, makes me look at my piano journey from a completely different angle. It reminds me of why I'm doing this, even through the 'bad' patches -- and it helps to have an echo chamber (this thread) where my tentative hunches are reinforced by other people's enthusiastic reactions.

If you are the kind of person who thrives on critiques (constructive or not), the solution is simple: this thread is not intended for you. Read, contribute, snicker behind our backs, or ignore us all you like. But please, don't call our most active contributor's input 'worthless'. It's not.

Can I be excited now?

(and poor)

Be very excited, Allard! We want the details!

Thanks so much for that! The video was inspiring, and I think I'm going to push myself and record it in time for that deadline. I'd LOVE a trip to London!

EDIT: It appears you have to live in the UK. Oh well. If I can get it done in time, I'll enter anyway.

Allard: you HAVE to be excited! When that wonderful piano will be delivered to your home?

Casinitaly: my Czerny is op. 299 (Scuola della velocità), it's a but too much advanced for me but still... After Christmas holiday we stopped working on exercise n. 3 - arpeggios -(modified by my teacher) and I was asked me to start number 4 for articulation. These are exercises, not really etudes, so less musical. One of my sons is studying on the first Czernyana and I find it more enjoyable.

Saranoya: yes, I feel better without Czerny. Especially because teacher said we will use my Scarlatti piece to work on technique.

In my recital video I'm trying a few pianos in the local store. Didn't really find the perfect instrument, so today I went shopping at "Bol Piano's", allegedly Europe's largest dealer. They have 1500 pianos. Took a while to play!

After trying several restored Yamaha uprights that were going for 4k euro (U1 and U3), I wanted to compare with a grand. Tried the 12k baby grand in the picture. It sounded... well, almost as good as the 65k Steinway & Sons I also tried, and much better than the other cheap or used models. It's a Perzina 152cm; an originally German brand, factory now in China, owned by Bol.

They cut 3k off the price and offered to deliver tomorrow. Tomorrow!