Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Adult beginners - what is your number one question/problem?

+1

"Not knowing what we don't know"
"Being able to hear the problem"

THIS

MarcoM, Mabraman: Hola, amigos ibericos! Estamos nombrosos hoy!

Case in point (a post from another thread).



Now how does one work on a problem without knowing what the problem is? Is playing the piano just a mechanical exercise? I actually read a post from someone here about someone playing the keyboard with the SOUND OFF. I wouldn't be surprised at all if this kind of practice habit results in tendonitis and such. Hearing the music correctly is the feedback mechanism that you're doing it right. And the hearing/understanding has to develop at the same time as the physical activity. In my experience, I found it to be an advantage if the musicality is a bit ahead of the physical capability.

+1

There is a problem with any advice that goes toward one answer, or even a package of things. People are very different from each other and what works for one may be disastrous for another. Not to mention how anything may be understood.

Where has there been any advice that goes toward one answer? In fact, where has there been any advice?

Michael, sorry I missed this response.

This is an excellent example of advanced musicality, when you start to listen to others and not just yourself. It takes a lot of time to develop and as you describe, experience in a real life band exposes you to it. I myself am just at the baby stage of this.

Very valuable information here and most definitely opened up my eyes to some very different perspectives. Thanks to all.

I have to wonder though. The original poster hasn't posted here for a good bit. What is the original intent of this thread? What is the actual target audience that this question is being appointed to? Of course the term beginner can be broad but are we talking first year starters or something of the sort? Is it supposed to serve as an archive of questions or to provide answers as well?

It seems that a lot of the posters here are experienced players and not necessarily in the realm of "beginners". Which like I mentioned above can provide gems of knowledge, it's just that maybe the thread has gone astray from what it was originally created for.

My question as a very close to beginner is how do you know when to play hands
apart and then put them together? People seem to say you always start with hands
apart..for how long should you do this?

Having a very fruitful discussion in another thread, I learned that my priorities have to be changed:

My main issue is to properly and reliably self-evaluate my own playing. Without such skill, I could never progress well!

"""...
My No.1 question as an adult beginner is:
How can I enjoy my own playing and relax by playing piano, instead of getting tense in my head because of the

concentration on playing correctly (applying techniques) and expressively (listening to myself) at the same time?

My No.2 question as an adult beginner is:
How do I prevent bad habbits, if I can only afford to have a teacher supervising me fortnightly or monthly, and

will I ever have a chance to get rid of my bad habbits which I already adopted as a child?

Any recommendation (also to proper literature on this topics) is wellcome!

..."""

These are very good questions.

When you learn a piece you do so by playing/walking through the measures of the piece very slowly. Actually, I now read the piece over several days before I actually begin to play it - learn it - to make sure I can read the piece from start to finish in terms of knowing all the notes, knowing all the counting if it is difficult; in other words, getting to now as much about the piece as I can by reading and studying it. Remember, I am only a beginner, 63, and my pieces are only 32 measure long or about 2 pages. Then as I just said, I begin walking though the piece measure by measure very slowly many times over many days, as well as playing lot of other pieces I know. In other words I don't just play the new piece only because it would be boring, and it is imporant to break up the learning process into smaller periods of practice like 20 minutes of learning the new piece. So after a about a week I can probably play it but am pretty shakey but playing it with no mistakes, of course, or if I make a mistake in a particular measure then I stop and work through the measure to determine why I am not able to play it, if it is timing or fingering so that I can play that measure just like the rest of them of the piece. Then for weeks or months I play the piece day after day several times 5 or 10 times a day along with all the other stuff - I play like scales or whatever else. And I just keep playing the new piece. What happens over times is that I learn the piece because I play it all the time. I don't memorize it, I just play like all my pieces. No matter how simple the piece, how small the piece is, say 12 or 16 measures, you begin to feel the piece as a piano player. I begin to feel the measures and my body/brain tells me to play phrases a little slower than some of the other phrases. So you feel the piece and you play it how to feel it and I don't know why my body or brain want me to express it the way I do, but that is my experience as a beginner. Now when I say I may play a certain phrase, I keep the timing and counting like is should be, there are just a few times in a piece that I am compelled to make a personal adjustment. Because I play and review all my
pieces all the time, I know them well and I am relaxed at playing them and enjoy them and, of course, because I play them all the time one day from the next, like all of us, we feel different everyday, so even though I play everything the best as I can, I can hear that I play one note too loud than the rest of the piece or I was uneven in a phrase, so you will hear the difference. Let me say that if you play the c major scale it can be extremely difficult to play all the notes evenly in sound volume and evenly in timely. As a student your teacher will tell you you aren't playing the scale evenly and I could never understand that and always thougth they were picking on me. Well, now, because I listen to my playing I realzie the teacher was listening to me but I was probably dreaming of how good I was playing and not listen to my playing. You must relax and that is only possible by knowing the piece and playing it all the time. In terms of habits, when you realize what they are - or a teacher points them out, then one by one you work on the bad habit and slowly you will learn not to make the bad habit. I recently realized I was looking at my fingers when I had to play some measures. You are never to look at your fingers but only look at the music. So I figured out I didn't know that measure and caused me to look so I would play it without a mistake. So I went through all my pieces and made sure I never looked at my hands and if I did, I would play the measures without looking, playing more slowly until I would not have to look. You can't say it is okay. You have to enjoy playing the piano and you must relax but you have to keep your personal stardard of caring about how you play and technique because learning the play the piano is all about learning more interesting and gradually harder pieces.

MULTITASKING is my problems described in 1 word, including:

- Reading or even playing multiple melodic lines [1-note bass lines related to main line, riffs/ostinatos, or well rehearsed block chords - they are less of a problem, as I almost feel them 'less than a Task']
- Integrating key signature #/b's from reading to REAL TIME playing
- When looking to hands [and back up to reading]

Based on my recordings, I seem to have difficulty playing consistently over time without minor (or major) hesitations. When playing it live I don't notice it as much. My teacher stated of course to slow down the easy sections so the hesitation areas are virtually eliminated.

I need to use the metronome more. Just need to figure how to best take advantage of it.

Michael, that´s cute to read. To me it happens frequently that I start to dream, or to wonder how good I am finally once playing a piece. Then I remember that I usually fail completly because of such distraction and quickly concentrate back on my playing. Then I am pride that this time I was aware about the situation and no more failed by the distraction. Great moment!
Just a moment, because two measures later I fail completely by the distraction of having a great moment. Hahahaha, it´s always the same!

Question; how high do you play on the piano keys? When a piece is in C Major I find myself playing on the "low" part of the white keys.. so not between the black keys but "under" the black keys. But when I look at my wrist I see it is more natural to play between the black notes, so it is straight with the under arm?
For Example, let's say you play a C major chord in first position with your right hand, the octave under middle C. When you have all your fingers low, the angle isn't straight with your underarm. But if you want it to be so, you have to put the finger u press on the G very high between the F# and Ab...

Or you play an octave with your left hand from C under middle C to the middel C with, your pinky need to be much more higher than your thumb to have a good wrist position?

Lost Woods, it sounds to me like you are sitting too close to the piano, if your wrist has to bend in order you to play nearer the end of the white keys instead of between the black keys.

Quick check: when you stretch your arms out straight, your knuckles should just touch the fall board. When you're playing, your elbows should be in front of your body.

Thanks for the answer Since a while I've been sitting further from the piano and I think it's better. Still have the habit to "dive in" when I'm really into the music.

New question: How do u put the weight in your fingers. It's really hard for to put the weight in your finger tips from your whole arm/shoulder..

you have to relax your arm, shoulder (cause otherwise gravity doens't work)... but you can't relax your wrist/finger? Cause if you do it will all "collapse". Is there a good excersise you don't tighten up to much but still have a firm enough wrist/finger to guide the arm/shoulder weight into the key.

I tend to hold the underarm up and push down with the fingers so without the use of gravity.

Btw: Isn't there a "general questions" topic? Where you can ask your general questions..

Just start a new thread in the Adult Beginners Forum and chose a proper subject which summarizes your particular question!

My number one problem is keeping my right hand from doing what my left is doing and vice versa.

For example...playing a boogie woogie. I have no problem carrying the bass line with the left...as soon as I start with my right though, it tries to match the left or my left tries to match my right.

My number problem I have just given attention to correct (maybe no 1, maybe not) is weak 4th and 5th fingers on my left hand-I finally realized its correctable. I just drag them along with me usually.