Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum A little advice?

Does this person to jam/chat with have to be a pianist? Heck, I might seek out someone on another instrument (violin/flute/oboe etc) to work through some simple chamber music.

UKIkarus, I have read your post, here:

OK, so this isn't exactly fit for the topic of the forum but it's puzzling me a bit.

I am a 23 year old beginner pianist been playing for about 1.5-2 years, I am in one of those situations where I play alone day in day out and just wish I knew someone else like minded locally who I could chat/jam with at times.

Trouble is you cannot exactly take a piano/synth/keyboard with you everywhere you go, and I am in a situation where people cannot really come to me either... just wondered if anyone else has ever been in a similar situation you know, wanting to find people who play ANY kind of instrument or just enjoy music in general but weren't sure where to begin?

I'm not really the kind of person who would like to gig/be in a band or anything right now and to be honest, although it may be something I'd consider in the future I cannot see it happening any time soon... I'd just like to find something/someone ANYTHING really where I can go discuss music/make music with like-minded people and could really use some advice. eek

It seems there are not many places about which have keys available either frown soooo if anyone has been in a similar situation, my question to you is.

What did you do?
Where did you look?
What did you find?
How did it go?

_____________________________________________

Nice and interesting post.

The nice thing about music is that every human on the planet has an interest in music.

I will tell you what happened to me. When I was 40, I saw an ad in a newspaper that said people of all levels are welcome to join the community band.

I showed up and I could read a little music. Somebody said get a sax because they are easy to play. So I got a sax and joined the community band of about 40 adults ranging from late teens to 60s.
I couldn't read music very well, and I certainly couldn't play the music. But everybody in the band helped me. But what is so awesome is that I met lots and lots of people talking during the breaks when we played. I found out that lots of these musicians played pianos and all sorts of instruments. And lots of these people played in lots of other bands and jammed with lots of musicians. I also learned about bands and concerts to go and see. In the end I played in a blues band, two concert bands, a jazz band, a sax quartet as well a jammed with other musicians at my house. I lived in a shack and I still do, and I told people who wanted to come to my house that if wanted to jam that is cool but if you want to look at my walls, they should not come because I live in a shack with holes in walls and it has never been painted since the 1970s. We could play at anytime of the day or night because nobody lived that close that could hear us. When I played in the blues band we rehearsed at a "studio" that looked much, much worse than my shack and there would be lots of bands rehearsing every night and I would learn lots of information about bands to go and see. The Blues band had a girl singer, the drummer sang too and played, and there was a bass player, keyboard player and clarinet player, trumpet and bari sax, tenor sax and an alto sax. The keyboard player also played a oboe but he only played the keyboard in the blues band. Although I was 40, most of guys and gals were in the 20s and 30s. So I played in all those bands and was only a beginner player so they wrote out simple music for me to play, so whole notes as opposed to 16 notes.

While I worked on a day job, I slept and ate and lived music 7 nights a week all as a beginner.

So you should consider that option because you are only 23 and I was 40. Now I am learning as a beginner the piano at 63.

So it is easy and cheap to play in a community band and they exist all over the world. So no excuse for you not to consider it. And it reminds me that in many cities around world, there are music newspapers for city events that list bands and movies, etc, and they have ads looking for musicians to jam and play or start a band. You can often post at music stores, universities, coffee houses, even laundromats. Also I see and talk to street musicians and they know where and how to connect. Remember anyone who is making noise with an instrument can help and they don't have to be a piano player because most piano players can't lug their pianos around the street so they play other instrument, too. And if you are dirt, dirt poor, you can own a $5 mouth organ/harmonica that you can keep in your pack pocket 24 hours a day or make food money by playing on the street - and there are "tons" of videos on youtube to teacher you how to play. So the world is there for you - all you have to do is to take one step and you are in the middle of the action. good luck

Basically anything you want, except hugging another poster. That, generally, you can't do online.

I was lucky. 25 years ago, during my previous "get back into proper piano practice" period, I came across an adult education class in London for piano. Back then there were lots and lots of free or low cost evening classes. So I joined a piano class. There were about ten of us and only one teacher and three pianos, but socially it was great. Sadly, both labour and conservative local governments have tended to cut back all the evening classes to a shadow of their former wonderfulness.

And I met the wife there. So what ultimately resulted was a family! And music taking a back seat for a couple of decades!

Oh but the hugs that would be given out