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wimpiano,

yes I was fortunate to get a place with her. I think one of the problems with the early Alfreds book is that there wasn't a single song I hadn't already heard many times, and so I tended to memorize them. Not that that's a bad thing but my reading was/is poor because of it.

Now that I am more into unfamiliar and harder territory, memorizing is more difficult so I feel like I must improve my reading as well as my technique.

Thanks Cathy, I expect to improve a lot too. I didn't even tell her I was recovering (slowly) from the flu. Didn't want to start off with excuses for my pathetic audition with her.

8 Octaves--very nicely done. Thank you for posting that.

earlofmar--sometimes I try to imagine what posters look like based on their posts (risky business, huh?). I'd say I got you in 'ballpark' range.


P.S. I'm not the least bit stubby.

Ragdoll, you landed with a near-perfect teacher, in my view. Yeah, swallowing a Pride Capsule(TM) isn't easy or fun (me, playing a piece I thought I had nailed, for my teacher; teacher, "Well, you have the notes down.") But that's what we have teachers for, to analyze our strengths and weaknesses and take us forward. And by being strict taskmasters and kind and diplomatic at the same time. No small order.

Your comment about the Alfreds books strikes a note with me. The stuff I'm currently working on now (longer, less easily memorized) has made me buckle down and read. My teacher assigns a healthy portion of new stuff each week and that has helped my reading by making me read.

Yeah isn't it such a lovely simple song! Since you've played it you know you have to be at the piano to bath in all the pretty chord the composer chose. I think I'm going to keep this one and try to keep it in my few things I could always play. I'm so pleased you liked it.

Awesome AOTW. Are you kidding? Never playing for anyone before then playing for the entire public. That takes courage. You no doubt also found out the fact that when you play for the general public, you have to play what they like not what you like, thus the Gilligan's Island theme is not a bad idea. I personally don't care to play for anyone who hasn't attempted to play the piano because the general public's expectation is far too high.

BTW, 39C is sizzling. Last Christmas when we visited the Sydney Zoo, it was 42, and so hot all the animals were hiding. It's definitely a hot place down there. Take care to keep hydrated.

yes I am in the middle, those other two are just groupies

Where's your bike?

malkin my bike is on the left. It is an aluminium Scott road bike (USA) and I love it. A big step up from the heavy bikes of old.

Sweet!
I've wondered a few times what my teacher would think if I showed up to a lesson wearing cycling kit.

Not an achievement for piano but I decided to do Christmas carol duet with my pianist friend at our local piano club party. She is better than me but we are both beginners and still doing baby pieces.

I'm pretty excited. This is going to be my very first public performance of violin. To make it even better, Carey (forum member here) graciously accepted to accompany us on the piano. Yay! It will be fun. I cannot wait to get the music.

For piano performance I would like to play both Schumann pieces for the party if Grillen gets up to speed, but not likely by the 14th. I will play Warum.

Of course; if one has never heard a piece/song before, it becomes acutely necessary to actually read the key, melody, harmony, rhythm, all that goes with the playing of it. I got stuck with copying what I had heard (CDs, YouTube, Etc.)instead of what was on the score. This was/is a long struggle for me `cause reading isn't an easy thing to get a good grip on. It's hard and I'm lazy at times if I can make it sound OK, or if something bores me. That only worked for me a short time.

Thanks for the encouraging words Stubbie.

Ragdoll,

I had similar memorizing/reading issues when I came off Alfred and started with my teacher. The ultimate solution for me has been to be very careful NOT to listen to recordings/utubes of a piece until I have it well into my fingers and have already developed some ideas on my own of how it should sound. I want to hear a piece in my head, but I want I want to develop that from what I see on the page. Easier said than done, but improvement does come over time.

FarmGirl : how cool that you're going to do a violin duet - and that Carey will be there too! What great fun. I checked your reference to Edward (as relates to Brahms Op10 N1)
It isn't about a king , but it is a folk song/story.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_%28ballad%29

AnneH your piano looks gorgeous - let us hear it!

BenBoule - congrats on getting those jumps! That's a big step - or should I say...jump?:)

Mike Cunnington - welcome to AOTW! and congrats to you for mastering the "play it SLOWLY" concept. That's something I still struggle with!

8Octaves - I can't wait to get my tuner in -your piano sounds delicous! That's a very pretty pieces of music indeed!

Earlofmar - what fun! Even more fun to see your pic - and your bike! Good on you for taking the challenge!

Ragdoll - it sounds like you have FINALLY found YOUR teacher. I am so happy for you! I know what a long struggle this has been for you- I'm doing a happy dance for you!
I know what it is go have to swallow your pride and take a step back --- it feels discouraging at first, but as soon as you start to feel the results you'll feel happier about your decision and that pride won't taste so bitter Your teacher sounds like she really knows what she's doing. Wonderful.

Anita - I've played about with the Chorale - it is a lovely piece of music - can you talk to your teacher about your position? Or if you don't have a teacher maybe you can make a video and ask for help in the teachers' forum.

Silver Keys - we read about Buffalo's snow dump and really felt sorry for everyone there. Living here in Italy (at least in our part) we only get a little bit of snow. It is quite rare for us to get more than a few inches at a time - but when we lived in Ottawa, Canada --- well we had our share of snow. Glad you were able to protect your piano from the humidity!

Stubbie : lots of reading - that's the way to go. If you take it slowly you can play just about anything. I am constantly in awe of new pianists who really start from scratch - not even being able to read music. It makes me ever more grateful for the music program at my highschool and the dedication of our teachers.

JimF- Giacomo,sounds like your technique of not listening works for you. Personally I don't find it influences me too much -there are times where I rather like to check out pieces before I start to play them. I'm sometimes able to "hear" the pieces in my head when I read, but not always very well, so I like to listen and decide if I really want to play the piece or not.

My ATOW - like Ragdoll's - involves a bit of pride swallowing. I keep thinking I'm ready to speed up on my Clementi and my teacher keeps telling me no. At the last lesson he gave me a bit of a lecture - in a nice way, but he was very firm - and since then I've been working extra hard to find the right slow speed that lets me play in a truly relaxed way without panicking to get into position for the right notes. I think for the first time my body understands the difference between playing like this and playing the way I was before. It's a significant mental+physical working together breakthrough. I have also been able to play my trills softly and smoothly . I think the next lesson is going to be a happier one.

"Delicious!" What a wonderful comment for my piano! I have to remember that.

Oh thanks Cheryl, you're always so encouraging, yes I believe this teacher is going to be the ONE. I like the fact that she's not hidebound to any particular type of or method of learning music and said to me, "this is about what you want to play, not about me" YAY! "My job is to teach you how to play not what to play" Another big fat YAY!

It is good to see so much activity on the thread. Kudos to all.

Week 141: I continue my fall "hibernation" phase with not so much time or energy for piano. Many days are 20 minutes of piano time, down from an hour. My schedule becomes more piano friendly in January. With no performances or recitals in the near future, I go back to more free play.

One prose writer said that they like having written, the actual writing not so much. I enjoy both, the activity of composing and having completed pieces in my catalog. One downside is that it feels like it takes forever to compose anything (or for me to learn anything on piano for that matter).

I enjoy the free play time. With my background in pennywhistle, the Key of D is where I often gravitate to while doing free play. So far all my new musings sound like second or third phrases or bridges. I haven't stumbled upon a phrase that feels worthy of developing.

There is a Billy Joel line in his song Piano Man "when I wore a younger man's clothes." There was a time in my life when I spent hours and hours on the bicycle and wore bike jerseys and cycling shorts. These days, 10 miles is a long bike ride for me.

For those that celebrate Thanksgiving, have a happy one. Cheers.

@casinitaly There are a few upright pianos at work and one of them the bench looked really low. I might actually have to sit at it to see then I'll look at the one on one of the other floors to see if it's the same way. If I can't figure it out that way then I'll work on doing a video to get some insight from others.

It's been really hard to walk passed the pianos at work and not want to sit down and play but I work overnight hours so that curbs that desire

Cheryl, thanks. So it was a plain Edward not king or prince. Ookay

Farmgirl: Plain Edward -but a great story

Anita: where do you work that you pass by pianos regularly?