Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Hi everyone, Newbie here!

Hey everyone,

I just signed up to the forum, so thought I'd introduce myself. I've been lurking around a bit, and find it a bit daunting how advanced most of you are at the piano!

I am 15, and just started the piano again in April. I had lessons for a very short time when I was about 10, but my teacher never taught me to read music! Now I'm teaching myself.

I can manage around grade 2 pieces, though if I'm feeling a little wild I often attempt much harder pieces (with laughable results!).

Well, hope to talk to you all soon!

Tezzie.

Hi, Tezzie! Welcome to the forums. I'm sure you'll learn a lot from all the members here, like I have.

Hi Tezzie,
Bless your heart! I never had but one good teacher and I had her for a very short time. Yes, you can teach yourself quite a bit if you have the motivation. Chopin himself was almost self taught. His mother taught him the basics and his only formal teacher before the conservatory (which he entered when he was 16) was a violinist! (The violinst was a much beloved friend of the family and offered general music guidance and encouragement if nothing else.) My best advice is to practice very carefully. Think when you practice. Never
gloss over something you unsure of. Stop right there, figure it out and do it right. If you don't, you'll just reenforce your mistakes. And remember it all takes time. Progess will sometimes seem slow as Christmas. Even now, I sometimes feel as if I'm taking three steps forward and then two back. Work a little bit every day, even if it's only 15 minutes. You'll eventually get there. (BTW-attempting harder pieces is how you grow-just be more even more patient with them and with yourself.)

Thanks Frycek! I love trying pieces beyond my level, it really helps alot! Like I was thrilled to bits when I managed to play the first page of Chopin's Ballade no. 1. Even though it's not that hard, but still - I love that piece alot and its good to be able to play just a tiny bit of it!

It helps my sight-reading too, which is funky.

Hello!

Tezzie - it's so great that you are enthused about the piano and it sounds like you are a natural. Please go find a teacher who will guide you and be honest about your skill level. The Chopin Ballade is within reach - down the road - you have to have the basics first. If you apply yourself, and work really hard and have a talent, then soon you'll be playing Chopin. But it requires scales, arpeggios and octaves... meaning hours of technique. PLEASE go find a good teacher! Good luck!

Welcome Tezzie! I'm also still fairly new here - only joined in April.

I think you will like it very much here - it's weird how you tend to trust these people with your deepest emotions, even if you haven't met them physically! I've learned so much here, and don't worry, everyone who posts here isn't that good - take me: I wouldn't even dream of taking on any concerto right now!

Last but not least: don't EVER think ANY question is too stupid to ask here - we'll only jump at the chance to help you.

Sometimes it's the most basic things that give you problems, so don't ever hesitate to ask.

Hi from South Africa

You seem to be doing fine.

One important thing at your age is to enjoy it. If you find you enjoy exploring music with your piano, practice will be fun and you will progress rapidly.

At some point, perhaps in a few months, you may be ready for another teacher.

Teachers are valuable -- for one thing -- to let know know how well you are really playing something, and what you can do to improve a particular piece.

Thanks everyone!
There's nothing I want more than a piano teacher, but unfortunately we just can't afford it
I do love the piano alot, and have alot of motivation, so am learning well on my own for now

Hi Tezzie,
The other posters have made a very valid point. I never intended to imply that you're better off without a teacher. I did get the impression that a GOOD teacher wasn't available to you. I DO believe that after a certain point in your developement you may be better off with no teacher than a bad, lazy one. If you can find a good, caring teacher, you'll be better off than on your own. I first had one old lady who taught me the notes when I was five. She was a "church lady" ("chapel lady" to you Brits) and most of what she taught me was Methodist hymns. Then we moved and I had a very bad lazy teacher during my most important years, 10-15. She had me play, pretended to listen, took my parents' money and tried to sell them sheet music. She never demonstrated anything. I finally got fed up and demanded to either quit the lessons or have a better teacher. My mother found a French woman that had studied at the Paris conservatory. I auditioned for her, playing the Moonlight Sonata, which I had taught myself. My alleged teacher didn't know anything about it. The French woman accepted me and taught me as much as she could in the two years she had me. She was more than professionally compentent and most importantly, she was interested in her students. That's what I mean about a caring teacher. She's the one who interested me in Chopin. (I pronounce composers' names with a French accent to this day.)

H Tezzie! Welcome!
About my teachers:
My first teacher was Chinese (like me) and was very good, however, because she was trained in China, they have different playing styles as from here, so maybe i learned some wrong techniques. She taught me for...I think 3 years. THen I changed to an American teacher. He corrected everything that was wrong about me, and he was sooo GREAT!! He taught me for a year and 4 months, before I moved to Houston (this was in Austin)
My current piano teacher is also an excellent teacher. He's the friend of my 2nd piano teacher and he is a VERY dedicated teacher!

Welcome to the forum Tezzie!
As for not having a teacher, i'm sure you can progress with the help of your friends here in pianist corner

Welcome Tezzie.

Take it easy and enjoy your music. There's so much more to it than meets the eye. Chopin's first Ballade is a real treat when you can get it right. It's also a lot harder than it looks especially when you get further into it. You'll notice that about a lot of Chopin by the way.

It would be nice if you could eventually get with a decent teacher because they have so much to offer in the way of direction, guidance, and support. Besides, you'll have a chance to learn different approaches, techniques, and many new things. You'll find that studying music is a lifetime experience and that you will at various times come to a stale point that needs touching up. Over the years I've studied with four main teachers.

My first teacher, is a very good friend of mine and my family (she knows my parents before they were married), and was the youngest graducate of New England Conservatory. She went on to study at Julliard, and had a chance to study with Isador Phillipe, Leon Fleicher, Alfred Brendel, and many others. She taught me the real fundementals about music. I really learned to read well, and really get the hang of rhythm and tempo.

As always, a good thing has to come to an end, and I out grew her. I transferred to a young teacher at Phillips Academy - Andover. She was an Oberlin Graduate and was working on her Masters at NEC. With her, I learned sight reading and advanced technique. Her problem was that she really wasn't interested in teaching, and I really needed the direction and support from her at that time. With all that I learned from her, I felt as though she really wasn't there when I needed her.

My last two teachers were pretty recent. The third was a concert pianist who was working on his Doctorate degree at Boston University. He had studied at Northeastern, and in New York at Julliard. Among the many thing I learned with him, I learned the fine art of inner voicing, advanced pedaling, relaxation, and listening. Inner voicing is where you alter your hand positions to play the inner melodic lines. Chord balancing is related to this too and helps keep things from getting crashy when playing big chords.

My last teacher is actually my uncle. He studied with my first teacher as well, and went on very much later (in his early 30's) into composition. He studied at the Eastman School in Rochester, NY, and at SUNY Binghamton. His lessons with me happen once or twice a year. They are usually advanced technique, relaxation discussions, and other things music related.

John

Hey guys,
Thanks for all the advice, etc. I agree with everything about having a good teacher, and I'm sure I would progress much faster with a good teacher. The thing about teaching myself is, if there's something I dont understand or am not sure of, there's nobody to ask. That is, until I joined here! A teacher can actually show you things in person, though, which is very important.

milliee, I'm Chinese too! What part of China are you from?
My first teacher in fact gave lessons to me for free, in my primary school. I had some basic knowledge of piano already because my sister had lessons for a short time when she was young, and I learnt off her (she lost interest a long time ago though). Most people got group keyboard lessons, but because I knew more, I had private lessons with one other girl. She was a nice lady, but I never learnt to sight-read from her, only memorise. I didn't learn with her for very long at all, as I moved onto secondary school, where I stopped until 5 months ago!

The piano had sat there practically untouched for 4 years, and one day I just got the urge to play it again...I started doing basic finger exercises in one of my sister's old books called A Dozen A Day, from which I taught myself to read music, and went from there!