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Does it come with a certificate - something I can show to Mom?

Really, I am over it - once I realized that either I wasn't "good enough" or that it was simply a ploy.

It matters not - now I am playing FOR ME! And now I get to choose the music - and what great music there is - both classical and contemporary!

Only 2 more days until my Kawai arrives! Yippee!

Now don't be standing at the window staring out for 2 days...the neighbors might get the wrong impression...lol

It would only be my husband or our two dogs who would see me - but they already think I am nuts. A piano is far easier for them to tolerate than my accordion!

Hello all,

I just found Piano World a couple of days ago. This seems to be such a warm and friendly group!

I am 53 years old and have decided to buy a piano and start taking lessons. I currently have a little Yamaha keyboard to practice on and I really miss having an acoustic piano.

I took piano lessons from age 10 to 18. When I went to college I would sometimes sneak into practice rooms that weren't locked and play. After college I didn't have room, time, or money for pianos.

Now, my kids are grown and I just bought a house and have decided to take up piano again for my own pleasure. So right now I am looking for a teacher and also looking for a piano.


I have forgotten almost everything I was taught, so I feel like I certainly belong with the adult beginners. I can still read music a little, but my fingers forget where to go. Hope that practice will get my skills back.

I am a nurse and I work full time. My other hobbies are weaving and gardening.

Thanks for listening!
Sandy

Welcome to the forum Sandy and welcome back to the world of piano playing! Your fingers will quickly remember "where to go" and in no time at all you'll be right back where you left off years ago.

Hope to hear you in future recitals and, once again, welcome to the forum.

Now it's my turn to introduce myself and say 'hello' to all the forum members.
My real name is Synnöve. Born in Canada but I've been living in different places of South Europe since childhood, hence my broken English.

One day last spring, I surfed accidentally into this forum and read the comments of people saying how they were taking classes at 40, 50, 60... 70 years old. How they started at 50 from scratch. How they are improving and enjoying it. And I just simply went: Wow! Can it be?

I always believed that learning to play an instrument like piano or violin was a forbidden land for those who never started during childhood. Reading a score is no problem, I took lessons many years ago of solfege, harmony and singing, but never had the chance to play any instrument.
Curiosity made me investigate, spent weeks reading mountains of posts and even found an 'Adult Beguinners Forum'. That was it! Let's go for it!

For my 35th birthday I presented myself with a piano and finally started taking lessons in late September. I loooooooove it! Of course I suck at it, but who cares? It's grrrrreat!

Wow, that's what happens when you surf the internet. You start looking for a new lense for your camera and end up finding that you're still on time to pursuit one of your secret passions.

And talking about passions, I also love photography.
It's just a personal opinion of course, but I've found that Piano playing and Photography have a lot in common. Both arts need a lot of thecnique and thechnical knowledge about the instrument you have in your hands, training in other sciences (mathematics, physics, geometry) and endless hours of practice. And in both of them you must add your own passion and soul to turn something 'technically correct' into something 'alive'.

Nowadays I can only try to give part of that soul to my pics... maybe in some years time, my playing will have some of that passion too!

Welcome Boira! I really enjoyed reading your intro, especially that reading the forum motivated you to "go for it". I know when I've had that "I'll never do that" or "I'll never be any good" feeling about something it helps a lot to see other people doing it - some well, some poorly - but doing it nevertheless and having fun. It makes it a lot easier to jump in.

Congratulations on treating yourself on your 35th birthday and wishing you continued fun as you explore your new passion.

P.S. Since your other passion is photography, how about posting a picture of you or your piano (or both).

Accordion? Accordion??? Where's Monica????

Hi everyone,
If this is the place for introductions, here goes.

I am an Englishman living in Birmingham, UK. I was born and raised there and left only to serve 10 years in the Royal Navy from 1954 to '64, when I returned home.

I like to make furniture, I like my painting, and I am trying to make a supplemental income from writing. I had stuff published, but mostly short stories and woodwork articles.
I want to learn piano. I don't have room for an instrument at home, so I will settle for a keyboard with full size keys. I already play in one key (I think it's Db and its scale uses all the black keys). I just 'vamp' with the left hand and play the melody with my right. So at least I have a start. I play guitar to a fair standard, enjoying jazz, but my music theory is limited. I know there are three flats in Eb, and Band-in-a-Box says there are five flats in Db. But I wouldn't know when to refer to Db as C# and vice versa! I would like to be competent enough to sit down at a vacant pinao and entertain folk with some nice standards. Not to show off, but because I think music doesn't fulfil it's role unless it's shared.

It's nice to have found this place where I might get to talk to like minded people about a lovely instrument. Yes, I play guitar, but there are some fabulous pianists on YouTube, whom I listen to.

I played on a full-size Grand once; in my teens. That was when I wished I could play more than my 'three chord vamps'! I might never learn, but I am going to try.

So that's me. A piano-less, wannabe player, who is thinking of buying an instrument of some sort. Any suggestions are welcome.

Stay Lucky folks

John

Hello DavidC, David, Lorna, Sandy, Boira and John (sounds like a Dion song).

Welcome to the ABF. I've been hanging around for almost 2 years now, and playing for the same time. There are so many on this forum that offer help and support that the trip seems much easier and actually do-able.

I hope to see you guys posting away. The more people involved in a discussion, the better the discussion becomes.

Mike

OK
A fast self-made pic taken today during my lunch break. Hidding behind the camera is way more easy than being in frame :rolleyes:
If anybody wants to know how I look like, follow the above link...

Thanks for the welcome Gmm.

I am in good company I think. And for Dave C. You are doing well after a month. I hope I find it that easy myself! I can't imgine it though! Good on you. Keep going.
And:

Stay Lucky
John

For Musictuary.

I must assume a digital piano has a sound output and a headphone socket.

To record to PC it's best to get a sound 'mixer'.
You feed the keyboard output into the mixer.
Then it goes from the mixer to the 'line-in' socket on your sound card. From there it is written to your hard disc as a file by whatever recording program or device you use on your PC or Mac.

Mixers should have a headphone socket, so you can monitor the results.

I use a Logitech-fusion web-cam to record guitar this way. The webcam also records backing tracks played through Windows Media Player and these are fed into the mixer too.

That way I can hear the backing and play to it, whilst the whole thing is fed back into the PC as a 'multi-track' recording. (I can also record solo-guitar that way. Just that there is no backing to worry about.)

Using the webcam gives me a finished video recording of course, with the two mixed signals. So the finished result is me playing the guitar to an audible but invisible backing!

It is more difficult to explain than to actually set up your mixer and piano; honestly!

For my money, the best mixers are by Behringer..

I hope this helps.

John

Errata :::::: "Playing" the guitar Original now edited!

John

Thanks for your instructions. I'll give them a try.

You are most welcome Musictuary..
One final thought:

Behringer make a XENYX-502 Mixer. It has just the one channel, but for its size and one instrument, it's ideal. Much less expensive than the bigger models with multi-channels and scores of settings to boggle the mind!
I got most of my stuff from eBay of course. Again a money saver.
Best of luck
John

I am 36, married with 3 kids. I have always wanted to play the piano. I remember just staring at the music teacher’s fingers in prep school. She was like an idol for me. I will never forget her name – Mrs. Braithwate. I also love the violin and the flute.

A long story short: My mom died when I was six years old, I went to live with her sister who cussed me daily and repeatedly told me I would never turn out to be anything good.

My cousin took piano lessons and I remember waking up at nights with a flashlight to look at the keys. I was not allowed to touch the piano. I would poke at them if I got home from school and no one was home.

God, my hubby, my kids and my garden are my life. I started lessons Jan 2007 with the encouragement of my hubby (who loves jazz and plays the horn) and I practice every single day.
I plan on making sure my kids get lessons if not the piano – an instrument they like.

I love cooking and hosting, gardening, the beach with my family, visiting farms with my kids, volunteering, Interior Decorating, traveling and driving through the country side. I am an Accountant turned stay at home mommie (for now).
I am excited about finally being able to play and visit Sam Ash and stores online already collecting sheet music

I'm so happy to hear your story! It takes courage to accept those kind of childhood experiences. It's sad that someone would be so destructive to your spirit.

I had similar experiences in my early life, and it wasn't until I was married with children, that I could be the best "Mom" I knew how to be.

Someone said to me, "Remember those things from your childhood that you can celebrate, and things that bring you good memories, and forget the rest." That was very hard to do, but I finally conquered all that "programming" I received and I have forgiven and forgotten the people who influenced me poorly, and made my world miserable. They didn't know better.

I am so happy that you are getting your much longed for musical experiences now. Be kind to yourself and appreciate all the things you are learning to do.

Don't let those words of "you'll never turn out to be anything good" ever run through your mind again. They were wrong, wrong, wrong to be said to you.

Best wishes!

Betty

Well, guess I might as well jump in too. I'm 60 and have played the piano off and on since I was 10. Took lessons for four years in Ohio then moved to California. Took about four years off, then took another year of lessons before my teacher was diagnosed with cancer. No more lessons. Picked up the guitar, took lessons on that for three years and then was asked to start teaching. Went into the Air Force and rented a piano for my room (I guess you could say I like the piano). Picked up the recorder (German fingering, not Baroque).

When I got out of the Air Force my wife and I rented a piano until we could find one we liked -- eventually my parents gave us their Mason & Hamlin (built in 1947) that I had studied on. Also picked up the flute and learned how to play that.

During this whole time (around 50 years) I've kept at the piano (played piano and organ at church) but never really studied it. Recently bought a Privia PX-800 for practice in my computer room (the Mason & Hamlin is in the living room and my wife says she can't hear the TV when I'm playing).

Other things I do: ride a motorcycle as my primary form of transportation and I'm involved in herding sheep/cattle/ducks competitively (AKC, AHBA, ASCA, ISDS). I'm also a herding judge.

I do a little composing as well (mostly folk music sort of things).

for a living I'm a computer geek and an author. Just to round things out, I'm also an ordained minister (Catholic deacon).

Guess that's about it...

Ed

Welcome, epf! Gosh you have an interesting and eclectic set of interests. All I know about sheep herding is what I've learned through multiple viewings of "Babe."

IamElise, I agree with Betty: what you had to go through as a child is terribly sad, if not infuriating. It is a testament to your resilience that you made it through all that, and I am glad that you are finally able to indulge your love for piano.