Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum OT, Tell us about yourself

I'm new here. Found PW when i was doing some research on buying a piano.

I'm 51. I played for a year or so as a kid. Then a couple of years of lessons as an adult. Stopped again and picked it up again recently.

I read music very well but I don't have talent. Nevertheless, I'd like to learn to play a bit, just for me. Hoping that I can achieve through persistence since I missed out in the musical talent department. i do many craft things so I'm creative in other ways.

I have a new teacher, I think she's quite good. I just replaced my really old, really awful sounding piano with a used Kawai that sounds so much better that it makes me really look forward to practice. And I just LOVE LOVE that it has a 'silent' pedal so I can practice any time of day or night without bothering anyone. Previously, I used a keyboard for late night practice and that just wasn't really helpful since the touch was so different from a real piano.

I wish I could improvise and jam with friends, but alas, I seem to be restricted to playing notes on a page, if i tried to improvise something or even play something by ear or from memory it would be a complete and total failure.

So, I'm reading here, and learning.

Presently working on:
Hellers Fifty selected studies for the piano, #2 and #3
(why can't they come up with better names?)

Hi

This is actually my first post and I have discovered this forum only some days ago.

I'm 33, have played piano back when I was a child for about 2 years but never was very enthusiastic about it. When I was 23 and studying for my final exams in the library, I picked up a CD with pieces from Rachmaninov and discovered the incredible Prelude In C Sharp Minor which is still one of my favorites today and got me hooked on classical music, especially piano.

Like many of you I've often contemplated on getting a piano and start playing again but living in an apartment made it complicated to get one. Today I have a house but still no piano. I did discover Synthesia though, which made me buy a MIDI controller (M-Audio Keystation 88es). It has the advantage of letting me test whether playing the piano is just some temporary temptation or whether I will take it further from here, without a huge investment.

This was 2 months ago and I'm still hooked on piano. I play every day, sometimes with Synthesia, but mostly without now that sight reading is getting easier. The book I use to learn is The Piano Handbook written by Carl Humphries.
I can play an easy arrangement of the Polovetsian Dances quite fluently but after a tip from a PW post, I'm concentrating on original piano pieces now instead of adaptations and simplified versions. Currently I'm learning Diabelli's Melodic Exercise No. 11 together with my girlfriend, and Purcell's Minuet in A minor which is an exercise from the book mentioned above.

That's it! I sincerely hope that I will stay motivated to learn playing the piano. My life goal of course is to be able to play the Rachmaninov Prelude that got me into classical music in the first place. After that the circle of life is closed and I can die peacefully. Just kidding of course.

Best Regards,

Michael

Welcome to the ABF Oongawa and Michael

I'm sure you both will find that lots of helpful people hang out here. Enjoy your new piano journey.

Jim

Welcome to the forum.

Welcome everybody!!!! (I just felt like hugging everyone in a big welcome hug for no reason...maybe because I'm having a nervous breakdown?? )

Just joined the forum so thought I'd add my entry.

I'm 42 years old living in Kent in the UK and until four weeks ago had never had a piano lesson.

I've been an IT consultant for 20 plus years but won't say any more because the topic asked for interesting things about me

I love listening to music and each year, try to attend as many gigs as possible as well as fitting in at least one festival.

I play league badminton and represent my county and last year I was selected as part of the England squad to play in the Masters World Championships in Canada so had a chance to combine some truly competitive sport with a great holiday. Managed to make the cut again this year so I'm now in training for the European Championships in Bulgaria in September.

I love films, with horror and action being my particular favourites although there aren't many films I don't like.

A few years ago, I also developed a passion for Koi keeping and although circumstances dictate that is not currently possible, it is definitely something I am going to get back into at the earliest opportunity.

I also love puzzles, watching football (or soccer for all our American friends:)), playing table tennis, photography, computer games and cycling and one of my key criteria for holidaying is to ensure that there are plenty of great places to eat because food is one of life's pleasures:)

As I mentioned, I'm four weeks into my piano experience and throughly enjoying it. And in case anyone is interested, the piece of music that inspired me to give it a go was "I Giorni" by Ludivico Einaudi. I heard it being played by a young lady in a restaurant and it was absolutely mesmerising. Being able to play that piece is one of my first piano playing goals.

Thanks for listening...

Hello everybody, I'm Diana and I just joined the forum.

I'm 36 and I live in Verona, in Northern Italy. I am a freelance translator working for pharma companies. Apart from work I spend most of my time in the country taking care of my olive trees.

I've always wanted to play some instrument, I tried with the guitar when I was a child but I hated it. Many many years forward here I am with a Privia PX-135 digital piano, trying to teach myself something about music. I got it 3 months ago and I'm now finishing book 1 of Alfred's Adult All-in-One Course. I'm having a great time and I can't wait to start book 2! I guess being a fast typer is helping me with the piano, but patience is not my thing. My only goal now is to have fun and keep practicing everyday.

See you on the forum!

Ciao, Diana. Welcome to the ABF. You will find all kinds of useful information on this site and lots of helpful members. What kind of music do you eventually want to play?

Jim

Ciao Jim! I'm in love with Cole Porter and musical theater in general.

If you like Porter and other old standards, THIS BOOK is a good one to start out on. It is in "easy piano" format, which you may already know is not all that easy. But if you take your time, someone who has mastered Alfred Adult I should be able to play many of these tunes with a little effort and patience.

(note: if you decide to buy the book be sure it is the "easy piano" one that I linked (marked as such on the cover). There is another nearly identical cover for piano,voice and guitar that I can't vouch for.)

Hey everyone, I have been lurking for a while now and decided to sign up, so here I am to introduce myself!

My names Mark and I am 19, currently living and attending university in Colorado. I have been trying to get into music ever since I was young but never really succeeded, since I was more into sports. At first I attempted trumpet when I was in 4th and 5th grade. In my early teens I decided to try and take up guitar, and once again, I found myself falling flat on my face. So I pretty much abandoned music at that point and focused on soccer and track, and school in general. Now how did I catch the piano bug? A friend, who is a music education major, in the dorm who lived down the hall from me had a Yamaha in his room, and I started fooling around on it. He started teaching me a few things, and one thing lead to another and here I am.

I started back in March, making it roughly 3 and a half months now. I have been self teaching, and yeah I know it is sometimes frowned upon. I have no intentions of becoming some master concert pianist or anything. Just playing as a hobby to entertain friends, family, and of course myself. I have been using Alfred's Adult Beginner Book 1 although I have been doing some of that, and then moving onto a song I want to learn. I recently just ordered the sheet music to the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I only truly know 1 piece though, in addition to the stuff that Alfred's teaches (Saints Go Marching In, Mary Had a Little Lamb, Jingle Bells, etc...) and that piece is To Zanarkand, which I hope to upload to one of the piano bars once I get it recorded.

As far as music tastes go, I am not so much in to Classical. Not that I don't appreciate it, just not my favorite sound I suppose. I really enjoy new-age and contemporary, plus film scores of course. Currently I am working on River Flows in You.

I am hoping to buy a digital piano when I return to university in the fall, but for now use the acoustic at my parent's house.

So Hi!

Century, welcome to the forum. You will have lots of fun with piano. With the digital, I think you can enjoy composition and playing against some other instrument sound. I have an acoustic and would love to have digital in the future.

Hey everyone!

My name is Joseph and this is my first post. I am new to this forum. I am 48 yo and started learning the piano 9 months ago. I have a weekly piano lesson with a Simply Music teacher and I am currently towards the end of foundation 3 level. I practice daily 30min to 1 hour. I feel that it is not enough and I wished I started the piano much earlier in my life. I have many questions and I will leave them for other threads.

Hi everyone, I have been lurking for about 3 months and given how positive and supportive community here is (by far exceeds any other forums) decided to sign up and try to contribute to the forum
A little about myself: I am 22 years old from Riga, Latvia (if anyone is following olympics we just beat you in beach volleyball USA :P) After having 2 unsuccessful study attempts and thus having 2 gap years I am finally studying Law and Business in uni. I have been playing poker profesionally for a living for 2.5 years and having sky-high income (for Eastern Europe) while being ~20 of course lead to rather flamboyant lifestyle. Needless to say studies were not its focus However i luckily grew tired of it as it was not the real me and have switched to appreciating finer things in life and this summer my focus is PIANO and renovating my parents house. I have kept poker as my source of income as it gives me tons of spare time, very good income level however I have gottent rid of negative side effects of such a lifestyle. Besides piano my hobbies include travelling, kitesurfing, volleyball, mountain skiing and drifting.
Piano background: I have not had any connection to music whatsoever during my childhood and teens, I was more of a math and sports guy. However this spring while playing around on iPad I found piano application where you have to click at the coming notes that result in a melody. So after "playing" Fur Elise I fell in love with the idea of producing music yourself so I instantly drove to a local piano shop and bought myself an upright. I have been playing 2-3 hours a day on average since then At first I simply printed out notes for beginners and played them as my thinking was that you play music not scales and chords so I do not need them However after a week I understood flaws in it so arranged myself a piano lesson and have not looked back ever since. I have 1-2 lessons a week, love them and cannot wait for the next one. I currently have 25yr old recently renovated soviet upright called RIGA but plan on saving for baby grand once I finish renovating house and my playing level becomes somewhat grand-worthy.
I feel that I am progressing relatively fast in my learning process but its more important that I am enjoying the heck out of it :P I am currently working on pedalling and fixing rhythm in middle part of Air on the G String, struggling speeding up La Valse d'Amelie and have Claire de Lune as my loooong term project. My pride and joy that I feel comfortable with and have been polishing for 2 months is Gymnopedie I by Satie.
God that was longer than I expected
Once again hello to everyone and great job making this such a nice place to be in!

Welcome everybody!

Century: Nice to have one more new-age music lover.

JosephAC: Yes, PW is the best place to put your questions!

mabtins: It's good to know that your progress is fast. btw: I'm folowing the Olimpics so, congratulations!

I wish you all, dedication and good luck! Have fun!

Welcome Joseph and mabtins. You will find many helpful posters here at ABF. Be sure to keep us updated on your progress....and have fun!

Jim

A little about me- I'm 44, female, living in Liverpool, England. I got my circa 1910 Piano from freecycle in 2010. I had wanted to own a piano and learn to play for years. I love antiques, curios, vintage items (got a 1930s gramophone), going to old houses and museums, history, creative writing (I am working on publishing my work), literature and nature. I studied combined honours English and Archaeology at university and have taught EFL in Greece and in summer schools for young learners.
I love Classical music (mostly nineteenth century Romantic), folk music and Sigur Ros, and have a great interest in the nineteenth century- the music, the arts, literature, the times...

Hey everyone, just wanted to introduce myself since I just joined the forum and jumped right into the recital and commenting. I started playing piano at age 19 (I’m mid-30s now) and have kept with it off and on as life has allowed. I’ve been writing music since around the same time, mostly for solo piano, solo cello and chamber ensembles. I’ve been fortunate to have my music performed at local venues & local classical radio, and even tweeted by NPR (the highlight of my career – ha!). My favorite genres are classical, jazz and some new age/ambient, but I’m open to anything. Oh, and my heart quickens at the mere sight of a piano. Something tells me I’m among friends. AndyMc

Hi all. Short introduction about myself. After few attempts I started seriously this year on January. After month of self learning (Suzuki Piano Method book 1 and Schmitt exercises Op. 16) I took private lessons to verify my approach, correct hand position, choose repertoire etc. Then few months break and back again month ago. As a teen I had 2 year of formal education in classical guitar so I have no problem with sight reading, theory basics and so on. I tried to be a bass player in prog rock company band too and sometimes produce pieces using Reason software
I'm music addicted, listening to allmost all of kind: from classical through ... to electronic.
I'm 37 now and I hope, till my 40, I'll be advanced player!
Aside this, my hobbies are: stunt kite flying, cooking and... math.
I'm here to find motivation to continuous work
Greetings, Tomasz

Howdy-

I'm 29 and just started playing piano in November 2011. Growing up I had some clarinet and guitar, but none of it very serious.

I've always admired the piano but had been intimated by the concept of using all 10 fingers and reading two different clefs at the same time. Finally I just decided to take the plunge, get a digital piano, find a teacher on craigslist, and make this dream of mine a reality. So far, I'm loving it.

Video game music was a big part of the draw for me. Sometimes I'll bring Final Fantasy music to my lesson, and my teacher will be amazed at how good some of the writing for a game can be. That and George Winston were part of my inspiration to start playing. That man is a beast at the keys!

Let's see, what else. I'm happily married & hoping for some kiddos. I'm an electrical engineer. I'm a christian and I hope to play some beautiful hymn arrangements (just discovered David Nevue!).

And I'm excited to be part of the community and not just lurking on the interwebs!