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owl milk posted:can you physically not leave your house cus if thats the case you can hire someone to come to your place and give you lessons. if not stop being a lazy and go outside piano teachers are plentiful, even lovely tiny towns have a church with a pianist/organist most of whom would welcome the extra cash I've had a pretty hard time finding instructors who have availability outside of workday hours. I just assumed anyone decent was booked solid with kids from the minute elementary school gets out until late evening.
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Jan 12, 2015 01:48
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true, so the best thing would be to find someone who specializes in adult lessons or failing that most teachers should have openings at the start and end of the school year. as always be prepared to sign a contract and probably pay in advance since adults flake out more than kids either way never get online lessons ever
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Jan 12, 2015 04:12
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I'm looking to get a worthwhile digital piano for my apartment to get back into playing, and I'm a little overwhelmed with the options. Having a great sound is important to me (I'm really spoiled--grew up with a Steinway grand in my house), and I'm pretty impressed with what I'm hearing from some virtual pianos like Ivory II, EastWest, etc. Can anyone enlighten me on the experience of playing with these? Are they actually enjoyable to play, or do they lack certain nuisance / I don't know that makes them sound nice in recordings but less good to practice with? Secondly, Kawai makes the VPC-1 with the express purpose of playing with these pianos, and it seems pretty good, but would something less expensive that has MIDI out be almost as good for controlling them? Should I be bothering at all with this virtual piano stuff or just roll with whatever sound the piano I pick out comes with?
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Jan 12, 2015 23:45
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pwh posted:I'm looking to get a worthwhile digital piano for my apartment to get back into playing, and I'm a little overwhelmed with the options. Having a great sound is important to me (I'm really spoiled--grew up with a Steinway grand in my house), and I'm pretty impressed with what I'm hearing from some virtual pianos like Ivory II, EastWest, etc. Can anyone enlighten me on the experience of playing with these? Are they actually enjoyable to play, or do they lack certain nuisance / I don't know that makes them sound nice in recordings but less good to practice with? I just got rid of my digital piano and bought an upright like four posts ago, so I can give an opinion at least. The main thing you'll find lacking with a digital/virtual piano is touch. I had a Yamaha Arius which was fine for learning and sounded good enough for a practice piano, but every time I got on a real piano I sounded like a button pushing robot. Even with weighted keys and all the bells and whistles they include with keyboards these days, they just don't feel right, and thus I didn't learn how to play right. I'm having to unlearn a lot of bad habits and my fingers aren't as strong as they should be. I haven't tried the Kawai VPC-1 personally, but I did try every digital and real piano at my local dealer and there was really no comparison. So that's my two cents. There are a lot of benefits to a digital piano to be sure, but they just aren't real pianos. However the big benefit of digital pianos is that when you eventually decide to get a real piano, it sounds and feels about a million times better.  Also you can use headphones which is handy if you live in an apartment I suppose.
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Jan 13, 2015 01:13
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kedo posted:I just got rid of my digital piano and bought an upright like four posts ago, so I can give an opinion at least. The main thing you'll find lacking with a digital/virtual piano is touch. I had a Yamaha Arius which was fine for learning and sounded good enough for a practice piano, but every time I got on a real piano I sounded like a button pushing robot. Even with weighted keys and all the bells and whistles they include with keyboards these days, they just don't feel right, and thus I didn't learn how to play right. I'm having to unlearn a lot of bad habits and my fingers aren't as strong as they should be. Yeah... I'm a little disappointed digital pianos haven't advanced as much as I think they could. I've played on a 80s era Clavinova for some time, and I'm not entirely convinced newer digital pianos are that much better. The virtual piano stuff has me intrigued because at least in terms of raw sound, they sound better, but the touch seems like it could be shaky. Unfortunately for the foreseeable future my apartment is too small and has too many neighbors for a real piano.
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Jan 13, 2015 01:47
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owl milk posted:this semester im playing  Lebewohl sonata is a great one, especially the third movement.I'm not in school or taking formal lessons (I really should, my old teacher is still teaching), but I'm learning Bach's chromatic fantasy and fugue and the 6th partita. I tend to jump around between pieces constantly though, so I've got bits of the other 5 partitas learnt too (preambulum and allemande of the 1st, preambulum of the 5th), the 1st french suite, bits of the goldberg variations all going at the same time. It's a real problem with me, even back when I was younger, I was never great at actually finishing a piece off - it'd get to like 90-95% and then I'd get bored and want to do something else. Which would be another good reason to actually get a teacher again...
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Jan 13, 2015 04:28
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pwh posted:Yeah... I'm a little disappointed digital pianos haven't advanced as much as I think they could. I've played on a 80s era Clavinova for some time, and I'm not entirely convinced newer digital pianos are that much better. The virtual piano stuff has me intrigued because at least in terms of raw sound, they sound better, but the touch seems like it could be shaky. I don't have too many problems when going from a new Arius to a real piano. The action isn't perfect (our neighbors let me play their old rear end hell upright every once in a while) but it's still functional for learning on, and it sounds great too. It might take a few minutes to adjust to a real action when you sit down at a real piano but it isn't like you have to start from scratch or anything. A lot of improvements have been made over the years. Or you can go with this, which I played a bit at a store. It's basically a real piano action only instead of striking strings the hammers are striking a thing with science and it makes piano noises digitally. Personally I think it's a huge price difference for a pretty marginal improvement, but it might be worth it to you. baw fucked around with this message at 15:58 on Jan 13, 2015 |
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Jan 13, 2015 15:54
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baw posted:I don't have too many problems when going from a new Arius to a real piano. The action isn't perfect (our neighbors let me play their old rear end hell upright every once in a while) but it's still functional for learning on, and it sounds great too. It might take a few minutes to adjust to a real action when you sit down at a real piano but it isn't like you have to start from scratch or anything. A lot of improvements have been made over the years. That's promising, guess I gotta get myself out today and see how a more modern digital piano actually plays. I'm sure those Yamahas are good, but the prices are terrifying. I think something in the VPC-1 range would be my absolute ceiling.
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Jan 13, 2015 16:54
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My two main complaints with my piano (an older Roland DP-990, I bought it in 2009) are that I don't like the decay at the end of a sustained note and I miss having the physical sensation of vibration you get with an acoustic piano. I can see the argument about touch, but I don't feel like it's too big of a deal for my purposes. Maybe I'd feel differently if I hadn't learned on acoustic originally. On the upside, I've had the piano for 6 years, moved house three times, serviced it never, and it still works and sounds just as good as it did on the first day.
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Jan 13, 2015 19:47
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Pinky Artichoke posted:I miss having the physical sensation of vibration you get with an acoustic piano.
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Jan 14, 2015 00:15
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God I fucking love Diablo 3 gold, it even paid for this shitty title
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misguided rage posted:I was gonna say this. The weight of the keys and everything feels really similar to an upright, but you can definitely tell that you're not making the noise mechanically. It's not something I notice too much while actually playing my digital, but when I get a chance to play on a real piano there's always a moment at the start of 'oh right, this is what it's supposed to be like'. I've had a digital for years and had played a bit for my girlfriend when we first met. About two years went by and I finally took her to a university practice room where they had a really nice steinway tucked away and played for her there. I'm not some great player by any stretch of the imagination, but she said there were points where the difference in sound made her forget to breathe. It's just worlds apart. I also found that it's much easier to mess around and try new things on a real piano as opposed to a digital. I think that has something to do with how a piano is tuned to itself, so intervals are much easier to find for me.
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Jan 14, 2015 00:42
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owl milk posted:1st mvt. of les adieux op 81a by Beethoven Have fun with those MOTHERFUCKING AWFUL three-note chord licks in the exposition and recap. I don't think I ever played those passages cleanly onstage.  Got a recital coming up in a few weeks: Mozart, Sonata in F major, K. 332 Copland, Four Piano Blues Scriabin, Sonata #2 -intermission- Liszt, Sonata in b minor The Liszt is a pretty challenging piece to hold together, but goddamn it feels good to perform it when it goes well.
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Jan 14, 2015 05:41
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misguided rage posted:I was gonna say this. The weight of the keys and everything feels really similar to an upright, but you can definitely tell that you're not making the noise mechanically. It's not something I notice too much while actually playing my digital, but when I get a chance to play on a real piano there's always a moment at the start of 'oh right, this is what it's supposed to be like'. Yeah this is really my problem. With my keyboard I could play keys very, very softly and still get a sound once the button (or whatever) got pressed whereas on a piano if I played that softly it simply wouldn't make a sound because the hammer would come to rest on the strings as opposed to striking them. So I'm all jacked up trying to play things pp. Slowly figuring it out, though. I should really just get a teacher.
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Jan 14, 2015 16:42
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Yes, definitely get a tutor. I'd go so far as to say that it's impossible to get good at piano without one.
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Jan 14, 2015 20:35
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The only main problem I seem to have going from anything (including uprights) to a grand is let-off. That extra bit of resistance at the end of a key always trips me up when playing p and softer without the sustain pedal.
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Jan 14, 2015 21:43
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baw posted:Yes, definitely get a tutor. I'd go so far as to say that it's impossible to get good at piano without one. Ok so I've been trying to decide what kind of tutor to go for, I suppose really any tutor at all is gonna be what I want, but is it worth even mentioning to them that what I want to shoot for eventually is a more the jazzy style? I mean I know that requires good technique so I imagine id be starting out with classical so I could always change teachers.. I'll just call the music store and have this conversation with them haha.
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Jan 14, 2015 22:52
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baw posted:Yes, definitely get a tutor. I'd go so far as to say that it's impossible to get good at piano without one. Yeah. I really need to, but I keep putting it off and trudging along slowly on my own. However I'm getting to the point where I'm sure my bad habits far outnumber my good habits, and if nothing else it'd be nice to have a weekly session to encourage me to concentrate on making progress.
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Jan 14, 2015 23:22
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kedo posted:Yeah. I really need to, but I keep putting it off and trudging along slowly on my own. However I'm getting to the point where I'm sure my bad habits far outnumber my good habits, and if nothing else it'd be nice to have a weekly session to encourage me to concentrate on making progress. Could someone elaborate on what constitutes a bad habit? I've never really had any teaching and I don't have a clue what to look for in my own playing.
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Jan 15, 2015 03:12
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take lessons if you want to be good pls make this the new title Ricky Bad Posts posted:Ok so I've been trying to decide what kind of tutor to go for, I suppose really any tutor at all is gonna be what I want, but is it worth even mentioning to them that what I want to shoot for eventually is a more the jazzy style? I mean I know that requires good technique so I imagine id be starting out with classical so I could always change teachers.. jazz teachers teach chord progressions and improv that classical teachers dont so try to find one asap
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Jan 15, 2015 03:21
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On Terra Firma posted:Could someone elaborate on what constitutes a bad habit? I've never really had any teaching and I don't have a clue what to look for in my own playing. Mostly it's things like bad posture at the piano, hand positioning, arm positioning etc. Or poo poo like angling your hand outwards so your thumb can hit a key that should really be hit by a long finger, which is a surefire way to give yourself screwed up wrists. I see this a lot on youtube videos of people playing and it makes me cringe every time. And bad practice habits - not practicing from the middle/end of a piece, which leads to an overdeveloped early section and lacking later bits. Reinforcing mistakes by just playing through the piece over and over, that sort of thing.
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Jan 15, 2015 04:48
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Another good thing a tutor does is suggest pieces that help you slowly build your proficiency step-by-step. I've been learning a progression of pieces that are more and more difficult, but not so difficult where I feel like I've hit any walls. Usually when I'm learning a new piece it doesn't taking any more time than it took to learn previous pieces, but I'm developing new skills as I learn them. I imagine it takes a professional who observes your playing to tailor assignments in a way that keeps you from getting frustrated at something too difficult but also keeps you from getting stuck in a rut where you're playing new pieces without improving your abilities.
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Jan 15, 2015 13:17
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I sat at a piano for a couple of hours today and learnt to play the melody from Ode to Joy, with a few bits on the left hand too. At one point someone in the main hall next to me began playing Philip Glass pieces. I had to stop playing and just listen for a while, absolutely beautiful. Even a really simple piece feels great to work out and learn. Can't wait to get a tutor!
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Jan 15, 2015 23:34
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Yeah I am so pumped on Metamorphosis. Easy enough for someone without much experience to learn, but absolutely great to listen to and play. Also the second part has some good exercises for the right hand. The first "real" piece I learned after Minuet in G Major was this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVlFzqd0GKA If you like it, you might want to see if your tutor will teach it to you. It's not super difficult to play (you'll still have to spend some time learning it but you'll be able to make progress almost daily), and the patterns you do with your left hand are things that you'll find in other modern pieces.
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Jan 16, 2015 01:06
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btw this series is very very good, it's real unarranged pieces sorted by difficulty and era. I'd highly recommend it if you're a beginner and sick of playing fake fur elise or ode to joy or other poo poo.
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Jan 16, 2015 01:36
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loving hell I've had Ode to Joy stuck in my head for 5 hours now. I hope this isn't how it's going to be with every shorter piece I learn.
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Jan 16, 2015 02:04
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listen to the real one instead https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3217H8JppI
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Jan 16, 2015 02:25
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Lethemonster posted:loving hell I've had Ode to Joy stuck in my head for 5 hours now. I hope this isn't how it's going to be with every shorter piece I learn. Hah, it does happen. Sometimes I even make up little lyrics to go along with whatever song I'm learning (usually cute things about animals,) for instance Minuet in G Major had lyrics that started with "I once met a doog, and he said 'I'm a little doog.'" Then I get them into my wife's head and we're both singing gibberish lyrics around the house like a buncha crazy people. It's pretty great tbqh
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Jan 16, 2015 07:39
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baw posted:Hah, it does happen. Sometimes I even make up little lyrics to go along with whatever song I'm learning (usually cute things about animals,) for instance Minuet in G Major had lyrics that started with "I once met a doog, and he said 'I'm a little doog.'" Then I get them into my wife's head and we're both singing gibberish lyrics around the house like a buncha crazy people. when i was learning a beethoven sonata I would dream about the score like every night.
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Jan 17, 2015 11:40
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It's worse when you're trying to write something and you keep thinking about lines going in different directions.
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Jan 17, 2015 17:11
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So I've found my first wall that I am having problems breaking, sadly. I am currently teacher shopping so hopefully they will be able to help once I find one that works with my schedule. So in the mean time, post post post. Anyways I've been having major rear end problems playing polyrhythms where the left hand is doing more than a chord etc, like a walking bass + simple melody or whatever. Can play the parts HS no problem but when I get them together my brain just shuts the gently caress down and I get completely lost. For now im working on Little Brother and kind of hoping i will be able to relax and not get so hung up on those situations etc but are there like any simple exercises I could learn that have you switching the RH between on beat/off? Again, finding a teacher is pretty much priority #1 E: here is the actual thing I've been trying to get down thats giving me issues, which seems kinda sad to me because I feel like it should really not be this difficult http://youtu.be/rZZCrhMLxF0 Tetramin fucked around with this message at 05:38 on Jan 21, 2015 |
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Jan 21, 2015 05:23
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Ricky Bad Posts posted:So I've found my first wall that I am having problems breaking, sadly. I am currently teacher shopping so hopefully they will be able to help once I find one that works with my schedule. So in the mean time, post post post. I'm gonna recommend again to play some easy stuff by Bach. The minuets are good (G major and minor in particular) as is the first invention. It's not jazz stuff, but if you want to get your brain working with polyphonic stuff, there's no one better. If you've just started playing in september last year (going off your post history here), they might still be hard for you, I dunno, but I'd stick with them anyway.
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Jan 21, 2015 08:42
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megalodong posted:I'm gonna recommend again to play some easy stuff by Bach. The minuets are good (G major and minor in particular) as is the first invention. It's not jazz stuff, but if you want to get your brain working with polyphonic stuff, there's no one better. yeah i'm definitely fine with that. and is pretty much what i've decided to do as well. i kind of dove into some things a little too quick I guess.
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Jan 21, 2015 10:19
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Maybe you could just get a tutor so that you can learn the basics, and then as you advance and feel like you're ready to explore jazz improvisation you can start shopping around for someone more specialized. I'm guessing that the first several months of lessons are gonna be the same whether you're doing classical or jazz because you gotta learn the fundamentals. (I could be wrong about this though)
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Jan 21, 2015 10:32
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baw posted:lessons are gonna be the same whether you're doing classical or jazz because you gotta learn the fundamentals. (I could be wrong about this though) Oh, indeed. Yeah I guess I emphasized my interest in jazz a little bit too much when I posted about a teacher, but that's actually why I was asking if I should even bother with a jazz teacher since I have a very long ways to go before I'm really messing around with that with any success. Thanks for the advice, I'm going to try to get a lesson booked tomorrow.
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Jan 21, 2015 10:56
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You can also try breaking it down to the lowest common denominator, even if its wildy high like 16 or something so you can place each note on a number and count it through it might help get a feel for it.
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Jan 21, 2015 11:15
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How slowly are you doing it? If you can't play it, keep on going slower. Once you can play it slowly get a little faster, repeat until your hands are too sore to play. There's no such thing as too slow when learning a new skill.
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Jan 21, 2015 14:12
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I remember reading one famous music teacher who tells his students to play the piece so slowly that someone who knows it wouldn't be able to recognize it. I think it was in that book about the history of the piano.
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Jan 21, 2015 16:38
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Hoshi posted:How slowly are you doing it? Whenever I need to learn a part that's really complicated like this, I just pretend I'm talking to someone that's really stupid, except with notes. I talk slow enough for them to understand. The stupid people are my hands.
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Jan 21, 2015 17:12
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On Terra Firma posted:Whenever I need to learn a part that's really complicated like this, I just pretend I'm talking to someone that's really stupid, except with notes. I talk slow enough for them to understand. The stupid people are my hands. Yep. I'm learning Debussy's first arabesque and practicing slow helps so much. However, I thought to myself "oh I've been playing a lot for a year and a half I don't need to think about fingerings." Of course, I messed it up royally by just playing with whatever finger I chose in the moment, and a week ago my teacher reprimanded me about it. It's still going to take another week to get the right fingerings down. I messed up p bad  But I'm also playing the reverie and I have it down pat! No messed up fingerings there! I like Debussy's pieces a lot
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Jan 21, 2015 20:44
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Hoshi posted:Yep. I'm learning Debussy's first arabesque and practicing slow helps so much. It's good to get that correction, though. My teacher growing up always let me do just whatever with the fingerings and it has really held me back.
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Jan 21, 2015 23:31
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