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I love this thread! I've been wondering where all the piano people hang out on SA and here you are. I don't qualify as "new" to the piano though - been taking lessons and playing since I was 11, so...about seventeen, going on eighteen years now. I'm actually hoping to start teaching, because piano is the only thing I really ENJOY doing with my life. I think I would enjoy myself a lot more if that was my job, even if it necessarily involved snotty little kids who never practice... I'm working on Well-Tempered Clavier too. The whole first book. Got two more to go. I think WTC is my "desert island" piano work. Although I totally understand that buying a real piano isn't feasible for every single person who wants to learn (I spent $30,000 on a grand for myself just last year), I just hate the thought of people trying to learn on a keyboard. Even a nice keyboard. It just...isn't the same. Zigmidge posted:I have a question of my own, I've never encountered the notation at the top of that image. The 'G' 'G7sus2' 'C' 'Cm6' business. What does it do, who uses it, and where can I learn more about that? Those are chord names. G Major, G-seven with a suspention, C Major, etc. People use them to "fake it", meaning they can sort of make something up that will follow the same chord progression and sound good enough; or they use it to make up their own accompaniment to the melody.
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Jan 17, 2008 22:15
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Cragz posted:I simply don't have room for a piano at the moment, even an upright, so I went down the "decent keyboard" route. Although I'm still only a beginner, everything I've done so far on the Yamaha translates instantly to my teacher's grand. The only difference I've found so far is the grandeur of the sound; the key-touch is mimicked particularly well. I'm sure I'll pick up on further nuances as I spread my wings a little more, but a good keyboard has helped me get into the world of piano at a reasonable cost and without it I wouldn't be here at all. Actually, I gave it some more though after I posted and realized - maybe new keyboards are better than the ones I knew. I haven't touched one in I don't know, seven or eight years (they had some in the theory classroom in college). And if you really can't tell the difference yet, it probably isn't harmful. I do hope you upgrade someday though! I have a lesson in two hours. Should probably be practicing and not dicking around on the internet.
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Jan 20, 2008 15:33
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Eli Cash posted:I have a piece A minor. All my book says about minor keys is that you move the middle finger down a key on a major chord. What else is affected by a minor key, and how does it relate to A major? The difference between a major key and a minor key is that there is a different pattern of intervals in the two scales. A major key - say C Major - goes c-d-e-f-g-a-b-c, all on white notes. That's whole step-whole step-half step-whole step-whole step-whole step-half step. Play C-D and then E-F - they sound different. A minor key - say A minor - goes a-b-c-d-e-f-g-a, all on white notes. That's whole step-half step-whole step-whole step-half-step-whole step-whole step. The pattern is different and that's why they sound so different. This is also why we have a different key signature for D Major and C Major in the first place - we have to adjust keys to get the right pattern of whole steps and half steps.
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Jan 23, 2008 17:23
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Zigmidge posted:Wow! I was never taught to look at it like that unless I slept through that theory class. Thank you, you have no idea how much that unlocked in my brain. You're very welcome! It's fascinating stuff, and nothing I learned until I really picked up theory in college (after a decade of lessons). Every key signature is just about shifting the pattern to fit major or minor. What I can't wrap my brain around is the modes. Maybe someday.
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Jan 24, 2008 02:48
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el Trentoro posted:That's really all there is to it, if you're talking about the "church modes" or whatever they're called nowadays. Yeah, I mean, I get that they're just another pattern, but I can't really get them inside my head to be able to listen and go "oh, that's phrygian", or whatever. You have a point about melodic and harmonic minor, though.
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Jan 24, 2008 03:08
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80k posted:Yes, digital pianos have made huge improvements in the past few years. True. I'm glad to hear that they are better than they used to be - I had to practice on a keyboard for six month once when my family was displaced by a minor fire, and it really sucked. When I moved into my first apartment my landlord was like, "oh, I don't mind, I love piano!" and I thought...yeah, you've never heard somone practice the same three measure, badly, for 45 minutes. She never did complain though.
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Feb 2, 2008 00:25
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ShinAli posted:Quick status update. I picked up a 10 year old Yamaha U3, and it sounds wonderful. I feel pretty bad practicing on it, though, as people often watch TV in a room next to it. Still, I love it. I got it for 4k. Oh, I love the raindrop. It's so pretty. They won't let you take theory unless you're a music major? That's pretty stupid. There weren't any pre-requisites for it at my school, although theory one was a prereq for theory two and so on. When you say sight reading, do you mean looking at a piece for the first time and playing it as you are looking at it, or just literally reading the music and knowing what notes are there reasonably fast? Either way, the only way to get faster/better is to just keep doing it every day. And as far as practicing while people are watching TV...I'm sure whatever you're playing is better than anything on TV. 
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Feb 6, 2008 21:09
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DukAmok posted:
Keeping in mind here that I know basically nothing of improv or jazz - I'm classical all the way - maybe rhythmic variation? Rhythmic variation in a scale can make a HUGE difference. Joy to the World is an instantly recognizable tune, and it's just a descending Major sale.
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Feb 26, 2008 01:08
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grapecritic posted:How much different is the organ from the piano (in terms of difficulty, playing styles, etc.)? My mother was an organist and a piannist. There are differences between them, but I think learning either one would help you along quite a bit with the other. The organ is a wind instrument, vs the piano being a percussion instrument (the harpsichord, incidentally, is a string instrument). The biggest difference is that the keys aren't expressive - meaning no matter how hard or soft you hit the key, the volume of sound that comes out is exactly the same. Loudness is controlled by your feet. There are a ton of different sounds that can come out, which are controlled by "stops" - there are hundreds of combinations that you can create by pulling out various stops. (This is the origin of the phrase "pulling out all the stops"). As was already mentioned, there are also sometimes multiple manuals (keyboards) - usually one of them is in a higher register and one in a lower register. And you can play notes with your feet, because there's another keyboard down there. Oh, one more thing - the sound continues for as long as the key is held down. This is drastically different from a piano, where the sound starts decaying the second you depress the key and there's not a drat thing you can do about it. I hope this helps!
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Mar 13, 2008 14:47
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sithael posted:How is it a percussive instrument? It uses hammers to hit strings, which makes it a stringed instrument. Instruments are classified by how the sound is produced - the hammer HITS the string, just like a drumstick hits the drumhead. It's percussive. Stinged instruments are plucked or bowed, like a harpsichord or a violin.
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Mar 13, 2008 19:04
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ShinAli posted:Another day, another semester. Everyone hates their ring fingers! They're naturally weak because they share a tendon with your pinky instad of having one of their own like all your other fingers. Honstly, I would say that the best exercise for them IS practicing piano. Shumann actually wrecked one of this fingers (I'm pretty sure it was the ring finger) trying to make it stronger with some weird contraption. Ruined his performing career.
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Jun 12, 2008 01:36
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I recently asked my teacher about a decent keyboard to use just for practicing when I can't get to the piano (I have recently discovered that I like having roommates but HAAAAATE having people listen to me practice) and he reccomended the Casio Privia. They go for about 600 new but I have already seen one on Craigslist for 350 so I'm looking into it.
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Aug 20, 2008 22:31
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Hughmoris posted:I really wish this thread would get more love. There has to be more piano/keyboard players in these parts than what we are seeing. I can't listen to anything at work (for some reason none of these computers has a sound card) but I'll give it a shot when I get home. I wish this thread would get more love, too! I feel sort of weird posting in it too much because I'm the exact opposite of "new to piano" (I've been listening to it since before I was born!) but it's not like there's an "old hand at piano" thread... Would everyone be like "get the gently caress out!" if I posted recordings of myself?
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Sep 18, 2008 14:03
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Faux Crow I can't seem to get the video to play - I must need some codec, and I tried to download one but it's just not working for me. What piece is it? Couple of things: 1. I'm definitely going to record myself more often and probably post it here or somewhere. Amazing what a little fear will do to your practice motivation. 2. Oh my god, I'm sorry to everyone who listens to this - I have a lovely, lovely, lovely microphone. Wow. 3. This is part of a Bach Partita (Partita #2) and it's a work in progress. I just love it though, and also it's the thing I'm working on right now that I can play the best.  Hope I did this right.
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Sep 22, 2008 18:36
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80k posted:Bob Shadycharacter, I learned up to that point a few months back, then put it away, then picked it up again and now I'm working backwards from this point. It really is a lot of fun.
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Sep 22, 2008 22:52
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Faux Crow posted:It's a regular AVI... oh well, here's a youtube link. Well, I just finished everything in book one, so I'm taking a little break from preludes and fugues. And then I have to dive into book two... Great, now I'm at work with no speakers and stuck here for the next 12 hours. >  I'll listen when I get home. I don't know why I can't play .avi, I keep downloading codecs and nothing's happening. I'm a lot better at piano than I am computers.
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Sep 23, 2008 13:26
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How about a Lizt Hungarian Rhapsody? I learned one a few years ago and it was loads of fun. Had a recording of it too, but I lost it when my last coputer died. Edit: for some serious contrast, how about Bach's Italian Concerto?
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Oct 29, 2008 02:09
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el Trentoro posted:I think a well-kept secret is that, on pretty much any instrument, the players of average to above average fluency still don't sight-read like crazy. Well, sight reading and playing without looking at your hands aren't the same thing. Even when I have something memorized I very rarely look at my hands these days; in fact, I find sometimes that looking at my hands is a distraction. But in some situations, like a very awkward chord or a huge leap or something, I do look. Sight reading is like anything else, it takes practice. I spent three years in high school being the accompianist for our school chorus, and I can't count the number of times I had to sight read something totally cold (in front of all my friends and 90 strangers to boot) (and once I had to do it on stage, but I'd rather not talk about that incident). You get better at it. Thing is, you can only really cold sight read a piece ONCE so it's hard to practice it without a huge volume of stuff. wlokos posted:
Early Mozart sonatas, maybe? That's what I started out with. Which Shumann pieces did you get? He has a whole set of pieces for "the young" that are pretty good for what you're talking about.
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Jan 10, 2009 00:21
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STOP MAKING SENSE posted:Hey guys. Not really a new musician, nor exactly new to the piano. The problem is that for the past few years I've only been using it as a tool for theory homework, which was also a while ago, and writing. I just need some piano boot camp to get back into the swing of things. All my good sheet music and piano books are with my parents about 200 miles away along with the upright I learned on. I'm here with a a cheapo 88 key keyboard and a book of Haydn Sonatas, heavily scrawled in from classes. Don't be surprised if it comes back a LOT quicker than you'd expect. And I'm sure some of those Haydn sonatas are well within your reach, if you play them slow enough. Had you learned those before or just analyzed them? I'm in the opposite position, I can still play but have forgotten so much theory it's shameful. Pretty sad when you've been learning a piece for weeks and can't answer questions like "what key are you playing in" without thinking about it for a minute.
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Jun 6, 2009 04:39
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bell biv devoe posted:Well, I didn't get very far. A few too many vacations and bad money decisions and I've posted this puppy up for sale. I guess I'll get another one in the near future. Aw, sorry to hear that. You know, I really wish there was such a thing as a place you could go with multiple practice rooms and just rent by the hour. Why doesn't that exist? I'll never be without a piano (I have two of them, I wish I could sell one and get rid of it!) but even I would use this service (I have roommates and sometimes get embarassed about practicing in front of people). I guess there isn't enough demand for something like that.
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Jul 17, 2009 23:16
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TheBlackRoija posted:They certainly do exist. Dunno about where you live but we have a place exactly like that in Halifax and at least one exists in Calgary as well. They may not be well advertised, try asking at a local music store maybe? Greater Boston area. I went through a majorly weird episode last year where I couldn't practice with anyone around and my roommates were ALWAYS AROUND and I googled like crazy but could never find one! I just figured they didn't exist. What are they called?
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Jul 20, 2009 14:19
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I just remember sitting around during juries (waiting my turn) and thinking "oh this one again". Not that there's anything WRONG with that piece it's just been done to death so to speak, I guess there's a hint of trying to prove something by playing this recognizable piece? I dunno. Also the more well known something is the harder it is to put your own interpretations into it because then you're not playing it the "right" way. On the other hand, you're right, a lot of stuff is famous for a reason. You've mentioned this other times in the thread - pieces being "grade X" - and I just wondered how do you know this? It's not something I've heard - my teacher never mentions it and I can't seem to find a good list of "these pieces are this hard" anywhere. Is there a book or something? I'm just curious how badly I'm doing. EDIT: you know what I just thought of? If someone is playing a more obscure sonata or something, it tends to give me the impression (false or not!) that they've already learned all the more well known ones and have moved on.
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Jul 28, 2009 17:54
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Alizee posted:I'm not into giving false impressions =P OHH that explains it. I'm not in Canada (sadly!). I have seen lists before - specifically I remember when I was fussing about learning all the pieces in WTC book one my teacher gave me a little chart of the fugues in order of difficulty but even then I felt like it didn't really hold up (some of the ones listed as easy were hard as poo poo for ME and the opposite was true as well). Maybe I can find a copy anyway though, it sounds interesting. I'm just always wondering about it because I have this sort of bias where while I'm learning something new it's the HARDEST THING EVER WTF and then once I'm able to actually play it I'm all "pfft this is easy I bet everyone else in the world can do this I suck". Working on Chopin ballade 1 in gm now and sure enough the better I get at it the more I feel like it can't be that hard...(speaking of famous pieces).
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Jul 28, 2009 18:48
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Alizee posted:You only know how to play 2 piano pieces and they're both at that level? For shame. Yeah...how is this even possible?
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Aug 6, 2009 20:05
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When I think "rock piano" what alaways shows up in my head is Jerry Lee Lewis. I'm not old! Maybe a little.
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Aug 11, 2009 12:07
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G for Greta posted:but I've never played before, and probably wouldn't appreciate anything better anyway. See, this is a misconception. You might not be able to appreciate it now, but think if you really love playing and do in fact stick with it for years and eventually switch to something better - you won't be used to how it sounds and feels and it'll be a setback then. I know not everyone can afford a good instrument - god knows I couldn't afford one right now if I was just starting out - but you should definitely get the best possible one you can afford.
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Aug 17, 2009 13:44
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You have to tune the piano to itself, exactly. Every piano is slightly different, and you need to put a little "stretch" into your octaves so everything will fit without interferance from other notes. It's all down to the actual piano itself and the strings in that particular piano. Most regular tunings cost around $100, depends on where you are. If you have a piano that needs a lot of work or is way out of tune they might want to do a bit more, usually at least a pitch raise which would probably be another $30 or so. A good tuner will do a few minor repairs without making a big deal out of charging for it. It's not actually insanely difficult or anything but you do need a pretty good ear to do it without a tuning instrument. A good tuning instrument will take the stretch I was talking about into consideration - these instruments cost well over $1000 though, so that's probably right out. The most important thing to look for is a tuning block that isn't loose and tuning pins that aren't loose. If you don't have that the whole tuning block has to be replaced and that'll definitely be more than almost any piano is worth to fix.
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Sep 1, 2009 14:31
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I don't know - I'm fairly sure you could get something better than that for free even, although I can't say for sure without playing it - it just looks to me like "no way is that thing in good shape". By all means check it out but don't go married to the idea that free is free - just transporting a piano that big can cost seveal hundred dollars and you surely can't do it yourself unless you have a monstrously big truck (and seveal similarly sized friends). "all the keys work" can mean different things to different people, too. Does a noise, any noise at all, come out when you bang on it? Well, it works! Not really though.
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Sep 2, 2009 13:07
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Some of the Chopin etudes were actually designed to help stretch your hand. It IS possible, somewhat. But it's not something you want to gently caress around with, you can also ruin your hand. It's much better to just compensate, there have been lots of composers and famous piannists who didn't have huge hands. If I'm not mistaken, actually, Chopin didn't have the biggest hands. Maybe I'm thinking of someone else. Just do your best, basically. And don't be afraid to use the pedals to "cheat". (My teacher is always telling me I'm too honest, I do things the hard way).
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Oct 2, 2009 16:19
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negativeneil posted:Yes, your hands can stretch. And for those of you in despair over small hands, the best piano teacher I've ever had possessed tiny child hands. She went to Juliard. She could play any piece of music you could throw at her. Chopin is also very mean to me personally. Maybe it's not that good of an idea to work on two or three Chopin pieces at once. EDIT: But yeah, the best. Well, maybe him and Bach.
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Oct 3, 2009 03:06
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Two etudes and the g minor ballade (it is muderous). On top of that, a Mozart sonata and I just started a Mendelssohn prelude and fugue, and by "just starting" I mean I've been sort of sitting at the piano and looking at it quizically for about two weeks.
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Oct 3, 2009 19:28
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Nelsocracy posted:Does anyone have a recommendation for a beginner song to learn by Bach? I played keyboard (never had a piano) with lessons from about age 6-13 but I was never even remotely serious about it, I've forgotten everything now but maybe if I practice I will remember a few things. so I would prefer something written by Bach or similar to his style. Two part inventions! Only two parts to worry about, and you're actually playing the same things in both hands, just switching off between them. When you're done with those you can move on to three part inventions. And so on until you're doing five voice fugues. Nevz posted:Regarding scales, would it be advisable as a complete newbie to them, to play them through a few times before I play a song? ( They are very tedious to learn from scratch im finding, but if I do one whichever the song is in, i think it may give me a little more purpose for it and then I'll be able to directly gauge how it's affected my playing of that song specifically) It won't do much other than maybe solidify the key signature in your head and warm up the fingers a bit. No harm in that of course. I don't know what you mean by the point of C Major...you mean playing a C Major scale before every piece? Scales are good for you in general, knowing the fingering of every scale, and being able to play them fast will give you agility and so on. When you play scales always try to listen to your playing (sometimes it's hard to listen to yourself when you're concentrating on playing the notes right, but try) and make them sound as smooth and even as you can. It does translate to pieces in an oblique sort of way, but I don't really know of anyone who plays one before each piece or anything like that. More like fifteen minutes at the beginning of each practice session or something.
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Oct 4, 2009 00:37
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jebeebus posted:I'm thinking about getting a beater upright piano off of craigslist in the $100-300 range. I'm pretty sure I'd be able to figure out how to tune it myself. As long as they hold a tune and is in working condition I'd be happy with it, but are there any brands I should stay away from? So far in my area I'm seeing Story & Clark, Wurlitzer, Kimball, and a couple no-name ones I'll ask about. If you have the space, I'd always reccomend a real piano, as long as it holds a tuning. Don't worry about names so much, you can take a Steinway and totally ruin it if you don't take care of it at all. Always evaluate the piano as an individual. You probably won't want to spend the money, but you could also get a tuner to go with you and take a look at it. There's also a book called "how to buy a good used piano" by Willard Leverett, gives tons of information about how to tell if a used piano is worth the money. You can tell if the pinblock is tight by measuring the torque, or just putting a tuning hammer on one of the pins and trying to move it with one finger - you should have to put real pressure on it to get it to move. A good book to check out about learning tuning is Reblitz, but beware it's a bit more complicated than tuning a guitar or cello or what have you.
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Oct 14, 2009 23:20
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Alizee posted:Go play some 4 part fugues or chopin nocturnes lol. Anyway, I vote two part inventions.
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Oct 25, 2009 03:08
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I definitely keep meaning to but every time I finish a piece lately I feel like I haven't really finished it but just cannot keep working on it. I do have one of those ZoomH2 or whatever it's called things...should really learn to use it anyway. I think I got it for Christmas last year and still haven't figured it out. Anyone have a preference for what they would like to hear me butcher? Chopin or Mozart?
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Nov 3, 2009 16:11
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RobattoJesus posted:I picked up a P85 last week and have been loving it. Gotten surprisingly good too - I think learning a new language recently has put my brain into a mode that has let me learn sheet music faster than any time I've tried to learn it before. It sort of depends on what you're playing. Sometimes I do 'lean' on one particular note in a chord but I play a lot of music where the melody notes are buried inside chords anyway and need to be brought out. If you're playing melody in one hand and accompaniment chords in the other you probably wouldn't need to do that. I would try to hit them all at the same time and with the same force - this is pretty hard to do, since all your fingers have different strength levels.
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Nov 10, 2009 15:03
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RobattoJesus posted:Thanks, yeah it was specifically a part where the melody was dropping but forming chords where the interval was getting larger, so basically the lowest note was forming the melody, but sometimes losing out to the others. Plus the melody happened to be on a white key while all other notes in the chord were on black keys, so I was pressing right near the top of the white key which was making it weaker. Instead of hitting the white note near the top, try turning your hand towards the black notes so you can still hit the white note closer to the bottom. Especially if you have to bring out the white note more so. It's terribly hard to play the white notes well 'up top'. I only do it when it's 100% unavoidable. Oh yeah, gravity! My teacher always says something like "sink into the chord". Just sort of...rest your fingers on the notes and then let your whole hand 'fall' into them.
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Nov 11, 2009 13:46
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RobattoJesus posted:
You wouldn't believe the nuances that are possible with a really good piano and a really excellent piannist - if you ever get a chance to see a really good piannist in concert, do it. You'll be blown away. I saw Alfred Brendel a year or two ago and was just completely floored.
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Nov 11, 2009 17:41
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RobattoJesus posted:Thanks, I'll try those new fingerings. I'm also reading the Piano Fundamentals book that was posted earlier in the thread, which seems to have a lot of good info on how to press the keys properly. I think what I'd do is really concentrate on listening - it sounds like you might have a pretty good ear based on the fact that you even noticed this problem with your chords. If you play scales and just really listen to what's coming out and try to make the sound as even as possbile, meaning no one note really sticks out from the others, you'll probably learn a lot about touch. Most people don't listen to what they're playing as much as they ought (granted, it's hard to listen to yourself on top of concentrating on doing all that stuff).
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Nov 12, 2009 13:38
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Why is it that I never hear anyone saying things like "yeah I'm gonna learn the cello I'm gonna get cello for dummies" or "how do I teach myself the French Horn at home". Is it just piano and guitar that people do this with, or what? What makes it seem like it should be possible to just figure it out? It's a complicated drat instrument.
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Nov 28, 2009 22:57
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