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Hobby Forum Index » Music - Classical » I Took Piano Lessons As a Kid, But I've Forgotten...
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| phapibipvwaw at (no spam) yahoo.com... |
 Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 10:57 pm |
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There are literally millions of adults today who took piano lessons
when they were growing up, but at some point along the way gave them
up. Some couldn't care less, but many have an urge down deep to take
up piano playing again someday.
Over the years I have never heard anyone say "I'm glad I never learned
to play the piano", but I have heard hundreds say something like "I
sure wish I had paid attention when I was a kid", or "My piano teacher
was too strict (or too boring), but I would love to get back to the
piano some day."
And most people that feel that way have the "round-tuit" problem that
we all have; they mean well, but the busyness of life distracts them
from starting to play again. And they really don't want to take
lessons again from the little old lady down the street who can't tell
the Beatles from Beethoven. Plus it's hard to work regular lessons
into their already-packed schedule.
So what's the solution?
There are two inter-related factors that when combined create an
opportunity for adults such as this unlike any in history....
More About Learn Piano: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/learnpianokydf |
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| Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 1:39 pm |
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I took piano lessons as a kid and hated them. I never got any good at all.
Hopeless.
In 5th grade I saw a viola and tried that ... much easier, and I learned
to play it to a good amateur grade.
Then 30 years later after I had spent 19 years in school, some
in the hoitsy-toitsyiest places around, one day while trying to
follow the viola part in the Firebird from the score and not
having any success, it dawned on me why I could not play the piano:
I CANNOT READ MULTILINE SCORES.
I can read parts, that is, essentially single line parts like
violin or trumpet or bassoon or oboe (which I can play) just fine.
I can read the double stops in violin (or viola) parts. But with more
than three notes at the same time, my brain simply is incapable of making
sense of them. I can't hear in my head what a chord would sound like,
seeing it on paper (I can hear what a two-note interval will sound like.)
It's simply how my brain was wired.
I think that that is often the problem when people can't play piano.
They can't read the music. (Of course, there are the folks who can listen
to a piece on the piano and replicate the whole thing from memory, no
paper at all.)
Doug McDonald |
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| Neil... |
| Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 7:03 pm |
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Guest
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On Jul 10, 1:57 am, "phapibipv... at (no spam) yahoo.com" <phapibipv... at (no spam) yahoo.com>
wrote:
Quote: There are literally millions of adults today who took piano lessons
when they were growing up, but at some point along the way gave them
up. Some couldn't care less, but many have an urge down deep to take
up piano playing again someday.
Over the years I have never heard anyone say "I'm glad I never learned
to play the piano", but I have heard hundreds say something like "I
sure wish I had paid attention when I was a kid", or "My piano teacher
was too strict (or too boring), but I would love to get back to the
piano some day."
And most people that feel that way have the "round-tuit" problem that
we all have; they mean well, but the busyness of life distracts them
from starting to play again. And they really don't want to take
lessons again from the little old lady down the street who can't tell
the Beatles from Beethoven. Plus it's hard to work regular lessons
into their already-packed schedule.
So what's the solution?
Find a good teacher.
CHOOSING A PIANO TEACHER
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
The most important concepts you want to learn from a piano teacher:
HOW TO PRACTICE. One of the questions teachers are constantly asked
during interviews with new students is “How much should I practice?”
It’s not how much you practice, but how well you practice that really
counts. A student playing a piece of music over and over again making
the same mistakes is hardly getting more than increased circulation in
their fingers. The student who works over small sections, perfecting
the sound of each phrase while studying their own physical motions, is
improving their playing of a particular piece as well as improving
their overall musicianship. Practicing is work, but if organized
properly, it is enjoyable and soulfully rewarding.
PROFICIENT SIGHT READING (the strange term used to describe playing
from printed music) is one of the most important skills a musician
develops. First, it allows one to perform unknown music with a decent
degree of fluency — normally, such a performance can be brought off
proficiently if the music requires less than the technical level the
pianist has attained. Second, it makes the work of learning a new
piece immensely easier.
DEVELOP A WORKING KNOWLEDGE OF THEORY. Integrating theoretical
concepts relevant to the music being studied is essential to
musicianship. Scales and chords, which are the foundation of music
theory, must not be taught as isolated exercises. Balanced teaching
includes introducing each element of theory as it becomes needed to
help a student’s understanding of how music is put together.
Many “classically trained” musicians are notorious for lacking an
understanding of theory due to training not received. For the most
part, they are typists who can only play from the printed page in
front of them, maybe with feeling, but without any knowledge of why
the notes sound like music. Ironically, many classical only piano
teachers degrade rock and roll musicians, but pale by comparison when
it comes to playing their instrument from a knowledge of theory rather
than from reading sequences of notes.
MEMORIZING a piece of music and making it part of you is the goal
almost every musician has towards a composition they love. The good
teacher follows a comprehensive procedure for solid memorization:
building a base of theory through scale recognition and chord
progressions; teaching the steps and methods of memorizing; and
allowing the student to experience how their ability to play by ear is
developing as they bring the physical and intellectual elements
together.
CONCEPTS THAT GO BEYOND WHAT IS ON THE PRINTED PAGE — there are many
qualities about musical sounds that are too subtle to be communicated
properly in symbols, or properties of music that composers or editors
leave off the score. One example is the layering of simultaneous
musical lines, so that the melody is louder than the low (quieter) and
middle (quietest) voices. The growth of a musician is facilitated by
teaching them that there is more to creating music than playing the
right notes. Getting to the spiritual core of a music composition,
whether it be classical, jazz or popular, requires developing a range
of physical and intellectual skills. One of the greatest joys of
teaching is experiencing that first time a student changes from a
player of notes into a musician. The hours of struggling finally pay
off for them. They suddenly find, while playing a piece they have
practiced diligently, that they hear the inside of the music.
Neil Miller, author of The Piano Lessons Book
Enter in Amazon.com search: Neil Miller Piano Lessons Book |
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