Hi guys,

I was just wondering how old you were when you first started to learn teh piano.

I got my keyboard when i was 14, and practise on that, but am getting piano lessons soon, how soon do u tyhink it will be before i get my grade 8!

i started when i was 9 but my playing has been very inconsistent until recently, hence the fact that im only on grade 4!

I was a late beginner and started when I was 17! I wanted to learn the piano since the age of 5 but my parents couldn't afford it at the time. I left home when I was 17 and was really homesick so I thought I do something "impossible" to divert my attention.

Much to my surprise I got up to grade 5 in 2 years. Although I stop having lessons after that to concentrate on my studies, I contiune to enjoy playing the piano.

I started when i was about 6, then stopped, then started, and stopped again, and started properly when i was about 15, now am doin grade 6.

I Started when I was 12/13 and now I'm doing grade 6 too!

I have played something piano related i.e. keyboard, electric organ, since i was about 3. I started piano when i was 11.

I started when I was 5, but like Natalie my playing was very inconsistant, I started doing grades when I was 12 and I'm 14 now and I'm doing grade 3 tomorrow

QUOTE (isabelsmells @ Jul 12 2004, 05:31 PM)

I'm doing grade 3 tomorrow

Good luck

Thankz, Is it too late to start now, as im 14???

I started playing piano when I was 6 ( i think !!) and I am now 14. I am somewhere between grade 5 and 8 ( I Have done grade 5 jazz and hope to be doing grade 8 next year some time)

i started playing piano when i was 5 or 6 i think, and four piano teachers later i did grade 8 aged 15. its never too early or late to start playin!!

i started last year, doing grade 5 this year. (btw i'm 13)

Can really go in like one year to grade 5, that is amazin

well i had already been playing violin for 2 years so it wasn't like i was starting from scratch.

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Thankz, Is it too late to start now, as im 14?

It's never too late. As you start to mature, you'll find it is much more interesting to learn. Even I am still learning and I teach others music. Always good to keep your skills and knowlege updated.

Good luck to all those that are sitting exams and also to those who are still learning and to those who are just playing now.

Music never fades, it will always be around!

QUOTE (Piano_Lady @ Jul 12 2004, 06:55 PM)

Thankz, Is it too late to start now, as im 14???

haha nah....

check it out!

i was 16 when i started piano! not long ago, around oct 2003.

Thankz every1, but my mu and dad sed it is too expensive to have piano lessons, wot can i say 2 them.

Maybe if you buy some beginner books (assuming that you do have a piano, or keyboard or something that you can play) and start playing from them, and you do a lot of work they'll see how dedicated you are and how much you want to do it and may be more convinced that it's something you really want to do and is worth the money; especially if they see that it's making you happy and that you're willing to work hard.

I have a big keyboard, and i have lots of begnner books, but they say they cant afford it.

QUOTE (Piano_Lady @ Jul 13 2004, 07:21 PM)

Can really go in like one year to grade 5, that is amazin

Its not impossible, I'm doing grade 5 viola and I started playing in February!

WOW THAT IS AMAZIN

QUOTE (isabelsmells @ Jul 15 2004, 06:15 AM)

Its not impossible, I'm doing grade 5 viola and I started playing in February!

do u already play violin or sumthing? cuz that would make it alot easier. however, if it's ur first instrument, that really is amazing:)

I have always wanted to learn piano but started at around 6 when I got a little keyboard,played nursery rhymes and stuff on that for a while.Had lessons from a neighbour at 7,only lasted a few months cos she had a bad back and had to keep cancelling lessons and she gave up teaching shortly afterwards.Restarted at around thirteen or so ,did grade 8 around 3 years later.

QUOTE
Thankz, Is it too late to start now, as im 14?

Its never too late to take up music.Go for it,piano rocks!

I started when I was 7 I think, and I'm 17 now. I've been through organ and flute and at the moment I'm a percussionist as well as piano.

I started 4 yrs ago when I was 28 yo

Fiona

i started at 5 and i did my grade 8 piano at 14..... i also did my grade 8 singing at 16 (started at 14)...i'm now 17 and planning to achieve another grade 8 (organ) in two years time....

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Thankz every1, but my mu and dad sed it is too expensive to have piano lessons, wot can i say 2 them.

You can't really say anything if that is the case.
If you really want to do it then one day you will be able to afford to fund yourself. I know that may seem a long wait but you will value it so much more when the time comes.
An old (bonfire wood) piano we had for a time when I was 10 made me want to play. Like you there was no way in our family that was possible. When i was 14 I got the chance to learn with the new organist at church.
That is a long wait at that age and I still think of it as a very precious opportunity.

my mum plays so weve always had a piano. ive been playing by ear since before i was 5, just things my mum was playing. started getting proper lessons when i was about 9, have just done grade 7 and im 17. going in school years, if i hadnt had one year where i didnt sit an exam i might have done grade 8 by now which would be handy for applying to uni!

I started at 4 but did my Grade 2 at 7!

Wow, u guys r amazin.

I started when I was 4, but didn't do it properly till I was 8 when I did Grade 1. I absolutely HATED it and only did the piano because my mum wanted me to (a cranky teacher didn't help matters). I didn't start to enjoy it for myself till I was 12, 13. I did Grade 7 when I was 15 but then stopped right after because I wanted to concentrate on school, plus I had a pretty traumatic Grade 7 exam. Passed fine but was disgusted with myself for totally losing it in the exam.

I only took up the piano again this February, 9-10 years after I last laid even a finger on a piano. I absolutely LOVE it now, and hope to do Grade 8 in either November or March. It took a lot of practice, plus an absolutely amazing teacher to whip my rusty fingers and brain into shape but I have to admit I was unprepared (and pleasantly surprised) at how fast it all came back.

While I regret I never enjoyed it till years after I first started and regret I never did Grade 8 before going off to university, I am thankful I took it up again before say age 100, and that I love it so much. I can't imagine my life without it now, and as an adult, I feel more understanding of the music than I did as a child, probably because I have listened to much more, experienced in life much more plus learnt theory for the first time and understand the structure etc behind it all.

That plus each time I play I feel there is still so much more to discover. *That* is the most amazing feeling for me, to feel there is so much in the music that there is a whole world out there for you to discover each time you sit at the piano (or hold any instrument). It is a feeling that comes from within you, no amount of teaching or exam certificates can give you that, and at the end of the day, that feeling from music is even more rewarding than a Grade 8 (or Diploma) certificate hanging on your wall.

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I did Grade 7 when I was 15 ....learnt theory for the first time and understand the structure etc behind it all.

Was there a time in the past when one could do grade 6 practical, or above, without theory? Or do you just mean that you took more of an interest or did the higher grades more recently?

I did Grades 6 and 7 under the Irish board so theory wasn't mandatory for them. I just did the Grade 5 theory in June because I am doing the ABRSM Grade8.

I started the piano when I was 7, cos my bro did and I wanted to be like him lol. I'm now 15 and doing my grade 8 in November, and overtook my brother lol.

QUOTE (Chopininoff @ Jul 16 2004, 07:02 PM)

I did Grades 6 and 7 under the Irish board so theory wasn't mandatory for them. I just did the Grade 5 theory in June because I am doing the ABRSM Grade8.

Oh, right. Good luck with your grade 8 when you take it .

I started when I was 9... against my will... but I'm thanking my mum soooo much now for making me, 5 years later!!!

I give daily thanks to my mum for making me practice back then (all those torturous ten mins to half hours). My mum laughs when I tell her I admit I was stupid and didn't know better as a kid, and is just delighted I love it now.