At college I'm participating ( unwillingly) to play carousel, for a musical production.

I have no idea how to start learning it. Usually with books I graudally get better over time, with little practice, so it takes me about half a year possibly a year to learn a piece.. now I have until March.

I have no idea how to go about it. I don't know what to do, where to start. or anything. I'm really confused.

Why unwilling?

What do you need to do? Are you playing for rehearsals or for the actual show or both?

well, I dislike particpating in these things because
a) I have no confidence
b) I also have no confidence in my playing ability at all
c) it's just look so scary and hard and these people have talents and too much time.

I have the coursel music book. It's the piano score basically I have to learn the book I think.. well at least the finale by Next Wednesday. But I can't learn a piece in week. I just have absolutely no idea how to go about it. Do I go through left hand first then right hand afterwards? I usually spends weeks with my teacher teaching me the song pieces.

I really don't want to trash the book either.. will it be possible to scan it will that be against the "law" ? ... I'm verry clueless about these things

.. yet I'm a grade 7'er and taking it in the summer. oh great.

Most importantly, don't panic! For next week, simplify the score for yourself so that all the main themes come out, even if you just play the melody in the right hand and a few simple chords in the left. (I don't mean write it all out afresh - just work out the essential bits to play to give a feel of the piece.)

The problem with a lot of musical scores is that they try to condense an entire orchestra into something a grade 8+ pianist might manage after a lot of practice. If your score is like this, I'm not surprised you're worried. But what your college needs is a bit of accompaniment to help the singers along, so that's the essence of what you should aim to provide.

Remember that the audience's attention will be on the singing - the only time they will really notice the accompaniment is if you put the singers off. So the main thing is to be confident with what you play, even if you've reduced it to a grade 3 piece initially. If you keep playing the pieces, you will find that you can add a few more bits of detail in time, so that it sounds more impressive.

Hope this helps. If you can cope with it, you will really benefit from having to play pieces at a speed set by someone else. Most pianists spend far more time choosing their own speeds than is possible with other instruments, as the latter are usually played in ensembles from early grades. So try to be positive.

Do keep us posted on how things are going, and try to enjoy participating.

This sounds like very familiar territory to me. As a pianist you spend your life holding your nose as you plunge into the deep end!

Fear concentrates the mind wonderfully. The first thing I would do is to enlist the help of your teacher (who has almost certainly been put through this kind of thing before as have most of us) and see if there is an easier version of the music available. If you buy it yourself you can scribble in it as much as you like to add extra sections, repeats etc and to photocopy your way out of awkward page turns etc.

I can't remember whether you said there were other instruments/orchestra involved; if so then the key might be a problem but you do at least have the original with which to compare before you commit yourself to another version.
If anyone violently objects to such measures then you would have the moral high ground on which to stand as you pull out, having at least shown willing to make an attempt.

The other option is to have a stab at the version you have been given. See if you can simplify it yourself, listen to recordings, try it REALLY SLOWLY and don't panic unless you truly can't play anything recognisable after a week.
There is no reason why you shouldn't photocopy for practice purposes - as long as you use the original for the main event.

Good luck

Mel

Hey, sorry to bring this back up agian.

Howver, how do I do page turns? Once I turn the pages the other people are at least five six bars ahead

I have NO idea how to play it in their rhythym and their beat. Seriously. I get so lost. I finish the first line and their are on bar 32 or something ridiclious going by 4 beats per bar. I really can't do this.

How about if you ignore the piano part and just play the tune and improvise the left hand? That way it should be easier to keep up, if you bung down a chord for the last bar or two, hold the sustain pedal down and then turn the page that should minimise the disruption.

You don't need to be playing their rhythm, exactly, so long as you are playing their pulse - you'll be fine. Keep the bass line going and fill in the right hand wherever you can. That way you won't lose your place so easily