I had my first piano lesson yesterday and was very pleased with it. My teacher was very nice and was at least very pleased with my enthusiasm - less so with my playing, I suspect. She gave me lots of good advice on keeping my arms and hands relaxed and flexible. She's also given me lots of stuff to practice which I started on yesterday evening. If I only had time I'd be quite happy to practice for hours. I'm really looking forward to my next lesson! I only wish I'd started taking lessons a long time ago.

I didn't mention to my teacher the slight discomfort I've been feeling in my forearms. I thought it would sound like an excuse not to practice or a polite way of saying that I wasn't interested in taking any more lessons. I'm really hoping it gets better soon as I'd hate to have to take a break before I've even got started.

I had something similar when I first started - here's a post I made about it at the time, and there's some advice as to what the cause might be and how to correct it. If it continues, do talk to your teacher about it - it could be your posture, position of arms/wrists, height of seat, practising for too long, all sorts of things. Glad you've got a nice teacher!

I've had my first real lesson with my new teacher (I had an introductory lesson a couple of weeks ago, which was more of a 'get to know you' type thing), and I think it went ok.

I actually get to learn some new scales.
I had already taught myself C and G major because I wanted to learn them (I can play them hands separate, hands together and contrary motion), and now I have 3 more to learn this week.
*loves scales*


I also have some chords to learn and a couple of little bits to work on, and I can't wait for next week.

My teacher said we'll be doing a mix of different styles along the way (classical, modern, blues ect.), which I think is great.


*Officially loves piano*

Thanks very mch for the tips. It doesn't seem to have got any worse though it's still not 100%. I think I mentioned previously that the initial discomfort wasn't caused by playing the piano but by carrying it! - I had my wrists bent at a strange angle for rather a long time. Whenever I feel any pain whilst playing I always take a few minutes' break. I was just a bit worried because about 6 or 7 years ago I had something like tendonitis or carpal tunnel syndrome in my left hand (doctor didn't seem to know) and actually decided to give up playing guitar for good after breaks of days then weeks then months didn't help. I gave it another try after a year and to my surprise and delight everything was fine.

On the piano I've been practicing a couple of very easy pieces and scales. The main problem seems to be coordinating the left and right hands. I find I have to learn everything by heart as my reading is just too slow especially as I try to stick to the suggested fingering.

I received the grade 1 book yesterday and the first piece in it (by Duncombe) was a piece a that I tried learning over 20 years ago. Even seems a little bit easier this time round.

I've been reading an older discussion on this forum about the usefulness of scales. I'd always assumed they were essential but it seems that lots of people don't think so. My teacher's from Russia and I have the impression she thinks they're important too. So maybe it's not just in the UK that they're considered so important. I'll ask her opinion tomorrow. Myself, I'm quite partial to scales but probably only because it's easier to "measure" one's progress in that area.

I have finally "got it" , my contrary motion A major scale that is.

Thats grade 3 isnt it?
Which pieces are you doing?

I used 'Its not too late to learn piano' or something like that when I first started. I'm now using Classics to Moderns and The Soft Piano Bridge Over The Classics.

I use Dozen a Day too and I love them!!! They are so much fun and I really like practising them.

How often does everyone practise, and how long for? I try and practise every day but its so difficult to get the time some days! I usually play for 30-45 minutes.

Like you I try and practice every day for a minimum of 30mins, which you would think would be easy, but it's incredible sometimes how hard it can be to find even that amount of time no matter how much you want to.

Of course, it doesn't help when you have a full time job, two children to be fed and watered, and are restricted to practising at reasonable hours only because you live in a terraced house and only have an acoustic piano!

Just thought I'd post a little update on how my grade 1 prep is going! When I went home for easter, I spent 2 hours a day practising all the grade 1 pieces, but I was always watching my fingers, learning it by memory of the notes and looking at finger placements. Now that I have been told thats not the best way to do it, I am now relearning everything by making sure I dont look down at the keys! Feels like a step backwards to me!

Only getting the chance to play once a week back in London when I go to my friends house, so progress is slow...Pieces are coming on Ok, right hand scales all good but left hand getting nowhere!

I've just been doing something so obvious that I don't know why I haven't done it before.

There's a piece I learnt a long time ago and I still enjoy playing it, but there are one or two phrases in it which I can never recognise quickly enough if I haven't played it for a while. The phrases consist of chords in the left hand, and it suddenly occurred to me to break up the chord and play each note of the chord separately. Because I was focussing on just one finger at a time, the pattern was clearer and it made more sense. So when I went back to putting the chord together, it was easier to remember. It seems so obvious now - we break up phrases, we break up bars, we play hands separately before hands together, so why not break up the chord as well...

Yes I know I'm probably reinventing the wheel, but it's all new to me

I know the feeling of not having enough hours in the day.

I've been told I have to have some time off work so I booked next week off. I'll be having some marathon practice sessions in the week methinks! I might actually finish some of this stuff I'm loaded up with, plus I'll be able to polish the 3 pieces I'm supposed to be playing in this student concert!

I've been on a music buying marathon again and have soo much stuff I want to learn... oops



'tis like the E major isn't it.. once it clicks your fingers do the work for you

I saw the pieces on another thread - they look really difficult! Hope the concert goes well - is it the end of the month did you say?



Is it possible to think too much about pieces, do you reckon? I've just been playing a piece quite slowly and disjointedly, and then I let my instinct take over and I played it much better without thinking about it. I wouldn't like to trust this in a concert situation though!

You would be right not to trust that in a concert situation. It is probably (disclaimer - I am not Mad Tom ) that the piece is in your "muscle memory" and you can therefore play it without thinking too much. However, if you make a mistake, you are unlikely to be able to pick it up without starting again. You need the piece to be in your muscle memory and brain at the same time - so your fingers can just play it, but you also know where you are in the music and what you are trying to convey through the music at that particular point.
(Gosh, this proper advice stuff is tricky )

Yep, I can see that you're right I will be following the strategy I used in my exam and will be intently following the sheet as a prompt. Like Carol says, one tiny mistake playing from memory can snowball and end up with you in a situation you can't recover from without playing from the beginning, or from a memorised "anchor point" in my limited experience.

I've been going through the pieces with a fine toothed comb and am trying to shake off the habit of making assumptions. I found a few tricky parts where I was playing what sounded right, but one note was a 3rd out, for example, oops... Concert is the 17th or 18th, I think and I'm pretty close to getting everything pretty much tip-top (or as good as it can be with my ability level)

I have finally memorised all the tricky chords (phew!) from the Beethoven and the only thing I'm not quite sure on is that turn on the final page (will fix that in my next lesson). Ornamentation is my arch-nemesis at the moment...

Thanks for the wishes of good luck, skyers. Hopefully luck isn't something I'll need by then!

Learning tonnes of other stuff isn't helping me plan out my practice time though.. I started on a few of the pieces from "The Piano" last night (I can hear Carol groaning...)

Like playing music, it probably gets easier with practice


And that was very sensible advice, thank you

Yay - I am an expert!



I don't have time to practice being sensible!
My advice is MT approved! Yay!

What, not even 5 minutes a day?




Surely there can be no higher accolade than that

Nope, I have to practise being facetious and flirtatious (though the latter doesn't take too much practice )

Hmm... I guess not...

No need to practice when you have a god-given talent like the latter....

Hi. Just had my second lesson from the exam, and I am going to consolidate, and get some technique solid before I go onto Grade 4 stuff.
I am using the book I did my list A piece from in Grade 1, it's called Easy Pieces of the 17th and 18th Centuries. We are treating them as studies, so I am not getting them to exam fluency. Also doing a Pam Wedgewood one called 5th Avenue, which is easy but uses pedal which I haven't done before.
I have made a start on the grade 4 scales though. Hands together chromatics Ah well, slowly and surely.
Bev

That's such a great piece

Yes, it sounds much harder than it really is. I like those sort

Let's hope your wife(?) doesnt chop your finger off if it get too annoying!

No chance of that with me being single, I can play to my heart's content

Hi, can I come in here? Pretty please? (this is the best fluttering eyelashes I could find)


I'm not really grade 0-1ish, more grade 2-3 ish, but please?

I thought 1-3 qualified as beginner (or at least "foundation" level) to be fair

Yeah, but it said "grade 0-1 (ish)" so I wondered if it was acceptable. Mind you though, you're a lot higher than grade 1, aren't you? Ok, I'll chat here

I can't wait till I get past the beginner stage of piano, it's so annoying when people ask how the flute exam went, then mum goes on to mention piano too, "What grade on piano are you?" "Errm. 2" "Oh. That's nice."

Hello bobziekins, I'm the OP and 'course you can come in here You're the "ish" in the G0-1(ish)


I don't think I'll ever get to the "ish" stage

Cheers me dears

Of course you'll get to the "ish" stage. I bet you're already there. The "ish" stage isn't too great though.

We'll get away with it.

And no, officially grade 1, but come November, I'll hopefully pass 3

Yes, let's just clarify that Sol and I are most certainly not married

LOL - how thick am I, it didn't even click in my head as to what was being inferred!

Phew, lucky I didn't marry you - I like intelligent men...

Intelligent men have standards, though

*runs*

Boy, you had better be able to run fast...

He he!!!

Back on topic. I have just started the Grade 4 scales. Oh my.........chromatics hands together. Please, somebody help meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
Bev falls off the stool in dire straights.

Like the band Dire Straights?

[Helps Bev back onto the stool] Starting on C, I assume by now your are reasonably familiar with the 1-3-1-3-123-1-3-1-3-123-1-3-123-1-3-1-3-12 pattern for the right hand going up the scale. Similarly for the left hand going up 1-3-1-321-3-1-3-1-321-3-1-321-3-1-3-1-321. When going up the scale with hands together, note how the left hand 2 comes in one note before the right hand 2. Always. So for going up, my tip is to watch the left hand and use the left hand 2 as the trigger for the next right hand 2, playing the right hand without looking at it.

Going down, it is the complete opposite. The right hand 2 always comes one note before the left hand 2, so on the way down, this time watch the right hand and when you play a 2 trigger the left hand to play its next note with a 2 while playing the left hand without looking at it.

It helps with this tip if you can first memorise each hand separately without looking at either the music or your hand, because you are going to need to be able to do this. I always found that trying to watch both hands was too confusing. This tip works for a chromatic scale, both hands together in similar motion, starting on any note.

I hope this helps, Bev.

For a bit of fun one day, my teacher demonstrated some really complex scales and then took me through the fingerings for them

Have fun Bev, look forward to hearing them!

That doesn't sound like "fun" to me..

I have a lesson in a few hours and I just know it's going to be difficult despite the amount of practice I've done...

Thanks Gerald. I'll try that when I get near a piano. ( School holidays......children }

I FEEL SICK... I DON'T WANT TO GET TO GRADE 4..WAAHH!!!!!!

Why not?

BY George, I can do F major contrary motion. It's all I've had time for this week, because of family stuff, so I concentrated on it. Yippppppppppeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

I've just given it a go to see what it's like

I've discovered today that if you really REALLY concentrate on synchronising your fingers, it *can* be done!

I am impressed Skylark! I have just got to grips with F major similar motion (that was hard enough!).






Only kidding... of course I do. Music is now my life and piano my obsession (hopefully healthy).

Ooops, no! I see in the cold light of day that the two statements look connected but they weren't meant to be - there's no way I could do F Major contrary motion The synchronising fingers bit was to do with a piece I'd just been practising

You could have just bluffed!