Hi all. Hope you don't mind but I feel like I'm about to burst if I don't share. I have just come back from a FANTASTIC piano lesson! Everything seemed to go right, played my Burgmuller piece better than anything I've ever played on piano (to the point I started thinking is this really me?!). I'm suddenly starting to think maybe I am going to be able to play something in front of somebody other than my teacher one day soon!

Don't you just love it when everything just 'clicks'?

Nice to read that post, Juniper, and yes it's a wonderful feeling when you have a good lesson

That's great, well done Juniper

Well done Juniper!!!! What's the piece??

I loved the Burgemuller Barcerolle (sp?) And had a similar feeling when I cracked it and got a star sticker

Not that I could play it now though...... It was a few years back...


Well done again Juniper. That's really great. Enjoy the buzz

The Arabesque. Was having trouble getting the left hand as strong and as fast as the right. I'm so pleased as I've worked so hard to get it right On to another one of his studies now

Ooh! I like that one too I don't play it fast enough though...

You know you are making me feel like digging the Old Burgemuller out again

Well done Juniper.

It's great when something finally comes together

I must admit to being a bit of a fan of the Burgmuller studies book. Curretnly trawling through it looking for another couple of things to try

Lois

Yeah, they are great Now starting on number 6 "Progress"! Ironic really

Congratulations to you. It must be a fantastic feeling when it finally all comes together.

How nice!

I can imagine your feeling.
Also it is amazing feeling to play the in front of people - I am sure you will enjoy it.
It would be nice to lesten to your piano one day! I will try to join in many events as possible next year.
So you never know, we might meet one day through one of Forumutes events!

It's a great piece and I definitely had the same problems. It's good for getting your left hand up to speed and infinitely more interesting than bashing over Hanon I got up to The Clear Stream and then started on some other stuff, I'll go back to the book soon I think

Ah, thanks. Looking like I will be able to go to Teddington and play something if I don't end up shaking in the corner somewhere so maybe see you there It's a bit ridiculous when I regularly play trumpet in public but I go to pieces the moment anybody comes near me on piano
BUT, hopefully that will all change soon

Know the feeling intimately! I'm exactly the same.

Glad it's not just me. I've come to the conclusion it's because piano can be a 'lonely' instrument. With an orchestral instrument you all was have somebody to 'back you up', as it were, even if it's a piano accompaniment. On piano it's you, on your own, mistakes and all

oN CLARI If I make a mistake I just keep going but on piano I just freeze and stop. Maybe it's because I'm an adult learner on piano and was a child learner on clari. It was ok to "fail" or make imperfect efforts at performance. It was a learning curve and it was ok not to be perfect. I sometimes think as an adult we are too desperate for perfection and anything less than perfect won't do. If we could only rediscover that child-like "Devil may care attitude!......" I do think also it's do do with the amount of coordination required for piano - 2 hands, 2 clefs to decipher - which sometimes swap And with more than one note playing at any one time with sometimes cross rhythms More And then of course there's the pedal to contend with I also feel that I would not feel at all comfortable playing a clarinet other than my own in a performance situation and the nervousness I feel at performing on piano has some of this in it too. You going to Headingley Juniper? Maybe we could take the performance plunge together?

Bit far away I'm afraid May well be going to Teddington if my resolve holds out and also if I decide what to play!!

Can I join this club too? I am exactly the same! Not that I am a great clarinettist by any stretch but I know what my limitations are and bearing that in mind, I feel pretty much in control of my clari. Yes, I emit the odd squeak now and again but I know where my fingers are supposed to land and more importantly, I know that they will land there.

Not so with the piano.... I rather feel that it controls me! I think the adult learner thing comes into it, as does coordination and the solo performer aspect but I think ultimately, I am more suited to the clarinet. However, learning to play the piano has been a lifelong ambition for me (as a child, the clarinet was a poor substitute, though I've always loved playing that too!) So, onwards and upwards and hopefully it will get better!

I'm going to start a new thread on this in viva piano. Please come along and join the club.

That sounds like a great lesson, it is so nice when it all comes together. I played in front of my daughter yesterday and everything went lovely, I just hope that the next time I play in front of other people that I can do just as good as performance. These nerves we suffer from are terrible aren't they? I tell myself not to be silly but somehow that just makes me worse.

ET

Fantastic. I like to think that each of these small achievements help towards a more confident future