Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Composer's Lounge How would you celebrate a new piano?

Since I was 7, I've wanted a Baby Grand Piano.
Its not new, but its coming tomorrow...after
a 50 year wait!
Ohh boy.
Its not that I couldn't have afforded it...
at least not in the last 5 years or so...but
I didn't allow myself to make it/me a priority
before this.
Self-esteem and other things got in the
way....a pretty car....a trip...you know...
But I am beside myself with joy.
What do you think? Champagne? White roses,
a silk tapestry strewn across it with
verve and style...or just pulling out boxes
of old sheet music and playing til my fingers
bleed.
Smile.
(I haven't had any piano for about a year..other
than an electric which doesn't suit my soul at
all)...
and before that a spinet without a lot of
life in it.
Thanks for letting me share my exuberant
joy.

I would write an awful lot of music and learn an awful lot of new pieces of ever increasing difficulty! (might happen soon actually!)

I don't possess a celebrating personality to any great extent. When I was young and mine arrived and, thirty-four years later, last May, when I had the action replaced, I just started to work flat out on my music.

I suppose I'd lean on the "until my fingers bleed" side...and yes, I've done it before...the first time I played a nine foot Steinway.

I had the pleasure of experiencing this last summer when our new Estonia 190 arrived. First there was the consternation because it didn't sound like the instrument we played at the dealer (it was). The action felt heavier (still does), but it also felt very solid and secure. Much as I wanted to play for hours and hours I have family obligations. What I have done is work very hard at learning my own pieces (someone has to play them). It's been a fun experience and I've come to appreciate the responsiveness of my instrument more and more. I do practice whenever I can and continue to make progress despite being time limited (usually no more than an hour a day).

I went with a 61 key cheap unweighted keyboard for about 4 years. I saved and saved for a decent piano. When I finally got one, I appreciate it and cherish it so much more knowing what is was like to go without a piano for so long. Again, it makes one appreciate a decent piano so much more and not take owning a piano for granted. Of course it's not a grand but it was brand new and I've had not a single complaint about it for over 10 years now. I think I'm also satisfied with it and don't second guess my decision because of all the research I put into what to look for in a piano. I know I got a decent one for the price. In fact I'm going to go and play it right now after talking about how great it is. The fact that I saved and saved for it makes it all the more special too!

*laughs* I know exactly what you mean...however, with the stuff I've been writing lately, it may be that, "Someone else has to play them." :p

The piano came and is wonderful. I am stumped
how you can write beyond your ability to perform.
I may not be able to play them with grace and
skill...but I can plunk them out. How do you
do it?

Simple...find your weakness and exploit it.

When I write difficult pieces, I tend to try and push the limits of what a human being can do while remaining musical. Eventually, it hits a speed at which you can no longer keep up...or has some technical difficulty that you have not mastered. I'm very good at octaves...they're my strongest point. So, I use them a lot when I write. For other people, this may be very difficult. If I'm trying to exploit my weaknesses, I write combinations of thirds-singlenote so that the fingers on the thumb side have more than one note, and the second note is just the 4th or 5th finger. (Try trilling with CE-F...that's my major weakness.)

hanna2222,

Just enter the notes that you want to write into a notation program, such as Sibelius. Works like a charm. Sib has a playback engine from Kontakt which will let you listen to a less-than-stellar-fidelity version of your opus.

And if you really want to shock and amaze yourself, get some high quality piano samples, load them onto a computer with sufficient horesepower, buy a recording app such as Cubase, and "write" the notes into its MIDI editor. Then play back your composition and listen to yourself "playing" hanna's opus.

Been there, doing that.

Oh...I get it. Boy you are all so ambitious!
Congratulations for pushing the envelope.
I bow in awe.