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Yes, it was a long overdue trip. Our main goal was to visit the village I lived in as a child (Cousy-lès-Eppes) in the north, but we visited the south as well. We loved the region. We did not plan enough time there, so we will return in a few years (saving for it now).

Pont du Gard is stunning from the top as well. One of the highlights of the trip. We absolutely fell in love with Arles and the people there. It was the friendliest place we visited.

I am currently using Alfreds and The Piano Handbook. My studies tend to be classical, and my goof-off time tends to be music from the 70s and 80s. I am going it alone (well, almost alone, no teacher but I am constantly looking for help here).

First of all “lack talent”??? I will not accept that for one minute!! In the words of the Dalai Lama: “We all have the same potential.”

Even though I like my teacher my motivation still comes and goes. I think its hard b/c sometimes the process can seem slow and we need something to keep the momentum going. Having a smaller group to check in with for motivation and practice tips will be helpful.

I’m not working with any particular book just working on a piece (Bach’s menuet in G minor). I have been working on this piece for a while b/c even though I can play it my teacher is focused on every detail (not in a mean or strict way). I know she’s right but sometimes I feel like I want to be done with it and move on already-LOL. She also gives me a lot of great advice. Something teachers in the past did not do. They would just load me down with “work”.

At the moment I can’t practice b/c I hurt my hand so I have to wait until it gets better.
But when it is better I know I need to start practicing more.

BTW…, don’t give up on finding the right teacher. I am on my fourth and she truly is a great teacher 


So, how would this be set up? As a separate thread or some kind of shared calendar???
Also, I only have access to a computer Monday-Friday. Eventually I might get a home computer though.

Kymber.. I am working on Bach's minuet in G minor also. My teacher has had me working on it for months. We are working on dynamics and expression. He is very strick when it comes to Bach. I am actually learning a lot

Hey Peter, take it easy on yourself, it'll be a long time before your playing can inspire your kids, maybe never. Be careful, if you misjudge the situation you may find that you get the opposite result and become their chief limitation. You may find yourself the subject of a Piano World teachers' forum thread about "a difficult parent in the south of France"! Doucement !

As for a study group, count me out, I am not at all enthousiast of internet for that kind of usage.

I'll be in Narbonne the 12th of July, to leave my little girl off at music camp. We could maybe use a piano there for a little UMUTA meeting, if you feel like dropping by.

By the way, have you thought of yourself going to a summer music camp, a "stage"? I know of one not so far away from you, in the Lozère. It is principally for kids but I know that adults participate as well, they just have to lodge themselves somewhere in the vicinity. They promise at least a 1/2 hours lesson a day, if I remember correctly, and you have a piano at your disposition pretty much all day. It is a pretty high level, but the teacher might be willing to work with a HMVTAB like you !

wj3
Thanks for sharing I feel better now.
Quality over quantity...right?
I think my playing has definitely improved a lot. I think it's good our teachers are concerned about the details b/c we can transfer what we learn to other songs in the future.

landorrano.......thanks for the advice...
For my children i am only looking to inspire them by being able to play myself, after that i would wait for them to ask questions and go from there...i would never push them to play.

So Kymber a good question, so for those who are interested, how would it work... I thought that we would need to be agreed on a practice piece or two then either through the forum or a blog we can exchange ideas and discus the piece (theory) untill we are either sickof it or ready to record a performance (the thought of this already sends shivers down my spine, but this way we can give better feedback to each other)then we chose another piece or two and move forward.
How about two pieces one classical, one modern and a cource book...
I think we need to leave ourselves room for playing our own music so we have some variation...
What version of Bach's minuet in G minor are you playing?

Peter

Well that post seems to have silenced you all!!

Hi, actually I'm interested in joining the study group. Seems like a great idea. Just a bit hesitant 'cause I don't know how it'll work out. I agree we could pick out a piece or two to practice, then take off from there. But there must be discrepancies in our abilities. I'm definitely in the early beginner level concentrating on working with Alfred Adult Course Book 1. Someone may pick out a nice piece, but it could be too hard for some but too easy for others. This will clearly result to a loss of interest from all. Sorry, I'm nitpicky about details like this

Some people say it's better to tackle pieces more advanced than your current level but after trying it a bit myself, I decided to go the slow and steady way. I get to learn more technique with less headaches, and learn more pieces in the same amount of time. (This is just my long-winded way of saying that I'm not ready to tackle pieces above my level in the method book )

Lurking here. :-) I might be interested in a study group if the piece/pieces you pick are easy enough. I've been playing for more than a year, but am still on Alfred AIO Book 1, self taught and very slow.

Hi Petex,

I think I understand what you're looking for... you want something a little more focused than the current Alfred's threads. We've had very successful "Study Groups" in the past on the forum that were geared toward mastery of certain pieces, e.g., we had one for Croatian Rhapsody and one for Jim Brickman's "Edgewater." (O.T. reminiscence: I never did get that into recording shape... I should probably break it out and take another crack at it.) And then there was the time we had a sight-reading study group, where several of us purchased the same book and we practiced sight-reading a piece out of it every week and reported back on our experience.

So I think such a support group could work, but I'd advise making it very specific in purpose. The "general" support group already exists and is called AB forum.

Probably the best way to start it is just to start a new thread entitled "[name of piece] Study Group" and see who hops on.

LOL.

I like Monika's idea. It might be a good place to start for now and then we can decide if we want to add another song or follow along with the book (or both)....

I was feeling a little overwhelmed by following along with a book and doing two songs in addition to my lessons and the song my teacher has me do. But, I do want to push myself a little more and I think this would be a good way to do it. I definitely have my "down" days and the support and encouragement form people working on the same things would be wonderful.

BTW... I probably won't be able to start until next week (Monday) b/c I hurt my hand

This is a good idea, but maybe we should make several groups according to the current level of each student. For some, a specific piece may well be too hard at this very moment, whilst for others the same piece could be quite easy. And then again, who says we all want to study the same piece?

Well, another approach might be that we ask each other our dumb questions?? Like, "Does anything know what that squiggly thing with a couple of dots mean, in a piece that has that strange word 'coda' in it?" And if nobody knows, we post the question on the piano teachers forum?

Otherwise, I'd feel comfortable just telling you what I'm struggling with, or what I would like to do but don't know how to get from "here to there," etc. If someone wants to post a piece and invite others to play, I could try that and report back whether I could do that--and others could help us all analyze where we are musically. Or maybe we just need to ask something here before we take it to our teachers (assuming we have them). Do we need to be anything in particular, other than a support group?

We could just start a thread for each piece and those who are interested can participate...it would work but i'd like to see amore personal group forming so we can bounce ideas of each other and count on eachothers moral support.
If we keep the pieces in the public domain we can all be learning from the same sheet....
I think now has come the time to suggest some works to get the ball rolling ........how about one classical and one modern ?
i'll start hunting
Peter

Hi Peter, I'm 54 and just started about 4 years ago. I won't go through all of the details because I have mentioned them before in this forum. The point I am trying to make is that this forum for me has been a great way to learn quite a few things. I don't always post, but look around to see what new ways of playing/practicing and use some of those suggestions.

I keep my dreams because if I knew several years ago that I would be playing piano, I wouldn't believe it! I am proud at what I have accomplished and you hopefully will be/are as well.

To echo, Angelojf, don't give up and enjoy what you have accomplished in the amount of time you have done this!

Take care