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I'm 14. I started playing about a year ago, with my teacher about 3 months ago. I am currently playing level 1 pieces, I'm really close to level 2. I started thinking about learning piano since I was about 7 years old but my family didn't really have resources.
I like a wide variety of music, from classical to progressive metal.
My favorite composers are Chopin and Beethoven. I really like the way Chopin made music, he was able to bring a lot from the piano.
I really like Dream Theater. Their current keyboardist, Jordan Rudess, actually went to Julliard to study piano.

I wish I could play Brahms. I envy you. Best of luck and hope you don't starve!

My first teacher always said the three greats were Bach, Beethoven & Brahms.

What do you think?

Hi
I'm a new member who has been lurking for a week wondering why I haven't found a pianist's forum until now. Being part of an international community of those passionate about piano is a very good thing for someone who works a lot on their own. Thank you Posters for all the inspiration and information I already have found

I'm a adult-piano-restarter who started teaching accidentally... then realised that it is the perfect job for me. My main focus is to teach in such a way that music a lifelong joy and companion for All my students.

At this stage I am working on raising my own playing and technique to the next level, working hard and loving it. Being a better performer would add something to my teaching. So looking forward to the encouragement/advice/discussion of a community all practising together (what a marvelous thought, altho i spose some of you are asleep right now)

canonie

Hi folks,

I guess I'm a lurker...

I've been playing piano for about eleven years. I'm approaching high school graduation (yikes!) and thinking seriously about majoring in piano. Definitely not teaching--can't stand it--but accompanying is pretty interesting.

Over the past few years I've been doing a few competitions: I'm not exactly getting fabulous reviews, but it's fun, and it's amazing to see what other kids my age are doing on the piano.

I'm working on waaay too much music right now...
-Schubert Op. 90 No. 2 impromptu (Eb)
-Poulenc 13th improvisation (Am)
-Ginastera Suite de Danzas Criollas
-Beethoven Op. 2 No. 1 sonata (Fm)
-Bach French Suite #5 (G)

I also play guitar and double bass and--believe it or not--I'm learning banjo.

Hello!

I am a new member to the site. I am currently trying to find a baby grand. I've been playing on a Clavinova for the past 20 years as my husband was in the military and transporting an acoustic piano around the world was a little challenging.

I enjoy many forms of music: classical, jazz, blues.

I look forward to joining some of the discussions here.

Hey. I came across this site while looking for an answer to a piano-related question I had (which I found), and decided to join it. Taking part in these discussions sounds like fun.

Moving on to the introduction: Let's be frank: I have no illusions about myself. I'm not the kind of person who was "born to play piano"--for one thing my hands aren't large enough, my fingers aren't long enough (the question I had was related to this), and I never formally took lessons until around six months ago (and I'm 16 now), and I'm sure most of the people around here started when they were little.

But I don't really mind that. I took my Trinity Guildhall Exam for Grade 1 (yes, it's a bit embarrassing, I suppose) recently, and have now moved on to Grade 3. Even before I started taking lessons, I would to listen to Bach and other people on the Internet and try to play those pieces on my electronic keyboard. So I did have appreciable command over the keyboard (for a beginner) at the time at which I started taking lessons. My dad bought me a piano (a Pearl River T6) recently on the advice of my piano teacher, and I downloaded the sheet music for Chopin's Scherzo no. 3, op. 39 in C-sharp minor and am presently working on it. All I managed to play was a bit of the cado. But still, I'm working on it.

Hey everyone. I have occasionally lurked these forums, and for a long time figured I'd sign up but never got around to it. Then sometime months ago I made an account and never made a post, and now I figured I'd finally get involved, so hello.

I'm a senior in high school and plan to pursue music in college, so right now I'm panicking getting audition repertoire ready. Look forward to actually being able to talk to knowledgeable pianists (instead of the people in my real life who don't understand why I don't want to play in the background of a grocery store.)

hello I'm new to this forum and I joined because I thought it would be interesting to be able to share views and experiences with people who share the same passion as I.

I'm from Singapore and I have been playing piano for 9 years. Currently, I'm working towards a diploma which I will only be taking in year 2011, after my 'A' levels. Apparently, I have difficulty finding time to practise my piano due to the hecticness of school life but I'm really trying hard.

The pieces which I'm playing for my diploma exam are:
- Beethoven's Sonata op.14 no.1 (but most likely will be changed to something more demanding)
- Chopin's Ballade no.3 in Ab
- Rachmaninoff's Polichelle
- Debussy's Pour Le Piano
Other than these pieces, I'm also starting to work on other non-exam pieces to get as much exposures as possible.

There are two paths which I can take after my 'A' Levels, one is academic-related, the other is music-related. Recently, I have decided to take the unconventional path after 'A' levels, which is the music-related path. I want to pursue a music-related career. But then again this is the route that parents often discourage their child to take, like in the case of mine.

Alright i guess that's enough from me. I look forward to hearing more from you and sharing more about our common passion. Take care!

Another instrument, another forum to join.

My name is Kurt. I'm 52 and have, in the last forty years or so, put my hand to learning the drums, a little guitar, a little piano, a little bass, cello and the recorder. Now here I am back, at least for a while with the piano. I'm taking lessons every other week with my son's teacher using the Faber books. She is my son's second teacher. When I realized that my son needed to change teachers, I used, as my main resource, the yahoo group for his school. I was starting to call some of those referrals but one day, bored at work, I put Culver City and piano lessons into a google search box. One of the first hits looked promising so I gave her a call. I've taken a lot of lessons in my life and I really liked her approach so I arranged a trial lesson. I asked where she lived and she said, "oh, on Chopin street." I said, "Wow, I'm just one street over on Dvorak. What block number?" "4700, she said." "Well, we're on 4500." So on the lesson day, My son and I walk over. Now, as you go around the block there is a zoning change but what I didn't know is that there is a block numbering adjustment as well. We walk down the block and I realized that even though we're on the 4700 block that we're directly over the fence from our own block. As we count down the house numbers we get ever closer to the building directly behind our own house. It turns out that her house is directly behind my immediate neighbor's. Here I was, a lifelong musician, ready to take my son anywhere in the greater los angeles area for a good teacher and through the magic of the world wide resource that is the Web, I found her on the other side of my back fence.

My main instrument now is the recorder but because of my ADD I always have to have a second instrument as well. I decided to sit out the fall season with my early music group and used the rare chance of not strictly having to practice for rehearsals and performances to look through some of my old piano books (the Bastien Adullt Method). I liked the feeling of playing the piano and knew that it is the doorway to composition, harmony, eartraining etc. I also knew that the Bastien book as a self teaching method, was a dead end. At least for me, I couldn't ever get past position playing with it and I liked the pieces that my son was playing from Piano Adventures so I asked my son's teacher if she would take me on. With what I know and my background in trying the piano before we wound up in book 2A but I expect to move through that pretty quickly. For example, my assignment for this two weeks is four of the small pieces from the method book and a piece from the performance book. I pretty much have all the pieces but need some help on the executing the slurs in the performance piece.

Oh, and my practice box is an old Korg Triton pro. It wont be soon but there are plans to one day get a least a decent vertical acoustic piano.

That's enough for now. I'll see you out on the fora.

Kurt

First post greetings. I'm coming back to piano after a short hiatus, which I'm still trying to figure out the reason for ending. Mostly though, I'm just a music addict, and I've noticed that life goes much better when playing the piano. So I'm working on some Chopin and Brahms and Bach, and waiting to see my teacher again. Eventually I'll be getting ready for auditions to music schools. There may be more lurking than posting from me, but I'll be around nonetheless.
Cheers,
Curio

Hello. I am a musician from Austin. I've been playing in various capacities for about thirty years. I don't like to talk about myself very much and have been wondering what to say. I've had a very interesting life that would take a long time to explain! I work on too many things at once. Some highlights in list form.
1. I'm learning to jazz-improv. I'm using some of the Berklee literature and going through various fakebooks (although I don't have a fifth ed real book, sadly, even though I could really use both 5th and 6th). An engineer friend of mine gave me the Dick Hyman book of substitutions so I'm using that too, as well as a couple curriculum books
2. I constantly need help sightreading! Working as an accompanist for a while was horrifying, because my reading skills are weak. I'm a strong memorizer, which so often makes the other so hard. I'm reading through Ragtime books and the Beethoven sonatas for this, and Mazurkas and Czerny (ack!).
3. I'm hacking blues scales. I love them. And the modes. And iPhone practicing apps of any kind. And iPhone instruments.
4. The serious pieces I'm working on are Villa Lobos: Dança do indio branco (from Ciclo Brasileiro), Stravinsky's Piano Rag Music, Chopin's Ab Polanaise, Bach's BbMaj Prelude and Fugue (the quick one, I'm wondering if I should invest in an Urtext Ed), Rachmaninoff's Elegie ... and I'm reworking a Brahms Intermezzo (the Ab). There are other little ones I think I'm forgetting - like I said I work on too much.
5. I also write a lot of music. Songwriting mostly, with lyrics. That's mostly what I do. The engineering is the most difficult. It doesn't come naturally to me, the recording process. And playing the piano is easier for me, whereas other instruments are more difficult. I found this to be true especially in school. And I find this true when I sing as well. I have to work at it, although I think I have a good voice - I have to *try* to sing. It's not effortless. Piano is not as effortless as the songwriting either, when I get down to it, but more practice makes everything so much easier. I do practice very, very hard.
6. I practice a lot, and I write poetry. Sometimes, I write poetry about practicing. I'm a practice nerd.

That's pretty much it

Novello here!

Hi, I love playing and listening to Classical music, mainly from the Romantic era.

I'm interested in Chopin, Liszt, Debussy, Alkan, Rachmaninoff, and Scriabin, but I do listen to others.

See you guys around!

I used to post on this site a long time ago and for some reason never made it back after replacing my old computer. I'm Steve and have been playing professionally for about 7 years now, 22 total. I cant explain the feeling of hearing a room erupting into applause after playing my own version of an old Fats Waller tune. I cant read music, play by ear, and am still in love with the piano more than I could describe.
A little advise to someone just getting their feet wet...
Hang in there and dont be too hard on yourself like I was. And if I may, dont be afraid to ask God for help.... He freely gives knowledge to those that ask....
Anyway, I'll probably be hanging around the theory threads, work hard and good luck!!!

Hi
I just received my Yamaha P85 today, with pedals and the stable stand(L85) which is why I am posting today. It really looks, sounds and feels good to me, but I am almost a total beginner so my opinion may not be very objective. I am going to try and self-teach myself(YouTube videos, books, etc.) and will probably also look for classes if I found it very difficult.

Hey all! I'm Cecille, or Purple Turtle Soup (slight obsession with turtles here...)

I'm 15, and although I don't aspire to be a professional pianist, I do enjoy the instrument a lot. I've been playing for 8 years total, and I also play the trumpet. I love classical music, but I've recently started some Gershwin preludes. My favorite composers are Schumann (although I have insanely short fingers), Chopin, Gershwin, and Mozart. Right now, I just finished Beethoven's Sonata Op. 2 No. 1. The piano studio I go to is having a recital soon, and I plan on playing all three of Gershwin's preludes.

Overall, I think that I like any pieces with power and speed.

Hi there: I'm reasonably new, have posted a few questions. I'm like a lot of the others, took lessons off and on with different teachers across the country from age 7 to about 18, and now am going back after playing precious little for 30 years. Never did the organized course with exams but I did print off a list of graded pieces and I recognize some pieces I did in levels 7 and 8. I'm severely lacking in theory, but was reasonably good at playing and sight reading and have a good ear. I also play guitar and banjo and was very surprised to see how much the piano background helped with that. I just got rid of an old 5'2" Chickering, and I'm shopping for a new small grand right now. I will sooner or later go back to lessons. One thing I'm very clear on is that I'm going to find a teacher who will let me have some input on what I'm learning. I want to learn things that I enjoy listening too. No more you have to learn this piece to learn this technique. I've reached an age when I can and will be more choosy. I vividly remember suffering through a Bartok piece towards the end of my lesson-taking days, something weird and not pleasing to my ear.

I love this forum and am grateful to have found so many interesting and helpful individuals.

Hi everyone!

My desire to return to classical music and piano is deeply personal; however, I'll try to briefly summarize. For about 8 years during elementary school, I took formal piano lessons. Well-intentioned people pressured me to do various things with my piano playing that I grew to detest. Consequently, I quit lessons around 8th grade. After about five years without piano lessons, a series of fortunate events during college led me to return to piano playing and my love for classical music. In recent years, I have been blessed with some wonderful piano teachers. Going back to piano has been frustrating at times (lots of bad habits picked up when I was young), but incredibly rewarding. And I know that piano and classical music will stay with me for the rest of my life.

I used to lurk Piano World quite a bit, but I didn't really post much. I'm looking forward to discussing piano with fellow music lovers. = )

-Rick

P.S. Yes, Rachmaninov is one of my favorite classical composers. ; )

Hello,

I joined a couple days earlier but didn't introduce myself, so my apologies. I started learning the piano from my mom when I was about 4, but since my dad didn't want me to continue my lessons when I was about 12, I self-taught myself from then, until a few years ago when I was lucky to resume lessons with a few very good teachers.

My academic background is in Engineering (studied computer and electrical engineering previously) but music has been always very important in my life, hence I'm now studying music perception.

I'm very interested in historic performances (hence I learned harpsichord and am studying fortepiano with a wonderful teacher). Been studying a lot of Mozart and Beethoven for the last couple years and now that my piano is fully fixed (which was damaged during the international move) I hope to study some Brahms and Schumann. I'd like to study some Moscheles too.

Hi everyone. My Name is J. Christina and I am a semi-professional pianist. I'm graduating with a M.M. in piano May of 2010. I Love piano and I hope tomeet interesting people on this forum. Visit my website Please...I need the clicks!

www.JacquelineBanks.webs.com

Goodnight.

Hello everyone.
Nice to join the forum. This is my first post. After learning the piano from age 4 to 18, I seriously considered majoring in music but chose a different profession.
Even during the years of being workaholic and raising kids and all, I have always defined myself as a piano person. Now I am excited to be playing again. Practicing lots of Bach ( Partita II Sinfonia, Partita IV Sinfonia and Allemande etc)
and Beethoven' s sonatas ( trying the Appassionata ) .
I would love going on to Brahms , Rachmaninov , Liszt and any other composers, some that I may learn here at this forum.
It is exciting to join this community with all of you.

After all considered, life actually is beautiful isn't it?