Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum OT, Tell us about yourself

Ooh, that's a relief..

I thought I was the only person doing that!!

I'm new around here, so I thought I'd introduce myself:

I'm 38 years old, married with four kids, and work full time as something like a home inspector.

I took lessons from the age 7 to age 18, but put in the minimum effort and got the minimum return.

Signed up for lessons when I got to college but realized that those people were serious, so I quit. For about fifteen years.

Bought my first 'grown-up' piano in the mid-nineties. Acrosonic, $800. Had it in a storage unit for a short time while I was moving. The unit was broken into and the Acrosonic was destroyed, so my insurance company bought me a brand new shiny black Hobart M. Cable upright. Which I love.

Started playing again in earnest about two years ago when my business failed and I was out of work.

I now play for about an hour a day and love it!

I love the forum and have learned a lot of interesting and valuable information lurking around here, so I figure I might as well speak up a little.

Thanks!

Hi everyone - another new member to add to the mix

Like some others here, I played and studied piano growing up but stopped once I ventured on to college and the adult world. I trained classically from the age of 7 or so until I was 18. While I did not have a piano of my own at college and nor was I studying music, my playing was sporadic, but I still found my way to the keys every so often. At 21, I moved away to the big city and gave up playing altogether.

10 years later now, I've found myself in a much more stable and accommodating arrangement and just recently purchased a Roland FP-7F digital piano. And I'm absolutely loving it! I was always wary of digital pianos when I was younger and never particularly enjoyed playing on them, but they clearly have made great strides in the last decade. The action and sound is vastly superior to the fairly low-end uprights I grew up on.

Growing up, I was a pretty serious student. A few of my favorite pieces to play were Beethoven's Pathetique Sonata and Gershwin's Three Preludes and Rhapsody in Blue. Having been playing again for a couple weeks now, I can tell it will take me a great deal of practice to get back to that. But I am pleasantly surprised at how I have retained good sight reading ability.

Anyway, I relish the idea of getting back to serious playing. PW was a great deal of help in researching and choosing my new instrument and it is now providing great inspiration for the actual playing part.

I look forward to joining the fun!

Hi, my name is Alejandro and I'm glad that at my early 46 I am among the younger ones here.

I am a computer science academic, specialized in graphics and 3D animation, at the National University of Mexico, the best and biggest in the Spanish world.

I like almost any kind of music, classic, folklore, jazz, rock, pop, you name it. I have loved music all my life but never had much serious training out of public school. As a child I played almost any tune I liked, by ear, with the melodica or the flute. When I was about 10 my parents bought a Yamaha electric organ for my big brother and I played it, by ear, using both keyboards and pedals. In my early teens I got basic guitar training and played with the tuna of my school.

Almost 10 years later, near before my turn to 20, my parents bought an acoustic vertical piano for my little sister (she actually studied later as a pianist, got a PhD on music education and currently works in a university in USA). That was the first time I had the opportunity to play a real piano. This time with the help of sheets but still without technique I was able to play classics like Beethoven's Fur Elise, Mozart's Sonata Facile (only 1st mov), some Bachs from Magdalena's notebook, and ragtimes Maple Leaf and The Entertainer (my sister, with all her training, was not able to play rags ). Because I was not supposed to use "her" piano, I got a lot of tension with my parents and sister so I quitted.

More than 20 years later, I decided to return to my old passion, this time in my own house with my own piano, a Yamaha P-140 I bought few years ago. Every recent year one of my new year resolutions is to play it. Without time to get regular classes I got the online course Rocket Piano, downloaded C. Chang's Fundamentals (whose site's link section pointed me to this forum) and even my sister gave me the first level of Alfred's Adults. But as someone who have already played real music, I am just not motivated to start from scratch. My resolution for the first quarter of this year is to prepare and play the 3 pieces listed in my signature.

I already started with the prelude, using SH first and by short segments as recommended in Fundamentals. For my lack of technique I hope to find help in this AB forum, until I get a teacher.

Thank you for reading. I will appreciate any advice.

Best regards!

Hi all. I'm not really a re-beginner. Sure, I owned a sax and flute in my early 20's (I'm 49 now), but maybe only for 2 months before those went to a pawn shop. I even took a private lesson or two on the flute, but all I remember is that my instructor did not like Ian Anderson.

I bought a Yamaha PSR E423 about a month ago. I still can't play anything but considering that I didn't know where or what the "middle C" was last month, I think I've made good progress.

My primary goal is just to have fun - mainly to play for myself. I'm still debating taking lessons, at least for a couple of months to get some foundation. It's catch-22 - I could save up for a weighted 88-key DP, but then again, without the lessons, I might not need one.

My musical tastes are wide and eclectic. I like classical but don't own much or seek it out. Some of my favorite pieces have nothing to do with the piano. I have things (not-classical) in mind that I would like to play one day, but I'm sure it is all way beyond my ability and will be for some time to come. Maybe I'll try some Billy Joel (NOT Piano Man), especially since I can't dind any Joe Jackson (Night and Day, etc.) sheet music.

In the mean time, I'm just having fun noodling around, and starting to learn the very basics of the keyboard and music theory.

I live in Alaska with a wife, 3 dogs, 5 cats, a couple of snakes, and a Goffin's cockatoo.

I'm a 35 y/o married father of two that used to fly fighter jets in the USAF and now do investment/fiduciary consulting and also go to law school at night.

I like to stay busy. I like to have a lot of mental stimulation.

My current passion is piano, this has been the case for 15 months.

Just a handful of lessons last spring, and lots of help from the folks here.

I especially look forward to the quarterly ABF recitals.

Thanks everyone for making this a quality forum, and especially those that put the effort into making the recitals happen.

Hello, I am 56 old and for the third time in my life I am trying to learn to play the piano. I have played since guitar I was 12 years old, but because of some recent financial problems which I am not going to air public I have had to sell my guitars to make ends meet. The hardest thing I had to do was sell my Gibson J-45 I nicknamed "Jenny". Anyway, I have dusted off an old Yamaha P-120 I bought about 10 years ago. I have pulled out my old John Thompson method books from My first attempt to learn piano back in the mid 70s. I have been working at the piano a couple hours every day for the past month and I will say I am enjoying the process of learning. I do not fit the sterotype of a guitarist who cannot read music so my sight reading, though it needs improvement, is not awful. I did buy a few other books off amazon with some American Express points I had, namely a Hannon book, a book of scales and arpeggios, and a Czerny Op. 599 book.
I like all genres of music as long as it is of quality, but lately I have been listening to and trying to play Classical. At present I cannot afford lessons. I'm just happy I have something to play music on.

Been posting since last May timeframe...never saw this thread until today!

51 yrs old...married for 30yrs. Two boys (28 & 29). Grandpa of 1 (little girl).

Retired Air Force Officer (1995) Now work Civil Service.

Never played any instrument but have always wanted to play piano. A friend of mine learned Harmonica about two years ago (self taught). I figured if he could do it, I could...so I bought a cheap keyboard to see how I was going to adapt. After 3 months, I decided to upgrade. Now own a Yamaha YPG-635.

Learning is going slow, but I notice a significant improvement from May!
Just recently started some informal lessons from a co-worker.

I like Blues, Jazz and some contemporary pieces. Not so into the classical stuff.

To Cobra1365:
Much respect to you, Sir!

Being an Air Force Officer learning piano should be walk in the park! Are there more pianists then pilots? Or is it vice-verse?

Anyway, aviation and music are very often go along for many-many people. Am I right?

All the best!
qwert

How cool that you guys are learning piano! Music was a life-saver for me, and now it's a pleasure, too Cobra - are you suggesting the ABF has made a difference?

Ouch! for selling those guitars, Edgar - but you'll find the ABF is a great place to visit for piano playing and general infor.

Looking forward to hawgdriver's recital piece, too.

Cathy

Hello everyone - I've been visiting this website for some time but did not become a member until yesterday. When my young children took lessons about ten years ago, I did manage to tag along and had beginner's lessons for about 3 months. Boring and too much pressure to practice the lessons the teacher gave me, I lost interest and quit. I used to play classical guitar in my teens, so after quitting the piano I started exploring electric guitars - bought 6 expensive guitars, 2 amps, played mostly Carlos Santana and The Ventures music. Still played once in a while, but now the piano is the passion. My 8-year old nephew inspired me. And I'm glad he did. I would listen to him,videotaped his playing and put on Youtube. He's made tremedous progress in the last 2 years and will get to play at Carnegie Hall in NYC this month. His piano playing definitely rubbed off on me.

So, three months ago I bought a used Chickering Baby Grand and put it my "man's cave" where I practice any time of the day or night without bothering my wife or children. So far I've had lots of fun playing for myself and learning by myself. Eventually I'll take lessons again , but right now I am learning to read the bass key for the left hand and learn to read 2 lines of notes and play with both hands. To me the journey is the most fun. How good I will become, that's not important.

BTW- I'm 62, married, 2 oldest sons are on their own, third son in college, baby gaughter a Junior in HS, and no grandkids.

Hi,
I am new to the forums, which I have just discovered a few weeks ago, but I am definitely not new to the piano! I'm a 25 year old girl who resides in Eastern Canada, and I've been playing piano since the age of four. I am legally blind, and have been since birth, hence my ability to identify any single note when I hear it. Some people call it "perfect pitch," and while it's a great gift to have, it can sometimes stand in the way, because I hear any small difference in pitch and I can't stand a lot of artists like the general population does. Anyway, I have one dog, who's my baby, I come from a family of eight, I love to travel, and go for walks on the beach! I am also a university graduate, with a major in psychology and holder of other small college certificates.
K

Most definately!!! I have had more than one of those "AHA!" moments based on reading this forum!

Well I've been a frequent "lurker" for a little while now, so about time I joined the ranks!

Learning the piano has been a dream of mine for a while now, but I've only just started dedicating myself to learning. Music, however, has been around me for quite some time as I've played trumpet (concert, marching, jazz) since 3rd grade and bass guitar since high school. After some research on here I went and bought a decent keyboard about two months ago and have been steadily improving ever since.

These forums have already helped me out quite a bit in the early stages and I look forward to hanging around for a while!

BTW: I'm 28 and pretty recently married. My wife seems to like the idea of having a piano player in the house. Being a teacher she loves to grade papers and plan while I do my practicing. I'm just glad she's distracted enough not to hear all the mistakes!

OK, here's everything you need to know about me.
I'm 59, going to be 60 this year. I've been playing for about 7 or 8 years, but I've not improved a lot because I practice too intermittently. This year I have made a vow to practice more and to focus on certain goals such as finishing Alfred's #2 and getting a lot better at using fake books.
I have been married 38 years to a wonderful woman, and I have a daughter, 29, who married in October.
I am the proud grandfather of 2 grandchildren from my son. He, sadly, was killed by a careless driver on 3/14/09, so that painful anniversary is looming for us. However, because he loved life more than anyone I've ever met, I honor him with joy and with a dedication to life rather than with sadness and a sense of eternal loss (though there is that too).
I am a retired English teacher of 34 years, and I currently substitute at the high school where I used to teach. It's the best of both worlds for me.
My other hobbies are reading, chess, crosswords, exercise, and sudoku. I like to watch CSI on TV, and my favorite drink is Scotch.
There, now you know everything. Sort of.

Single malt? If not, you just better move along.

Welcome to the forum.

Hi Everyone!!
New Member here too!
3 years ago my boyfriend asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I never got back to him, so he gave me cash instead. Imagine the look on his face when I came home a month later with a Yamaha keyboard. I've never played an instrument in my life unless you want to count the tamborine. The keyboard sat there for 2 years until Christmas 2009 when he asked me what I wanted again and I couldn't think of anything so I asked for a gift card for music lessons. I started taking lessons a little over a year ago. I am using the John Thompson's modern course for Piano and have just graduated to book 2.
It's really hard, but i am sticking with it! I love it! It's a little discouraging when the 6 year old who takes lessons before you is light years ahead of you......but I keep plugging along. I figure if the arthritis doesn't kick in till I'm 80, I got 30 years to become a good player! Got to think postive!

Cheechako,
Single malt?? Apparently you didn't read the part where it said "retired English teacher." I drink the good stuff when someone buys it for me. Otherwise it's largely generic.
But there's nothing nicer than sitting at the piano with a glass at my elbow, playing in the late afternoon while the sun sets, dinner simmers, and my wife watches "Oprah."

Hey!

Obviously I am new to the forums so the only decent thing to do is introduce myself a little bit. I'm a 25 year old student from the Netherlands And have started playing the piano actively relatively recently. My parents gave me this simple casio keyboard when I was a kid and I have wanted to learn to play the piano ever since( And I had been just trying to teach myself some things using sheet music). Bought myself a digital piano and and started taking lessons about a year and half ago. A friend and former roommate, tried teaching me the bass Guitar but that didn't go so well :P. I'm still a beginning player but you never stop learning anyway. Pleased to meet you all.

Hey back, Silent Sound.

Welcome to the ABF. Drop in to the piano bar and have a drink, musically speaking, with us! Lots to hear and chat about here.

Cathy