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In my ears i allways thought my playing didnt sound to good.
But to day i recorded my self (first time) practicing and playing - Vivaldi the four seasons "Spring".

It's just a simplyfied Version, but i thought it sounded good

To day is my Third month pianoversity playing the piano

Congrats PB... that's really wonderful.

It's virtually impossible to get an accurate sense of how one truly sounds while playing. The mind plays tricks on us, for sure. I find that my pauses are invariably much much worse than I realize for the micro-hesitations, but not as bad for those where I'm fumbling for what seems like an eternity. For dynamics, I've got all sorts of expression in my head that just isn't translating into my fingers.

Glad to hear that your playing brain is holding you to a higher standard than your non-playing ears. I think this will serve you well!

Weeks ago the piano teacher proposed a duet for me and my son; it's a nice version of Piazzolla "Libertango" (an easy one, on youtube I've listened sophisticated renditions played in concert).
Then I got stuck because the rhythm is difficult for me, and I was sure I could not made it. My son refuses to practice together more than five minutes and this does not help. So I recorded his part on my DP and played mine with it. Great improvement!
Now the piece is basically OK, we only have to work a little more on dynamics. We'll play it at the recital at the end of May.

Some of you may remember that for my birthday back in October, my husband surprised me by commissioning a piano piece to be written for me. I haven't started studying it seriously yet (too busy with all these themed recitals!), but I have read through it, and played through sections over the last few months.

Well, the pianist from one of the new music ensembles in Cleveland asked if she could premiere it at one of their concerts. So last week we got to go hear it performed live, and I was blown away. I could recognize it, but it was like hearing a completely new piece, with so many subtleties and nuances of expression that I could never have imagined, and that my poor playing couldn't even begin to express. I felt like I had just experienced magic. Ah, the difference between a professional and an amateur!

I'm currently working on "Remembrance" by Vince Guaraldi. His chord changes just make me feel good. Learning them makes me feel like a noob. LOL

I played for almost an hour today! Which isn't that much of an achievement, except between moving 250 miles away and being swamped with work I've barely touched my piano in the past month and a half. I haven't even been around here, which I really miss!

My seemingly karmic reward seems to be that my father in law sent pictures of a lovely piano bench that he'd built as a surprise for me so I could pick the stain color and decor! I was really touched that he'd taken the time to do it.

I hope you all are doing well and that I can lurk around here more now that I'm moved into the new house.

Anne H,

Welcome back. You see what great things happen when you make it to the bench? Heck, if you play every day for a month maybe a Steinway D grand will appear in your living room. Personally, I'm shooting for six months and a Bosendorfer Imperial!

I got Gymnopedies 2 and 3 sorted and recorded. Awkward little b**gers they were too. And now I find Gymn.1 needs to be improved; it`s too fast amongst other things. But I`ve found a really good Pianoteq setting for those who use this. "Mic under Lid" gives a great, easy listening sound.

Remember that next time you hear anyone playing a Steinway grand. Go over to it and stick yer head under the lid.

Then tell me your experience. . . . .

Hello chaps.

Need to rejoin this on a more regular basis, as it helps me get more done. Going to try to post daily for the next week on my progress. I'm starting right now. I'll report back when I've done as much practice as I can handle.

Nice to hear from you, Toastie!

Hello malkin. I think I just did about an hour. Well I'm not sure, as I forget what time I started. It's 5.10pm now, so I'll so another hour then I have to work. Seriously one post on here and I'm back on track. I have missed you all.

Marybee, that is awesome. First having such a caring spouse and also some talented and well-connected friends. I know it is often frowned upon, but I hope you got a recording of the live performance. It may be a while before that kind of thing happens again.

AnneH and Toastie, welcome back to the thread.

Week 111: Most of the week is spent on arranging and learning the short segment of Tonight from Westside Story. I find the song so moving. It is so amazing to me that the part I am learning was composed and then performed as two of five parts. I recently finished watching some lectures of Leonard Bernstein at Harvard and he is the composer (Steven Sondheim did lyrics). I am making progress, but I have a long way to go before I could record or perform.

I attend the church coffee house night. The drama was during setup night. A dead baby possom was found and then removed from one of the potted trees at the venue. A pro songwriter came to coffee house night and wrote an impromtu song about the poor critter. It is amazing to me, that he can write a song on an obscure topic, and perform it, all in five minutes. The result is a better effort than I can likely do if I had five years of time to work on a song on that subject. It again shows me the gap between low level amateurs and accomplished pros.

SandTiger -- I must say, I've never before heard anyone beat themselves up regarding their lack of prowess in writing songs about dead baby possums!

Here's one for you though:


Now, just need to find someone who can set it to music.

GLR - Your granddaughter has a bright future before her! How sweet!

SwissMS - your piano-life is in full bloom! At your party last week your recovery was indeed an achievement. I look forward to hearing how the next one went!

Ginko2 - congrats on your Tchaikovsky submission. I think a lot of us are in the same boat and appreciate the extra "drive" we get when we commit to recitals here in PW

SandTiger: Watching your numbered weeks really gives a sense of progress. You sound like you're going through some ups and downs - this is typical when we try to take on more. Everytime you add something to the pot, things have to settle down before they improve.
You're learning piano, composition and now solfege too..... they're all connected, but different. Hang in there, and remember to celebrate the baby steps! I love the name of your piece "Pixie Dust"

Bozzo - congratulations on your exam! That is a really splendid achievement!

Wimpiano: It is indeed wonderful to get that kind of feedback from our teachers! What were you playing so beautifully?

Earlofmar: sounds like you've made a fundamental discovery! I think that we can only start thinking about working on all these details when we've got a little experience under our belts. At first it takes so much energy just to find the notes, we feel pretty good if we get them all right - then comes a piece where we start to truly bring the music to life and our perspective shifts. I look forward to hearing your future performances!

PianoBoenna: How satisfying to feel your music sounded good! It is an inspiring moment for you! Happy 3 month pianoversary!

Torquenale - what a clever idea for practicing the duet when your partner isn't "available"!

MaryBee - that must have been a real treat - I am still completely blown away by the fact that your hubby commissioned a piece for you. I do look forward to hearing it! (by the way.. what is the name of the piece? )

Arizona Sage: Guaraldi's music is always a treat to listen to - will you be recording for us?

Anne H : welcome back! You've had a topsy turvy time of it! I hope the un-packing and settling in is going well? What a sweet surprise from your FIL - so thoughtful! Glad you're able to get back to the bench - that lovely new bench - and your piano, and PW too!

Peterws: those Gymnopedies...they are particular! I had a look at them when the RST were doing the Satie recital - don't you just love the composer's notes?
I do hope you'll forgive me if I pass on sticking my head under the lid of the next Steinway I see?

Toastie: looking forward to your updates. I know it is hard to keep up with this thread - there's always so much going on - but it is inspirational to read about everyone moving along.

TallGuy: you make me laugh. For the music, I picture something along the lines of "Teen Angel", what do you think?

My AOTW is that I've made some very good progress on the duets I'm going to be playing in Lisbon. My practice is much more focussed, I'm going slowly and yet overall, things are coming together faster than what has been usual for me....how is that possible?

Finally! I managed to do both right and left hands for Burgmuller's "Candeur"... now I need to speed up a bit. I know it's an easy piece, but it took me some time to get the fingering right. Also for the first time got the timing right for "The Entertainer", but the easy version from "Alferd's 1". Again, a lot more speed is needed, even to play it "not too fast" as Joplin said.

But yes... getting there!

MaryBee- That is fantastic that you heard your piece performed by a professional! It must have been thrilling to hear another's take on the piece.

AnneH and Toastie- Welcome back to AOTW!

SandTiger - I would be pretty impressed with someone who can compose instantly! It must have been an interesting, sad, song for a poor baby possum.

My AOTW was yet another piano party. This is the last one for a while, but it was the most advance group yet. Pieces played included Ginastera's 3 Argentinian Dances, Chopin Military Polinaise, Haydn Saraband and variations, Bach Inventions, Villa-Lobos, etc. Everyone had fun, and even when we had the Apero, people kept going back to the piano to play, such that there was continual background music. It was very interesting to see the relaxation and poise of the more experienced players. They are really good role models!

It was not my best performance. I made quite a few mistakes in my Mendelssohn piece, but I played the Tchaikovsky OK. I have performed both of these pieces cleanly before. I was really unhappy with how I played. I was far more nervous and unfocussed, possibly because I was playing for more advanced players this time. That is a psychological barrier I still need to cross, and realise that they are not judging my performance, only I am. So during the Apero I went back to the piano and played my Scarlatti Sonata and another of my ABRSM pieces by Arden. I just relaxed and those pieces went just fine. So I felt better after that. These parties are such good experience, and everyone seems to really have a good time. Next up: Live recital on June 8!

SwissMS, congrats on participating and getting to the end. I believe most people are intimidated when performing in front of more skilled people. It is also tough to perform on the same program with advanced pianists or musicians. You are doing the best thing, doing it often and not giving into the fear. Keep the perspective of recording, where it might be ten or more tries to get one keeper. For amateurs, it is rare to perform live at full potential. When you do though, it may feel like magic, and may make all the effort worthwhile.

The possum song was humorous. My friend Harold Payne writes a new song at all his gigs and knows it is best to keep the impromptu songs light and funny. The stunt is to get a title from the audience. Often there are several titles and a vote. Then he writes, plays the guitar and sings on the spot, often incorporating all the suggested titles into the lyrics.

I'm sorry if some misinterpreted my comments. It isn't depressing. It is more admiration that there are people with that kind of skill. It is the kind of skill that has translated into a pro songwriting career with over 100 published songs, many of which have charted with A-list artists. These days writing good songs might be the easiest part (though still very hard). Getting high quality demos into the business loop where recording artists might consider the songs tends to be harder than the songwriting.

CasinItaly, Yes, slowing down can make practice time more productive. I slowing down and segmenting with Tonight and Pixie Dust. As for the Coursera and solfege, I've pretty much given up. Last quiz I got 6 out of 15 correct on multiple choice ear training questions (four choices). I tried it a second time, eliminating the wrong answers, and only improved to 10/15 which is a D or F grade. Even with some training, I am not very good. I'll keep watching the lectures, but I am not expecting much any more.

The Coursera is more discouraging than watching a pro pianist or songwriter perform. Some other beginners on the forum are watching the same lectures, taking the same quizzes and making progress. For me, the talent is just not there. The training has mostly led to frustration and disappointment.

TallGuyinNH, you've been missing from the thread. Glad to see your pixels. Thanks for your attempt at possum song lyrics. Maybe writing lyrics is something you can try, though you always have fifty other things you want to learn and no time. Like I wrote above, watching pros perform isn't depressing, it tends to be inspiring and uplifting. Perhaps you detected some of my disappointment from the Coursera, and the ear training.

Two notable achievements this week! First, I finally got my my new piano delivered after two months of waiting to close on my house and then waiting for carpet installation. It is a 1916 Mason & Hamlin BB...

My second achievement is that I had an especially uplifting lesson this week! This month completes my first year of piano lessons (three achievements?). My instructor told me that my Fur Elise (the full piece) is coming together beautifully and that it won't be long before she has me play it for some women's group she's involved with.

Silver Keys... <swoon> I'm jealous, would love to have a vintage M&H. The wine glass is a nice touch there.

Did you buy Darryl Hall's house?!?:

[video:youtube]m5hzeKlRYNM[/video]

Thanks! It's nice to have been missed. I've been busy, as always, and needed to dial back the amount of time spent on AOTW, and ABF in general.


I think it was the "better effort than I can likely do if I had five years of time" line that jumped out at me... it didn't sound very uplifting.

You've accomplished a lot in the last couple years, and I'm sure in five years you'll be able to write a mighty fine dead possum song on very short notice.


Yay! Making people laugh is one of my favorite things to do.


Hmmm... Close, but too somber!

I was thinking more along the lines of "Pizza Angel":

[video:youtube]jEUJTo6-stg[/video]

Silverkeys...what a beautiful piano in a cabin like room. That is a true milestone moment and I know all your playing will be more enjoyable.

Haven't shared an AOTW for a bit...I've played everyday but I guess I've been waiting for some breakthrough moment. In the absence of such a moment how about the achievement of playing four pieces for a friend who came over for dinner. He has recently taken up piano and is amazed at all he will learn as he goes. I played two Chopin and two Grieg and it was a wonderful moment of sharing my love of piano with a dear friend we've had since BC (before children).