Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Achievement of the week - what got you excited?

Best of luck, although you certainly don't need it!

Every time I watch this video (which is not infrequently) I think it's a shame that it doesn't have more views. I'm sure many more people would be able to enjoy this performance if only they would put Einaudi's name and the name of the piece in the description. As it is, the video is in a bit of a black hole as it's impossible to find it by searching on YouTube.

Maybe you could get Screen Miguel Nabinho to edit the description?

Ditto. That was wonderful.

Right.
Well, I created my own channel, right now. It has only one video - this one - and I added some references as you wisely suggested.

Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/user/PianoCarlosCC/videos

Cool... Now, if we could just get rid of that horribly jarring intro!

Does finishing a piece count? I received permission to put away Bourrée in G minor by Stölzel. I posted the recording in June Piano Bar. What has me excited though is the end of level 5 is at hand, seeing the light at the end of this tunnel. Was assigned the last of the harder pieces of level 5 - Etude no. 4 In Church by Tchaikovsky. I am so ready to put my level 5 books away, but not yet. All right Mr. Tchaikovsky, you are standing between me and level 6.

Wow, so much activity.
Ragdoll, hope you find a teacher that you like soon.
Donzo (and others), I also enjoy arranging, in part because it helps me compose.

Week 117: A Songmakers friend performs at a local venue and I go. The three performers are all singer-songwriters on guitars. All are good musicians with CDs of their original music. There is an aging upright piano on stage, I joke with someone else that I should go up and play it in between sets. The evening reinforces in my mind, how hard it can be to make it as a performing musician. My friend is no longer trying to make her living that way, but it seemed like the other two performers are. Their stories, their song lyrics, paint a life full of hard knocks, with the more fortunate half barely eeking out a living. Those that enjoy singer-songwriters can find two of them on Youtube, Kate Isenberg, and Kris Delhorst.

As for my piano week, I continue to work on my new piece. The music feels self-indulgent, and I feel drawn to the title "Between Raindrops." I work on a new cover song, Roberta Flack's, Killing Me Softly. As usual, I do my own arrangement.

One day I decide to sit down and play all the pieces I have memorized. I get to eight or nine pieces, about 15 to 20 minutes of piano music, alternating between originals and covers. My piano set sounds pretty good to me.

Thank you Sand Tiger, encouragement is always welcomed.

If only that were the only criteria. I liked both the ones I interviewed but didn't feel one was qualified to teach (although a fine piano player) and couldn't afford the other. Others I had called were too far away or in iffy neighborhoods, or both, no openings, inferior instruments, etc.

While a good rapport with ones mentor is certainly important, it's only one of many qualities I want to spend capital and time on. I will keep looking; I know there is one out there for me It's harder than it seems to be sure.

AOTW: Finally, finally I succeeded in playing a piece with the pedal OK.
It just didn't work out, foot didn't connect with brain, I lifted at instead of a split second after the beat.
Just two weeks ago I proposed to do an easy pedal piece (The Choral from the Album from the Young of Schumann) and it worked out great. Now I'm allowed to play the other pieces out of the book which I was denied earlier since I couldn't use the pedal correctly.

wimpiano - Isn't it nice when a little extra hard work pays off? Now that you have the hang of it I'd be willing to bet it won't be too long before pedaling becomes very instinctual, something you don't really focus on most of the time.

Sand Tiger -


Congratulations, Sand Tiger, having 15 to 20 minutes of memorized music at your fingertips is really quite an accomplishment! You have really come a long way in the last year or two, especially with restricted practice times and other physical issues. Serious kudos. Be careful though...folks may be putting you in that upper percentile you talk about before too long

Wow, I was away for 4 days and there are 2 pages of posts to catch up on! mamma mia!

Jim thanks for the info on Ravel. My teacher was talking about his duets just the other day so your post made me very curious.

Carlos - Have fun with the new competition!!!

Oddsox - what a very touching story - lovely times shared with your mom.

Ragdoll - good luck with the ongoing teacher hunt.

Everyone else - sorry I dont have time for more specific comments!

My ATOW...none! ..or maybe it was getting through my lesson without crashing after 4 days of not playing anything...?

@JimF Thanks!! I hope so!

@8Octaves, of course it counts! The Tchaikovsky piece is lovely though so you can exit Level 5 with a Grande Finale

@SandTiger, you should just have done it (gotten on stage), imagine how much fun it would've been Ok, it would take a lot of guts and not being afraid of total embarassement but with the right attitude you could get away with it (I wouldn't have, either though) Nice story!

@Ragdoll, just out of interest, why did you feel that the good pianist wasn't qualified to teach? Knowledge? Or? Or not being really "teacher alike" (does that exists?) My brother started teaching younger students when he was 18-19 and still studying, he had no teaching experience but it worked out very well (I sometimes talk to his former students). It was not his goal to be a music teacher for life though, he has different job now.

@Casinitaly wow.. 4 days no playing, must have been awful Still on the MOYD track? haha..

Congratulations, Wimpiano. Chorale was the piece I learned "overlapping pedal" on earlier this year. My teacher and I spent some time with it during the lesson (read: I didn't get it at first, but she was very patient with me :)). Once I got home and worked on it a bit, it clicked. What book are you working from?

Sand Tiger, JimF is right--if you know what repertoire means and you can spell it and you *have* one, you're getting up there. What do you mean by your 'Between Raindrops' (love that title) piece feeling like "self-indulgent" music?

Ragdoll, best wishes on your search for a new teacher. You seem to know what you want in a teacher and you're willing to wait for it.

Cas, wow, four days! What a slacker!

My AOTW--though it's taken more like half a year. I realized the other day that I've calmed down quite a bit during my lessons. When I started, there were times when my hands shook. I still make errors right and left, but my nerves are much better under control, and for that I am very thankful.

Well, she was a piano player, in fact sounded better than me by far on some pieces played without sheet music , but was self taught (no formal edu) and had less than a year of experience teaching. Knew little theory/harmony, could not read well enough to play well any of the music I brought along, and believe me it wasn't rocket science. I wasn't willing to pay what she asked considering all these issues. $20 for 1/2 hour. So $40 for an hour, which I need at least bi-monthly. That's not to say self taught players can't teach but this one wasn't for me and unqualified IMHO.

I have great hope for the lady my tuner recommended though. Her kids are just out of school for summer so she said she'd call in a week or so and set up an interview. They're off on vacation right now.

Thanks Stubbie,
yep I will persist until I find a good one. I may sound too picky to some but I've been burned a couple times, won't happen again.

Oh thanks Cheryl, I will keep looking until I find her/him and am willing to pay up to $50 hr. But it's got to be the right one.


WOW! 4 days without bench time!! I'd be having DTs by now. Glad to see you past that.

I guess I should clarify...... it was actually only 3 days but I played really early on Friday and not much, so it felt like 4 full days.... (btw wimpiano - we are excused from MOYD when travelling or sick - in my case I was home in time to play on Monday, but had a massive headache so qualified to be excused on both counts )

BUT the really important thing is that I was in Paris for a family event (baptism) and ....well, it wasn't too hard to be distracted from the fact that I wasn't playing

2 cool things - our B&B was near the metropolitaine stop "Faure", and we had dinner next to "Rue Cesar Franck" --- now how nifty was that?

@Casinitaly
edit: thought it (Metro Faure) was close to the Eiffel Tower but doublechecked and was off by a km.
I love Paris and go there every once in a while with my wife. We were actually engaged there.

Hi Stubbie, true confession: it took me a while before I could spell repertoire without looking it up.

Self-indulgent is pleasing for the performer and/or composer, but not so much for the audience. I can tell a story. A recording artist came to my church to perform. His previous CD had been well received and sold well at the church. He was all excited, telling stories about his recent songwriting retreat into the desert and how he felt that his new CD was even better than the previous one.

Boy, what a disappointment. The adjective self-indulgent fit. The themes, the lyrics, even the music felt flat to me. The new music meant a lot to him, but I didn't care for it. Same for most of the rest of the audience, even though the composer and performer thought they were superb.

Songwriters, composers may not have a good sense for this. Sometimes a piece that I think is really good falls flat with audiences, and vice-versa. As I get more experience at the craft, hopefully I get a better feeling for what my audiences might appreciate. The other perspective is that there is nothing wrong with self-indulgent music.

@Stubbie 3 books:
1. Essential Keyboard Repertoire Vol. 1. (Alfred Music) Main "course book" right now, fun little pieces.
2. Diabelli Op 149 (quatre mains). (Edition Peters) To play together with my wife.
3. Schumann Op 68. (ABRSM). Now only for pedal, love this music though.

@Ragdoll
I think you are wise in being picky with your teacher.
I am very happy with my teacher, I didn't do as much research as you are doing though.
My teacher came highly recommended from the music shop I bought my Alfred's book from. I also checked up her credentials on the Music professionals website and I saw she has a Bachelors degree in piano and theory.
The fact that she lives down the road from me was a bonus.

My achievement was that during my lesson this week I had an unexpected audience.
My teacher spotted her maid watching and listening to me play through the glass door.
Then later, when I played "Raisins & Almonds" her husband came through and said he recognised the tune, so he had to come through and listen as that was the song he waltzed to at his Bar Mitzvah all those years ago.
I was chuffed to have someone recognise the song coming from my own fingers.