Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Flea market serendipty - back to piano!

Hello!

I went to a flea market a couple of weeks ago and stumbled upon a box of piano music from an estate sale. Most of the books were either brand new or used but in pristine condition. The lady who passed was a pianist / piano teacher.

The booth owner just wanted to get rid of the books (!!) and they were asking only $50.00 for the entire box.

I created a spreadsheet to show what was inside:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19hgZeDV6GLeuRa4iokmDYDdVarOSqZEQ5R54-K5nXZc/edit?usp=sharing

I was thinking about re-starting piano again and this happy accident sealed the deal so here I am with oodles of music to enjoy.

I had piano lessons in my early teens and studied a little bit in college so I can read music. I'm a light lyric soprano and have kept up with my singing but I let piano lapse. I was beginning to play from Alfred's Sonatina Album when I stopped playing. This was many years ago.

Because it's been such a long time, I'm starting slowly. I really like the Catherine Rollin "Spotlight on Styles" book but I chose her "Pathways to Artistry Book 2" to get my feet wet. Later, I'll move onto the Styles book and then work my way over to the Classical Spirit books. And there's plenty of intermediate level music to keep me very, very busy for a long time to come, until I get more advanced.

I'd rather take my time and really learn to play expressively, rather than rushing into pieces that are too difficult for me technically. I think it's better to err on the side of caution, too, since I'm not (currently) studying with a teacher.

Anyway, I feel very blessed to have stumbled upon a collection of music that feels tailor-made to my level. What a wonderful gift!

I had a great first week and "learned" two pieces that I can play through completely. I just need to get them to flow better so I'm not pausing where I shouldn't be or flubbing notes on the more "difficult" sections.

I'm very excited to be playing again. It's a relaxing way to wind down after working all day.

Thanks for reading. I'm looking forward to supporting other adult beginners and sharing my experiences.

Welcome to PianoWorld, and congratulations on your lucky find and finding your way back to the piano. Best of luck

That sounds fun!

My mom just gave me a box of stuff that she has carried with her unopened for about 25 years. There were a few method books, but mostly sheet music from the 1940s.

Isn't that great? I am reasonably new to piano, and am working on lots of easy piano pieces from old Sheet Music Magazines in their easy editions. And now I am beginning to realize I am a sheet music junkie. I so enjoy going to music stores and pawing thru their sheet music books, and what ever I can find in recycling/used goods stores.

When I started the piano, I was concerned that there would only be so many really wonderful old standards, my particular cup of tea. But I am now blown away by the incredible number of pieces that I adore.

I am working on getting loads of these into PDFs, using free sheet music notation software, or modestly priced software, so I can unburden myself of the sheer bulk of what I have collected. I can also, this way, clean up the score making corrections where needed, which happens often, make changes that I am happier with, or remove finger numbers since they are a distraction, and sometimes look like accents while moving at a fast clip thru the music.

My exercise for learning to read sheet music is to have about 50 pieces stacked up on my music stand, and play each piece once or twice and then move to the next piece.

Thank you!

That's a great gift for your mom to pass along. Enjoy your new music.

I'm pretty delighted on how beautiful these "teaching" pieces are. And you're right -- there's a ton of great music today that sounds great and is highly accessible.

I like your ideas about making your music your own and streamlining into PDFs.

That's a good idea, too, on getting practice sight reading by just going through lots of pieces.

What a cool story and a great find. I looked at your spreadsheet and you've got a wide variety of pieces. I wouldn't even know where to begin. I would love to find something like that which means I need to get out more.

Welcome to the forum

Anita, I rarely go to flea markets. This was such a surprise.

I looked at all of the books and the descriptions of the pieces. Almost all of them have a "level" attached. I know that can be subjective. Basically, I started with the easiest stuff in the batch. I actually rolled back to the Pathways to Artistry Book 1 because I realized that there's a lot of musicality concepts that the pieces will refresh. I've never done this before. I used to learn pieces way above my level, spending weeks on one song, or sometimes more.

Maybe I'm not playing very complex stuff, but it's accessible and I'm having a lot more fun than I used to slogging through rep that was way over my head. Plus, playing pieces at a sight readable level lets me work on dynamics and hand independence.

Fingers crossed that this approach works. If I buff up enough this year, I'm going to try that 40 pieces challenge in 2016.

I hope you're having a good week of playing!

Zerlina, welcome. Your approach sounds excellent, sticking at first to the easier levels. And what a trove you have purchased! That carton of piano music was meant for you.

Keep your ears open for a teacher who might be congenial, even if you just check in with someone once a month.

"Serendipity" .... in my other life when I'm not a piano teacher/composer ... I spend a lot of time meadering around the Cosmos and am very interested in quantum theory and Parallel Universes. Which might seem somewhat irrelevant on this forum.

But it isn't. It's never irrelevant. Because there ARE no coincidences. Everything is out there waiting to be attracted to you when you need it. IF of course you are open to accepting these coincidences and pouncing on them. Which you did ... promptly recognizing your treasure and forking over the $50 enthusiastically. Step one. You have the music.

Now step two is another treasure. You have already had quite a bit of experience years ago. And remember that whatever you learned at one time, is still there stacked away in some portion of your brain, waiting to be retrieved. Many of my adult students returning to their music after decades don't believe this. I tell them to wait a month .... believe what I'm telling them ... and they'll see. All that information is in there somewhere. You just have to retrieve it. The only downside is that old bad habits may be there too .... but just weed them out and march on.

Oh what a wonderful adventure for you! Starting off with a wonderful coincidence. I'm always so happy to start something off with a coincidence. Because then I know it will be a good journey.

Enjoy!

That's the best feeling! I bought a bunch of books from a retired piano teacher very cheaply last year. I couldn't believe my luck. They averaged at $2 per book, and some of them were books I'd been wanting for ages.

What a great way to get introduced to composers you may not have otherwise stumbled upon too! Enjoy

I love collecting used things because you can't just go to a retail store and buy them, as many are not being made any more. There is so much variety and so many surprises.

Thank you, Peter.

I am definitely going to look into a teacher by the fall, even if it's just on a monthly basis, just to have someone to check in with.

Hello, HPM! I agree wholeheartedly about quantum physics and parallel universes being both relevant and fascinating.

Some of the books are quite recent so the lady who passed away must have been playing / teaching very close to her final days. I feel it's important to take good care of her books and to use them. It's a small thing but I want to honor her memory and I'm very grateful to Spirit for bringing me this gift.

And you're right about my memory of playing piano coming back in snippets. I'm surprised at how much I DO remember.

Thanks so much for your input and support.

Your students are lucky to have a teacher who can bring other ideas to the table, besides piano. It's great that you can jump outside of the box.

Thank you, Beth! I will.

And enjoy your find as well!

So true. Lots of books and composers I wouldn't have known about -- and I guess these books were only a portion of her collection.

I mean it when I say I hope to play each and every piece -- at least try them all, eventually. What a great goal that would be!

And thank you too for your kind comments. Sometimes I feel as if I've jumped outside that box so often, I've busted down the sides ....

Something else you might notice too when you're back at those keys for a while ... sometimes you'll see an improvement which almost appears as if you were "learning" in those missing years. I have no explanation for this. But it's a great bonus!