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He got RSI then took a break but when he came back he didn't sound as motivated as he was at the beginning. The last posts I read he admitted that it wasn't such a good idea after all and he still wants to learn the piano but at a slower pace.

Posted on September 14, 2016

Hello all! Apologies that I’ve been out of touch for so long. I spent most of my summer away travelling and was away from a computer for much of the time and (more importantly for my project) away from a piano for all of it. I got back about a week ago and since then have moved house, so it’s only really this week that I’ve begun to get back to the piano. And, man – have I forgotten a lot! It was quite worrying at first as my fingers seemed completely lost on the keys and every other note was a mistake. Still, I guess that’s to be expected when you don’t play for two months. Thankfully it’s starting to come back to me, so I guess in a week or so I’ll be back to where I was.

I think the amount of time I’ve spent away was symptomatic of being a bit burnt-out with the project, so for this second half of the year I’m going to take things a bit easier on myself. Therefore, I’m planning to focus entirely on enjoying what I’m doing with the piano, rather than trying to push myself to take Grade 8 in January. I still intend to take Grade 8 in the future – but in my own time and in a manner that I’ll enjoy rather than the 40 hours a week slog that I was putting myself through. As such, this week I’ve started looking at a different piece – Chopin’s Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2 which is one of my favourite pieces of music and was an unofficial goal for me to achieve at the start of this project. For anyone unfamiliar with this piece (you poor things) you can see a great rendition of it here. This is quite a way beyond where I currently am (particularly having gone backwards over the summer) but if I get there by Christmas I’ll be happy!

Posted on July 26, 2016

Unfortunately I’m still on a bit of a hiatus at the moment. I had started to ease myself back into my piano practice with a few hours last week, but my RSI came back quite quickly so obviously hasn’t properly healed yet. As such, I’m having to give myself a bit more time off (which is actually lovely given that the summer has finally arrived!). Whilst a bit frustrating, the timing is actually quite opportune – as I’m going to be away travelling for the majority of August (in fact, if you’re reading this blog in mainland Europe and wanted to meet me – then drop me an email, I might just be heading your way!), so the enforced time off will give my hand a prolonged period without playing which (fingers crossed) will be more than enough time for it to fully heal. The big lesson for anyone attempting a project similar to mine though is to back off as soon as you start to feel any pain. I was a bit too focused on trying to get my target hours done when it started, so I played on in spite of the pain – which has obviously made things worse. Oh well, lesson learnt.

These are from his blog, rather than on the Piano World Forum. The blog seems to be down at the moment so I copied and pasted these from the cached version in case people are interested.

The blog is a good read and it includes (or included) video clips.

I don't think the OP is still reading this forum but I saw on his blog that he did pass the grade 5 theory. Anyway, the project has been abandoned since then (see the last few posts in this thread).

I have snake oil for sale. If you rub it on your fingers, you can play grade 8 materials instantly.

I don't think that's a nice thing to say. He did not actually ask for a miracle or an instant way or magical way of achieving level 8. He knows it take a lot time, commitment that's why he practices for 8 hours or more per day, every day. I and many people actually admire him for that. The problem is his expectation is too high so he doesn't have enough time. That's all.

It's not like he comes here and ask "is there away to reach level 8 in a year with only practicing for an 1hr per week?". Just my 2 cents.

let alone on a guy who's giving it his all.

I wouldn't wish RSI on my worst enemy, let alone on a guy who's giving it his all. Everyone here is giving it their all. That's what makes this forum such a great place.