I agree, AMATEUR PIANIST is much more inclusive.

Whoa, digging up a five year old thread!

I wonder how many people in this post are still here, and stuck with the playing?

Agree

FWIW, as a new member, I was confused by the name, assuming that it's for folks who start playing as adults. However, having seen some amazing posts and great value here, I honestly don't care what it's called, as long as the cool posts and discussions continue!

You've got it right, InnaG. The name doesn't matter. What's important is that we won't throw you out just because you can play a bit! Do a search on "ABF survey" if you want to learn about the makeup of the folks hanging around here.

And Welcome to the ABF!!

Jim

Thanks for the clarifications.

As others have said, nobody ever stops learning and in some respects I don't see the point of separating this forum from Pianists Corner. I will often post in here to reply to questions/make a point/offer advice. If I'm looking for advice myself I'll post in the Pianists Corner. But when I'm scanning Active Threads I most often don't really notice or bother about which particular forum the post has been made in, I just jump in. It's funny how different forums on here do have a very different feel though. I guess some people really do just stick with one or two.

Now it's a 12 year old thread...

Sam

Haha, I didn't notice it was only the very last post that was recent! Sorry for perpetuating!

So? I have underwear older than this thread lol

That definitely was TMI

Since this thread has been revived anyway...

I recently noticed this in the forum's tagline: "A place for adult piano players beginner to intermediate (either new to playing, or picking it up again)."

What's the cutoff for what no longer counts as intermediate? Bach Sinfonias? WTC? Beethoven Sonatas Op. 14? Beethoven Sonata Op. 106? ABRSM/Trinity/AMEB Grade 7? Grade 8? RCM Grade 10?

There are many wonderful people on this forum (including at least the previous four posters in this thread), but also a few stinkers. And sometimes I sense an anti-teacher undercurrent here (mostly, but not completely, from the aforementioned stinkers), and wonder if I should stick to the Pianist Forum and Teachers Forum.

The Exam Thread was what attracted me to this forum originally, but my last exam at the amateur graded level will be next week. I'm just wondering if me posting in this forum is just sticking my nose where it isn't really wanted.

I appreciate it when those with more experience and skill share what they know. I joined in Dec 2007, so I've been here for 12+ years now. I still feel like I belong and have a lot yet to learn.

I don't think the tagline defines the forum - we define the forum by what we discuss.

Now I'm depressed - after 12 years I ought to be able to play anything!

Sam

Perhaps, as a teacher, you're sensitized to critical remarks about teachers. Are there some posters who are generally anti-teacher? Sure. But there are just as many, probably a lot more, who are pro-teacher. The ABF gets the whole spectrum (including and especially the whole spectrum of ability level) and that's what makes it work.

In my experience, the different cultures of the subforums are reflected in how and why people leave: the Teachers Forum occasionally gets someone who is offended and leaves in a huff, the Pianist's Corner gets a fair number who leave in a huff, and the ABF--almost never. When ABF posters go away, it's almost always because they have lost interest in piano.

There's a certainly different vibe here compared to other forums that I enjoy as a returning beginner and not just from content or difficulty of pieces. Less opinionated and less fact driven discussion (not that fact is bad), more encouragement, more personal anecdotes and feelings, to foster a positive, sharing, more personal environment conducive to learning piano and overcoming difficulties - technical or psychological.

Not that I speak on this forum's behalf, but I personally enjoy hearing what non-beginners and teachers have to add to discussions that beginners bring. If you were to make a post about a technical problem in a level 10 piece, perhaps that'd be better served in pianist forum but an emotional or psychological problem or assurance on a level 10 piece, it could belong in either, or even both, imo. Both forums would bring different perspectives to the table.

I try to stay in the ABF because I like the vibe, but find the other forums useful too. I'll lurk in the teacher's forum once in a while but IMHO, I think that's their special place to vent (about students usually), so it's not all that fun if you're a student. It can also get quite heated in there sometime, which makes sense, as teaching piano is their profession and so is a serious matter. For an adult beginner pianist who is just doing this for the fun of it, what do I know, right?

I was pleasantly surprised at the piano tuner's forum. I thought I would never want to go in there, but I find some of their threads quite amusing.

We've also recently seen a teacher leave PW entirely because of comments not on the Piano Teacher forum but because of comments on ABF, which I thought was interesting. Perhaps it was a last straw back of camel issue, there.

In general I agree with Stubbie. Almost every new beginner who posts to ABF about self-learning will be greeted with 2-3 replies asking where their teacher is. In threads on the propriety of self-teaching or the necessity of piano teachers, or similar, a few (who haven't already been jaundiced by past interactions on ABF) may speak up against teachers. In references to the Piano Teachers forum in an ABF thread, a few ABF members, who may have mistakenly wandered into the Piano Teachers forum like a lamb led to slaughter, may speak up against the Piano Teachers forum in particular or individuals there who made certain remarks on the Piano Teachers forum which can be construed as being anti-student/pupil.

But I think this is all par for the course. There should be nothing astounding in this makeup of the references to piano teachers on ABF by various members.

It should be noted that it hardly makes sense for the majority of the members of ABF to be anti-teacher. In the last ABF survey in the autumn, 57.3% of the ABF members that responded to the survey have a teacher. I think anti-piano-teacher folks would hardly have a teacher themselves.