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Howdy!

I'm Sarah, I just turned 30 in July and have recently decided there's absolutely no reason I can't learn to play the piano. I've wanted to play ever since the first time my mom let me touch a Billy Joel (I'm not into classical much, either, and the real reason I want to learn is that I want to eventually make my own music, not just play the stuff that's already out there) record to put it on the player, I think I was 8. I was too afraid to ask my parents for lessons as they would have cost money since they didn't teach piano at the schools I went to. I played the French Horn for a year in grade school, but nothing since. So I am attempting to learn to read music again and everything. I bought a cheap-o yamaha keyboard so I could make my own sounds for my films in college but never used it. So, I've had the tools I need for a while now but was too scared to get serious about it until now.

This seems like a pretty broad site and I'm sure I'll find lots of help here, I'm glad I stumbled upon it!

Final Fantasy has some of the best pieces ever composed in my opinion. The last several pieces I've learned have all been from Final Fantasy (or Kingdom Hearts, which is pretty much the same thing).

I suppose a "get to know you" is in order.

The Current Me: Closing in on 60 and contemplating the "next act". Reference: "All The World's A Stage" by Shakespeare...what's my next act in life going to be? We already live in the country. When I started in the electronics industry in the 1970s, it was fresh, exciting, lots of avenues to explore. But now, it's a commodity and electronics jobs are all about bureaucratic corporations. So, I don't see myself yearning to consult after retirement! Music, somehow, sure feels like a much more fulfilling way to spend my time!

Me and Mrs Clumsy live in a small house on a few acres of peaceful and tranquil dirt near a forest in the Pacific Northwest. I have a day job, she volunteers for many organizations and we are far too prone to DIY our own house upgrades, so we spend too much time on that. One of her volunteer gigs is dog rescue, so on any given day, I may come home to find a half dozen foster dogs. We share a theme of frugal...we don't like shopping, neither of us has any fashionable clothing, we are allergic to cars less than ten years old, and credit or debt of any kind. Makes for a simple life. We got married later in life, so have no kids.

Me and the Piano:
- Took lessons age 5 to 8. Hated them, mostly because the teacher was a lonely old woman who was simply interested in having children in the home. At least I learned the basics of reading music. Made my way through Moonlight Sonata and a few other pieces. I wondered why we weren't playing music like I heard on the radio. At age 8, parents offered me (and my siblings) the chance to stop taking lessons and we never looked back. In retrospect, I think it was the teacher's personality. Sad case of a lonely old woman who enjoyed having children in the house. I disliked the physical attention...she was all hugs all the time and her clothing was drenched in some sort of perfume.
- In the small town where I grew up, radio was talk, news, sports, Muzak and bubblegum. I found it all annoying.
- The music I liked, when growing up, was my Dad's collection of 78rpm records. Chick Webb, Benny Goodman, Lionel Hampton, I found all that to be great fun to listen to.
- I discovered prog rock in college and was lost to anything else for those years
- Shortly after college, I re-discovered my dad's old records, and since then, it's been all about jazz. 1940s my favorite period, I'm not as fond of modern jazz.

About ten years ago, I fell into having a piano again. After 40+ yeas of not touching one, I now have a somewhat beat-up six foot grand. I've been trying to self-teach, trying to sound like Fats Waller and not getting very far.

The physical aspects perplex me. My entire productive life was about the brain and concepts, my job is not physical at all. My sports are running and cycling, so I've never done anything to create good finger capabilities. So, when someone says "practice your chords", I'm not sure what the actual physical motions are. I kinda need the Kindergarten starter for that stuff, but without the Kindergarten theory. "Learn a song"....what does that mean? In the jazz/pop world, it does not mean to sight-read. If someone had like "left hand rhythmic chord accompaniment 101", I'd check it out.

When I sit down to play by myself, I'm frustrated because I don't feel like I make progress. But I have joined a few bands and that's been a trip. Pop music from the 70s through current, it's been interesting in a guitar band, figuring out a role for the keyboard (I now have a digital piano, so I'm playing organ, strings, bass and electric piano as the tunes seem to require). But I'm kinda doing the same thing most of the time, just contributing chords and chord notes. It's fun to entertain an audience.

Probably more than you needed, or wanted, to know...

Welcome everybody!

EdwardianPiano - I can see how piano is an old love for you. Glad to know that. Among so many interests you have, I grab on youtube some of the Sigur Rós videos to see what was it. Wow, it's a really different type of music. I hope you have a lovely journey with your piano.

AndyMc - I just realized that you are the AndyMc that entered in the last ABF recital. Nice to know that you have your work performed in public. That's great! Welcome, you are among friends.

tsulej - You will find motivation, of course. Being an advanced player in 3 years depends only on your dedication and passion. Good luck.

Bentissimo - Howdy. I'm happy to know that you turned a dream in reality. That's very important. Welcome.

smlz - Hi Sara. I'm going to wait for your compositions. Welcome and good work.

ClumsyFingers - Congratulations on your way of life. Very nice to read that. About the piano: I think it's important to have some guides that could help you when you are "lost". PW is a great source of information. I hope that we can help you.

I just discovered this forum this week. I have been doing lots of googling trying to find answers to lots of questions.

We received a piano as a gift a few months ago. I got it tuned and was hooked. I am getting weekly lessons and we bought a newer (1965) piano.

I struggle to find time to practice as I am a mum with two kids. I want to really succeed in playing and am here to find out more about what my goals are and what I need to do to achieve them.

Hi, ClumsyFingers!

If you'd like to know more about playing jazz, there's a great beginning jazz thread here on the ABF -

Autumn Leaves, ATTYA, jazz thread

This one hasn't been active in awhile, but it's chock full of good stuff.

There's also a jazz-advanced players thread that's *really* active, so you're likely to find it on the front page of the ABF.

They'll keep you busy

Welcome to the other newcomers, too -

Cathy

Welcome alsoTom and the many others new here. Funny I am saying this as seems like just yesterday I was gathering the nerve for my first post.

Just a quick PR here: Not sure where you are in your learning cycle or the time you may have for interaction. But, the analysis threads have been terrific for me. And, is now a source of information to be referred to as needed. We started with Moonlight Sonata, which we all soon realized was a stretch. Now, we are finishing up Bach Prelude No. 1. and soon to move on to a lovely piece (easy to play I think) by Chopin, I believe.

I highly recommend these threads if you have the time for it. It is far more than just analysis and there is lots of great stuff to be learned.

At any rate, welcome to PW and see you around.

Jeff

Hi alsoTom,
I'm not a jealous person, except when dealing with pianos Glad that you like piano. How old are your children? I also have two kids (15 and 11) and they, in general, like what I play (well, at least it's what they say...)
Try to find time to play the piano. It's worth.
Good luck and welcome!

Thanks for the welcome. I was listening to your Recital #27 piece last night.

Learning the piano really is a whole new world. It is more than just the instrument, there is a lot of history to learn. I am reading a book about composers at the moment, and trying to listen to various classical works (I use the term loosely), it is so enjoyable.

My kids are 8months and almost 3yo. Young enough to make practice almost impossible. Life is hectic. Original when the old piano was delivered we just put it in the shed. That is how I started. I told my husband I needed one hour every day without kids clawing at me. So at 5pm he would arrive home and I would pass the family off to him (along with dinner half-cooked) and head to the shed with a cup of tea. I had a tiny bit of sanity in my day.

The new piano is in our hallway, so I no longer get my hour in the shed, which means I get interrupted a lot more. My 2yo often asks to play, often sits on my lap while I play (don't envision a girl sitting quietly... make sure you picture her trying to play as well). I don't discourage her of course, I try and instill the idea that she can have a practice time too... and often give up my seat so she can, but there is no extra hours in the day and my practice is shorter as a result.

But I have a secret... they will all be at school one day, and then I have from 9am to 3pm

Adding myself to the list.

I tried piano when I was 7 for a few lessons then stopped, tried again about two years ago and stopped. Now I'm 32 and just bought a cheap digital piano and trying to do self-learning and this forum really helped me. I've been using Alfred's All-in-One Course for adult beginners(currently halfway in Book 1).

Outside the piano, my job is mainly doing embedded software/hardware used for offshore seismic explorations/surveying. I play tennis(beginner) and also go swimming after work. I recently adopted(well sort of) a Shih Tzu and created it's own facebook account, lol.

There's another secret. Just because they're at school doesn't mean you'll have as much time as you'd think.

Even assuming you have no work commitments, there'll be school reading groups you'll be asked to assist with, swimming 'spotting' they'll ask you to do, all those household chores that you simply cannot do when the kids are around, the shopping (thats a complete nightmare with littlies in tow - so best done during school hours) and so on ad infinitum....

and of course once school is 'over' there is the endless parade of soccer practice, swimming practice, ballet lessons, piano lessons, violin lessons, choir rehearsals, junior string group rehearsals, play-dates and parties that simply *must* be attended and all manner of commitments that suck the living daylights out of your timetable!

I remember on many occasions through the kids so far short lives thinking that "once they reach age <x>... They'll be able to do <y> and I'll have more time". So far it hasnt happened that way! I figure I *will* get some 'me time' eventually - but probably not for at least another 10-12 years.

(N.B. I'm not at home during the day - so perhaps the busy stuff during the school day *is* exaggerated and in fact she spends all day sitting around watching 'Dr Phil'? )

Anyway good luck with it all! and let that 3yr old play on the piano as much as possible - you never know you could have the next of those freak young YouTube sensations on your hands!

You mean it isn't all feet up sipping a glass of wine? Ha. I will settle for being able to use the bsthroom without being screamed at.

I do have one up though... We shop online. Gets delivered right onto my kitchen table (costs a whole $9 which I figure I save by avoiding the junk food aisle).

Hello everybody. I've been lurking for a while and decided to join up. I was hesitant at first because I'm a bit shy. I'm mainly a guitarist, producer and recording engineer. I do play keyboards. My main tool is a Korg SV-1. I'm also a writer. I've written several short stories, novellas, poems, screenplays and fairy tales. I wrote a short story called "The Haunted Piano" which I'm working on trying to get published. Hello to all!

Hello bolodski, alsoTom, and redrobin62 - nice to have some new faces here in the ABF.

bolodski - if you haven't found it yet there's a study thread for Alfred's here in the ABF - probably has some great stuff on it. And those are the cutest dogs! Hope you enjoy it.

alsoTom - I never had kids, so never had the luxury of thinking I was going to have time when they went to school I don't know how you Moms and Dads do it - I still have trouble finding as much time as I want for piano.

redrobin62 - let us know when you're published so we can go out and buy the magazine/download it to our Kindles!

Cathy

I took up the piano because I realised was not getting anytime to sit down and rest each day. The piano has become a measure of my day, because the first thing I do when I get time to myself (ie both kids occupied) is go to the piano.

If I haven't practiced then it means I probably haven't even had time to have a shower that day. It has become a litmus test for my sanity. If my practice time (acrosd the week) is short then it means I am crazy busy and probably ready to crack.

Hi all,

I am a 41yo video game developer living in Canada who just decided to start playing the piano; I recently bought a Korg digital piano. After finding a lot of useful information on this forum, I decided to sign up and introduce myself.
I love all kinds of music but mostly classical and video game music - Guild Wars is a good example of the kind of fantasy music I love in video games. My goal is to play those two genres of music on the piano and I plan to buy Alfred's All-in-One course to help me achieve that. I keep reading about beginners using these books to learn and everybody seems pretty happy with this method.

Looking forward to learn a lot from this forum and contribute as well!

Welcome klaviero, you are in the right place. PW is great. Nice to know you are a video game developer.
Good luck and have fun!

hi all! My name is Charlotte and I'm a software programmer from Denmark. I have been playing with the idea of trying to learn a musical instrument for some time, so 6 months ago I bought myself a cheap digital piano and a method book (Alfred's adult piano course) and set out to see if piano could become a hobby for me. It seems so. I have been practicing 1 - 2 hours a day, i've had ups and downs, but all in all I find it joyful and relaxing. Perhaps the combination of an inexperienced player and a bad sounding DP is not a particularly good one, but that is irrelevant. I'm learning slowly and I like it and it relieves the stress from everyday life. I'm beginning to think seriously about investing in a good quality DP. I have been lurking on this forum for a couple of weeks now and felt that now would be the time to introduce myself....

I'm looking forward to learn from this forum, and maybe I'll be able to contribute something in the future.

Cheers!

Hello folks.

I'm brand new to both this forum and piano so I thought I'd pop in and let you know that from this point forward I will probably be bothering you all incessantly with questions about how to improve.

I'm 27 years old and (to make a very long story short) have found myself with some extra time on my hands this coming year. Having also discovered that I am woefully under educated I've resolved to do my best to educate myself within said year. In addition to a number of other fields of study, I would like to learn to play the piano. However, having no money, I will not be taking lessons but rather will be teaching myself using that well loved resource "the internet".

Which, I'm hoping, is where you fine folks come in. I have a electronic piano (called a keyboard, right?) that is, I believe, an octave short of a full set. I know next to nothing about music or piano but I pick things up quickly. My tastes in music are rather eclectic but lean toward Jazz (Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, etc...). I also really enjoy Hymns.

So my question is, can you recommend solid starting resources for a beginner with zero clue and Jazz leanings?

Thanks and hope you're all having a great day!

Hello and Welcome IntereoVivo and cfrederi.

I'm not a teacher and you are likely to receive other suggestions you may find more helpful. But, below are links to a resource document (sorry about the multiple links -- it is just one document but each page is a separate image scan) that in my opinion is a great way to cut to the chase in self teaching.

Print these off, study it, practice it and learn it. That is, reference the document as you come across these chords in real scenarios. You do not need to memorize it or anything. What is important is that you will know how to figure out chords, as you come across them. Don't even worry about anything beyond a 7th for now.

There are lots of ways to go about this learning business. What I'm suggesting here is that you dive right in and try your best learning material you want to play immediately. That way, your interest level is likely to stay strong and get stronger as you start achieving great sounds.

Within reason of course. Wouldn't suggest you go too crazy on the complexity of pieces you choose in the beginning.

Excerpt
The real reason for the publication of this instruction is to help you in learning to play any piece of music published with chord-symbols above the melody line ... You can immediately see that this covers a tremendous field. It may seem a complex subject, but the complete theory of chord building can be stated in a very few rules and definitions.

Beyond this, suggest you start joining in on discussion threads and asking lots of questions.

Good luck, and see you around PW.

Formation of Chords - 5 of 5

Formation of Chords - 1 of 5

Formation of Chords - 2 of 5

Formation of Chords - 3 of 5

Formation of Chords - 4 of 5