Hello all,

I recently purchased a Wurlitzer 2840 that I knew was well maintained and finally going after something I have wanted to do since a child *39* now after playing guitar on and off for years. I went and bought Alfreds basic adult course 1, but also decided to enroll in a private lesson which I started last week. It is quite the change seeing as I spent most of my life listening to metal music, but always when I drive or am at work I listen to a lot of Chopin.

Very excited for this new journey and any practicing tips would be appreciated. So far my highschool bariton playing days are coming back to me as I get used to reading notes once again.

Welcome to the forum, mrshaund, and congrats on the Wurlitzer!

I'm fairly new myself, so my suggestions are going to be limited. The one thing I would do is hop on the Alfred's Book 1 thread and say Hi to the folks there. Having access to a group of people whom you know are playing or have played the pieces you are working through makes a big difference in terms of motivation and support.

Two other nice places to visit, depending on your recollection of music theory, would be musictheory.net and possibly this coursera course on Getting Started with Music Theory. A brush-up on theory may help bring back those highschool lessons, and it's not covered in nearly as much detail in the Alfreds books. At least not from what little I've seen in the first one.

Other than that, I've got nothin' -- oh, except have fun and enjoy the journey!


Edit:
Oh wait, I just remembered the MOYD thread. It's too late to sign up for MOYD 2018, but you can certainly get in on the 2019 thread when it starts up in January. MOYD stands for "Master of Your own Destiny" and it's basically a practice accountability system. If you participate all year you get a special MOYD image to place in your signature. Participation rules can be found in the 2018 thread.

Welcome mrshaund, I haven’t been al it that long myself. It takes some dedication and it’s fun to learn.

Welcome!
You will find many like minded Piano enthusiasts here.

Welcome to the forum and good luck...

Thank you for the replies all. So far I am up to a Happy Song.

My practice tip would be to do it every day for as long as you can within reason. The MOYD thread is also helpful if you get into it. I have many times found that since I didn't want to fess up to missing a day I managed to fit in 10 to 20 minutes even during my busy days. The Alfred's book is a good choice to start with.

Have fun on your piano journey! We're here to help. It gets better and better as you learn more.

I have to remind myself that those practice sessions where things don’t seem to go so well are a part of the progress but those that go well make it worth it. You will have both, don’t sweat it. Also as stated above, don’t be shy about asking a question. There are some good people on here who have heard them all and will help. Keep us updated and enjoy yourself.

Two and half years I was in the same situation as you. I started form scratch with experience of playing accordion as a chile (30 years ago). Good luck with your piano.

Welcome! Since you have a teacher they should give you pointers on how to practice. I started in June with a teacher so I'll mention a couple things about practice. In the main - do it every day, but I found a benefit in taking a week off here and there. Learn to count out loud while you are playing, a great aid in obtaining rhythm - especially when you get to eighth notes and beyond. Use a metronome some, it can help with the counting and helps you toward being able to perform for people (and your Teacher). SLOW DOWN your rhythm when learning something - it is more important to get the right note then get the right speed at first. You can speed up after you know the notes.

Most of us get to a point on a song where we can play it well when we are all alone. Then when we play it for our Teacher - it is not so good. This is common. One trick I use is to slow down the rhythm a bit. But hopefully your Teacher is easy going and friendly and you will just get used to it and improve over time. Good Luck!

Well a little over 2-3 weeks in, I just finished Donkey in Alfred's book and my instructor has me working on some finger exercises and progression material to control my timing better. One thing I will say is if I look at music before I start I can remember the notes but playing sometimes I have to think more when I am reading and playing at the same time. Hopefully, with time I can look at music and just know which not it is eventually without pausing now and then lol.