I used to play the piano pretty well. I played mostly classical, huge Chopin fan and tried to play as much of his stuff as I could. It got to be really hard work for awhile, as I would listen to masters playing these huge concert hall pieces and think, "why can't I do that?!?!?" That unproductive line of thinking left me frustrated and it stopped being fun. I tend to obsess over things, and I overdid it on the piano. Well after 3 years off, I've decided to get back to the keys and see if a new perspective will let me find some joy in it again. I've decided to start fresh, down a peg or two in difficulty and just have fun with it. So I'm working on some pieces from Schumann's Scenes from Childhood (Chorale, and a Sonatina by Beethoven. My rules are that I can't listen to classical piano other than what I'm learning right now, and that I have to work in some Jazz or blues so I can learn some improvisational techniques. Anyone else on here play? If so, I'd like to use this thread to discuss piano playing in all its aspects. Theory, practice habits, technique, gear, post clips of your playing, etc. Who's game?
I like this guy of late as it's easy listening at work and he covers just about every song ever written. Here is video on Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPpN5YUNDeI&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPpN5YUNDeI&feature=related[/ame]
This is the piece I just learned - but this isn't me playing. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb9H_B1Ux7A"]YouTube - Robert SCHUMANN: Op. 68, No. 4 (Chorale)‏[/ame] Simple, yet harmonically interesting enough to listen to multiple times. Nice and relaxing.
I played from second grade to eighth grade when I got tired of playing 10 page classical pieces and wanted to play more Dave Brubeck but my teacher wasn't the best at instructing that stuff. I also was short on time with high school sports and I was playing the alto sax, so that took care of the jazz stuff. My parents still have our piano and I'm told that when I get a house big enough for one, it is mine, so that will be nice. I like to pull out the old books every once in a while and tickle the ivories when I'm home. Not the tough stuff, but the simple stuff!
I played piano a lot as a youngster. Chopin used to be my go to until I had a Russian phase that lasted long after my piano lessons ended on into my preference of other string instruments. I gradually became a violinist primarily. It has been harder to get back into piano than I thought.
Here you go, sir! http://www.mutopiaproject.org/ftp/S...p68-04-choral/schumann-op68-04-choral-let.pdf Mutopia Project is a good place to look for anything that's public domain.
Both. Mostly motivation though. I still have a lot of my classical training and used that when I began to play other string instruments, but I often feel I've lost most of that when playing piano and come across as somebody who just learned from ear.
I'm not a piano player -- just guitar, sadly, and I envy piano players -- but I want to encourage this thread and hope it lives a long life so I can watch and learn. I've tried a couple of times to get threads for music-makers going; there's enough users here that there *has* to be a fair number of musicians.
I know mostly the basics; major, minor, 7th, chords and scales, some jazz chords and can play a simple classical piece or two, some rock n' roll stuff and that's pretty much it. I haven't practiced that kind of playing in a while. I do have a synth that I use frequently but really anyone without any piano skills can get sounds and simple medleys out of a synth. Like Bootsy guitar is my main instrument, bass after that, trumpet after that, and then piano. I can play some simple beats on the drums but nothing too complex. I also have some bongos and a Djembe I can play pretty well and use mostly when my friend and I jam and try to create tribal sounding things.
Just as an indulgence would you please set this up and let me know if its hard? (Firth of Fifth - Tony Banks)
Not easy for my skill level, but doable. Crazy time signature makes me want to hear it before I try to play it. Who composes in 13/16?
Its the introduction to this... [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SD5engyVXe0"]YouTube - Genesis - Firth Of Fifth‏[/ame]
Have you heard Circle? Chick Corea's experimental band before Return to Forever? Complete madness in the time signatures and complete madness in the playing. It's not for everyone, it' avant-jazz, but I have never heard anyone play the piano making it sound like everything was collapsing like Chick in the Circulus record. It featured Anthony Braxton and Dave Holland so you can imagine. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrKGv142LuE"]YouTube - Circle Quartet - Quartet Piece no. III‏[/ame]
I can play a little piano but not much. The intro to Martha, My Dear and the first couple minutes of Moonlight Sonata is about all I can handle. I can read music a bit but can't sight read very well. Having said that, the Genesis song looks a little advanced but most of the difficulty is in the speed. It looks like the left hand is playing chords and a couple octave runs here and there while the right hand plays mostly triplets. So Moonlight Sonata on meth. Shouldn't be too hard to get down despite the wacky time signatures but again it'll be playing it up to speed that's the hardest part. Also, I'm having a hard time following the sheet music along to the posted video. The lines aren't in order. Hertha, is this by design? I'm not sure what you meant in your post about "setting this up"; is there a program that reads this sheet music correctly? The first page should go (in order) 4th line (starts in 2/4), 2nd line, 1st line, 3rd line. Second page looks correct until near the end it's missing a repeat of the main theme or something.
I just cut and pasted from a web page. This is better. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5OQAM6hMfM"]YouTube - Firth of Fifth Piano Introduction (animated sheet music)‏[/ame]
Has anyone made the transition from playing pieces from the sheets as written - to improvising using lead sheets, or just free-form / by ear? If so, post here - I'm curious how you worked through that...
Since my family is Filipino, once they moved here and after I was born, it was pretty obvious that I was going to learn to play piano. 5 yrs from age 5-10. Couldn't have been more bored in my life, and my teacher was a disciplinarian, so he took the joy outta playing. I preferred singing, and I haven't looked back when I stopped playing.