Me and My Pianos

A wee change of pace from the usual about my weekly lessons and what progress I'm making.  I thought I'd share a pic of my pianos.

The acoustic upright is a Irmler Studio P118 which I bought brand new from Biggars in Glasgow in December 2007.  I tried out an extensive range of uprights in my price range (Yamaha, Kemble, Kawai, Essex) and this was the one I really liked.  It comes from the Bluthner family of pianos and I really enjoy playing it.  It has been tuned regularly every 6 months since I got it and is due for it's first voicing tweak in the New Year.

The digital piano is the Yamaha P155.  It's my 2nd digital piano after a short and unsuccessful partnership with a Roland FP-7.  I didn't like the hard bottoming of the keybed on the Roland, and didn't discover it until after I bought it as I hadn't played one beforehand.  I had tried out an FP-4 and thought it would be fine but as I found out later they have different actions.  A word to the wise - ALWAYS try out the piano you are going to buy before you buy it as ending up with the wrong one costs a small fortune.

Hope you like the photo.  I'd be happy to post more if anyone wants to see some more.

Weekly Lesson - 18th Nov'09

This week's lesson went pretty well as I actually managed to get some practice in this week.

One thing I have noticed is that my music reading skills aren't half as bad as I thought they were.  I'm actually getting the hang of following the score and the fact that I haven't memorised my pieces yet doesn't seem to be holding me back like it always has in the past.

I still have such a long way to go as the more I learn the more I realise that there is so much that I don't know or can't do yet, but I feel like I'm finally starting to enjoy the journey.

Here's hoping I can keep up the regular practice, and hence the regular progress.

Weekly Lesson - 11th Nov'09

Last week's lesson was a disaster as I had done next to no practice at all, so I stumbled through everything I was supposed to have been working on.  Very embarassing.

That has helped me get my head down and get some work done this week, and as I'm practicing I'm making progress.  It's funny how simple the equation really is when you analyse it i.e. Practice = Progress, No Practice = No Progress, and Regular Practice = Regular Progress.

I think I'll have that made in to a poster and hang it on the wall above my Piano!! :-)

Weekly Lesson - 4th Nov'09

I had an OK week in the run up to this week's lesson.  All of the stuff I had to work on was fine but I didn't get as many practice sessions as I would have liked.  I need to make sure I get some regular daily practice in or I'm going to start to struggle pretty soon as the difficulty of what I'm working on increases.  I guess that since I've been on a bit of a downer lately with my piano that I've got in to the habit of not practicing enough.

The lesson itself went very well.  The played the piece fairly well as I was working on hands separately this week.  My legato was much better, my articulation was much better and I'm also able to play with much less tension in my wrist, which was particularly bad the week before.  The exercises and scales are coming along and I enjoyed the theory work I've started.  My left hand needs more work than my right so I'll need to focus on that as it's holding my HT scales and arpeggios back.

I did however get a bit of a surprise at the lesson.  Clearly my new teacher has read my student profile that she asked me to complete and has taken the goals I've stated I would like to work towards seriously as she was discussing exams, specifically ABRSM Grade 4 as early as next Spring.  Gulp!!  I've now got all the Major sharp keys to work on this week, both HS and HT so if I don't get some serious work done this week I'm going to look like a right muppit next week at my lesson.  Maybe my teacher already knows me better than I think as I'm always at my best, either personally, professionally or piano wise when my back's to the wall.  We'll soon see I guess!!

Weekly Lesson - 28th Oct'09

I had my regular weekly lesson tonight, my 3rd with my new teacher and I'm feeling a lot more positive about things.  We've ditched the Schumann Op.15 No.1 from Kinderscenen for now as my head was about to burst, trying to get the notes right and the fingering right while also trying to focus on keeping a good hand shape, playing proper Legato, thinking about phrasing, articulation, dynamics etc. etc. etc.  Too much for me to try and get right at this stage!!

I've now got a much more manageable piece to work on i.e. Minuet in G Minor, Bach (BVW Anh. 115) and I've got lots of exercises to work on techniques I need to develop or improve.

My practice items next week are as follows:

Minuet in G Minor, Bach (BVW Anh. 115) from Easy Classics to Moderns Volume 17
Exercises 1 and 2 from A Dozen A Day Book 2
Sight Reading - 1 piece per day from ABRSM Grade 1
Scales & Arpeggios - C Major, G Major & D Major
ABRSM Grade 3 Theory Workbook Exercises

I have no pride so I don't care what Grade number appears on the front of the books I'm using, the daft wee pictures in the Dozen A Day books, the word "Easy" appearing on the book I'm working from for pieces or the fact that I have a huge amount of work to do before I can start to attempt the sort of pieces I would love to play.

I'm just thrilled that I've managed to find a teacher who has in a very short period of time, got a good handle on exactly where I'm at and what I need to do to move forward.  I'm really looking forward to getting some practice in this week rather than dreading going near the piano at all as I have been for some time.

True Legato

This is the main reason why it crossed my mind that I should just give up and quit, and it's going to be a long LONG road to put 30 years of doing something another way behind me.

It's recently been pointed out to me by my new teacher (who is superb by the way - big plus for the RSAMD students as teachers, she really knows her stuff) that I don't play proper Legato.  I always thought I did but my years of playing organs and keyboards mean I don't play "true" legato on the piano i.e. holding down one key until the next key is pressed and then let the 1st key go.  I have always let one key go as I am playing the next key as part of the one motion, but now I need to learn a new technique and it's going to take me AGES to get rid of my previous habit.

So a note to any keyboard or organ players thinking of taking up the piano.  The first thing to check out is do you play true Legato, because if not you've got a load of work ahead of you.

New Teacher

I've just started lessons with a new teacher.  Both Lucy and I are having lessons so at least Lucy won't have to go through what I have i.e. not learning things properly from the start then have a load of work to do to undo lots of bad habits.

Believe me, it's really painful.  It crossed my mind just to quit but I really want to be able to play properly so I guess I'll just have to roll my sleeves up and get on with it.  Hopefully in about 6 months or so I should start to notice a different.  Here's hoping!! :-)