PROGESS IN PIANO PLAYING SKILLS

pianolover wrote: Hi Hellene,
Thanks for the suggestion. I've looked in that album already and found them very difficult to play, but I liked some of the pieces and would be interested in trying to learn them, not all of them

Of cause! Couple of them will be enough and after that I will give you more chellange, if you'll ask me.

just a few such as: waltz, Italian song, old french song, German song and Neapolitan song.

You made an excellent choice! All of these pieces are pretty good for your development. Now, talking about the difficulty. Neopolitan song, for instance, is the most difficult from your list. But... Here is a video of a boy, who started the program just couple of months ago and learned it:



Here is 7 year old girl (winner of Horowitz piano competition) playing German song:



Both students had learned the pieces with Soft Mozart. Both beginners. If they can play such pieces - you can, too! But they were guided by teachers (besides the Soft Mozart help). This is why I am here to help you on line. You can achieve the same great results!

I have this thing that if a certain piece does not interest me, I feel discouraged to work on it. I don't know if other people have experienced this type of thing. I'll give them a try, though. I'll let you know. Thank you again.

Yes, many piano students, especially adult - beginners, are mostly motivated with the beauty of the song. The role of a piano teacher to help them to find a pieces that balance both: appeal and piano technique development.

Another words, the food have to be delicious and nutritious.

To build piano technique of a student from elementary to professional by carefully selecting his/her repertoire - is a crucial task for any music educators.

May I ask you: do you use the program also for developing your memory, sight-reading and ear training?

Sometimes these things seems unimportant, but in a long run it is a very foundation for all the enjoyment of playing piano.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

pianolover wrote: Oh, I had forgotten to answer your question about the other pieces you watched me playing on YouTube which are not from SM. They're from another piano course I took and "Love Story" I learned from a tutorial on YouTube. But I don't think that learning from tutorials is the best way of learning piano because we end up copying the other person's mistakes.

I think, that there are no better way to learn how to play piano then through music literacy and I am glad that you came up with the same conclusion!

Hi Pianolover
I am also a beginner using the soft mozart programme. I recently learned the piece March from Nutcracker suite and it felt like it took me a really really LONG time to learn it so I understand where you are coming from!!
I just wondered if you are following the regime that Hellene has suggested for learning a piece of music (I cut and pasted this from another thread):

1. ask my students to play R 'till perfect
2. ask to play R H 'till almost perfect
3. ask to play L
4. LH
5. P
6. PH
7. No computer
8. No computer with rhythm section (metronome)

For me there is a big jump from playing R and L separately to playing both together but by learning both hands from memory this does make the transition easier.

I'd be interested to hear how you are getting along and what kind of practice you are doing.

Oh it's nice to have this chat I feel the same way.
I am completely unmotivated when I don't like the piece of music and if I love it I spend heaps more time playing. Thank goodness I am not a student being told what to play!
When I watched the videos I was torn between motivation and fear :S I am not sure if it is encouraging or discouraging. But my self belief wouldn't have had me playing anything nearly as hard as I can now so I have to remind myself "yes it's possible"
Oh yes that right hand first then the rest really does work well, it shaved a huge amount of time from my learning.

Thank you for your message. I always practice hands separately first until I feel comfortable with the notes and the fingerings, then I start practicing the piece measure by measure. After I learn the first measure I add the second one. After I learn the two first measures, I add the third and practice the 3 measures together. This process goes on and on until I finish the piece. It's a long process and it takes hours to finish a piece. I hope I'm doing the right thing. I'm not very much into memorizing things, I prefer to learn them. I liked the suggestion you mentioned. I'll try it too. Thanks.

I was in between motivation and frustration when I watched the videos. But then again I thought: If I look back, I couldn't even play a single chord. It is possible to learn, though. We just need to find out our own motivation. Thanks for the message.