First Piano Lesson Tomorrow!! Need a littel advice.

BlackPearl

For most of my life I've wanted to learn to play the Piano and learn to write music. My wife got me a Yamaha Keyboard for Christmas. I am finally happy to report that I have my first lesson tomorrow morning. My question is; Is there any advice anyone can give me? Or any study material in the way of websites or books? What advice would you give me to make a better musician? Any help would be really appreciated.

30girl

Practice, practice, practice and when you get done practicing, practice again. I took lessons for 12 years and I can't emphasize the importance of your scales and practicing. Even if you can only squeeze in 5 mins, do something every day. Most of all, enjoy the experience and remember your sense of humor. Don't be hard on yourself, expect to make mistakes and remember, practice makes permanent.

BlackPearl

Thanks 30girl, I'll ocassionally report back here with my progress and frustrations. But thanks for the advice, I'll practice every day.

Little Drummer Boy

Yeah, the importance of constant practice on an instrument really can't be over-emphasized. To be even slightly good at playing an instrument takes a great deal of commitment and work; and that doesn't happen over night. Stick with it. Give yourself permission to fail - it's okay. No one's gonna die if you can't get the hang of it right away. Just be aware that one of the hardest things to overcome for some people can be the period after the initial excitement of wanting to start the lessons. It might seem like you aren't making progress as fast as you like, and then the discouragement can set in. If you can push through that period and stick with a good practce schedule, you will eventually see some great results.

The starter lessons may seem silly (they aren't - they have a purpose). Mary has a Little Lamb may not seem productive, but you have to learn to crawl before you can walk before you can run.

I highly, highly recommend taping your practices and lessons at various intervals (every few months at least). Make sure to get a recording from near the beginning of when you take lessons. Compare that to a tape from a year later, and you will have physical proof that you have improved. That can be highly motivating and gratifying. If possible, take part in recitals. Having a goal to work towards such as a recital will also be a strong motivator.

I took piano lessons when I was young, but I didn't continue with it. I regret that very much now. However, I did take up the drums, and that was (before the borg) a great source of joy for me.

I wish you well in your lessons!

LittleDrummerBoy

compound complex

Greetings Black Pearl,

As a PT, I use the basic method books, but implement them with lots on theory, scales and chord structure. Improvisation is a very good bonus for the students who can get a grasp on it. But any student can learn to play; the more he can be helped to understand musical structure, the better he can be a music problem solver, i.e., learn to unravel technical and other musical matters on his own. So, you, as the student need to become aware of what you are doing and not simply learn how to play a "recital piece." I teach my students how to teach [this was done for me], which allows them to truly comprehend the "nuts and bolts" of music. As with English grammar, it does not suffice to "sound" good in your speech; you need to know the basics of grammar, and if that takes hold, you can proceed on to a real literary experience. Same with the piano - you have at your disposal nearly 9000 moving parts. The better you comprehend its makeup and the inner workings of the music set before you on the desk, the more readily your fingers will meld with the ebony and ivory, drawing in your entire body and soul to create the wonder of music - your version!

CoCo

BlackPearl

LDB,

Thanks for the encouragement. The Keyboard does have a port for a computer connection, I can record my progress via computer and compare progress from time to time. That's a great idea, and thanks for the encouragement!

BP

exwitless

Ditto to what everyone else has posted. If you are really committed and excited about it, you'll do great. Practicing is absolutely the key. You won't improve by wishful thinking; you have to practice and enjoy practicing, if not every day, then several times a week.

Ditto to taping or recording yourself periodically. I began voice lessons 2 years ago at age 30. Never before in my life had I ever so much as been in a choir. But singing was something I had always wanted to do, so I signed myself up for lessons and practiced (ad nauseum). Before I started lessons, I tape-recorded myself singing a favorite song of mine. This song happened to be the one I performed at a vocal recital about 6 months into taking lessons. (A classic Italian song, no less.) When I go back and listen to my first recording of it, I can't help but laugh and cringe at the same time. It was pretty bad! But, I've definitely improved.

I don't take lessons anymore (financial and other reasons), but I still practice all the time. One word of caution: don't get discouraged too easily. You won't become Mozart overnight. Remember, we are our own harshest critics. Just learn from your mistakes and keep at it!

zagor

Just remember that the best things in life take time, you must be comfortable with the idea of time passing by, and the best way to actually do it is to enjoy the process itself. Too many people want instant success, instant gratification. It just isn't that way, doesn't happen that way. The difference between truly great player and real amateur is that amateur impatiently sees the time as an enemy, while one with the greatness in him uses it to his advantage. Remember, the quicker something gets built the easier it is to topple it down. If you accept the fact that you will be a student of music for the rest of your life and not the master of it, you just might actually get there before you know it. Surrender your soul to learning of music and you will become part of the symphony and not just an observer. The only thing that will then change in time will be the degree of clarity in your music as you become one with it. In time you will come to see that timing is everything in music, it permeates it's every aspect, the music is actually embodiment of that elusive thing we call time.

blondie

Boring though they be, don't skip doing your scales. It will help you learn proper fingering which will allow you to play more smoothly. Practice, practice, practice; did I say practice? Considering doing scales and practicing your assigned one or two pieces, an hour minimum. If you don't have that much time, break it up into 2 sections. Realize too that learning to play starts long before a finger touches a key. If you are learning to read music, the quicker your brain recognizes the note the more time it has to concentrate on other things. Remember you have two staffs to play at the same time and the same note is on different places on each staff...don't get frightened now. Your instructor will likely not load you up but add something new when you conquer something. Don't be afraid to try a piece you haven't been assigned, but not until you finish your assignment.

If possible, listen to excellent pianists play the piece you've been assigned. If not available, have your teacher play it and record it.

Have fun! My music, especially the piano, got me through some of the nuttier times of my life.

Blondie

sunshineToo

It looks like everyone has given you great advices.

Your teacher probably has a system of teaching beginners. Take one step at a time. The pieces you'll be playing now might sound silly or childish, but you'll learn certain technique from eachone. Don't forget to relax from shoulder to wrist. A lot of people don't realize this and end up with injuries. I highly recommend "Freeing the Caged Bird". You can get it either as DVD or VHS tape. It's a piano pedagogy based on Alexander Technique.

Good luck and most of all, have fun. I am a piano teacher as well. So if you have any question, just let me know.

First Piano Lesson Tomorrow!! Need a littel advice.

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