Piano Playing

[Lunar]

[COLOR="Indigo"]I thought about putting this in the Lounge..........anyway, I was wondering, anyone here play piano? if so, for how long? and, if you do(or if you don't (it doesn't matter)) how do you like it? would you play any other instrument? i play piano, and i've been playing piano for about three and a half years. i like it so far and i also want to play the alto sax.:catgirl:[/COLOR]

[Drizzt Do'urden]

I don't play piano very much/well. My dad used to have a baby grand when I was little, he taught me a few things, really basic stuff. Scales, a couple cords, and little fun songs like twinkle twinkle, all the christmas tunes, greensleaves(I know falls under christmas but being my favorite I like to mention it specifically)

I started working on more difficult pieces before he sold it, my favorite piano piece being [I]Moonlight Sonata[/I] I had it almost all the way down. I haven't played, except playing with the niece's and nephew's mini keyboards. Stuff for them, all the songs I remember/can play with their little toy keyboards. (Actually helped score me a second date with my fiancee a long time ago. Playing for her nephew when we ran into her sis at the mall.)

I'm planning on buying a baby grand when I get established in the next year or so, it was a fond memory of my childhood, and I always wanted to pick it back up. I played violin and Double Bass back in high school, so I'm musically inclined as it is. Plus music is something I want to share with my children, like my father did for me.

And by the by, I dated a girl in high school who played alto Sax. I can't play a lick, but I did enjoy hearing her play for me.

[eleanor]

[font=trebuchet ms] I used to play, I got lessons for about eight years and then I quit. I used to play the cello, too, but I miss playing the piano much more.

Unfortunately when I learned piano my teacher wasn't very thorough and I didn't learn the basics well. I could play songs pretty well, but only after I memorized them, which was a problem as I never developed any good sight-reading skills. I basically played songs over and over enough so that I memorized the notes and didn't have to rely on my knowledge of notes. lol So when I moved onto a better teacher she made me cry sometimes as she yelled at me during practice, but it helped. [/font]

[Lunar]

[quote name='Lunox'][font=trebuchet ms] I used to play, I got lessons for about eight years and then I quit. I used to play the cello, too, but I miss playing the piano much more.

Unfortunately when I learned piano my teacher wasn't very thorough and I didn't learn the basics well. I could play songs pretty well, but only after I memorized them, which was a problem as I never developed any good sight-reading skills. I basically played songs over and over enough so that I memorized the notes and didn't have to rely on my knowledge of notes. lol [B]So when I moved onto a better teacher she made me cry sometimes as she yelled at me during practice, but it helped[/B]. [/font][/QUOTE]

[COLOR="Indigo"]Dang! Poor you. I never knew a piano teacher who made someone cry(however, I do know teachers and coaches) my teacher's like that, too. minus the yelling and crying part.[/COLOR]

[Claire]

[FONT="Arial"]I'm taking piano class in school right now. You don't get a teacher devoted to just you for fifty minutes, but honestly I don't need one. I've known music theory for at least five years, so I'm flying through the beginner's piano book they assigned us.

It's not much, but I can play quite a few songs (I accidentally memorized them so I don't have to read the music, which is not one of my fortes, LOL PUN). Everyone else is stuck on something like "Clementine" and I'm trying to learn "Cielito Lindo."

I'm much better at guitar than I am at piano, though; I've been playing for almost nine years now. However, that's nine years without so much as a teacher or instruction book or any substantial amount of time spent practicing everyday. I'm pretty good at rhythm guitar and I can play some faster riffs, but if you expect me to pull a crazy Raining Blood solo, you will be sorely disappointed. (Or even just a cutesy little one!)

From playing guitar, I can also play bass. Not those cool jazzy techniques like slapping, and the strings are too fat for me to be able to play relatively faster songs, but I can still play it well enough.

I know how to keep a rhythm on a drum set (thanks to Rock Band, in all honesty) but like everything else, I haven't had lessons, and I don't even have a set to practice on (not even RB, it belonged to my friend and he took it back), so I'm not very good at all.


[/FONT]

[Lunar]

[COLOR="Indigo"]yeah, I know you're older than me, but trust me, you [I]need [/I]a teacher. sure you can know all the technical stuff, but there's certain habits that you develop that you yourself cannot fix. only a teacher can fix errors on stuff like, holding your fingers. i know, i stopped playing for a year and when i went back, although i almost finished the book i was in, i had to almost start over![/COLOR]

[Claire]

[quote name='Eclipsed Dreamer'][COLOR="Indigo"]yeah, I know you're older than me, but trust me, you [I]need [/I]a teacher. sure you can know all the technical stuff, but there's certain habits that you develop that you yourself cannot fix. only a teacher can fix errors on stuff like, holding your fingers. i know, i stopped playing for a year and when i went back, although i almost finished the book i was in, i had to almost start over![/COLOR][/QUOTE]

[FONT="Arial"]Holding my fingers? It really doesn't make a difference whether I play the keys pretending to hold a tennis ball or not, I can still play songs. I defy convention.

Everyone else in the class is too busy playing C, D, E, F, and G as 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Our teacher has reminded them several times that just because the book has a particular chord as 1, 3, and 5, that doesn't mean those are the note names, but I keep hearing "what note is that? a one?" and it's frustrating.[/FONT]

[Lunar]

[COLOR="Indigo"]the numbers are fingering. it really is recommended when you have to play a song without numbers. it's better to know the notes rather than know the songs. sure you can play all the songs you've played before, but what if you have to play a song you don't know anything about? that's the reason why you need notes. my old piano teacher made me memorize the songs instead of just having me memorize the notes.[/COLOR]

[TimeChaser]

I took piano lessons through my jr. high and high school years, but stopped due to lack of practice and the need to save money. There are times when I wish I had kept going though. Piano is my favorite instrument; I could spend a lazy afternoon laying around, listening to a CD of classical piano music.

I also played alto saxophone for a number of years, and this is what led me to picking up on the piano. I would transpose my saxophone music to piano and just mess around.

[Nony]

I took piano lessons for a couple years back when I was around 8 or 9 years old. I really enjoyed it then and seemed genuinely good at it; plus, I have fond memories of the teacher and the little piano recitals we would hold. Writing little dinky songs was pretty enjoyable too.

But, after moving from California to Washington, it was hard to keep up with it. I tried taking lessons with my church pastor, but I didn't have passion for it any longer.

I do regret quitting and would love to pick it up again. I can still play basic songs, but I want to further myself so I can learn more complicated things, not to mention learning how to play some piano pieces from .hack.

[Nomurah!]

[SIZE="1"][COLOR="HotPink"]I've been since... Let's see. May? May, indeed. I'm teaching myself the notes and chords as I go along, but playing stuff isn't too hard for me, considering I can read most of the music. Lately, I've been playing "Existentialism on Prom Night" by Straylight Run. Beautiful song, and not hard to play. :]

I'm okay at guitar, bass, and drums. Nowhere near as good as Clurr, but I'm just okay.[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[Roxie Faye]

[color=#9933ff]I'm been playing since I was six, but I've never been serious about it, so I've never been in a competition or a hard core recital where you had to memorize the piece or anything.

Music is my stress relief and that would suck way too much if I got "serious" about it. I had a piano teacher once that would always tell me my playing wasn't good enough, and I got so upset and discouraged, so I would never want to get too serious about piano. I know there are people out there who make a living from playing the piano and thats superx10 awesome, but it's not me.

My favorite composer is Chopin, and is the reason I still play the piano. I'm prejudiced against Mozart (I think the mental block is why I cannot get through this concerto!). Beethoven is pretty awesome. And there JS Bach, who is the man.

I played all the way up until senior year of high school, until I went away to college. Now that I don't have formal lessons, I play for fun - i.e., I play much less often than I used to. But then, I'm busier too, so it gets difficult.

I also play the flute and the tenor sax, which are almost the same, so it's nothing special, lol. [/color]

[Mr. Blonde]

No piano here, however I delve into other instruments. But if you like piano music you should check out Ben Folds and Regina Spektor.
[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-WDdEjAI-0[/url]

[Rachmaninoff]

[quote name='Europa][COLOR="Indigo"']I was wondering, anyone here play piano? if so, for how long? and, if you do(or if you don't (it doesn't matter)) how do you like it? would you play any other instrument? i play piano, and i've been playing piano for about three and a half years. i like it so far and i also want to play the alto sax.:catgirl:[/COLOR][/quote]Not really, I can read the music just fine, but I never learned how to actually play more than picking out a simple melody or certain notes. The main reason I never took the time to learn more is on account of putting all of my serious time into learning to play the cello.

I've picked up on how to play guitar and a few other things, I just never got back to learning more about the piano at all. If I ever get a little less busy, I might take the time to do so, but I don't see that happening anytime soon.

[tokmik]

Piano. At least it requires no breath control and doesn't have to be tuned every time.
I play piano and i have passion on it. :animesmil[URL="http://www.findpianolessons.com/providers-Dallas-TX.html"]Dallas piano lessons[/URL]

[Lunar]

[COLOR="Navy"]So piano's going great so far (although I really have to make time for practicing more, school's so time consuming). I've officially decided that after I master piano I'm going to learn to play the cello![/COLOR] :catgirl:

[SachiroUchiha]

I have been playing piano for seven years now!!! I'm doing my eighth grade AMEB; its pretty difficult but I love it. I've got a really good memory and apparently, perfect pitch, so I like to learn songs REALLY fast and then perform them. Music is my escape, I love to play Mendelssohn- the lieder ohne worte (songs without words) and occasionally anime themes.... I taught myself Sadness and Sorrow from Naruto, and others from animes like Noir and Rurouni Kenshin. My teacher's really good, I learn heaps of stuff at my lessons. The only downside is that my lessons are expensive (they're a hour long) and sometimes piano messes with my social life!! And I agree with tokmik, at least it doesn't need to be tuned and you don't have to breathe into it.
I was wondering if anyone had any pointers on playing the third movement of the Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven; or the Scherzo a Cappricio by Mendelssohn?? They're the most challenging I've played so far, and I was just wondering whether there was any SIMPLE way to practice them. :)
I love piano; I hope everyone can enjoy an instrument they really like.

[pooperson]

[SIZE="1"][COLOR="DeepSkyBlue"]I adore the piano. I have to take it as part of my major (music education), but I've been playing off and on for about a year. I took lessons in 6th grade but re-taught myself a year ago for my music school audition.

The one song I'm ridiculously proud I can play is Pachelbel's Canon in D. It's not even that hard... but I think it's a neat song, so yay!

Apart from the piano? I play the trumpet (7 years) & the saxophone (3 years) as well as a variety of random instruments that I have to learn for school.

Oh, & the guitar is pretty bomb-diggity, too. I've been playing for 7 months.[/COLOR][/SIZE]

[Xyandar]

I play the piano. I've played it since i was 6 years old (no joke..Im 21 now.) i just had a dinky keyboard at the time but i learned the basics on it. Then by the age of 9 i got a decent keyboard for my time. Learned everything i could on that until i bought my new Yamaha a year ago. Will never need another hehe. Ive always made my own stuff up. I never took lessons becayse i could not learn what they wanted me to(i have a skin condition so it made things more difficult..however i work around it). I play everything from classical music to rock and metal music. Alot of my songs are slower and very melodic, however on my angry day i break out the metal lol.
Piano has always been an amaazing instrument to me. It is hardely used in the music i listen to(until recently) and ive always tried encouraging piano because it is a stress reliever, a mind soother, its really hard to explain when you're really into it hehe.

I Also play the drums ive played them for about 5 years now. I tooke 3 classes in highschool doing percussion and band where we'd do little shows for public schools. i also had a band for a while with some friends but it didnt last unfortunately.
Im more of a metal head on the drums unless i get a touch of the blues genre hehe.

If i could learn an instrument i do not know yet....it would have to be the bongos. They seem so simple but they have so much technique to them.. ive tried them once.. lol drums and bongos are verry different haha.