How hard is it to play the keyboard?

[BruceD]

The upper treble staff spaces spell out: F-A-C-E and the lines are EGBDF or Every Good Boy Does Fine.

Ha!--In the English(UK) version it's

Every Good Boy Deserves Fruit

Carry on BB

BD

 

[KeithR]

Amir- I took up the piano almost three years ago and have used Alfred's Adult Course (finishing book two in a few weeks). I'm on the brink of quitting, but somehow keep trucking through. I can't play by ear, which is frustrating. I can read music as I was in band/orchestra for many years. Do I enjoy it? Hard to say- i find it more tedious and thought I'd be much further after 3 years. To me, piano is really a 5-7+ year learning commitment. I just finished this piece, so you can see what my 2.5 year point is (not me in the video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fkdRctzrq8

The clarinet was a much easier instrument to pick up- piano is very hard in my opinion because playing left and right hands differently is just hard. And reading both clefts simultaneously is more difficult- and then you throw chords into the equation (in both hands). You can strum chords on a guitar much easier to popular music- but basic piano music sounds pretty crappy except to you and your teacher. Sounds stupid, but practice is everything- i was doing 2-3 times a week, but now am playing 4-5 days a week for a half hour minimum. I think I could have shaved off 6 months of time by practicing this way in the beginning.

I use a Roland FPF-7F stage piano. If I go further, I will purchase a Schimmel upright...

 

[Bruce B]

Amir- I took up the piano almost three years ago and have used Alfred's Adult Course (finishing book two in a few weeks). I'm on the brink of quitting, but somehow keep trucking through. I can't play by ear, which is frustrating. I can read music as I was in band/orchestra for many years. Do I enjoy it? Hard to say- i find it more tedious and thought I'd be much further after 3 years. To me, piano is really a 5-7+ year learning commitment. I just finished this piece, so you can see what my 2.5 year point is (not me in the video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fkdRctzrq8

The clarinet was a much easier instrument to pick up- piano is very hard in my opinion because playing left and right hands differently is just hard. And reading both clefts simultaneously is more difficult- and then you throw chords into the equation (in both hands). You can strum chords on a guitar much easier to popular music- but basic piano music sounds pretty crappy except to you and your teacher. Sounds stupid, but practice is everything- i was doing 2-3 times a week, but now am playing 4-5 days a week for a half hour minimum. I think I could have shaved off 6 months of time by practicing this way in the beginning.

I use a Roland FPF-7F stage piano. If I go further, I will purchase a Schimmel upright...

The Clarinet was my major. I started that in the 5th grade when my parents made me watch Lawrence Welk.

 

[amirm]

Amir- I took up the piano almost three years ago and have used Alfred's Adult Course (finishing book two in a few weeks). I'm on the brink of quitting, but somehow keep trucking through. I can't play by ear, which is frustrating. I can read music as I was in band/orchestra for many years. Do I enjoy it? Hard to say- i find it more tedious and thought I'd be much further after 3 years. To me, piano is really a 5-7+ year learning commitment. I just finished this piece, so you can see what my 2.5 year point is (not me in the video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fkdRctzrq8

The clarinet was a much easier instrument to pick up- piano is very hard in my opinion because playing left and right hands differently is just hard. And reading both clefts simultaneously is more difficult- and then you throw chords into the equation (in both hands). You can strum chords on a guitar much easier to popular music- but basic piano music sounds pretty crappy except to you and your teacher. Sounds stupid, but practice is everything- i was doing 2-3 times a week, but now am playing 4-5 days a week for a half hour minimum. I think I could have shaved off 6 months of time by practicing this way in the beginning.

I use a Roland FPF-7F stage piano. If I go further, I will purchase a Schimmel upright...

OK, I have new appreciation for people who play music . Here I thought in 2-3 months I could play a tune!

 

[KeithR]

OK, I have new appreciation for people who play music . Here I thought in 2-3 months I could play a tune!

Pick up Alfreds Adult Course book 1 for a few bucks and peruse it- then you will have a better idea of the first year. I played a mean, basic version of the entertainer .

 

[amirm]

Pick up Alfreds Adult Course book 1 for a few bucks and peruse it- then you will have a better idea of the first year. I played a mean, basic version of the entertainer .

Will do. Thanks!

 

[carolkoh]

Good luck Amir! Then you will learn obscure in jokes.

A young violinist in Rio
Was seducing a pianist named Cleo
As she took off her panties
She said, "No Andantes,"
"I want this Allegro con Brio"

 

[Atmasphere]

I was getting piano lessons when I was a kid but I never got any good at it. In jr. high, I took up the bass viol. I played that through college, also played electric. I was never any good at it. Then I encountered Native American flute, back in the late 80s before such was really stylish. Something about it- I don't know, I just liked it and played all the time. My first CD came out a year later, the 2nd a year or so after that.

But I always was more of a rocker, 70s prog, Kraut, all that. I loved the Mellotron, which I had briefly in the 70s before I thought I would always suck at keys. But after the flute experience showed me that I could play, and also due to a fortunate deal on an EML 101 really cheap, I began putting together a little music lab in the spare bedroom and started making tapes for the heck of it. Other synths followed- ARP 2600, Minimoog, EML sequencer and Prophet 5. I began composing tunes that my limited skills would allow. I knew more about how to operate the knobs- what they did, than the keys themselves.

I went to the 40th birthday of a friend of mine (Earl Root, for those of you who remember him) and during that evening we heard a really lousy band at a local club. I mentioned to him that even I could do better than that... next thing I knew I was on a bill with his band at another club. I played out for several years- and combined the NA flute with the synths. My most successful gig was opening for Porcupine Tree in 2005 at the Fine Line in Minneapolis. About that same time I was asked to play with a local band, Thunderbolt Pagoda, which has been really fun. I keep saying I can't really play all that well, but they don't seem to care (and everyone in that band is really experienced and has played on as many as 14 albums in the past). I still don't think I can play, not really, but it does not matter. I am having fun- and I enjoy the music that I play and even like to hear the albums we have made.

In short- get yourself a keyboard and have fun. Don't worry about what you can or can't play- its not about that.

 

[carolkoh]

Ha!--In the English(UK) version it's

Every Good Boy Deserves Fruit

Carry on BB

BD

"Fruit??" I learned "Favour"

 

[amirm]

In short- get yourself a keyboard and have fun. Don't worry about what you can or can't play- its not about that.

Sounds good! Thanks for sharing your experience and advice.