Piano on the Eights

It’s been eight weeks since I began taking piano lessons, so in the footsteps of my previous “running on the eights” entry, here’s my first “eights” about piano!

My lessons are based on three books right now. The first book, geared for beginning adult players, gradually introduces basic music concepts (such as the staff, notes, time signatures, and rests), fingering, keys, and chords. I’ve been introduced to the major keys C, G, and F along with their corresponding I, V7, and IV chords. Along the way, of course, I’ve been familiarizing myself with reading and playing music according to which key it’s in. It’s a gradual process, to be sure; I’ve been devoting an average of 30 minutes daily to practice. I suppose I could have been more fanatical and have practiced more, but I believe in the power of the mind to assimilate new things overnight in one’s sleep. Each new day has pretty much borne this out for me with piano.

My second book contains popular show tunes like Meet the Flintstones, Music Box Dancer, Star Wars, Take Me Out to the Ball Game, and This Land is Your Land. The third book contains adapted, simplified versions of some classical excerpts. So far, I’ve worked on Debussy’s Clair de Lune, Beethoven’s Für Elise, Chopin’s Prelude (Op.28, No.4), and Bach’s Menuet in G Major (BWH anh. 114).

My teacher is very attentive to my playing, correcting and encouraging me at the appropriate times. She’s pointed out that I need to play in a louder, more flowing way and pay more attention to ties and repetition of the same notes.

Each time I start learning a new piece (especially the classical ones) it feels like I’m starting over from scratch. But I know, despite this, that I’m making progress. I just wish I’d pass one of those thresholds beyond which I suddenly display more confidence and skill! It will come, though, if I keep working at it. One thing I’ve been doing, though, is to look ahead a bit in my lessons, just to be more prepared for them during my class time. And class time is pretty intensive and breakneck, with gobs of material covered during each weekly half hour period.

So, I’m forging on ahead, keeping up with my assignments, and expecting some breakthroughs in the future. I do feel I’m making progress and enjoy practice (especially when I get it right)!