Entertainment & Music Any pianists?

I learnt piano from about age 6-15 or so, but despite this I was never enthused and gave it away.

For the last 5 years, I've had the burning desire to learn again, and do it properly. I know what I want to play, and I know the sort of dedication and practice something like this takes.

My piano (the same one I had as a youngster) should arrive this week, and then I will try and find a teacher!

I want to play for fun, but also sit the exams that I never did (I think I sat and passed prelim, and that's it).

Anyone play? Anyone stopped and come back - if so, how long, and how long to get good again? (Any good teachers Brisbane south side?)

 

There are exams? What are these for? To say you're a certified pianist?

 

I need to certify that now

Oh my bad just checked the spelling..

 

I've played all my life, and still play lots. I would say find a good teacher who "gets you" and inspires you to make music, and go from there.

Also, don't underestimate the value of youtube for learning in the modern age! It's quite remarkable what you can learn from watching others. Avoid all the crappy graphic stuff which tells you which keys to play by highlighting them, and stick to learning via a good method, be it by ear or by reading music.

 

That's so important to have a teacher who gets you. I hated the examinations and wanted to learn jazz but it was frowned upon. So now I play chords and anything that I am able to play.

 

The teacher should know how you learn (ear or reading or watching) and able to leverage it.

Getting good - what's your definition of good?

 

In context of the question, I meant - after a break, how long until back to where you were. I think it will take me about 3-6 months, but I think that's a sad reflection that I didn't get very far.

 

@Bran will probably need a licence to practice

 

Source: I asked hubby (I don't play)

The answer is it depends.
Technical skill: you will need time to grow the actual muscle, so won't happen overnight. With regular training (1-2 hours a day), maybe about a month or so. Also depends on how good you are back then, the better you were the longer.

How fast your brain can do it: usually a lot faster, e.g. weeks not months

Reading skills: Will be like when you learn a different language and you stop for years. You know it, but you will need to check dictionary on what it means.

My take is that, won't take you half a year

 

Good luck @Bran

I don't play the piano, but my 3 kids do. Hope to learn from them when I have more time on my hands. Not easy though. My youngest (10yo) is at grade 7, and it's gotten super hard!

 

As I was told when learning (and stop after several days, too many other things to do)
- Imagine you're holding an orange (relaxed bend fingers)
- Move your fingers, not your wrist (I can't push the keys properly with my pinky)

Digital fully weighted? You surely have a space for a Grand piano?

 

... and I assume some really good sound system.

Tuning - once a year, cleaning - pay someone, moving... move it once and let it be there.

 

Got to grade 7 as a kid, after those exams didn't play much. Problem was I did everything by memory so couldn't read music in real time. Impressed examiners, but I saw it as a disadvantage. Looking at restarting after a long break with a portable keyboard, pretty good value these days, maybe a Yamaha PSR 443.

 

Much the same as @Bran, but only learnt for about 5 years. After 20+ years of not touching a piano, I finally bought a nice Roland stage piano some years ago. Managed to get a number of my old pieces back up to speed, but I simply don't have the time to learn properly these days, so my playing now is very intermittent and getting nowhere.

My sight reading wasn't too bad, and still isn't, but I was never great at some of the aural tests - notably interval recognition. Probably why I'm not real good at picking things up by ear (piano or guitar). Thank goodness for software that can slow music down without altering pitch!

The only real positive is that my young granddaughter started playing around on the stage piano, and now her parents are getting her piano lessons.

GP