Finally have a practice routine down.

So after trying different things, Here is what I cam up with.

I start off doing about 10-15 minutes of warmups, either Hanon, scales, or both.
Then I practice sight reading for about 10 min.
Then I move on to the piece(s) I am working on. I practice a small chunk until I can play fairly well, but it does not have to be perfect. When I am Done, I go through the piece up until the point I completed last (sometimes it means I have to skip sections.
At this point I take a break.
When I come back to the piano, I practice my repertoire, which is a whopping 2 pieces at the moment! LOL.

Stay tuned for my next piece to be posted, Fur Elise(easy section) followed by Pastorale by Burgmeller.

My first recording!

OK, here it is.

Minuet, by Mozart’s Pops, Leopold.

Timing may be off in some spots, but cut my some slack, It my first try 🙂

Follow this link:
http://www.box.net/shared/6n7npy6os4

Recordings Coming Soon.

I am not currently at a point where I have a recording ready to upload. While I know my 2 pieces, I still have too many pauses. I may throw up some snippets just to get something up here. Stay tuned…

In the mean time, I would like to plug  Amazon.com’s selection of classical music, most notably, the “99 most essential” series. For 5 Bucks each, you get 99 nice quality recordings from the master, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, etc.

I count listening to these as part of my studies.

Music Appreciation

One thing I am really turned off to is when someone will call a particular type of music “not REAL music”.

Eg. Rap is just people talking, Metal is just noise, Boy Bands are cheezy, rock and roll is the devil’s music…You get the point.

Now I don’t think all people should like all music (I certainly do not), but I do think that all people who are passionate about music, should at least appreciate all types of music. Even those who are not passionate should not be close-minded. All music is art. From the talent of people playing instruments, to the ranges of vocals. The rhythm and dancing. As an example to the Genres I mention above…

Rap – Most lyric are witty, flow at fast and slow speeds, and have deep and educational messages.

Metal – Requires great talent and speed of playing instruments. Not to mention strong vocal chords.

Boy Band – Usually have rhythm, can dance and sing, and introduce the youth to music.

Rock and Roll- Do I need to explain? The foundation of popular music today!

So venture out, try something new. You never know, you may enjoy something.

Waiver: All of the above is just my 2 cents, but hey, thats what a blog is for.

Oooooh Hello There!

Welcome to my Piano Blog. For those that do not know me, My name is Joe and this is a blog to track my progress as I learn Piano as well as to discuss music in general.  I began self teaching myself piano from scratch in 2006. I worked my way through Alfred’s Adult piano method Book 1, and tried a couple of pop songs from sheet music. Like most people who learn piano, I gave up after things started getting too difficult. My initial stint with piano playing only lasted 6 months. I do not consider them a waste however, as I learned many of the basic as well as some good theory. Fast forward to August 2009. I decided I should have never quit and wanted to get back into piano. This time I decided to go with a teacher. This was the best move I could make. I had incentive to practice each week because I knew I needed to be prepared for my weekly lesson. I think that was the kick I needed, as I have practiced steady since then. I started again learning some pop songs from sheet music. I got much further this time, however I always moved on to a new piece before perfecting the old. I decided the reason for this was because these works were 4 or 5 pages long. I decided to move away from pop for a while to do some short classical pieces. So far in two weeks I have learned 2 pieces pretty good, even memorized them. I only need to work on the timing now. The 2 pieces are (don’t cringe) Fur Elise- the easy version, and Minuet By Leopold Mozart. So that leaves us to here, my extra incentive to practice and progress. I will now update my blog regularly keeping track for my self as well as my friends.

So here is the plan…First, the long-term goal (say 7 to 10 years):

To play piano well enough that I can perform, preferably at a restaurant, hotel or lounge.

Now this will take a long time so I need mini goals. I will make these as I go along, but for now it is to learn classical pieces, no longer than 2 pages. I will learn them in a progressive manner so that a lesson is learned from each piece. Once I get set up I plan to post the recording for you folks, to constructively criticize.

And there you have it.  I hope I can have as many of you follow along on my blog, especially other beginners, as we can help each other as we fulfill our passion for music.