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quadro2000 · 05-23-2005, 07:58 AM

Wow, I'm so excited that so many TFPers play piano, and still play!

I've been playing for somewhere around 20/21 years. Did classical from age 7 to 15, and then dabbled in jazz for the later part of high school in the jazz band. I didn't learn much past a blue-note scale in B flat and maybe F, but thankfully the majority of jazz charts were in B flat anyway!

Since I left high school I've been playing in...I dunno what you'd call it, but it's the Billy Joel/Elton John style of playing - not really following note-for-note anymore, but following the chords and improvising the placements and occasional additions of 6ths, 7ths, etc. I don't have a lot of technical skill at this point - left hand is lazy and sight-reading past chords had gone down the tubes - but I do have a lot of internal feel for what sounds good, which gets me by in performance situations.

I do hope to eventually take some blues/jazz/rockabilly lessons. I'd love to get myself to a point where I can do real improvised solos. My only drawback is I find myself playing the same stuff over and over...I'm in a bit of a rut!

Sue, I know exactly what you mean about it being a real stress reliever. The first thing I do when I get home from work is either pick up the guitar or sit at the piano. I like to play "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant" because it starts off slow, and builds and builds until it's flying, and then cools down again...it's pretty much an aerobic workout for my hands and my head!

Raveneye, I am such a fan of teaching kids piano when they're young - what you're doing sounds great! Raeanna, like Raveneye said, a lil' keyboard can work...for the first few years, they're usually playing only an octave above and below middle C anyway, and it's more about them just getting familiar with the keys and the sounds they make. Although I think 7 or 8 would be a good age to start on weighted keys - I have a non-weighted Korg and it makes me so incredibly lazy!

05-23-2005, 07:58 AM	#14 (permalink)
quadro2000 All Possibility, Made Of Custard Location: New York, NY	Wow, I'm so excited that so many TFPers play piano, and still play! I've been playing for somewhere around 20/21 years. Did classical from age 7 to 15, and then dabbled in jazz for the later part of high school in the jazz band. I didn't learn much past a blue-note scale in B flat and maybe F, but thankfully the majority of jazz charts were in B flat anyway! Since I left high school I've been playing in...I dunno what you'd call it, but it's the Billy Joel/Elton John style of playing - not really following note-for-note anymore, but following the chords and improvising the placements and occasional additions of 6ths, 7ths, etc. I don't have a lot of technical skill at this point - left hand is lazy and sight-reading past chords had gone down the tubes - but I do have a lot of internal feel for what sounds good, which gets me by in performance situations. I do hope to eventually take some blues/jazz/rockabilly lessons. I'd love to get myself to a point where I can do real improvised solos. My only drawback is I find myself playing the same stuff over and over...I'm in a bit of a rut! Sue, I know exactly what you mean about it being a real stress reliever. The first thing I do when I get home from work is either pick up the guitar or sit at the piano. I like to play "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant" because it starts off slow, and builds and builds until it's flying, and then cools down again...it's pretty much an aerobic workout for my hands and my head! Raveneye, I am such a fan of teaching kids piano when they're young - what you're doing sounds great! Raeanna, like Raveneye said, a lil' keyboard can work...for the first few years, they're usually playing only an octave above and below middle C anyway, and it's more about them just getting familiar with the keys and the sounds they make. Although I think 7 or 8 would be a good age to start on weighted keys - I have a non-weighted Korg and it makes me so incredibly lazy! __________________ You have to laugh at yourself...because you'd cry your eyes out if you didn't. - Emily Saliers