Sandy,I love your music so much! I wish there was a way it would just continually play while I’m on this site. I’ve always been a Chopin fan, --actaually, there aren’t too amny composers I don’t like—and as I pm’d you, I’ve played since I was a very little girl. But I played by ear so long, that even after I took lessons, I couldn’t really read like I wanted to be able to. We had an old piano at home, and my Mom played-but just by ear. We couldn’t afford lessons at all, but the wonderful Jr. Woman’s club in my town heard about this little girl who could play, and they paid for my lessons for 6 years!! Isn’t that somehting??? I’m still amazed and thankful at their generosity!!
If you can read music well–you can play what’s put before you perfectly–if you play by ear, you can make a pretty good attempt, but the composer would KNOW that you werent playing what he wrote. I wish I could have had you as a teacher!! I think you’d have realized I was only playing what I heard–and my teacher didn’t–although I took 6 years!!
Now, if Amy could just somehow put you onsite playing—that would be YUMMY!! :cheering:
Aw Trudy, you’re so sweet! Mwa! XOXO (I wish we had an icon of a smiley blowing a kiss!)
Thanks for the compliment. The only thing I don’t like about the midi files is that they are “MIDI” files, and not wave files. That’s the next thing I want to learn. It would be nice to make it sound more real. It might take me another year, but I’ll learn how to do it.
I think it is SO cool that your lessons were provided in such a wonderful way! You were so lucky. My mother had to pay for mine. I remember that they were 30 dollars a month, and she was also paying 15 dollars a month for my braces (or maybe it was the other way around). So, I cost her 45 dollars a month, except for food, clothes and doctor bills. And we grew a lot of our own food in our garden. :lol:
It’s so funny that you say I would probably notice if you were playing by ear. You’re probably right.
One of my students does that. She can play pretty much ANYTHING by ear, but can hardly read a note. Whenever I give her a new piece, she’ll say, “Will you play it for me?” And I refuse. Then, I tell her to try the first few measures. She plops her hands on the keyboard and starts just playing some notes, looking at me out of the corner of her eye to see my expression. (She knows that if the notes are wrong, I’ll react a little bit.)
None of the notes are right. Her hands are not even in the right position. So, I pull out the keyboard chart and place it behind the keys and tell her to look at the first note and find it. After a few seconds, she’ll figure out the first note for the right hand. Then, she’ll find the first note for the left hand. Then, I’ll tell her to try again. After a few attempts, she finally gets it. I still refuse to play it for her though, because I know she’ll just copy me!
She’s getting a little better, but she doesn’t practice enough. She prefers to just play what she wants. Oh well…at least I’m trying! :rollseyes:
Sandy–I REALLY wish I’d had you as a piano teacher!! My teacher (ahem, had a drinking problem) just didn’t seem to “get it” that I was NOT learning the notes!! It made it SO hard on me when a friend of mine and I played duets together, because I really had to concentrate to “hear” what my notes were supposed to be! I really hate it now that I didn’t scream""[size=7]HEY, LADY!!! I"M JUST FAKING!!!", [/size]then I’d KNOW how to play things correctly!!
Sandy, when we started band in the 6th grade, the first month or so was a course in “Music Theory”. Perhaps there’s an online resource that could help your student? Being able to play both ways would really be an advantage.
I didn’t really need it, because I’d taken piano lessons for a couple of years, and I was bored because the other kids took longer to “get it”.
I use Music Theory with all my students, but this one is a rebel in more ways than one. She conveniently “forgets” her theory book every week. I also recommend an online piano tutor for my students, so I’ve got that base covered as well. http://www.pianonanny.com/
Her parents really don’t communicate with me that much, and they keep paying for lessons, so I guess they’re okay with it. I’m not too satisfied, though. But…that happens with some students.
I’ve been teaching now for about 7 years, and I’ve seen lots of different types of students. Some of them practice a lot, and others never open a book. But, they keep coming to lessons, and they enjoy the time I spend with them each week. I tell their parents if I never see any improvement, so I’m doing my part.
:cheering:
Mwa! XOXO (I wish we had an icon of a smiley blowing a kiss!)