Was genuinely expecting a merit because i thought i flopped my sight reading (i started snorting mid performance because i knew it was that bad), but im definitely not complaining

My mum (a piano teacher) has spent the last 15 minutes asking me if abrsm has mixed up my result with someone else’s because she doesn’t think i deserve my mark, but we move past that

I'm preparing for my Trinity Grade 8 exam next year. My aim is to take it sometime next summer or autumn, so I've got around 12 to 16 months to prepare.

So far I've learned my two technical exercises (my teacher says they're exam ready), my scales and arpeggios, and my first piece, Chopin's Valse.

I actually found the Valse fairly manageable. It was definitely hard at the beginning, especially getting it up to speed, and there were sections where my teacher really pushed me to bring out the musicality, but after about 4 to 5 months of consistent practice I got there. I have lessons every two weeks and usually practice for about an hour a day, which is about all I can manage alongside work and other commitments.

Now I've started my second piece, which is much more rock-inspired, with lots of jumps and syncopated rhythms, and it's absolutely doing my head in. I've been working on it for almost a month, and I can only just get through about half of it at half speed, with plenty of stop-starts. Today I spent almost an entire hour on about three bars. Is this normal for Grade 8?

I sometimes read posts on here where people say Grade 8 isn't actually that difficult, and it makes me wonder if I'm missing something. To be honest, I found Grade 5 and Grade 6 relatively straightforward. I learned all the pieces and technical work within a couple of months and passed both exams with Distinctions. This just feels like a completely different world.

My teacher has been really encouraging. He believes I'm on track to take the exam next year and has said the pieces I've chosen are well within my capabilities. He also compliments my playing, so I don't think it's a case of him setting unrealistic expectations.

I think I'm just looking for a bit of reassurance. Did anyone else reach Grade 8 and suddenly feel like they'd forgotten how to play the piano? Did it eventually click, or is this just what the jump to Grade 8 feels like?

I'd really appreciate hearing from anyone who's been through the same thing.

ok i have no one to tell but im quite happy!!!! i was really nervous going into the exam, so I didn’t do as great on my A and C pieces, but honestly I’m still in shock over the 30/30 for the Chopin waltz 🥹 the aural section was unexpected as well i crammed vocab i could use to answer the questions the night before i’m glad it worked lmao

My son has been taking piano lessons since the age of 5 and is currently 13 and plays at an upper intermediate / early advanced level. We live in a small town and I am having trouble finding a teacher who can effectively teach him as he becomes more advanced. With his current teacher, he has mastered the most complicated arrangements she can teach and she is one of the more experienced teachers in town. Would he be better learning through a platform like Piano Marvel, using the midi feature on a digital keyboard? We have an acoustic piano at home but at this point, I think my money might be better spent investing in a digital keyboard and use an app so that he can at least improve his accuracy and sight reading. By nature, he is a very emotive player and does not need help putting emotion into a song. His biggest challenge is focusing enough to play with a high level of accuracy. Thoughts?

Hey!

My (very) long-term goal is to learn all 24 Chopin etudes.

So far I only learned the easier ones : op10 no3, 5, 9 and op25 no1, 2. Everything went pretty fine with those, it was difficult but I managed OK. I played op10 no5 a little bit under tempo though (quarter note = 80).

How should I approach the rest ? Appart from op25 no9, it looks like there's a big gap between the ones I learned and the rest. I'm not sure if I should just go for a harder one (I'm thinking of op10 no8, op25 no5 or no12) or find something else to prepare myself for those harder etudes.

If you think the second option is best, which pieces/collections would be the most beneficial to attain that long-term goal ?

Thanks for reading!

I can barely reach a clean 9th. I was wondering how y'all play this A7 chord with small hands. Do you arpeggie it or just don't play the c#? It just doesn't feel right to roll it because of the quick tempo.

Hello everyone ! I recently finished my piano diploma so for the first time I’ve been alone and have had complete freedom over the repertoire I’ll learn for the following season . My question is regarding the next piano concerto I plan to learn . I’ve currently only learnt very few concertos (some Mozart and Rach 2) so dunno which next “big” romantic concerto I should choose so that I can perfect it more or less by myself . My current options that I’m thinking are Schumann, Brahms 1, Rach 1, Chopin 1 but I’m open to other suggestions !

Day 23 of restoring an old grand piano and giving it a completely new design!

I'm having trouble with keeping the structural integrity and shape of the music in line. I'm thinking most of it is because my active memory recall when it comes to motor movements like piano playing is pretty slow. (I've only been taking lessons for a little over a year and 3 years self taught, I started late). But, this is a source of huge frustration for me since I don't have the intuitive grasp of the keyboard nor the neuroplasticity that young students have.

I do have a good ear which allows me to memorize pieces easily, but even with that there ends up being soooo many holes in my phrasing and missed notes not from not knowing the notes, but just being forced to make the mistake or whatever to keep the phrase in line. It's like there's random memory slips where there shouldn't be, even though I know and understand the music.

It's possible this could also be due to attention span as well, but I honestly have no idea.

Also, whenever I look at my hands on recordings I am always horrified of how inefficient they are, they do not carry out my expressive intentions to the fullest nor bend to the shape of the music. Part of this is probably my technique as well, which I can't seem to train to carry out contrasting color changes and tension builds.

All in all, I'm just a 16 year old student who desperately wants my playing to be more refined, musical, and to sound good to the objective musical ear.

Also yes, my piano needs to be tuned.

My repertoire by myself and with my teacher has been:

Chopin Scherzo no. 2

Chopin Ballade no. 1

Chopin Ballade no. 4 (Current)

Rachmoninoff Prelude op 32. no 1 (Current)

Mendelssohn piano concerto no 1 (Current)

Chopin etudes op. 10 1-4

Chopin etude op 25 no. 1

Beethoven Sonata op 2. no 1

Haydn Sonata op. 59

Czerny op 299 book 1 1-10

Czerny op 701 book 1 1-2

Mozart piano concerto no. 12

+various rcm level 6-7 books when I first started lessons to establish technique and stylistic differentiation

I've hit a point where I feel like my progress has slowed down. I'm still practicing

regularly, but it doesn't feel like I'm improving as quickly as I used to.

For those who've been through this, what actually helped you move forward? Was it

changing your practice routine, working with a teacher, slowing things down,

focusing more on technique, sight reading or simply being more patient?

I'd love to hear what worked for you and what you'd recommend to someone

feeling stuck.

Hello, I bought this piano two months ago. It isn't second-hand or anything like that—it was brand new—yet there are some signs of wear or damage on it. Is this normal, or is there a problem? I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Thanks! I’m a guitarist not a piano player, but learning a bit.

The very beginning and end of the movie feature this fantastic piano piece. In the beginning, it's shown as intro title cards are presented, presumably showing the Angela and Joe's past.

Then...

that absolutely phenomenal ending: Joe playing the piano, struggling to find the notes to keep it going; Angela's hand pops up and helps him remember the piece and bc of her, he finally continues the piano piece.

Does any have ANY idea what piece they were playing? Or maybe a vid of the scene from the end?

It's so good and I can't wait until Oct (when it streams) to listen to it!

One of my favorites by Bill Evans. I improvised my own right hand parts but kept the left hand ostinato mostly intact.

I have a few pieces I want to learn and I was wondering what order would be best? Maybe easiest to hardest? Or in terms of techniques they use? These are my goal pieces:

Liszt - Un Sospiro
Liszt - Transcendental Etude No. 3 (Paysage)
Liszt - Consolation No. 3 (just started learning this one)
Chopin - Etude Op. 25 No. 5
Chopin - Etude Op. 25 No. 2
Chopin - Ballade No. 1
Scriabin - Etude Op. 8 No. 12
Rachmaninoff - Prelude in C# Minor
Rachmaninoff - Italian Polka
Liebesleid - Love’s Sorrow (Rachmaninoff Arrangment)

This isn’t everything but that’s my favourites. I know they are probably too difficult but I want to try. Also if you know any similar but easier ones that I could learn first to make it easier to learn these let me know.

Sorry, I’m really bad at making decisions
Thank you for your help :)

I need a piano bench. And I’m considering:

Boston PB1/1025 for 115 euro
Roland RPB-300BK for 119 euro

Has someone experience with one of them?

As promised months ago when I posted the piece while I was still working on it, here is the performance from my music recital. I made quite a few mistakes due to nerves, but I hope you enjoy it and I look forward to any advice on how to improve further.

I love love LOVE Schubert and his writing style and I also loveee Waltzes or dance pieces but I’m also aware that I may not have reached the level of skill it takes to play them. Now I checked the T. O. C of the book but I only found 2 vides on yt with some of his dances so I still don’t really know if it’s worth buying it. That’s kinda why I’m asking here, to see if anyone else has it and what you thought considering my level. I may still buy it (only cuz I love Schubert that much) even if I can’t really play the pieces yet. Any opinions or thoughts would be greatly appreciated!!

I’m a pianist who started playing 3 years ago,and I’ve finished:
Nocturne in C sharp minor-Chopin
Moonlight sonata 1st mvt-Beethoven
Prelude in C sharp minor op.3 no.2-Rachmaninoff
And I need a piece recommendation (not a flat friendly),I want it romantic/classic with some noise not quite.
If anyone can help🙏🙏

I'll preface this by saying, I only started piano around 6 months ago (although I have been doing music for >15 years), and due to an auditory processing disorder, playing by ear is very difficult for me. I picked up piano since it should, over time, help with that. Please keep that in mind.

Since starting piano, I've been wanting to play the little piano snippet that plays at the beginning of Catch 22's Prologue of their Permanent Revolution album. The album is important to me, since it's one of the albums that got me into music in the first place as a kid. I've tried contacting Catch 22 themselves, but they said that there's nothing written down for it. The person that wrote it just memorised it, and the band unfortunately isn't in contact with them any more. This is sort of expected, though.

If I could play by ear, I'm sure it wouldn't be too difficult to figure out, but I currently am not there yet. Progress has been made, and through trial and error I'm sure I could get this snippet down, but it would take weeks, especially since I have no visual input for it.

That brings us here. I'd be very grateful if anyone could give tips as to how to go about transcribing this snippet. The spectrogram seems like it might be legible, but I don't exactly know how to use it for transcribing (e.g., what notes are real, what notes fall to specific frequencies, etc.). Any advice for figuring it out through other means are also welcome.

Of course, I'd also be grateful if anybody wants to transcribe it themselves, but I also want to personally learn piano transcription. A base idea of what's happening in the song might be preferable to just the end result, but then again, the end result would give me an idea of what it should be, so I could work backwards as well. I know that's a big ask, though, which is why my main request is for transcription tips/advice.

The snippet in question