Quote:
Originally Posted by limey
I can't really help you with re-acquiring your old pieces - but any and all playing should help to get these back "into your fingers" again. My problem is that if I play my old repertoire, I play it with my old, bad habits all intact. For me it's better to work on less familiar stuff.
Playing music with other people is a whole new ball game. If you're used to just playing by yourself you may well have got into the habit of stopping every time you make a mistake, or just playing at a very variable tempo (speed) which suits your interpretation of the music. For the first problem - you'll just have to work at not stopping if things go wrong, but try to keep the flow and rhythm going and get back into the piece as and when you can. For the second problem, depending on the piece, if you feel the tempo should be varied then you'll have to learn to use your body to give an indication of the tempo and/or tempo changes to the other musician(s). Eye contact with the others is good, and rocking or swaying in the new tempo until everyone's got it are basically what's required. And listen to the other player(s) - if you're playing with a flautist they will naturally "phrase" their tunes with a slight gap at the end of a phrase before the next one starts so that they can breathe. You will have to be sympathetic to that, listen for it, watch them and take off together with them into the next phrase.
As to scales, I had an "Ah hah!" moment when I realised that I don't have to do them from memory, reading them is just as good for the muscle memory and that's what I am (and you are) trying to develop. Memorising them was for exams, and I'm not going to take another music practical exam, thanks.
Hope this helps.
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I'm going to try to take this one point at a time.
I have found that when playing previously played pieces I am able to correct bad habits, with piano that's mostly incorrect fingering. I was lucky that with the first serious piece I wanted to learn, my teacher at first said I wasn't ready for it, but when I kept asking questions, she finally said to bring the music in and she'd help me with it. so I probably didn't develop too many bad habits, and I have been conscious of looking for the correct fingering ever since.
I have a plan for learning to play with another, I'm teaching my wife to play, she had expressed an interest, I just need to push a little. There will be plenty of opportunity for duets and I plan to make the most of it. She will learn to play, and I will learn to play music (piano) with another person. I played coronet in HS band and college orchestra, as well as singing in the HS and a church choir. I just never translated that to the piano.
Thankyou for the insight about scales, but I really didn't have any intention of memorizing them. I think part of my problem with scales and arpeggios is that my teacher didn't stress them, even though they are essential to the genre of music that I like to play, which I now understand. The other thing is that once I was practicing a piece and my father said 'out loud' that he didn't want to hear music that sounded like someone practicing their scales. I'm only guessing, but he had 3 sisters who may have taken piano and practiced scales when he was there. Also he may have gotten to my piano teacher and told her to lay off the scales because he didn't want to hear them. I can easily believe that he would do something like that. I didn't understand the need for scales, because no-one told me, but scales are one of the most basic elements of all styles of music, and even more-so in classical music.