Learn Piano At 70+ ?

[StevenEleven]

Got all 3 books in digital pdf for $5.00 on ebay. This way I can read on TV while I practice.
Thanks Again
https://www.ebay.com/itm/393014313497?ViewItem=&item=393014313497

I’d recommend getting a hard copy of volume 1 too. Volume 1 is going to take you quite a while. Like a year maybe, or more or less. Also there are workbook type pages in it you really want to work on and understand and write on if this is your first instrument. Take it slow, be kind to yourself and work hard. Do you have an hour or two a day? Additionally you should have a hard copy because taking physical notes on your music to help you through hard parts as you play is part of learning to play and play well in the long run. There are videos now of how each song is being played on YouTube for that book from what I read. You should receive a DVD or online resources (companies are shifting over time) with the hard copy of the book from Amazon. Try to find some videos on how to hold your hands and fingers, otherwise if and when you get a good teacher they will make you relearn. Executive summary: Wrists at least a little above the keyboard, fingers curved down somewhat, not caving in at the knuckles, shoulders and elbows relaxed.

By the time you get to books two and three of that series you’ll be able to enjoy playing and will be mixing in other materials. IMHO, etc. When you get through book three you’ll already be soaking in “intermediate” repertoire including some genuine (but relatively easy) masterpieces or you can otherwise further pursue whatever kind of music you are interested in.

 

[Moderate Dionysianism]

Hand strength is a priority for conservatory students who practice many hours every day, but less so for people who play casually and especially older students who are more susceptible to tendonitis. At any age or skill level, things to watch for in a keyboard include the following:
- whether the keys are full size. Some portable boards use smaller keys but don't disclose that in their specs.
- how sensitive the action is to key pressure and velocity. Boards usually have multiple settings for velocity curves and pressure thresholds (eg, soft, med, hard) so players can adjust the key feel to their preferences, but boards differ in how effective those settings are. Some never feel good no matter what settings you select.
- build quality (manufacturing tolerances, consistency, sensors...). Boards differ widely. For example, a high quality synth action can feel better (more consistent and expressive) than a low cost semi-weighted action, and the best semi-weighted actions (eg Nord or Fatar) can feel better than a budget hammer action.
- USB interface. A USB interface to your Mac or PC can let you make better recordings and give you the flexibility to use external sound libraries. Pro quality sampled libraries for example can have stunning realism but far greater memory requirements than a board can support.

These are super useful points, will consider them when shopping for my first board. Thanks a million!

 

[Sal1950]

@Sal1950 do you enjoy singing? If so, my suggestion would be to learn some chord progressions to some of your favourite songs and to accompany yourself singing them. Really fun way to engage with the instrument, and takes the focus off the technical stuff that can be quite painful and daunting initially.

Yes, I do enjoy it and have that in my mind when I can learn to actually play something. I'm no Caruso but I can half-ass carry a tune. I've got that Peavey amp and a Shure 55SH on the sidelines when the time comes.

Take it slow, be kind to yourself and work hard. Do you have an hour or two a day? Additionally you should have a hard copy because taking physical notes on your music to help you through hard parts as you play is part of learning to play and play well in the long run.

Sure, all the time in the world. I'm retired and then with Covid around what else do I have to do. LOL
OK I'll take your advice and grab the hard copy too, plenty cheap enough.

These are super useful points, will consider them when shopping for my first board. Thanks a million!

Tom, would you say unweighted/semi-weighted/hammer action keys distinction is important? I have a friend who was a conservatory student and she told me I should practice with hammer action keys as much as possible or I won't develop the necessary finger strength. She said it's no problem switching from hammer action to synth keys, but not so much the other way 'round.

If you read the manufacturers they all tell you it's very important but the more real feeling they get the more expensive they are too.
I decided just to get something that was in a "so what" level of money and start practicing. If I hang in their I can always get something better. IMHO it's better to be doing something than nothing. Just grab some dang thing and see how the whole picture appeals to you.

Wow, never expected this level of response, thanks again everyone for helping to point me on the right paths.
Time to practice.

 

[Sal1950]

I plugged it into my main HiFi here last night and was a bit underwhelmed from what I expected. Yes, I could get as much volume as I desired but without going all subjective it just seemed to lack life and dynamics? That was just using the analog/headphone output into my Marantz AV7703. I also have a Peavey guitar amp in storage that I may drag out just for grins.

I got that little Peavey Rage 158 out of storage and just plugged the headphone out to the Peavey CD/Tape input. Now that's the ticket, the sound of the Yamaha came to life in that amp. Great tone and dynamics with that path, I think I'll keep it like that, why let the Peavey rot away in storage.

 

[TomJ]

If you read the manufacturers they all tell you it's very important but the more real feeling they get the more expensive they are too. I decided just to get something that was in a "so what" level of money and start practicing...

Right on. My portable gig board cost $180 new, completely happy with it. Pro quality keys, very close to Nord 61 at less than 10% of the cost. https://iconproaudio.com/product/ikeyboard-6/

 

[LTig]

I got that little Peavey Rage 158 out of storage and just plugged the headphone out to the Peavey CD/Tape input. Now that's the ticket, the sound of the Yamaha came to life in that amp. Great tone and dynamics with that path, I think I'll keep it like that, why let the Peavey rot away in storage.

That's what I expected. Hifi stuff is not up to such a task.

 

[Trouble Maker]

I swear, I'll STFU about Japan one of these days... but not today.

It seems like we have a few instrument nerds aficionados here. Anyone in that category in Tokyo should go to Yamaha's flagship instrument store in Ginza. It's about a mile south of Tokyo station, so if you are in the area, chances are you will be near-ish to it. It's in the middle of about a 1km long road with nothing but high end shops, you can go to the adjacent blocks to see regular nice shops and many places to eat. It's one of the richer parts of an already rich city, so you get to see a little bit of that side of the city. They shut down that main street on the weekends for people to walk, so you have about a 1km long rough 6 lane wide (if you include the sidewalks) walking path up and down the strip. The Yahama store is probably one of the closest places to instrument heaven on earth.

https://en.japantravel.com/tokyo/yamaha-ginza-flagship-store/18149
https://www.yamahamusic.jp/shop/ginza/en.html
https://goo.gl/maps/6peRUJLT3uEJ75mp9

 

[TomJ]

Yamaha's flagship instrument store in Ginza... is probably one of the closest places to instrument heaven on earth.

Very cool, similar flagship stores in London and NYC. They have such deep engineering and mfg expertise. I replaced my 7ft Steinway with a handmade Yamaha prototype for their next gen pro stage series. They developed it with computational modeling alongside two other grands they installed in their design studio for comparison, a Steinway and a Steingraeber. It became an industry benchmark for its tone and response and eventually led to the CF series.

 

[Hipper]

I like you're definition of reasonably good, because by my definition I was a reasonably good flutist but I'm not sure anyone would have ever paid me money at night to hear it. I've not touched it in 10+ years so I'm surely more than rusty at this point.

@Sal1950 good on your for starting down the path of learning the piano, it's something I've thought about doing for a while but have never taken the time to do it.



Learning, or at least trying to learn Japanese at 38-39 is one of the harder things I've done. Especially when the teacher talks about word types and sentence patterns in English and the only response I can reasonably give is something like

View attachment 93907

Just a silly story.

I was listening to an actor on the radio who had a small part in the John Wayne film The Fighting Seabees. He said they hired Filipinos to play the Japanese and they wanted some authentic sounding Japanese to be spoken. No-one knew any Japanese so they came up with the phrase 'I tie my shoe, you tie your shoe'. If you say that fast enough in a Japanese way it sounds Japanese!

When this film was on the TV a bit later I thought I'd watch it to see if it was true. However I found it was so awful I didn't last half an hour so I still don't know if it's really true or just a fun story.

 

[Sal1950]

When this film was on the TV a bit later I thought I'd watch it to see if it was true. However I found it was so awful I didn't last half an hour so I still don't know if it's really true or just a fun story.

Oh my, you could get hanged for talking about any John Wayne movie like that on this side of the ocean.

 

[Sal1950]

Very cool, similar flagship stores in London and NYC. They have such deep engineering and mfg expertise. I replaced my 7ft Steinway with a handmade Yamaha prototype for their next gen pro stage series. They developed it with computational modeling alongside two other grands they installed in their design studio for comparison, a Steinway and a Steingraeber. It became an industry benchmark for its tone and response and eventually led to the CF series.

I know next to nothing about instruments but would love to tour those stores in any case.
It's sad how little brick and mortar stores there are left dedicated to just about any hobbies/interests. Back in my youth I would love to tour specialty stores like this. Dang near like a woman in a dress shop. LOL

 

[Doodski]

Oh my, you could get hanged for talking about any John Wayne movie like that on this side of the ocean.

 

[TomJ]

I know next to nothing about instruments but would love to tour those stores in any case.
It's sad how little brick and mortar stores there are left...

Lucky that we still have a few of those great old time guitar shops around, like Rivington and Carmine in Greenwich Village, Gryphon Strings in Palo Alto and the Music Emporium in Lexington MA (shown). Gotta leave your wallet in the car when you wander into any of them. I'd bet that guy on the sofa has no chance of getting out alive...

 

[Sal1950]

Gotta leave your wallet in the car when you wander into any of them...

So you don't over-spend, or so you don't get your pocket picked?

 

[Hipper]

Gotta leave your wallet in the car when you wander into any of them.

Where do you park your car?

 

[thefsb]

Bought myself a Yamaha NP-12 keyboard this week. Never played any instrument before, except for dabbling as a kid.
Always wanted to but never put together the time. It will be interesting to see if I can put much together at my age.

How has it been going?

OT but I was reminded of you when listening to https://hamasynth.bandcamp.com/album/torodi since it mentioned he plays a Yamaha.

 

[tomtoo]

Lucky that we still have a few of those great old time guitar shops around, like Rivington and Carmine in Greenwich Village, Gryphon Strings in Palo Alto and the Music Emporium in Lexington MA (shown). Gotta leave your wallet in the car when you wander into any of them. I'd bet that guy on the sofa has no chance of getting out alive...

View attachment 94278

Thought he is the owner?

 

[Thomas savage]

Wow , great to hear mate!

Are you only doing it to justify your flamboyant dress sence though?

 

[JoachimStrobel]

Try “simply piano”, it works. The best part is the feedback by midi or microphone pick-up.
Playing an acoustic piano gives feedback from the fingertips that pick up the vibrations. You miss this forever on electronic stuff. Except on a E-Piano with build in loudspeakers that you should drive into distortion. Or at least mount a monitor on top of your E-Piano. Or get a Rhodes piano.

 

[thefsb]

Lucky that we still have a few of those great old time guitar shops around, like Rivington and Carmine in Greenwich Village, Gryphon Strings in Palo Alto and the Music Emporium in Lexington MA (shown). Gotta leave your wallet in the car when you wander into any of them. I'd bet that guy on the sofa has no chance of getting out alive...

I bought 5 guitars last year.