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sparkley

Abi :) hope you got the photos okay, I mailed them to you last night. Excuse for a party I think, I finished chopping up all the rubbish and nicotine stained outdated furniture the previous occupants of this house left us with, so the patio will be nice and clear when the binmen come! Handcream for...

sparkley

Hi all How have we been then? Just had my first week at work and have been really busy! Only just looked at my emails today. Sorry you won’t see me on here that much anymore as after about 9 hours staring at a computer screen everyday its one of the last things I want to do when I get home. I found...

sparkley

WOOHOOO!!!! Oh my gosh I am sooo excited for you!!! I'm also very very proud of you!!!! To go straight to Grade 2 is just fantastic! Well done :-) It sounds like the lesson went really well and was a lot of fun. The name Britney really doesn't sound like it goes with a church organist!! Its probably...

sparkley

How did it go today Dave?! I can't wait to hear!

sparkley

Moonlight has given some fantastic ideas above which I think might try out too! I suffer from nerves too, which have got worse since I've gotten older. One thing I did notice from your post is that you're quite negative - that's a real 'pot calling the kettle black' coming from me as I'm exactly the...

sparkley

I can't believe I missed such a big event during my absence from the forums! Are you all settled in now and unpacked? I moved into my boyfriend's house in December and still have boxes of stuff at my parents house that they keep forcing into my car when I go and visit! when you unpack there's always...

sparkley

I thought Jade Ewen was a perfect ambassador for our nation, and Lord Lloyd Webber too (unlike the swarms of unintelligent Sun-reader Brits that go to Europe solely to get kali-ed and behave like retarded subhumans). I wish Jade well for the future, although I often wonder what happened to Andy Abr...

sparkley

We definitely need to know how you get on!!!! I think you should turn this thread into 'Dave's Piano Diary' and keep us updated blog-style!!!! Haha!

sparkley

Aww thanks Anna, that's fab, I might ask my teacher about some of those. Dave I'll pm you my email address! I had the best news this morning. I'd already applied and been accepted on a PGCE course in September, but I also applied to do a GTP (Graduate Teacher Programme) where you do a years course w...

sparkley

I think we did really well this year! I personally didn't like the Norway song and was quite surprised that it won! I liked Turkey, I thought their song was very catchy.

sparkley

Helloooooo!! thank you for the lovely replies! I can't believe you two met up in real life, how exciting!! Dave, I have discussed exams with my teacher, but I'm not looking to take any just yet. Also, now that I'm starting my teaching course in September I might not have enough time for more exams! ...

sparkley

I started learning piano when I was 23. I've always been involved with music - I've played clarinet since I was 9 years old, took grades etc and did A-Level music. I always wanted to play piano, but there just wasn't the time on top of all my studies. AfterI finished University and started working, ...

sparkley

I love Eurovision, even though the voting is always political and most of the songs are rubbish!! I actually really like our entry this year. When I first heard it I wasn't that impressed, but then spent the rest of the day singing it! I'm not sure if it will win though. I always try and guess which...

sparkley

Anyway this weekend looks like nice weather for chickens, i.e extremely fowl (no gardening) ^^ Love it!! I am so excited that you've booked some lessons!!! Yay!!! As Anna says, things always seem to fall apart when you get to your lessons! I get extremely nervous playing in front of anyone, even my...

sparkley

Hello there everyone :-) I'm so sorry that I vanished from existence on these forums last year! I have missed you all and it is so lovely to come back and read all your messages! My absence was due to a whole mixture of things: being extremely busy at work, moving in with my boyfriend and not having...

sparkley

Hello all :-D Thanks for the good luck messages!! I had a great lesson yesterday! My teacher was soooo pleased with my progress! She lent me a new book called Classics To Moderns which has loads of lovely piano pieces in! I'm so excited about playing them hehehe! She also said that I was her model p...

sparkley

I'm a rightie, and find my left hand to be much weaker. I feel like I can't control my hand properly and stumble over the keys sometimes. I might have to try some Hanon to gain strength!

sparkley

Hello everyone :-) Gosh, I disappear for a few days and this thread has reached 5 pages!!!! Sorry for my absence, I'm extremely busy at work at the moment so don't have much spare time. I'm writing this in a quick 20 minute lunch break!! I'm involved in a big trial at work over the next few weeks so...

sparkley

Yeah Dave. The book you have is called 'Selected' pieces from the syllabus. Not sure if copywrite reasons prevent them putting all the pieces in one book, or if they just choose not to.

sparkley

markymark wrote:I've ALWAYS found Hanon worthwhile!

I just looked up Hanon on a music shop website and am really confused!! There were loooads of books - 200 search results! Is there a basic Hanon book with exercises for beginners that's any good please?

sparkley

Yeah I know the one, Abi! Isn't it when Hugo and Alice get married (or is it another two people?) Actually have you seen 'Notting Hill' as the actress who plays Alice is in that as well! I might be a bloke, but I love those sloochy movies like The Holiday and Love Actually, they make me feel so :) ...

sparkley

This is Jessie!

sparkley

Hi Dave & Sparkley Awww what breed of dog do you have Abi? I'm guessing a small dog if she sits on your lap. We have a dog ( hes my mum's) hes a Border Terrier his name is Gravy. He likes to howl at the phone going off and the sound of harmonicas, squeaky toys ( his 'musical instrument' ), but ...

sparkley

And Sparkley, poor little Sparkley, overworked and underpaid :( :( missing you! When's your next lesson again? Awww Dave you're so sweet! I missed you all too! I was away at the weekend at my best friend's wedding. It was a lovely day but unfortunately it rained a lot. I did catch the bouquet thoug...

sparkley

Lol Dave, what is it with cats sitting on the toilet!!! Loads of them do it!! As for cat wee in the toaster...eewwww!!! I love cats, but I'm more of a dog person and have a lovely little hound called Jessie :-) She always wants to sit on my lap when I'm playing the piano and I feel soooo guilty for ...

sparkley

Happy Belated Birthday Charlotte!!! The big 1-0!

sparkley

Has anyone listened to the CD or had a go at any of the alternative pieces for Grade 1? One of my students has opted to play Bluemerang by Alan Haughton, which I think is a great piece! It's in the book 'Piano Time Going Places' which also has a lovely piece 'Flying Above the Clouds' which is in th...

sparkley

Is Hanon something you can start using from the beginning? I saw a Hanon book in the music shop and it all looked a bit complicated.......

I'm working through 'A Dozen a Day' at the moment, as my teacher swears by them. I actually really enjoy playing them

sparkley

Wow Dave, look at you entertaining guests with your piano playing!!! That's fantastic though, its brilliant how much your confidence has increased since your first piano lesson. Aww bless you Gill, my Mum went through all the hot flushes recently and it was a very difficult time! Did you watch The X...

sparkley

I've got that same Pam Wedgwood book, do u still have the CD that comes with it? I like to play some of the classical pieces in the back of the book or some of her sight read tests when I've got the old 'brain fog' Yeah I've used the CD a few times, its quite good :-) I'd love to build up my classi...

sparkley

Okay that sounds good

We'll try and keep anything completely OT limited to the Chit Chat thread. Thanks Barrie.

sparkley

Gill the Piano wrote:I'm doing the Bach Busoni Chaconne at the moment. Or should i say it's doing me in...

Ooooh Gill that's amazing! Keep at it, it'll be worth it!!

sparkley

Are you refuring to me Dave? I'm not that good I'm sure! If you want to know a secret my sight reading is Sh## I mostly memorise a piece after a long few painful hours of tying to decipher what it all means! Then I only glance at the notes to jog my memory so I know were I am. I can't read a piece ...

sparkley

We often discuss our 'dream pieces' so I thought I'd start a separate thread! There is so much lovely piano music out there, so what pieces are your 'dream' pieces to be able to play? I've always loved Beethoven's Pathetique Sonata and would love to be able to play this. I'd also love to be able to ...

sparkley

Yes Dave, once you get used to doing them the T-Rex tune becomes a lot easier to do. I find them realy fun too, 3 weeks ago I was doing a chromatic scale decending and as I did it I said WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE E E E E E E! Does any one else do that when playing them or is it JUST me? :shock: I can't s...

sparkley

It's SOOOOO easy to confuse slurs and ties. The rule is that ties connect two notes of the same pitch, whereas slurs/phrasemarks connect whole sections of pieces. Yeah people often confuse these. A brilliant book to read is The AB Guide to Music Theory Volume 1, by Eric Taylor. It's a great book an...

sparkley

Missing you Sparkley...don't work too hard, duckies! Aww thank you Dave :-) You can use my real name on here if you like :-D I'm working fairly hard and got a few busy weeks coming up! I'm taking a quick break to catch up with all my lovely piano friends though :-) I use the other voices on my clav...

sparkley

Hmm I'm not sure. Our chit chat is mostly piano-related in some way, but we do have some off-topic stuff. We could have an off-topic forum and then continue to use the Teaching Piano section for piano-related discussion. We're all relatively new to piano playing so the teaching piano section for thi...

sparkley

Welcome Geelan! Its nice to have you here

I have just inspected my metronome, and as Descombes says, there is a 46 but no 45 on there!

sparkley

Yay Dave's back!!! How is the shiny new computer? I have Vista and it took me a little while to get used to it as well :-) I'm very excited about Christmas :-D Imagine playing Christmas Carols on our pianos!! Anna, when I get to the Chopin stuff I'll let you know what it is! It won't be for a little...

sparkley

I'm getting faster with my chromatics now, I love them!! You having any more luck with them Dave?

sparkley

That's an interesting fingering, Joseph, when I was taught many years ago (and I haven't had lessons for a while), it was to use 1 on the white notes, 3 on the black notes and 2 for C and F (for the right hand). That's what I was taught. It works fine :-) Moonlight, i have the complete scale book. ...

sparkley

I do so wish I'd had proper piano lessons when I was little. At least I wouldn't have had to carry it to school under my arm! Jan Ah I remember the days of lugging my saxophone to school!! I knew a girl who played the double bass and it was always amusing watching her trying to manouvre it :lol: Aw...

sparkley

I'm trying a new piece at the moment from a book The Soft Music Piano Bridge Over The Classics, but its really hard!!

sparkley

Wow, your teacher has a Steinway grand!!!! That's amazing! My teacher has a Kawai grand and I love playing on it

Good luck with the lessons, its so exciting when you first start!

sparkley

Oooooh Dave this is a fab idea :-D I love a bit of chit-chat in case you hadn't already guessed! I've just done my daily piano practice :-) I can now play a chromatic scale (so much fun!) and C maj, G maj, D maj, A maj, E maj, B maj and F# maj! Hurrah! I have a very challenging piece I'm learning at...

sparkley

Hello there :-) Dave, well done on cracking the T-Rex!! The sense of achievement when you learn to play something you've been working on is amazing! Moonlight, I love the sound of those metronomes!! I've only used the metrognome (loving that :-D) on my clav once and it annoyed me!! My teacher told m...

sparkley

Hello there Nutroast :-) Welcome to the piano forum, of course you may join us! Well done on making your first step to becoming a pianist! As Dave says, feel free to ask any questions or join in with our chit chat! I'm 23 so not a very late starter to the piano, but like you, I had one or two lesson...

sparkley

Hi Dave! I'm at work today, but I've had the piano forum open whilst I work as I was so excited about hearing how your lesson went!! I'm so glad that you like your teacher. I've found that even if a teacher is really good, it makes so much difference if you really get on with them and can be honest ...

sparkley

Hello all :-) Moonlight, I saw that Pianist magazine in WHSmith the other day, but wasn't sure if it was any good or not. I may buy it and see what's it like :-) Best of luck with your lesson today Dave!! I can't wait to hear how it went! I did lots of practice this weekend which was lovely, but its...

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