I really got got by that middle section. Hopefully it is otherwise somewhat musical. I realized I have not played this enough under the pressure of being watched, so recording some full attempts brought to light a lot of sections I thought I had down. Terribly difficult piece.

The family let me know that the deceased was a big fan of Liszt. What pieces might be appropriate for a funeral? I've done a handful of his Transcendental Etudes and such so it's not a question of technique, and I can sight-read almost anything. The pieces shouldn't be longer than 4-5 minutes.

On my shortlist I have one of the Consolations, Liebestraum no. 3, and Un Sospiro. What else do you think would work? Thanks in advance!

I was wondering if anyone has ever been in the same position as me, and in what ways they managed to overcome it.

I'm an early-advanced mature student, I can learn ABRSM grade 8 repertoire pieces in a few months and learn some diploma level pieces as a challenge. My sight-reading is reasonable. I completed my grade 5 theory, so I can identify the chord changes and I have a basic understanding of functional harmony.

However...I nearly always fail to hear these chord changes when I'm learning a piece. I can hear that the piece is moving somewhere, but lose sense of the 'home' key and when 'tension' has been released. I therefore feel like I have no bearing on the structure or journey of a piece which I think would speed up my learning.

I am bad at identifying cadences unless they are in super obvious root positions or cliche sounding etc. It's like I have no intuition for the harmony and can only identify it when I sit down and focus on analysing and writing the chord names over the top of the bar, but then it just becomes more like a puzzle of distinguishing between the passing and chord tones than really helping me understand the music. The chord names I write down just get ignored eventually.

If I play a I-IV-V-I in root position, I can hear what it is by following the bass, however as soon as inversions are used, the harmony just turns into mush to my ear. It's like I am missing the link between the formulaic on-paper analysis and actually hearing it.

I've been discussing this with my teacher, but I think he finds it hard to teach because he learnt how to hear this stuff at a very young age, so he just has a fully baked in intuition. He'll say "Can you hear it resolve?" or "Focus on the journey, tension and cadences in the piece" or "Just listen carefully to what you are playing" and I'm often just sat there confused and frustrated.

I feel like this gap in my skills is probably holding me back from getting to a more advanced level and learning pieces more quickly.

Can anyone relate to this or been in a similar position? How did you get out of it?

TL;DR - I'm terrible at identifying the harmony in the pieces I'm learning, and need some help building that skill.

So I have a former friend of mine that plays piano and guitar. He actually gets paid by the city that he lives in and adjacent City to play at farmers markets and stuff like that and I'm wondering what skill set you need to get gigs like that.

Ive been playing since i was young, classically trained. I can read a leadsheet but i often feel i dont do "enough" to be able to get gigs like that... I'm trying to figure out what skill set I should work on and what I would need to have in place in order to be able to get gigs on the side . Anyone has any suggestions?

I understand there’s a strong tradition of performing classical music as written, but I’m curious if anyone has insight about strict adherence to repeats. I know in Beethoven’s first sonata, most people don’t play the repeat of the development and recapitulation because it feels insane, for instance.

The piece I’m curious about in particular is Mozart’s 11th sonata; repeating the variations in the Andante grazioso feels sane, but then there’s the Minuet, where you’d be playing every passage of it four times if you adhere to the score - do people actually do that or is it more fast and loose?

I resumed playing the piano three years ago and have been practicing for about 10 minutes daily. This pace seems to suit me well. For those of you who are also teaching yourselves piano as adults, what strategies have you used to make practice a habit? I think your way of making schedules and keeping records will be helpful for other self-learners.

Can’t speed up the tempo and hand positioning is hella uncomfortable

I probably need constructive criticism, yes, i need feedback. I am recording my piano grade 8 next week, but i am still a little nervous / unsure about my own skills

Some context:
The last grade i had was grade 6, in 2019 (if i remember correctly) i took quite a long break due to life commitments, and last year i finally come back to piano, cus it is my everything. It is probably the only skill i have. I then signed up for private tutoring, and have since been working on my pieces. I have quite a bit of incident 3 months ago in august, where i had to do a surgery on my left forearm. It is stated as fascia exposed but not breached. (Orthopaedic says “you are free to go. You can play your piano no problem”)I did not touch the piano at all for those 2 months.

One of the pieces i am doing is bach partita bvw826 sarabande and rondeaux. The rondeaux is quite a fast pace, and sometimes the fourth finger on my left hand slips a lil… i guess it isn’t completely healed.

I do want to heal faster, and also correct my finger techniques etc. an example is for some reason when i do octaves my fingers curl upwards. But im not sure if it is something wrong, but that to me is unsightly…

Any feedbacks/words of advice or encouragement please let me hear it.

Ps. I have depression because things happen, and piano is all that i have. And i love it alot. It might even get me out of depression

i have my first performance coming up next month, after restarting piano this year. just to give some background, i played piano when i was very young but quit for around 5 years. In total i have about 6 years of experience playing but very limited serious performance experience. I practice at home on an upright piano, and when i go to my lessons it feels like all my control of dynamics and tone goes away, i frequently get ghost notes when playing p to pp because of how much heavier the action on a grand piano is. Its much harder for me to create variation in dynamics on a grand piano whereas my upright piano feels much more sensitive to playing loud and soft notes. The sustain and una corda pedals also work very differently which i feel disrupts my sound. Is there any advice for how i can adapt my playing to a grand piano to better prepare for my performance?

Working on voicing/tone

Apologies in case it's the wrong sub : I'm an amateur pianist and experienced software developer - currently working on a game centered around classical piano music.

I'm definitely not at the level required to play some of the pieces, so figured I'd look for help. :)

Anyone up for the challenge?
Requirements: must be able to play moderately complex pieces comfortably, and be able to record and deliver midi.

Compensation: ideally just expect your name credited in the game, since it's my first attempt of this kind and I don't know how far it will get (but I do have great plans for it!) - but if you expect money let's still talk - I'm not looking for free work, just not ready to do big investments yet!

For anyone who decides to follow up, I'd love to hear a short excerpt of your interpretation of Chopin Nocturne op 9 no 1, and Rachmaninoff prelude in C sharp minor

Thank you!

Hi everyone,

I've been self-teaching piano for over 2 years and have been working on the first 12 measures of Mozart’s Sonata in C Major (K. 545) for the past 5 months.

Honestly, it feels like I've hit a complete wall. I don't feel my tone or mechanics getting any better, especially on the scale passages and transitions. It feels like I'm stuck in the middle of nowhere.

I tried seeking professional guidance, but I couldn't find a local teacher who met basic standards. The ones I tried kept dodging my specific goals with K. 545, playing carelessly, overusing the sustain pedal to muddy everything, and not even strictly following the score. So I’m back to strictly self-studying.

I’ve attached a short clip of my playing.

• Should I keep pushing through these same 12 bars?
• Should I "reset" and restart my approach from scratch?
• Or is there something fundamental about how I’m practicing that needs to change?

Any honest feedback on my technique or guidance on how to move forward would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Recently I bought a digital piano (DGX-660) to replace my old PSR keyboard (PSR-650) since I'm probably at a point where I'd need to play with 88 keys instead of 61. The PSR was pretty old, it was bought when I was a kid but I didn't continue learning it until a few years ago. Now that I'm playing with a digital piano it seems like I have a huge problem with my touch on the keys. I'm lacking control on how hard I'm pressing the keys, so are there practice suggestions on how to fix this?

I am looking at Brahm’s Klavierstucke HN564. However my local shop does not have any instock yet. There is also the individual books for Op76, 116,117,118,119. Im thinking if i should get the individual books or wait for the stock. Im scared of ultra thick books that dont sit still (2cm is like the max for me)

Hello, I am trying to learn this version of Rainbow Connection. The problem is my ear has become sh’t after having a kid. I have been playing piano on and off my whole life, but I haven’t really played in the last 4 years. Can someone transcribe what she’s playing onto sheet music for me? My son loves hearing me play but I’m running out of songs to play him so I want to learn some new ones and this version MaryanneMuglia has played really inspired me.

Can someone help me out here? Thank you so much :)

I have been learning to play this section by ear and so far Jolie the cat really enjoys this song.

The piano that I am playing on is a Bluthner Style VI grand piano built in 1903, sold by Harrods.

I will create another post about this piano on my journey where I repair it myself and some history about this specific piano.

Dunno if this is the correct subreddit.... my apolocheese in advance

I've just gotten home from my university only to find my keyboard having surgical tape over each key.

I tried removing some of them, but i can't really peel them off without them tearing, I've removed some of them, but the glue from the tape won't come off and it leaves the keys really ugly looking. My keyboard is a Yamaha E273 if that does anything.

Any tips?

Edit: Thanks for all the help! I'll use oil to hopefully remove them. And for the people wondering, my little sister's the culprit.

Hi. I'll buy synthesizer
Yamaha PSR SX-720 in pertect condition. English panel.

Hello, I'm searching to play something beautiful, besides technical pieces
For example | love the sound of „Pavane pour une infante défunte" by Ravel.

I think | lost a bit of beauty in my playing, because I spent a lot of time trying to improve my technique.
I'm happy about every answer!

Is it better to just go for the 88 key keyboard or stick with 61 as a beginner?

Also apologies if this is the wrong sub! Couldn’t find one specifically for the keyboard instrument.😅

If anyone could recommend any keyboards then these would be great as well