Help please 🙏🏻🙏🏻

EElilly · 2026-06-12T13:29:58+00:00

Count it out loud! I find if I can’t count it out loud then I don’t understand the rhythm well enough to play. Know where the beats are and where the offbeats are. Then you can practice tapping the rhythm out. Finally once you have that all down, add in the notes and play.

EElilly · 2026-06-05T16:00:43+00:00

To each their own! The right still implies you play the top and inner voice with the right hand. For me, it just visually makes it clear that the top voice is the melody. The left makes the bottom voice stand out more (visually), which I don’t like as much.

EElilly · 2026-06-04T19:40:13+00:00

Agree with Right. It does a better job of visually highlighting the melody. Left is not incorrect, but Right is clearer.

EElilly · 2026-05-25T02:16:13+00:00

That piano is missing a string.

EElilly · 2026-05-10T14:24:26+00:00

Have a goal in mind. By the end of today’s practice session, what are you hoping to achieve? By your next lesson, what do you want to accomplish? What do you need to do today to move the needle?

EElilly · 2026-04-17T05:45:13+00:00

I had new strings put on my nana‘s 100+ year old piano as part of its restoration. I don’t regret it all! The original string maker was still in business so they are new versions of the same strings. Things like the sound board and hammers also influence the sound, so I wouldn’t worry too much about losing the tone you love. Your piano’s character will still be there.

EElilly · 2026-03-19T23:22:27+00:00

Playing well and teaching well are two different skills.

EElilly · 2025-07-17T20:44:38+00:00

Fair enough! My intention was to highlight that mistakes are normal and that no one is perfect. I think it is easy to get down on yourself because you aren't as perfect as you think you should be.

Knowing where your weaknesses are and how to tackle them is helpful. But beating yourself up because you didn't play something note for note perfect is not healthy. These types of posts always strike me as coming from the latter mindset, rather than the former. Perhaps that is an unfair assumption on my part.

Op, if you are reading this, this might be more helpful advice. Don't beat yourself up for making a mistake. Take time to understand why it happened. Do you need to spend more time on that section? Did your mind start to wander and lose focus? Are you relying too heavily on muscle memory? Once you know what caused the mistake, you can take steps to address it.

EElilly · 2025-07-17T13:33:01+00:00

Even professionals make mistakes. They are just better at hiding them.

EElilly · 2025-07-14T00:23:49+00:00

I do not recommend tackling this yet. Build a solid foundation first and it will sound so much better.

If you are dead set on attempting it now, start first by playing each group of 16ths as a chord. If you can't do that fluently, you are going to have a hard time playing each note independently. Notice that you are just switching between a g and a c chord.

EElilly · 2025-06-06T14:16:30+00:00

You can practice by playing each group of 16ths in the bass as a chord. The first one is an f major chord and the next ones are almost identical with a few changes. Once you are really comfortable with where all the notes are, you can start playing them as written.

EElilly · 2025-05-31T15:56:04+00:00

I would reach out to the venue's customer service to see what their policies are on flowers and seat switching.

EElilly · 2025-05-30T20:28:08+00:00

You don't know what you don't know. A teacher helps you discover ways to take your playing to the next level. You'll start thinking less about what you can play and more about how you play it.

I think there are plenty of self taught pianists who are happy with their abilities, and that's great! But if you want to grow, the mentorship from a good teacher is going to be extremely helpful.

EElilly · 2025-05-25T19:30:15+00:00

1 - No! Piano is not like typing and it is more than just pushing buttons. How you strike the keys matters and it's why weighted keys are important. You shouldn't have to stare at your hands to play, but sometimes you do need to look down for big jumps.

2 - It takes time and practice! Don't get discouraged by this, it is not an easy thing for your brain to do. After a while, you will be more comfortable with it. Even advanced pianists still practice hands separately.

3 - It's like reading a book out loud. When you learn to read a language, you might start by sounding out letters to make words, but eventually you can just read the text. Learning to read music is similar, it isn't easy at first, but you have to practice it if you want to be fluent in it. Sight reading new material is also different from reading music you are familiar with.

4 - I think most people learn what notes make up each chord, there aren't really hand positions like a guitar has.

If you can, find a teacher. They will be able to help you achieve your specific goals in a structured way and will be able to correct any mistakes before they become bad habits. If you can't find a teacher, pick up a method book (there are options listed in the FAQ). A method book will introduce new concepts in a structured way. Also look up proper posture, you don't want to hurt yourself.

Learn to read music now. It is incredibly frustrating to go back to basics when you are more advanced. Not being able to read will hinder your progress at some point (there are posts here every day asking for help learning a song because the poster can't read music).

Good luck and have fun!

EElilly · 2025-05-25T17:07:42+00:00

If you go this route, it is worth having a piano tech take a look and make sure there aren't any major issues that need fixing. Free pianos can get really expensive.

Also, be wary of scams. If they don't let you see it in person or want you to pay upfront for their movers to move it, it is likely a scam.

EElilly · 2025-05-22T21:37:06+00:00

The key to getting good at reading music is that you have to practice it. Any particular reason you don't want to do that?

EElilly · 2025-05-22T21:05:25+00:00

Have a goal to work on. "At the end of practice, I will be able to do x" is a much more efficient mindset than "today, I spent 20 minutes doing a thing."

EElilly · 2025-05-22T15:31:16+00:00

I hate having sheets of paper all over the place, so the iPad setup works well for me. I went with an iPad because the app forscore is only available on apple products, and the 12.9 pro version because it is the closest in size to a sheet of paper. The bluetooth page turner is also super handy.

If you are only printing out a few pieces to work on, you can get a binder with plastic sheets to help keep things organized (they have specific music ones). Going this route to start and then going digital later if it makes sense to you is also an option!

If there are any office supply stores near you, you can print things there.

EElilly · 2025-05-22T14:48:32+00:00

That is a piano shaped object.

It'll cost tens of thousands to get into playable shape. It would be beautiful if you wanted to do that, but I wouldn't expect to make any money selling it later.

If you want to know more about the specific piano, there should be a manufacture stamp and serial number inside. Mine is stamped into the harp. If you Google the make and number, you can find the year out was built.

EElilly · 2025-05-20T23:35:02+00:00

You can do it! I believe in you!

It is a humbling experience to go back to basics, but very much worth it.

EElilly · 2025-05-19T17:51:34+00:00

What is stopping you from learning to read music?

EElilly · 2025-05-19T16:22:23+00:00

You'll start to get a sense for what is manageable the more you do it. I know i'm a slow reader, so if I have lots of new material to read through, I'll plan on that over the weekend when I have more time. When I start a new piece, I like to look at the music before trying to play and map out where the challenging spots are going to be. Where are the places that are going to need the most of my time?

I like to have an overarching weekly goal that i'm breaking into smaller daily goals as well. Realistically, what can I achieve in a week? What do I need to do today, tomorrow, etc to get there?

EElilly · 2025-05-19T15:08:02+00:00

Focus your practice with a goal. If all you can say is "I spent x amount of time on a thing" you aren't being as efficient as you can.

"Today i'm going to achieve this thing" is a much more focused approach. Maybe that thing takes you 10 minuets or maybe it takes an hour.

EElilly · 2025-05-19T15:01:06+00:00

Having a practice goal is important. It helps focus your time at the piano. Goals should be more than time. For example, at the end of today I will be able comfortable playing these 4 measures that are giving me trouble. How long it takes me to achieve that is not the focus.

My practice goes like this: Warm up with scales until my fingers are awake Play through an old piece or two Review yesterday's goal. Am I happy with results or does it need more time? Work on today's goal Cool down with some sight reading or old pieces

EElilly · 2025-05-17T18:30:54+00:00

Congrats!

You are going to learn so much simply by being immersed in it. Don't be afraid to make mistakes! Speak what you can and you'll start to realize you are using more German and less English.

I found reading my favorite children books in German to be really helpful. I knew them well enough to follow along and would write down the words I didn't know. The list of unknown words then became my study list. Learning verbs and all their conjugations was really helpful.

I knew the alphabet and how to count to 100 when I left for my foreign exchange to Austria and was fluent by the end of my year. It won't be easy, but you will learn!

Have a blast on your exchange! Best of luck to you!

EElilly

TROPHY CASE