6 weeks of vacation - what are MY goals??

Ok, since I just started playing the piano 5 days ago Im not going to stick my goals too high! =) Have to stay realistic!

1st goal: is check out nearly every video andrew has posted to get all the background information (and actually UNDERSTAND what I am hearing, seeing and playing - thats not always sure!)

2nd goal: to get down all the different scores major and minor and be able to play them all fluently without having to think about them (got the C, D and G majors and the A and E minors down already - but still so many to go)

3rd goal: practice a whole bunch of chords until my fingers dont feel all stiff and retarded while playing them. (Did that Chord video yesterday and tried out all of them chords and besides having to think of every single step I also felt like my hands were stones and not light and feathery and flowing as they should be. I really really hope that crippled-finger-feeling subsides with the practise)

4th goal: learn a whole bunch of easy extreme beginners pieces - such as Twinkle twinkle little star, Long long ago, Jingle Bells, Happy Birthday and whatever else - just to be able to say "I can play soooooo many songs on the piano" - hahaha

5th goal: (and most willing to achieve) is to be able to play Pachelbels "Canon in D" (already half way through) and Damien Rices "9 crimes" (got the intro going fluently by now), such as the Forest Gump tune (Silvestri) and maybe even the Legends of the fall tune (I love James Horner!)

6th goal: (and probably most important) do a lot of sport in between my practicing... kinda scared my butt might get all fat from sitting around the piano all day!!! =)

Oh! One last goal before I forget:
7th goal: Between all the piano playing and sport doing not to forget my husband, my family and my friends!! Cause that could easily happen when I get all caught up in something I have found interest in!!!

Now, is this achievable???

Andria

It is very much achievable and a very good list!
I'm certain mine will take a similar shape once my piano arrives!

Ok Ive got exactly one month of playing the piano down!!! Ill just let you know what goals I have achieved so far!!!

1. Im at lesson #28 of Andrews videos... so I still have a couple more to go...

2. I got all the major scales and half of the minor scales going pretty good

3. Ive been practising the chords, but my fingers still feel retarded... Im not really sure if that feeling ever subsides... =(

4. Ive learned ca. 12 extremely easy songs so far and can actually play "twinkle twinkle little star" without any mistakes (which makes me EXTREMELY proud!!!)

5. What Im mostly happy about is that Ive completed the "Canon in D" YEAH YEAH YEAH!!!! Now its all up to perfecting it!!! I really couldnt believe I made it! The other songs I had suggested are way to complicated right now, so Im not gonna learn them yet. Does anyone have a better suggestion??

6. Apparently Im not doing quite as much sports as I had planned, but I havent gained weight either, so I guess so far that goal is achieved... haha

7. I had the chance to try out the whole "beer-and-the-piano-thing" circle-of-fists had suggested quite a few times and since I dont drink alone it means Ive been taking care of my social abbilities...

So all in all its going pretty good! Two more weeks left!

Sounds like you've been very productive!

I can't believe it's been 1 month already. Time flies!

Circle_of_Fists wrote:

I can't believe it's been 1 month already. Time flies!

Neither can I!!! Its really amazing!!

OK, found my next piece... Im gonna try myself on Bachs Prelude in C Major! Love that piece and its really easy to play. I guess I just have to memorize the keys and really, really watch out for all the dynamics and articulations (is that what you call it?) or else the piece sounds crappy!

I never knew for sure how that piece should be interpreted. There's literally thousands of "experts" on youtube that always say either that it's slow, or too fast, or that it should have more dynamics, or less dynamics etc (as with any other piece).
Is it right to change a piece a lot? Afaik they didn't really have dynamics when Bach lived. It seems to me that there is a tendency of making every piece like if it was written in the romantic era... do I see it wrong? How one decides which piece is OK to go "emo" with and which shouldn't?
(sorry if I derailed your topic, just wrote what I was thinking about)

PS: Looking forward to your video of it