Welcome to the tonebase Piano Community!

Hello Larry. Good to hear all about you. I only joined Tonebase about two weeks ago and it was the best thing I did. I have really enjoyed working through some of the videos and they are amazing. My piano playing has already improved and I feel I have more focus on areas to improve. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Trisha 

Hi,

I am currently working on too many pieces, mostly from the Classical and Romantic eras, including Mozart's Sonata in C major (K 309), Schubert's Impromptu Op. 90, No. 1 and Wanderer Fantasy, Chopin's Berceuse, and a few Liszt pieces, including his Sonata in B Minor. 

I hope to learn, hear what other people are learning, participate in community challenges, and hopefully answer other people's questions!

I am a somewhat new Tonebase member, and have not completed many courses, but I have learned a lot already! I enjoy the live events, and am currently participating in my first community challenge. 

I care about historically-informed performance, and I like to read composer biographies and books about musicology and pianos. 

Hi! I’m from Riga, Latvia, and my favorite local food is herring in all kinds of preparations.

I joined tonebase three years ago, when I was looking for ways to revive—and perhaps even rescue—what remained of my piano technique. Although I had learned piano as a teenager and had “sort of” kept playing throughout my earlier life, I was not really learning anything new. At that time, however, I had already spent quite a few years studying with a teacher and playing the organ. It was only when I reached the point where I could no longer just toss off Chopin’s C-sharp minor Waltz on a whim that I fully realized how different these two instruments really are in terms of technique, physical approach, and the whole process of translating movement and touch into sound.

That was quite a long time ago now. Thanks to all of you—the immensely valuable lessons on TB, the teachers, the coaching, the motivating livestreams, and much more—I can look back on these years as a rich and transformative period. I still play the organ, but it no longer affects my piano habits nearly as much.

As for my musical preferences, I used to play a great deal of Bach on the organ. On the piano, my dream repertoire centered around Beethoven and Chopin. For the last two years, though, I have really enjoyed learning and playing somewhat more modern music, especially Messiaen. I can now play nine of his Vingt Regards and some of the Préludes. Since the Chopin Challenge last autumn, my focus has shifted back toward more Romantic repertoire and toward developing a more traditional technique. I also hope to work more on piano for four hands music in the future.

Hi everyone!

I'm Jonathan.

I’m a late beginner/early-intermediate pianist based in Melbourne, VIC and have just joined Tonebase.

At the moment I’m working on Burgmüller’s Arabesque (Op. 100 No. 2), "Bach's" Musette in D BWV126 (while dabbling in his little Prelude in C BWV939), Haydn's minuet in G from the ABRSM Core Classics Grades 1-2 and, as a stretch goal, Diabelli's sonatina in G (Op.151 no.1 first movement). I’m really trying to improve my technique—especially lightness, articulation, leaps, control in faster passages, and getting my hands to work together in the bach pieces!

My long-term goal is to build toward more advanced repertoire from the great masters (some of my favourites are Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Brahms, Rachmaninoff, Debussy etc.) but I want to make sure my fundamentals are solid first. I'm in no hurry. I have 2 young girls and not a lot of spare time so every minute I spend on the keyboard is absolute heaven.

For those who’ve been on Tonebase for a while now—what lessons or teachers do you think helped you the most at this stage?

I feel as though there may not be many users at such an elementary level but I'd be very grateful for any experience-based advice you could offer! :)