Welcome to the tonebase Piano Community!

Hey everyone - this is Dominic from tonebase 🙂!

 

As the lead of tonebase PIANO it's such a pleasure to welcome you to the tonebase community. We would love to get to know you! Please introduce yourself in a post below with the following format: 

  • Where are you from and what's your favorite food from there? ;) 
  • What are you currently working on? 
  • What are you hoping to get out of this community? 

I'll go first: 

  • I was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri and you better believe that I love my barbecue! It is hard to pick my favorite food between ribs, brisket, or a beautiful grilled steak, but if I have to decide...nothing beats a juicy, fall-off-the-bone rack of baby back ribs!
  • Currently working on some old favorites of mine by Carl Vine (Piano Sonata No.1), Beethoven (Piano Concerto No.4) and Scriabin (Fantasy op.28) but also adding some great repertoire by H. Leslie Adams (Etude in A-flat minor Book 2), Laura Kaminsky (Alluvion), and Clara Schumann (Romanze in A minor Op.21 no.1)!
  • I am hoping to getting to know and helping all of you achieve your musical and artistic goals. Let's have some fun and get to work!

Now over to you (after some participation from our tonebase team members!) 

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    • Mark Ware
    • Mark_Ware
    • 1 yr ago
    • Reported - view
    • Where are you from and what's your favorite food from there?
      Bristol UK. Nowadays I eat a wholly vegan diet which doesn't of course have much local heritage, but the West Country is famous for its apples (which I love) and cider (for US readers, this is the grown-up dry alcoholic version, not the kids' apple juice), which I don't (give me red wine any day!)
    • What are you currently working on? 
      Currently obsessing over Berg's Piano Sonata Op.1 – surely the most amazing Op.1 from any composer?!  Sad to see that Tonebase doesn't have anything on this piece (or anything by Berg). In theory I'm also working on a Bach Prelude & Fugue (the E flat major from WTC Book 1)  and a Debussy étude (Pour les sonorités opposés) but the technical and interpretative challenges of the Berg have rather crowded out my other repertoire.
    • What are you hoping to get out of this community?
      Ideally, the impetus/motivation to get value out of Tonebase. I trialled Tonebase once before but found it hard to find reasons to keep using it. I'm a slow learner, so the three pieces mentioned above will be more than enough to keep me busy for most of the rest of the year, so while it's good that there's lots of Tonebase repertoire (and growing) I don't have an obvious way to use it directly in my current studies. Also, I struggle a bit with justifying time spent watching videos on things I'm not learning when the same time (out of my limited time budget, like everyone) could in theory have been spent at the keyboard or in studying the pieces I'm working on away from the keyboard. An hour spent on Tonebase is an hour not practising!  I'd be really interested to hear other members' perspectives on these issues

    Cheers

    Like 1
      • Gail Starr
      • Retired MBA
      • Gail_Starr
      • 1 yr ago
      • Reported - view

      Mark Ware Welcome, Mark!  You are working on some amazing repertoire.  We totally understand the lack of time!  Sometimes, I just watch videos of different pieces in the genre I'm interested in, even if I'm not learning that exact piece.  I just like listening to all the different teachers and the live sessions with Dominic and Garrick!

      Like
    • Michelle R
    • Michelle_Russell
    • 1 yr ago
    • Reported - view

    Hi, I'm Michelle, currently living on a ferry-served island in Washington state.

    My favorite food? Yes! Food, yum. :-) 

    I just began playing the piano in April, so "what I'm working on" is currently limited: Hanon ex. # 1 & 6; Menuet in G #114 from the Anna Magdalena Notebook; and Schumann's Abendlied four-hands, opus 85 #12 in Db major (to play with my son, who is also on TB). Many years ago, I played trombone and double bass, however I was discouraged from pursuing music and am just now nearly 35 years later returning to something I always loved - and I've always wanted to play the piano!

    I'm hoping for some positive community experience and technical assistance especially since I'm learning without the aid of a teacher.

    Like 2
      • Gail Starr
      • Retired MBA
      • Gail_Starr
      • 1 yr ago
      • Reported - view

      Michelle R Welcome, Michelle!  We can't wait to hear you play.  There are lots of friendly folks here who can answer any questions you may have.

      Like
    • Lc
    • lc_piano
    • 1 yr ago
    • Reported - view

    After lurking for a few months, it's time for me  add an self-intro. 

    • I grew up in Southeast Asia.  My fav food is Laksa, and Chili Crab, and as Cantonese, a nice fresh steamed fish is to die for as well.
       
    • As a kid, I had taken piano and violin with ABRSM system, but sadly didn't have access to good teachers. 
      Thankfully, in California, I have access to lots of teachers.  After a career in tech (and too many years of taking lessons but never practicing), I decided to spend more time on music.  I took some college music theory classes as well as Jazz to expand my music understanding.  (It is still my dream to attend a music conservatory, or perhaps pursue an advance degree. But alas, they probably won't accept old students.). 
       
    • I'm working on Kresleriana, revisiting Schubert last sonata, and all the Chopin Ballades.  In recent years, I enjoy playing (or rather, reading thru) 8-hands music at my piano group.  Who knew that could be so much fun!!!
       
    • It's inspiring to be with this community. I gained so much from all the videos instructions, community challenges, but also the constant inspiration from all the fellow pianists of varying experience and age. 
    Like 2
      • Gail Starr
      • Retired MBA
      • Gail_Starr
      • 1 yr ago
      • Reported - view

      Lc Welcome, LC!  We can't wait to hear you play.

      Like
  • My name is Michael. I live in Virginia and have been here for over 50 years but I am originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  My favorite food from Wisconsin is ice cream. 
     

    I started piano lessons about 10 years ago (I’m in my late 60’s) after trying to learn on my own. I had a teacher I liked working with but the pandemic shut things down and then he moved out of state. So I’m working on getting back into regular practice. I like classical piano from earlier times (Bach, Handel and that crowd) and stuff from the great American songbook. 

    I have As Time Goes By, Simple Pleasure, and some easy classics on the music stand right now. And I was using Hanon for exercises before I lost momentum. I do plan to use that again. 
     

    I am not in a position to go back to in-person lessons so I’m hoping to use tone base as one resource to work on things on my own. Areas in which I need to improve are hand independence and dynamics. Those in particular, better playing overall. 

    Like 1
    • Marcel
    • Marcel.1
    • 1 yr ago
    • Reported - view

    Hi Everybody,
    I'm Marcel and I'm writing from Barcelona. I'm 31 and I'm just resuming my piano practice since I stopped when I was maybe 10 or so.

     

    I did not have a nice experience with teachers and I guess from then on I studied music on my own but away from piano. Since a year or so I started casually playing and now I want to commit to a more structured  way of learning. I want to try tonebase and see If I can build up my skills and knowledge from here.

     

    I'm very much starting at piano, I'm learning basic chords to play very basic modern music. I have searched courses for beginners here at tonebase but would love to get the feedback from the community to see where is the best place to start for such a beginner like me here at tonebase.

     

    Thank you very much for this amazing platform, very excited to start my first class.

    Like 1
      • Gail Starr
      • Retired MBA
      • Gail_Starr
      • 1 yr ago
      • Reported - view

      Marcel ¡Bienvenido, Marcelo! Estamos muy contentos de que se haya unido a Tonebase. 

      Barcelona es una de mis ciudades favoritas. ¡Fui allí hace 5 años para aprender algo de español!

      Like
      • Marcel
      • Marcel.1
      • 1 yr ago
      • Reported - view

      Gail Starr Hey Gail! Thanks for your answer! I can see that your trip to Barcelona made a good Spanish speaker out of you! I'm looking forward to continue at tonebase but it's being difficult to fins courses for me as a beginner. Do you have any tip for me? Or anyone in the forum! Thanks a lot this is a great community to be in.

      Like
    • Lina
    • Lina
    • 1 yr ago
    • Reported - view

    Hi, I'm Lina from Melbourne, Australia. I just joined Tonebase Piano and am excited to be part of this large community. I'm a piano and singing teacher who runs a Melbourne based music school, Lina's Music House. I teach at three primary schools during weekdays and at multiple locations around Melbourne after school hours. I have been preparing students for AMEB examinations and music scholarships for 20 years. I'm looking forward to learning from the best teachers in the industry to help continually improve my teaching and help train our teaching staff at the school. 

    Like 2
      • Gail Starr
      • Retired MBA
      • Gail_Starr
      • 1 yr ago
      • Reported - view

      Lina Welcome, Lina!  You have such a busy musical career.  We can't wait to hear you play.

      Like
  • Hi! I'm Luis from Portugal, and I'm a self-taught amateur musician. I started playing the Guitar and the Keyboard when I was 13. All by ear (no internet resources at the time). Sometimes I was lucky to find something in a magazine that would help me figure out chords and the right way to play a song. The years went by and I checked all the boxes. Covers bands, originals bands. But mostly playing the guitar and the bass. Now at 47, I have decided to try the piano, so I've been doing that since the beginning of this year. It has been a challenge, doing it by myself. Sometimes it just feels that moving backwards instead of moving forward in my abilities. But it is what it is. As long as I keep myself motivated. To most challenging pieces that I can "play" (or at least know the notes) are Bach's Prelude in C major, Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata and Chopin's Prelude in E minor. Now I'm learning an arrangement for piano of Schubert's Ave Maria and Ennio Morricone's "Once Upon a Time in the West". And that's it.

    I'm looking forward to all the resources you have available to improve my journey at the piano. Thanks!

    Like 1
      • Gail Starr
      • Retired MBA
      • Gail_Starr
      • 1 yr ago
      • Reported - view

      Luis Mesquita Welcome, Luis!  You will find lots of wonderful people here who can help you!  Perhaps you should watch some of the videos that are more for beginners so that you can get some strong technique fundamentals first.  Folks here will help you!  Just ask any questions you like.

      Like
    • Jeremy
    • Jeremy.5
    • 1 yr ago
    • Reported - view

    I am from Northern California. I love our Mexican food!

     

    I am currently working on different choral pieces. I am a choral director and am trying to strengthen my piano skills. 

     

    I'm hoping to get support and a place to ask questions and advice. 

    Like 1
      • Gail Starr
      • Retired MBA
      • Gail_Starr
      • 1 yr ago
      • Reported - view

      Jeremy Welcome, Jeremy!  You will love this group.  Everyone is very friendly and quite knowledgeable.  Right now a bunch of us are learning the Bach Inventions together.  Check out the Practice Log section to see what we are up to!

      Like
    • Pauline
    • Pauline
    • 1 yr ago
    • Reported - view

    Hello, Jeremy! Welcome to the Tonebase Piano Community!

    Like
    • Dottie Lisa
    • Retail Manager in training
    • Dottie
    • 1 yr ago
    • Reported - view

    I'm from Parsippany, New Jersey and I love anything in a cream sauce like Creamy Chicken and Broccoli over rice.

    Many years ago, I received a BS in Music Education.  Before I graduated, my piano teacher had me purchase Mikrokosmos by Bela Bartok.  We worked on a few of the pieces in Book I before I graduated.  Over the years I have been playing on and off and worked on the Mikrokosmos pieces little by little.  Again, it was on again, off again with varying degrees of success.

    I am currently working on Invention 4 by Bach and Valse Op 69 Nr 2 by Chopin.  I played both of these pieces in college and decided that they would be a good place to start.  I also began to practice Mozart's Sonate K332, Allegro.  I studied the first part of the Allegro and I want to continue to learn the full Sonate.

    I've always been a little timid about recording myself, but this is too important to me to continue being that way.  I really want to get my technique back to what it was when I was in college and then go beyond that.  I'm really looking forward to learning more about expression, and how to practice and memorize a piece.

    Like
      • Pauline
      • Pauline
      • 1 yr ago
      • Reported - view

      Dottie Hello, Dottie! Welcome! I agree with you about the importance of recording oneself playing the piano. It can significantly impact one's growth and development as a pianist. 

      Like 1
    • Sam Smith
    • Sam_Smith
    • 1 yr ago
    • Reported - view
    • I'm from the southern US, and I love all the local foods, but my favorite accompaniment to piano practice is Sweet Iced Tea. Black tea with sugar, a splash of lemonade, and lots of ice!
    • I am currently working on - way too many pieces! Mendelssohn Song Without Words op 53-1, Bach Italian Concerto, and Gershwin's 3 preludes. I also always try to have a clarinet/piano piece in the works (my wife plays clarinet).
    • I am currently 68. I restarted piano about 13 years ago, and took 6 years of lessons from one teacher. When I turned 62 and retired, I went back to university and got a BM in piano Performance, graduating in 2020 (just before covid shut down the school). Its good to have goals at my age, and I am hoping to find something at Tonebase to keep me challenged and learning new things!
       
    Like 3
    • Sam Smith Hi Sam! Nice to meet you on Tonebase! 

      Like
    • Chris
    • Chris.11
    • 1 yr ago
    • Reported - view

    Hey all, just joined up.

     

    I'm from the Boston area, but have lived in NYC and Italy as well. In Italy I obtained a masters degree in gastronomy, so I'm temped to say Italian food is my favorite, but I am just a good food lover, and give me some solid Chinese or Thai anytime too and I'm happy.

     

    I just started piano again; I had studied for years as a kid, and for one reason or another stopped. I'm now 60 and decided to pick it up again, and I am just sad I haven't been playing all along. I'm working on a handful of Scarlatti pieces, Bach inventions, and several other pieces, mostly out of the mainstream, and many technical exercises. I'm into it so seriously want to improve, which was my reason for joining.

     

    I would like to have a community that can provide feedback and suggestions when I need them, and to motivate me if I need that too.

    Like 3
    • Chris hi Chris, welcome! 

       

      Did you mention inventions? There's an amazing inventions thread under the practice diaries that you may like to visit, and do join in the fun!

      Like 1
      • Gail Starr
      • Retired MBA
      • Gail_Starr
      • 1 yr ago
      • Reported - view

      Chris Benvenuto, Chris!  per favore unisciti a noi nel gruppo di pratica delle Invenzioni di Bach.  Lo amerai!

      Like
      • Chris
      • Chris.11
      • 1 yr ago
      • Reported - view

      Gail Starr Ho visto, grazie! The inventions thread is inspiring, I may now have to try more of them....

      Like 1
    • Chris Ci sono troppi italiani su Tonebase :)

      Benvenuto!

      Like
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