Tonebase vs Pianote for late beginner
Hi, I took advantage of the BF sale and signed up for lifetime access even though I don't think I'm quite ready yet for Tonebase.
I was thinking about also doing one year of Pianote, but I wanted to ask all of you experienced Tonebasers what you think?
Do you think there would be an advantage to doing that first before moving onto Tonebase?
Bit of background on where I'm at if that helps:
I started taking lessons back in March of this year with a local teacher doing the Simply Music method because at the time I thought that would get me in the right path sooner given my goals of wanting to compose.
Now, I've started to fall in love with piano itself, becoming a pianist, and classical music.
I'm currently working on Chopin's Prelude in E minor. In fact, I decided I needed to learn this piece after watching the Tonebase video on it by Seymour!!!
It took a little over 2 weeks just to learn the basic piece, most of that time spent on the 4 bars that start just before the ornament as the climax starts.
I'm now working on polish and musicality to the the best of my current ability.
My teacher also has me working on Rosemary's Theme from The Giver as a reading exercise.
It's quite difficult, but I continue stubbornly and advance very slowly.
Why did she assign this piece to me already?
Probably because she assigned me the Bach Prelude in C Major as a reading exercise, and after I was able to play it pretty well, I saw a tutorial on the Interstellar theme by Pianote actually. I really wanted to learn that and practiced enough until I was able to do all of it and without looking at my hands, except the very last part with the tricky left hand.
I feel like I haven't really progressed after I started working on Rosemary's Theme because it's so difficult, so I signed up for a piano marvel trial and started going through their method and technique lessons from the beginning. Currently at 3C and it takes anywhere from 3 to 20+ minutes to get 100% on each lesson.
Sorry for the length!
Just wanting to get serious about this now!
Thanks
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ok I am a very late beginner as well. Exposed to piano at 18 then recently picking up after many decades. Was able to play Bach prelude in C pretty quickly. Interested only in classical piano mostly. Listened to hundreds of hours of great pianists - Barenboim, Argerich, Ashkenazy for the past 10 years... ok now recently -past 5 months -decided to actually try to learn piano playing. Here's what I have done so far.. Got a baby grand piano - Essex. Looked at Tonebase lessons ( lifetime member - 2 years ago -but didn't use it until now ).
TB Lessons are way too advanced..
So did some research and came up with this list. for myself
1. Before playing any difficult pieces like Chopin etc.. get the theory of music absolutely clear.
Identified and purchased Alfred's music theory book . It has everything from scales major, minor - scale degrees, harmony with Chords ( Tonic , Dominant , Subdominant), rhythm and counting..
Going through this in as much detail as possible.
2. Started daily scale practice ( C major - 2 Octaves - only ) 15 mins.
3. Most importantly - started ear training. Identifying relative tones.. This is a major problem.. I am clear that absolute pitch i.e identifying a note without reference may not be possible for an adult. But relative pitch can be learnt .. meaning ability to identify intervals 3rd, 5th, 7th etc would be invaluable for classical music.. So am testing myself every day.. This is a real problem for me. If some experienced gifted musicians have some advice it would be very welcome.
I am hoping this can be learnt. Please correct me if this is not the case.
4. Repertoire.. I am currently playing Mozart K 414 . @2nd movement.. Every day - 2 lines at a time for 25 minutes. With rhythm.. tempo is 1/2 speed .. very slowly.. There are reference recordings of Ashkenazy on You Tube.. listen .. playback.. slowdown.. repeat .. Until the shape has begun to appear after daily play of about 6 weeks. There are complications in this piece for a rank beginner like me but the challenge is definitely interesting and rewarding. Overall I feel I am progressing through this..
5. My sight reading needs a lot of work .. Have been told to use 'Dozen a day' and started using it but need to accelerate on that as well..
On YT there are several channels that I have looked at that may be useful before getting to TB lessons. Ping if interested..
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Gail Starr , Michelle R , rebecca LAM An update on a beginner's progress. Ah yes it has now been almost a year of playing almost every other day for a hour or so. I started with scales for speed and got injured last December - all my fault offcourse - metronome was at around 60 then bumped it up to about 85 and my fourth finger started to feel numb ! after a few days. But I am a tennis coach as well and do a lot of exercises -forearm and shoulders .. (pushups on the ground with fingers alone -helped a lot - the injury was gone in a few days). Continued playing sections of both the k 545 and k414 - now can actually read all 25 pages of the 414 - which I thought was impossible for me. Still at very slow tempo - using Murray Perrahia's recording - metronome at 70 - started slower. So can get most of the notes with the rhythm. At this point I feel I have done most of my homework and will need a real teacher to actually learn these pieces correctly. Would anyone of Gail Starr, Michelle R or Rebecca Lam be interested in a very short listening session to comment .. it could be 20 mins or so , comments/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks and best regards
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Peter William I am so excited for you!!! That is so great. Like I said before, love how disciplined you are. I think I am practicing better and more efficient than before. I am still unable to find the motivation to practice scales and sightreading. I am pretty much stuck at only practicing my repertoire stage. I want to learn theory too but again it has not happened. You are inspiring me to work on my technique more.
Absolutely! I would love to listen to you play. I don't know anyone around me who plays piano so I know what it is like to want to share your music but with no one around. I am not very good at listening to someone play and being able to critique it or give constructive feedback. But I would love to listen. send me an email: [email protected] and we can coordinate it together.
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rebecca LAM Thank you ! for your note. Yes I definitely will reach out via email this evening and we can do a quick listening session. Would be great to hear your feedback. My family is really not into this kind of music ..sigh !!!. So I practice mostly when no one is at home. Then a few days ago my neighbor was walking the dog with his baby outside our home and later in the day on our walk he stopped me and said ‘ who plays the piano I heard it this morning ?’ I told him oh I am sort of struggling with it but I listen a lot .. then in jest I asked him .
’ did the dog want to run away at full speed ? ‘ he said ‘no that was quite beautiful’ . Both my wife and myself were quite shocked.. But I thought to myself ‘ Ah at least after a year of practise the playing may be getting tolerable. lol!
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Peter William , OMG!! We have the same story. I practice on my acoustic piano mostly when no one is home. I have a digital piano, so I can practice quietly without making noise (as my family describes it). The only one who likes my playing is my dog. Although he comes over nudging me to pet him whenever I play, I am not sure if he likes it or just wants me to scratch him.
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rebecca LAM LOL! .. I am sending you the email.. Thanks again.
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Hello everyone!
First of all, we are so happy to have you on tonebase, and discussing this very interesting topic here in our community!
I am really happy to see everyone helping each other out with their comments and suggestions. And thank you for sharing your thoughts on these different music learning products - it all contributes to how we continue to shape tonebase and strive to provide you with the best experience possible!
Cheers!
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I was with Playground Sessions for a year and then during that year, I joined Tonebase because I wanted to play more Classical music. Since last May, I have been taking lessons from a ballet accompanist on Lessonface and it's been fantastic! Both Tonebase and my piano teacher on Lessonface have helped me make immense improvements! Now I'm tackling pieces like Bach's Fugue in C-Major. Happy practicing! — Written by a late blooming piano student in her early 40's. :)
