Comments on: Piano practice, the first month http://thetarpit.org/2021/piano-practice-the-first-month "Now I feel like I know less about what that blog is about than I did before." Sun, 12 Apr 2026 19:24:58 +0000 http://thetarpit.org hourly 1 By: spyked http://thetarpit.org/2021/piano-practice-the-first-month#comment-5236 spyked Sun, 04 Aug 2024 21:59:24 +0000 http://thetarpit.org/?p=422#comment-5236 For what it's worth -- in particular it's worth quite a lot to me -- I haven't given <em>this project</em> up, unlike <a href="http://thetarpit.org/2022/kuromasu#comment-5235" rel="nofollow">that other one</a>. After about six months in, i.e. just a few weeks before hitting <a href="http://thetarpit.org/2022/the-bottom" rel="nofollow">The Bottom</a>, I realized that the cost of trying to learn playing professionally is somewhat of a waste, given that at 33 I was really spending most of my time doing other stuff. So now at 36 I'm doing even more stuff, and even more varied, which puts more pressure on me to stay somewhat organized with this, even though I get maybe less than ten hours a month for practice. What I did understand from my experience so far was that, much like I'd done with the guitar in my days of youth, I need to first and foremost keep at it, and secondly, that the piano, much like the guitar, much like other instruments that I've tried meanwhile, is but a means towards the end of exploring music. It's one of the best means too and it maps almost perfectly to most other instruments that I get my hands on -- which I do from time to time, since I sometimes meet with folks who actually do it for a living. So while my fingers are still somewhat slow, it's quite a pleasure to use my lovely piano to explore harmonies and melodies, and if I require any sort of actual precise performance, I can program the computer to do it for me. Yet I still can't program the latter to convey that which moves people around me when I play. I suppose that <a href="http://thetarpit.org/2024/artificial-intelligence" rel="nofollow">AI</a> will attempt a simulacrum at some point. For what it's worth -- in particular it's worth quite a lot to me -- I haven't given this project up, unlike that other one.

After about six months in, i.e. just a few weeks before hitting The Bottom, I realized that the cost of trying to learn playing professionally is somewhat of a waste, given that at 33 I was really spending most of my time doing other stuff. So now at 36 I'm doing even more stuff, and even more varied, which puts more pressure on me to stay somewhat organized with this, even though I get maybe less than ten hours a month for practice.

What I did understand from my experience so far was that, much like I'd done with the guitar in my days of youth, I need to first and foremost keep at it, and secondly, that the piano, much like the guitar, much like other instruments that I've tried meanwhile, is but a means towards the end of exploring music. It's one of the best means too and it maps almost perfectly to most other instruments that I get my hands on -- which I do from time to time, since I sometimes meet with folks who actually do it for a living.

So while my fingers are still somewhat slow, it's quite a pleasure to use my lovely piano to explore harmonies and melodies, and if I require any sort of actual precise performance, I can program the computer to do it for me. Yet I still can't program the latter to convey that which moves people around me when I play. I suppose that AI will attempt a simulacrum at some point.

]]> By: spyked http://thetarpit.org/2021/piano-practice-the-first-month#comment-919 spyked Sat, 02 Oct 2021 12:20:10 +0000 http://thetarpit.org/?p=422#comment-919 Three months and a half into my piano, I'd expected diving into the second and third piece to be slightly easier than the first one, but I regret to inform you that no, it is not. I am yet quite far away from the whole book, but it's not like I'm in any particular hurry. Finger coordination is a bitch, yes, but as far as I can tell it is not the most difficult aspect of piano playing. The most difficult aspect is to my eye by far the most fundamental -- I shall call it <em>finesse</em>, for the lack of a better word. The pianist (and not solely him, I suppose) doesn't train his muscles and joints to be stronger in the sense that he'll be able to press those keys with more fortitude; no, he trains his muscles so that they can work the keys <em>to the exact degree</em> required by the song. This aspect is what elicits expressive dynamics in the instrument and at the same time enables the ability to play quick passages without a sweat; and likewise, the piano's response to its player's finesse is what makes the difference between a good and a mediocre instrument. So far so good, onwards we move. Three months and a half into my piano, I'd expected diving into the second and third piece to be slightly easier than the first one, but I regret to inform you that no, it is not. I am yet quite far away from the whole book, but it's not like I'm in any particular hurry.

Finger coordination is a bitch, yes, but as far as I can tell it is not the most difficult aspect of piano playing. The most difficult aspect is to my eye by far the most fundamental -- I shall call it finesse, for the lack of a better word. The pianist (and not solely him, I suppose) doesn't train his muscles and joints to be stronger in the sense that he'll be able to press those keys with more fortitude; no, he trains his muscles so that they can work the keys to the exact degree required by the song. This aspect is what elicits expressive dynamics in the instrument and at the same time enables the ability to play quick passages without a sweat; and likewise, the piano's response to its player's finesse is what makes the difference between a good and a mediocre instrument.

So far so good, onwards we move.

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