Challenge: Learning to Play the Piano #4

Hi again, and welcome to the piano challenge.  Things have changed a little since my last post two weeks ago.  I found myself becoming very bored with the tuition book I was using – it seemed to be all reading and theory, and , well...  I was bored, found myself not wanting to do it and, subsequently, I was getting nowhere.  So, I changed tack.  I picked up my daughter’s first piano book, Piano Time by Pauline Hall (Oxford University Press, 2004), and have spent the odd half-hour here and there over the last fortnight working through the book.  So far, I’m up to page 15, and Au clair de la lune, and can already combine the left and right hand (which feels like you’re splitting your brain in half!), read the music more readily and I feel excited about learning to play.  It doesn’t feel like a chore or an academic exercise now, and I can’t wait to move on to the next stage.

The other thing that has changed relates to something I said in an earlier post about the sorry state of my Yamaha keyboard.  The law of attraction must work, because last weekend a very dear person turned up, unexpectedly, with another piano – a Yamaha Clavinova!  If there is such a thing as an angel, this person is one, and we now have a very happy beginner and an even happier (and much more competent) teenager.  The sound quality is amazing, and I’m thrilled with it.

I said in my last piano challenge post that I would post a video to chart my progress, which would also give me a filmed record of my progress.  I was so happy with my progress that I decided to forget any embarrassment and record a tune.  I then set up a Labyrinthus XXI YouTube channel where all the videos will be stored.  You can view my progress via YouTube, or you can watch me play a short section of Au clair de la lune here:

I hope you didn't find that too painful, and, perhaps, you even enjoyed it!  My daughter shot this film in black and white because she felt it suited the piano theme and it made the black and white keys stand out more.  What do you think?  Please feel free to leave a comment below, thank you for reading, and I'll see you next time...