Brand new to learning the keyboard, how to practice
Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2019 5:11 am
Hello everyone!
A little background first: I'm a 54-year-old fella whose parents offered piano lessons to my brother and myself back when I was 10 or so; my brother took them up on it, I did not. I did eventually learn how to play saxophone for concert and marching band back in middle and high school and continued with that until I was about 20. So while I can't actually read music anymore, I do know what quarter notes, whole notes, codas, sharps and flats, and etc. are. I'm sure I'll relatively quickly learn what the actual notes in the staff are once again, though the idea that "middle C" is a line below the staff makes me laugh since on the sax we *rarely* went below the treble staff and only occasionally above it So because I've been saying for years that I regretted not taking piano lessons when they had been offered to me and as part of my self-improvement program, here I am.
My question is about lessons and practice. I started with Bootcamp tonight. I've watched the "Breaking Down the Piano" video, and then did the 7 parts of the "5 Finger Position - Middle C - Right Hand" lesson that came next. I kept practicing each of the 7 lessons until I could get 100% on each one (the entire process of the 7 lessons took a little over 45 minutes). Now my question is how do I go about using Bootcamp for practice and lessons? I remember when my brother was taking lessons, he'd go see Mrs. Bridges once a week for an hour, then he'd (supposedly ) practice what she'd assigned him an hour a day until he saw her again the next week. How do people recommend using Bootcamp lessons? Do you do one of these sessions as a lesson and repeat it over and over until you are perfect at it then move on? If I have an hour a day to practice, do I just move along in the sessions in order and not really "practice" any of them? Do they have the repetition built into them already? I can't see using the Mrs. Bridges technique, as the 84 or so lessons of Rookie level would take a year and a half to get through Any advice for a novice for how to approach this system?
Thanks!
Gnarlo
A little background first: I'm a 54-year-old fella whose parents offered piano lessons to my brother and myself back when I was 10 or so; my brother took them up on it, I did not. I did eventually learn how to play saxophone for concert and marching band back in middle and high school and continued with that until I was about 20. So while I can't actually read music anymore, I do know what quarter notes, whole notes, codas, sharps and flats, and etc. are. I'm sure I'll relatively quickly learn what the actual notes in the staff are once again, though the idea that "middle C" is a line below the staff makes me laugh since on the sax we *rarely* went below the treble staff and only occasionally above it So because I've been saying for years that I regretted not taking piano lessons when they had been offered to me and as part of my self-improvement program, here I am.
My question is about lessons and practice. I started with Bootcamp tonight. I've watched the "Breaking Down the Piano" video, and then did the 7 parts of the "5 Finger Position - Middle C - Right Hand" lesson that came next. I kept practicing each of the 7 lessons until I could get 100% on each one (the entire process of the 7 lessons took a little over 45 minutes). Now my question is how do I go about using Bootcamp for practice and lessons? I remember when my brother was taking lessons, he'd go see Mrs. Bridges once a week for an hour, then he'd (supposedly ) practice what she'd assigned him an hour a day until he saw her again the next week. How do people recommend using Bootcamp lessons? Do you do one of these sessions as a lesson and repeat it over and over until you are perfect at it then move on? If I have an hour a day to practice, do I just move along in the sessions in order and not really "practice" any of them? Do they have the repetition built into them already? I can't see using the Mrs. Bridges technique, as the 84 or so lessons of Rookie level would take a year and a half to get through Any advice for a novice for how to approach this system?
Thanks!
Gnarlo