Kia ora from New Zealand

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Pohutukawa
Posts: 33
Joined: Sat Feb 24, 2018 8:18 pm

Kia ora from New Zealand

Post by Pohutukawa » Sat Feb 24, 2018 8:20 pm

Hi, It's my birthday and I got a new keyboard, and the sessions. I'm a total beginner. Nice to be here.

mariyastepanenko
Posts: 33
Joined: Fri Jan 05, 2018 12:09 pm

Re: Kia ora from New Zealand

Post by mariyastepanenko » Wed Feb 28, 2018 5:48 pm

Welcome to Playground! What keyboard did you get?

Pohutukawa
Posts: 33
Joined: Sat Feb 24, 2018 8:18 pm

Re: Kia ora from New Zealand

Post by Pohutukawa » Wed Feb 28, 2018 11:38 pm

A Casio Privia PX-360M. Too good for me, I know!

scirocco
Posts: 33
Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2017 3:25 am

Re: Kia ora from New Zealand

Post by scirocco » Thu Mar 01, 2018 2:34 am

No, I think it's a good choice. I went as low as I dared (Yamaha P45) and while it is perfectly fine for an absolute beginner, really I am regretting not spending a bit more like you have done.

Good luck with Playground Sessions, having worked my way through the rookie bootcamp I think it is very intelligently structured and a great way to learn. One thing I wish I had done is spent more time polishing each song. The temptation is to get to 100% and then immediately move on to the next one. I'm starting to realise you need to spend time repeatedly playing each one really well, not just getting 100% on the scoreboard.

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sw1tch73ch
Posts: 539
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2016 1:23 pm

Re: Kia ora from New Zealand

Post by sw1tch73ch » Fri Mar 02, 2018 6:55 pm

Hi Scirocco - I have to agree on that 100% as a target. You really want to keep practicing until you can reliably hit 100%. Hitting it just once doesn't mean you've really learned the piece.
== Just keep playing. Just keep playing. Just keep playing, playing, playing! ==

-- jbs --

Pohutukawa
Posts: 33
Joined: Sat Feb 24, 2018 8:18 pm

Re: Kia ora from New Zealand

Post by Pohutukawa » Sat Mar 03, 2018 5:28 pm

Thanks both for the advice about songs. I'm close to being able to play my first rookie song all the way through, and will be sure to return to even after I make 100%. These kinds of tips from PG veterans are super useful. Like, I'm wondering if I should alternate having numbers, notes or nothing on the score so I get to know my way around the score...i.e. might help with reading music. But maybe too soon for that.

scirocco
Posts: 33
Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2017 3:25 am

Re: Kia ora from New Zealand

Post by scirocco » Sun Mar 04, 2018 3:05 am

Pohutukawa wrote:But maybe too soon for that.
I don’t think it’s ever too soon, because you don’t want the note names to become a crutch. I’d suggest turning the note names off straight away and learning the mnemonics (Every Good Boy Does Fine etc.) so you can figure out each song yourself from scratch. Look on Youtube if you need help on this.

Don’t worry if it’s really slow and you can’t read each note in real time. I find playing at full tempo is maybe 75% playing the detail by memory and maybe 25% sort of watching the pattern of rise and fall of the notes to keep track of where you’re up to.

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