MountainFireflower, you may not like to hear this, but this is how I work with my music. The easiest way to work with that is to know what notes work together to make up a chord. If you know that, then you can put down your melody line, then put in the chords from there. Once you've found the chords you want (based on how you want the song to sound - major vs. minor), you can construct the rest of the music using the other notes in your chords. I'm not smooth at this yet, but I have the basics down.

I do hope that's clearer than mud.

^That sounds interesting. Working with the chords is good too.

winterlife, thanks for the tips. That sounds really helpful so I'll try that. It's interesting to me to figure out what notes make up chords. I have one more question - how do YOU figure out the melody line? (That might sound like a dumb question, but anything I do know in music I've taught myself, so I'm still learning.) I have a few ideas on how to do that but I want to hear what you have to say about it.

Well, to be perfectly honest, I find my melody notes by cheating. I have a guitar tuner that hears a note and tells you what note it is (most tuners, you punch in what string you're on and it just tells you whether it's sharp or flat). I sing the first note of my song, and find it on my guitar. I work by ear from there, unless I get stuck. Then I go back to my tuner.

Nah, it sounds more like a good strategy to me, so you wouldn't have a hard time. Hey, if you make a new one, mind if you send me your pieces? love to hear it.

winterlife, okay, thanks so much for the input! I have a guitar tuner like yours so I will definitely try that. That was very helpful!

sandyentersNarnia, I'd love to send you something, but I don't have a softwear for making sheet music on the computer. All my music is handwritten. I will see if I can get my scanner set up, though.

^Thanks! I would love to hear your pieces. Music really soothes me, and discovering new ones even makes me feel better!

Hi there musicians! I just thought I'd pop by and say hello.

I took piano lessons for a long time, but I had to quit a few years ago because school got too busy for me. I guess you could say I'd had a rough history. When I first learned to play, my music teacher wrote finger numbers above all the notes. I began to depend on them too much, to the point where I wasn't reading the notes at all, I was memorizing the songs by looking at my hands. When my parents figured out what was happening, we switched teachers and I went back a couple of levels. But the damage was done - still, to this day, I have a horrible time sight-reading. I used to make up tons of songs, though.

I can still play, but I haven't touched the piano for a while, and I've been feeling rather uninspired as of late. Perhaps you can help me out?

Speaking of piano, I came across this video. One of my favorite authors, Bryan Davis, wrote some song lyrics for a scene in his new book, Masters and Slayers. Then one of his fans composed music for it, and another performed and recorded a video. It was neat seeing the transformation from words on paper to a beautiful song! Anyway, I thought you guys might like it. Here's the link:

. Enjoy!

OK, does anyone play classical?

I practiced all the classical pieces I know yesterday. They're all the pieces I've played for recitals over the years. I learn them for recital and then don't practice them again so I can still play them but not well. So I've decided to just play each classical piece I know once a day and I'll have them back in top form in a month or two.

The classical pieces I know are:

Sonatina in C Op. 36 No 1 (all three movements) by Muzio Clementi
Adagio and Furiant (both movements) by Zdenek Fibich
L'Orage by Johann Burgmuller
Sonatina Op. 55, No 1 (second movement) by Friedrich Kuhlau
Miniature by Cornelius Gurlitt (I really need to work on this one)
Spinning Song by Albert Ellmenreich

I really need to get back to practicing my Hanon. "Hanon for the Virtuoso Pianist" is a book full of exercises to strengthen your hands so you can play better and faster. I can only play the first exercise. My sister can play at least half of them (there are sixty exercises in the book).

I know the first half of Solfegietto by Bach (I was going to play it for recital last year but decided not to) but I'd love to finish learning it.

I really want to learn the Wedding March from A Midsummer Night's Dream. That's what I want played at my wedding and it's a really beautiful piece. I'd also like to learn the Pachelbel Canon. I have played a simplified version but I'd love to learn the real thing.

I finally decided to play Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring for Christmas piano recital this year. I have wanted to play it ever since I first started taking lessons (five years ago in January) and heard my mom play it. Every recital (we have two a year), I've thought about playing it but said, "Oh no, it's too hard." (It's a very hard piece.) I finally decided that I'm going to play it this year and I've started practicing it. This Christmas recital will be my last recital. I leave for college in January and I know if I don't play it at this recital, I'll regret it for the rest of my life. So I finally made the decision.

I play classical! I play the violin. I love playing Suzuki pieces. Well, Pachelbel's Canon is one of the best ones I play.

I am dying to play the Fours Seasons by Vivaldi. It really is soothing to the ears and I can feel the melody in it. So is the piece of Bach, Double Concerto in D Minor. I play the first violin, but I don't know the second, since it's in book 5, but I only reached book 4.

In piano, I also play Suzuki pieces. Playing "Dawn" by Dario Marianelli of Pride and Prejudice soundtrack is what I am trying to learn right now.

sandyentersnarnia, I have a book full of simplified pieces that I can just play through. It has one of the Four Seasons in it but I've never learned it.

So what is your favorite period to play from? Baroque, Classical, Romantic, or Modern? (My teacher considers all of the first three classical music but there's one specific period defined as Classical.) I like Romantic best although I like Baroque and Classical as well. I don't like Modern pieces. I have these awesome books by Faber and Faber. They're called Piano Literature books and they have different levels. They have the book divided into those four sections and most of the pieces I've played are from the Romantic period: L'Orage, Adagio and Furiant, Miniature, and maybe the Spinning Song. The others are from the Classical period, I think. I don't know about Sonatina in C and Sonatina because those were from a different book that didn't have the music divided up into periods.

Anyway, I had lessons today and they went pretty well. My piano teacher is super happy that I'm playing Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring for recital.

Youth group was last night and I played one song called How He Loves. It's very easy: it only has Am, C, G, and F chords which are like the easiest chords on piano to play. Winterlife said the song is easy for her too but F is a super hard chord to play on guitar. Funny how it's easy on piano but hard on guitar.

Anyway, there are two pianists on the youth group worship team so when we get the list of which songs we're going to play each week, we decide who gets to play what. We were doing three songs: How He Loves, Take Me Past the Outer Courts and one other that we were doing acapella. I was playing How He Loves and that went super well. So the other pianist and the guitarist had a really tough time on Take Me Past the Outer Courts because the singers started singing in a totally different key from the music! So the guitarist just started playing in the key they had the music for in hopes the singers would change and the other pianist just kind of sat there and tried to play a chord occaisonally. I felt really sorry for her (the pianist). The first week, we played one song at the beginning of youth group and one at the end. I was playing the first song. Well, half way through youth group, she comes up to me and says she has a killer headache so she was going to leave so I played both songs. Last week, she was playing a song (How He Loves actually) and the lead singer motioned to her to play the intro. Well, I know the intro and he was used to me playing it but, she didn't know the intro so she tried to make something up on the spot and then was just like, "Just start singing." And then this week, she could barely play because the singers changed the key.

I hope it gets better for her.

Yeah, F on guitar is either a bar chord or just a chord that stresses one's wrists. I have Tendonitits, so bar chords and chords like F and C are really stressful for me. I'm getting better, though, as long as I don't play for too long.

And winterlife isn't capitalized. Even if it's at the begining of a sentance.

When I first learned to play, my music teacher wrote finger numbers above all the notes. I began to depend on them too much, to the point where I wasn't reading the notes at all, I was memorizing the songs by looking at my hands.

I know how you feel! I have the same problem! I am slowly trying to overcome it, but it's very tough!

Okay, I shall enter this little cafe!!
I play piano, and I have for about five years. My sister taught me in the very beginning, the notes and etc, and after that I very slowly made my way forward. So now, I can site read fairly well, and I'm fairly advanced. Still need a lot more though!!!
I really only play piano so I can sing with accompaniment. Or that's how it started at least. I take phases, for a few months I play every days for hours. And then I don't play for weeks.
I like doing stuff from movies, I love playing Phantom of the Opera.
I might like to learn violin or flute someday, but who knows. You can't sing along with them.