Hi Hannah,

This is a little late (or long overdue, rather!), but hope this helps. :)

I totally commend you for wanting to get serious with the piano! You seem to
have the right mindset. Most people don't. That's why they either end up not
wanting to study or they just quit.

It's all about attitude and mindset, really.

Take your time in finding the right teacher, even if it means meeting and
interviewing a whole bunch of teachers.

Not very many teachers specialize in adults, let alone those who focus more on
the kinesthetic/auditory approach. There are a very few who do that. Many
teachers are just so used to teaching younger kids and teaching straight
sightreading. For many beginners, introducing sightreading early on is
frustrating to them. This is why they quit.
It should be introduced in small increments. I've found that the best way is to
teach the keyboard layout/topography right away and focus on that, much like how
guitarists learn their fingerings and notes visually (by noting patterns on the
fretboard). The piano/keyboard has the same thing going on as well. There are
obvious patterns all around when you look at the layout. (And you also get to
apply music theory to note and figure out the patterns.) I have more success
with that approach. Students learn a lot more (and have a fuller understanding
of music theory without much overwhelm from strictly sightreading) and they're
more excited about having more harmonic and melodic options in that approach.

--- In musicalfossils@yahoogroups.com, "hannet_833" <hannet_833@...> wrote:
>
> Hi all
> i'm turning 18 in about a month and I've been wanting
> to retake up piano for the last 3 years but still haven't
> got around to organising it.
>
> I am currently trying to find a new piano teacher,
> one that perhaps focuses less on visual learning and more
> on kinesthetic and audio learning methods
> (if someone like that even exists :P)
> and someone i can be confortable with...
> so i was wondering if anyone has any ideas how to go
> about finding one?
>
> i feel incomplete without music in my life and it seems
> listening is just not enough, hope someone can help :)
>
>
> It was such a relief to read Matt's pages about when
> your learning piano and you make mistakes and feel
> like your learning to slowly and then get angry and
> humiliated and sometimes feel too scared to even start.
>
> I have that problem now with sight reading...
> it scares the hell out of me!! especially the left hand notes
> and when my new teacher stood there looking at me waiting
> for me to play an easy piece he'd put in front of me i
> wanted to sink into the floor or just be invisible because
> my mind just went completely blank. Because of commitments at
> school (trying to get good enough grades for university)
> and also sporting commitments I let myself use those
> obstacles as excuses to quit. But if I'm honest i know
> that they weren't the true reasons behind it...
>
> I liked the teacher i had before this when i lived in another town.
> She was always kind and friendly and it was a lot easier to
> feel confortable around her.
> BUT i still felt a lot of resentment towards her and even
> the piano after a few months just because i felt i was
> learning far too slowly for both mine and her expectations.
> So it was just amazing to me to read what Matt said about
> the anger most students feel and how they need to let it out
> (but can't because they have to be polite students :P)
> its just so true!! otherwise it builds up until
> you can't remember that they are a nice person!
>
> Sorry about this monologue of a few of my little problems
> but it does feel good to let some of this out to people
> who might understand. :)
>
> Thanks,
>
> Hannah
>