Do most or all of you here play piano? I don't know how to play
(yet) and I've just recently become interested in learning. I'm
curious to know if you all find sight reading easier or harder than
playing by ear. Do you play primarily ragtime? Do you think it's
more challenging than modern music or classical? My husband took
piano lessons as a child and he seems to find Joplin pretty
challenging, but fun.
I've been browsing sites to learn more about ragtime, as I'm not
quite clear on what defines a piece as ragtime. I visited a site
which has a midi file that is partly syncopated, partly not, so that
you can get a feel for the difference--and I could notice a
difference, but I couldn't quite understand what the difference was
(because I do not know very much about music yet). Do you think a
course on music theory is a good investment for someone prior to
taking music lessons? Is it better to wait until you've started
lessons?
I try to research subjects I'm interested in on my own but sometimes
you can learn more by asking the experts. I'd like to hear about all
of your experiences with learning and playing, what you find easy,
what you find difficult, etc. Thanks for any advice.

Mara