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The Mayron Cole Piano Method is now free

freepianomethod.com

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Re: The Mayron Cole Piano Method is now free

#251

Post by jacquesm »

jacobolus wrote: post #248
d2049 wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nice resource that's better than nothing, but just want to note that there are numerous engraving errors in the couple scores I looked at that would make them unsuitable for serious study.

Errors meaning wrong notes, stylistic tics, or something in between?

Without a good background in music theory it is very easy to transcribe a piece in a way that may result in the same sounds when played but that is musically nonsense due to the enharmonic nature of many notes. Every flat could have been a sharp just the same, knowing which one to pick requires a lot more knowledge than just what key the piece is in.

I spent many days working out a compromise that at least isn't nonsense most of the time but I know that it will still take much more work to be able to do this reliably. For now my theoretical knowledge isn't good enough though. This is very complex, and the algorithm to do this properly already runs to many pages.

Re: The Mayron Cole Piano Method is now free

#252

Post by jacquesm »

dehrmann wrote: post #218
cesaref wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you've got the space, you'll find that you can get a real upright for free in most cities in the world. Sure, it won't be the best instrument ever, but if you ask around you'll find someone chucking one out.

After a few tunings, you might wish you bought the keyboard.

That's a very important point, tunings will rapidly exceed the value of any 'cheap' piano. And typically the cheaper they are the worse they will keep tune, though there are exceptions to that rule.

I can recommend Entropy Tuner, which is a great piece of software to help you tune a piano properly.

Re: The Mayron Cole Piano Method is now free

#253

Post by jacquesm »

tonystride wrote: post #207
corytheboyd wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Going to shamelessly use this thread to pulse check something I am working on. I too have been learning piano over the last five months or so, but I found a private teacher through a local music school. Very glad I made that decision, we work well together and it’s amazing having someone for 1hr a week to keep you on track, motivated, correcting you in real time. Apps cannot do that, but there IS room for technology…

Isn’t this what google’s shared piano does? Its been a god send to me as a virtual teacher throughout this whole pandemic.

Shared piano is quite impressive.

Re: The Mayron Cole Piano Method is now free

#254

Post by jacquesm »

kidproquo wrote: post #184
sandGorgon wrote: post #18

I just started learning piano in the COVID lockdown. The best and cheapest way to learn is use an app: Simply Piano(android+ios), Piano Marvel(ios), etc and connect it to an el cheapo midi keyboard. this allows you to spend the next 6 months learning without anyone getting disturbed..while the app gives you realtime feedback about which keys you are pressing. you wont miss the lack of a teacher...especially during th…

Completely agree on the Simply Piano plus MIDI approach. My autistic son is musically inclined, can play piano by ear. We have struggled trying to get him formally trained to read music. Then we found Simply Piano. He's taken to it very well, treating it as a game. This is the only way we have managed to get him to read music. We use it in conjunction with a music teacher via Zoom. Here's a video of him playing https…

That's quite lovely, thank you for posting!

Re: The Mayron Cole Piano Method is now free

#255

Post by sandGorgon »

mrandish wrote: post #223
sandGorgon wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> tablet-based, gamified MIDI app that reports practice frequency, accuracy, speed, timing variance, etc stats back to the teacher Which app is this ? Also, curious to know..do you think virtual pianos are good enough for smartphones (iOS/android) or do you still need laptops?

> Which app is this ? The teacher we picked for our kid is classically trained and pretty hardcore (both of her own kids are now college-aged very serious concert pianists). She has a masters in music as well as a masters in childhood education. She doesn't generally like the apps but she knows that they can be effective with some younger students to keep them engaged in home practice. The app she uses is called Pian…

Very interesting - Piano Maestro is the advanced learning app by the same company that does the beginner "gamey" app called SimplyPiano (which I use).

Cubasis works on mobile - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.steinberg.... as well as other options like ntrack 8 . There is also latency comparisons for android devices here https://ntrack.com/android-latency/devices

Re: The Mayron Cole Piano Method is now free

#257

Post by joduplessis »

phkahler wrote: post #30
joduplessis wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is usually interesting from a musical standpoint in your personal music taste. Jazz is very interesting, but not everyone's cup of tea, etc.

Imposing variety on the student can also contribute to making them a better musician. I found it fascinating and refreshing to see Brad Paisley (country star) playing Hot for Teacher by Van Halen.

Agreed - but imposing variety on an intermediate to advanced student can make them better. With a beginner starting lessons, the objective really is to make it fun + learn something.

Re: The Mayron Cole Piano Method is now free

#258

Post by mike_h »

nine_k wrote: post #229
gjulianm wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> even just want to try it out for a year or two If you're already thinking about trying it for a year or two, you're serious enough that a teacher will be far more helpful than an app, and a cheap, small, non-weighted midi keyboard will limit you a lot. > But if you just want to make music in a modern way (on the computer) Acoustic or digital, music is more than a series of button presses. All the things I mentioned…

Are there any small keyboards that are good for playing? I'm afraid that taking out a 74-key device will be enough of a nuisance every time that it would discourage me from keeping on learning. How about a 40-key keyboard that's fine for fingers?

A 49-key will cover 90+% of what you’d want to do in the first year or two of traditional training. A 25-key will get annoying sooner, but if you know space is going to be a real issue, it’s just a percentage question again. You could just decide your skill will be “25-key keyboard” and adapt the training material. But I’d personally consider 49 the realistic minimum to not regularly feel claustrophobic.

Re: The Mayron Cole Piano Method is now free

#259

Post by jancsika »

ebiester wrote: post #234
jancsika wrote: post #210

If you want to learn the acoustic instrument-- either upright or grand piano-- pay a teacher to show you how to learn. There are just so many parts of piano-playing that are counterintuitive. At the same time, if you learn them early and practice a little bit, it's not difficult to develop healthy habits that will make everything you play sound more natural and beautiful. It's a bit frustrating because at least in th…

Does this transfer to online lessons? As of right now, there's a plague that we're trying not to transfer right now. (As far as I've heard, online lessons are not that great, relatively speaking.)

If there's a experienced human teacher on the other end, you're good as far as my argument goes.

However, I think you'll run into all the general problems of doing business over a Zoom call. Dropouts, poor audio quality, lag, and all the weirdo problems of having a poor substitute for a physical presence.

Re: The Mayron Cole Piano Method is now free

#260

Post by ebiester »

jancsika wrote: post #259
ebiester wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does this transfer to online lessons? As of right now, there's a plague that we're trying not to transfer right now. (As far as I've heard, online lessons are not that great, relatively speaking.)

If there's a experienced human teacher on the other end, you're good as far as my argument goes. However, I think you'll run into all the general problems of doing business over a Zoom call. Dropouts, poor audio quality, lag, and all the weirdo problems of having a poor substitute for a physical presence.

The problem from my perspective is that video is a poor way to learn or diagnose technique. They can listen to the sound (albeit depending on their setup, inaccurately), but how do you tell if the student has tension in their shoulder (as an example)?
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