Hi. I recently have been attempting to learn on a wagner Baby Grand piano. It belonged to my grandfather, and I believe he got it around year 2000. He passed away a year ago slowly stopped caring for it over the years prior. It's very dusty all over.

The last card I could find of it being tuned was 2007 but he played it well after that so I'm sure it was at some point last decade at least. Now however, it is very out of tune. The middle is ok, the bass side hangs sometimes, the treble side barely plays at times. Some keys don't play at all if I press them too soft or randomly even. Some are slow to rise.

I've seen people say it's not worth it at this point, but it does have sentimental value. Even if it's a slower restoration, I am new enough that I can learn on it and I always remember it having an amazing sound with the room and all.

Piano Jam is a non-competitive piano challenge for beginners, professionals, classical, jazz or pop pianists and everyone in between! Pick a piece from the list below, learn it, and post a performance using the Piano Jam flair before the end of the month. Perfection is not expected!

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Welcome to the June, 2024 Piano Jam! We hope you find something below that you will enjoy working on and sharing later this month!

The next Piano Jam will be posted around July 1st. Please suggest pieces for future Piano Jams in our suggestion box.

Guidelines

Please share a recording of YOU playing one of the pieces below in a post to /r/piano at any time during the month. Use the "Piano Jam" flair or type "[Piano Jam]" somewhere in the submission title.

• You do not have to complete or perfect pieces to submit them, and don't be afraid to simplify/shorten pieces.
• This is not a contest! It's a chance for you to set a goal for yourself and to share your journey and accomplishments with the /r/piano community.
• You can submit as many of the pieces listed below as you like.
• Late submissions (up to two months late) are allowed, but be sure to include the month in the title.

Classical

The ABRSM grade estimate is provided in brackets.

• Traditional - The Piper o' Dundee | Sheet Music | [Gr. 2]

• Heinrich Hofmann - Sketches Op.77, #15 - Waldvöglein (Little Forest Bird) | Sheet Music | [Gr. 3-4]

• Schubert - Musical Moment No.3 in F minor | Sheet Music [Gr. 6]

• Debussy - La Fille aux cheveux de lin (The Girl with the Flaxen Hair) | Sheet Music 1 | Sheet Music 2 (with some fingerings) | [Gr. 6-7]

• Bach - Invention No.5 in Eb Major, BWV 776 | Sheet Music | [Gr. 5-7]

Contemporary / Anime / Other:

• Nobuo Uematsu - Aerith's Theme (Final Fantasy VII) | Sheet Music

Jazz / Ragtime:

• "Fats" Waller, Harry Brooks - Ain't Misbehavin' | Lead Sheet | Transciption of Fats, for some ideas | Easy Arrangement

• Scott Joplin - Paragon Rag | Sheet Music

3-Month Classical Pieces (April-June):

• Beethoven - Sonatina in G Major, Anh. 5 (Both Movements) | Sheet Music | [2-3]

• Brahms - Intermezzo in A major, Op. 118 No. 2 | Sheet Music (scroll to #2) | [7+]

• Dmitri Shostakovich - Three Fantastic Dances - Op.5 (All 3 Dances) | Sheet Music | [7+]

Submissions from last month's Piano Jam

Thanks to everyone for participating and sharing your music with all of us!

• Angel Eyes - musodave62

• Donna Lee - Elliott_Well24

• Shostakovitch, Three Fantastic Dances, Op. 5 No. 2 - sleepysadsorry

• Reinecke, Elegy - Other_Insect_7702

• Reinecke, Elegy - amyaimee

To listen to the newest submissions, search for the Piano Jam flair.

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I hope we didn't miss anyone - if so, please let me know!

I want to attempt to teach myself some piano. I've played the clarinet, violin, and various other instruments over some years, but I've never been able to find a good place to start with piano. Any advice on what would be good?

Regarding models like the Kawai ES120 or Roland FP-30X, are the internal mechanisms in the action quite rugged against shipping vibrations and rougher roads? For example if they were packed with their original boxes with foam support, but the units were upside down, is it possible the vibrations and gravity on the upside down keys could cause them to become stuck, stiffer, or hammer weights displaced after shipping?

Hey

I want to start playing piano but I’m really not sure what to get and where to get it from, My budget is really low so I don’t want something that big! i’m also a beginner so i’ll be thankful if someone DM me for help💞

I think I have my tendonitis under control and can (hopefully!) start doing Heller etudes and Hanon exercises again after 30+ years of being stuck at intermediate pieces.

 Anyway, I asked Google:

 "What comes next after the Diabelli sonatinas?"

 And Google's AI-system replied:

 "After Diabelli's sonatinas, you can try Beethoven's Diabelli Variations, which diverges from Diabelli's structure by omitting a repeat for the first part."

Which has to be some of the worst advice I've ever read. I mean, it's like telling a freshman football player to go ahead and give the NFL a try!

 Thank Heavens the humans are still in charge!

A little bit of background first. I’m studying at a University in the United States and my piano professor said starting in the Spring semester I should pick a Chopin nocturne to learn (knowing that he’s my favorite composer.) Ofc I was super excited about this after working on mainly Bach fugues and Mozart sonatas my fall semester. This will be such a nice change! But the problem is there are so many great nocturnes to choose from, I just love them all so much! I’d love some help on choosing one! Thanks.😁

Also… here is a list of the ones I already know: Op. 9 no 2 Op. 15 no 2 & 3 Op. 55 no. 1 No. 20 (C sharp minor) Op. Posth.

I am a teen who wants to learn piano to write songs and just to play overall. What keyboard should I buy? I would like to hook it up to my computer to record songs and don't want it to be too expensive.(Hopefully not over 100-150). How many keys? I really just want to know anything and get one this holiday season.

So I've been playing piano since 2021 completely self taught and Liebstraum was my inspiration to start playing in the first place. The most recent song I've learned is Debussy's Arabesque No.1 and it took me around 2 months to play it for performances. I feel like I'm ready to finally tackle Liebstraum but what is the best way of learning it and also how should i go about the cadenzas which seem to be the hardest parts of the piece?

To me I’d choose some modern piece that I am familiar with ( if it’s for fun and vibe. Eg. merry-go-round of life ), or Chopin ( if it’s for impress someone lol)

What’s yours?

Hey all! I'm recently getting back into piano after a 5 year break, and I've realised that I've amassed a large collection of loose sheet music that I can't really play because there's a ton of pages per piece and they don't fit on my piano, even if I tape them (I'm talking the size of Haydn's 12 variations or bigger). I'm a little tight on space too so can't store the binders the music is currently in and am looking to digitise as much as I can, so what are our current best options for doing this? Tablet recs, app recs welcome. Trying to stay away from iPads if possible but I know they're a good choice for size reasons. Happy to budget into the $1k range, I have no idea what these things cost nowadays.

with the jumps from Eb to G and E to Ab, how do I (with my pinky) put enough pressure to make the bass notes sustain well enough? whenever i play that section the bass notes are normally covered because i dont give enough pressure or its just drowned out by the right hand.

also side question, how does the whole sustain situation work with that section? (if you could put a dash before answering this specific question thatd be awesome)

I had a question and it's that I'm a beginner and I'd like to play the instrumental part of lovers rock by TV girl, the problem is that everywhere I look on websites and on Youtube they seem to play the song and not the background music which is strings (I have a Yamaha P225B) and with the strings mode it sounds good but I only stay on the first chord, I can't find the score only for the background music if someone can help me I would really appreciate it.

I've just bought a Yamaha p-143 keyboard and would like to use it as a midi interface on my MacBook.

I have an M2 apple silicon MacBook and it looks like the driver needs Rosetta 2 to work. I've installed the driver, it shows up in settings, but the Mac still won't recognize the keyboard.

I have found other posts from people having the same issue with the p-143 on apple forums but nobody has posted a solution.

Does anything here have their P-143, or similar, connected to their apple silicon MacBook?

And if so, what steps did you follow?

Is $1,500 for the piano a good deal? My son has been practicing on the 66-key digital keyboard and I wanted to get him something similar to what his instructor is using.

I don't know what else to do. I practice but I don't play well. It's very hard for me. I have a teacher who I like. He teaches well, although I question why I haven't used a metronome when I keep reading it's crucial. Am I just not that talented? Should I try a different teacher? Take a theory course? How many hours a day do I need to practice to get good?

I was asked to help with a piano duet accompaniment for my schools choir super last minute (choir directors fault lol) but I have only ever done solo pieces. The music itself isnt too bad but i keep clamming up when rehearsing with the choir+the other person and totally embarrassed myself at my first rehearsal session. Any tips to improve quick?? they asked me to prepare this piece a week before the concert…

I can't take private lessons. That's why I've learned everything by myself so far. But I noticed that my hands don't look very aesthetically pleasing when I play. When I watch others, their hands always look very beautiful. I've been playing for about two years

how hard is it to make a living by doing something around classical piano? and is it too late for something serious if i’m 17 and only now started to play intermediate level songs like waltz in a minor - chopin

So i decided to see if i can learn a relatively easy piece and i picked für elise and i practiced a total of 4.5 hours over the span of 5 days(not consistantly learning like an hour a day) and i can fully play für elise at the right tempo and no mistakes is this considered good progress(i have been playing the piano for around 8 months with a teacher but its like a once a month thing)

About to pull the trigger on a CA901. Is £2839 a good price for it in Satin Black ($3597 for our friends across the pond). Really like the action on both the CA701 and 901 and was originally going to go for the 701 however recently they seem to be priced closer and closer. If anyone has either, would be glad to hear your views. Thanks again and happy playing!

I'm 32 teaching myself piano. I've tried a few times throughout my life, but now have the time to consistently practice.

I've heard from a couple people that I shouldn't try to learn to read sheet music, but learn chords instead.

So far, I'm taking the reading sheet music approach. I just write in the notes. I know this probably makes some people cringe, but its been working well for me. I hope in time I wont need to write the notes in.

I have a few pieces I've always loved and want to learn. Currently working on Merry Go Round of Life by Joe Hisaishi. Some others are River Flows in You by Yiruma and Clair de Lune by Debussy.

I assume the "just learn the chords" approach wouldn't allow me to play the style of songs I want to play?

I also have been learning the right hand first then sprinkling in the left hand notes. Any tips on teaching your hands to move to two different rhythms?

Any tips for teaching yourself piano?

Thoughts and suggestions are welcome. Thanks in advance :)

Hi all, In october 2023 I bought an old buffetpiano to learn how to play by myself. I let a professional tune it, but after a month or 2 it got completely out of tune. The tuner already warned me that the screws we're lose in the soundboard (the piano itself dates from 1910s). I kept the piano because I think it's a cool piece of furniture and kept learning on a cheap keyboard.

Now, I want to bring new life to the buffetpiano and was wondering if there's a way to use the original keys and connect them internally to a digital piano.

Otherwise, I will probably remove the internals, try to install the keyboard where the old keys used to be and turn the upper half of the piano into a cabinet. I would love to hear if anyone has experience with something similar or just overall thoughts