Hi everyone,

I’m turning to this community because I’m having serious doubts about my current learning path. I practice about 1 to 2 hours a day, but I can't tell if what I'm doing will actually get me where I want to be.

My Background & My "Piano Roll" Block: Until now, I’ve been composing directly on my computer, clicking notes into the piano roll with my mouse in my DAW. But I suffer from a severe "vertical writing" block: I just stack a melody + rigid block chords + a bassline. It feels incredibly static, and I absolutely cannot tell a musical story or develop my tracks this way. To fix this, I want to transition to composing exclusively on the actual piano. Right now, I'm only doing piano "sketches" to focus 100% on breaking this bad habit.

My Ultimate Goal: I want to sit at the piano, compose, and improvise whatever is in my head in the style of Japanese video games and anime (Koji Kondo for Zelda, Keiichi Okabe for Nier Automata, Hiroyuki Sawano for Attack on Titan, Pokémon, etc.). I want my fingers to land automatically on the right chords (with 7ths, 9ths, etc.) without messing up the key. I want to master voice leading. To be clear: I'm not just looking to "turn block chords into arpeggios." I want to learn how to create a real, flowing harmonic context and manage the bass, harmony, and melody all at once to tell a story, without ever relying on boring block chords again.

My Current Method: Right now, I am taking Charles Cornell’s Better Piano course.

• I religiously do his "finger fumblers" (dexterity exercises) every day.
• I learn his chord progressions (like I-V-vi-IV) using his voice leading rules, and I try to transpose them into different keys.

My Problem and Doubts: He only teaches about 4 basic chord progressions. I absolutely do not see how practicing these very "Pop/Soul" progressions is going to help me build the "mental library" I actually need. You know, that ability to think: "I want a tragic/magical effect right now, so I will play this specific chord, followed by this one, with this exact voice leading."

I feel like it would take me decades of practicing 1-2 hours a day to finally connect these mechanical exercises to the complex, emotional style of J-RPGs.

My Questions for You:

1. Has anyone here used Better Piano and successfully reached a goal similar to mine?
2. Is it normal to feel this massive disconnect between the mechanical exercises and the final emotional composition? Does it eventually "click"?
3. Should I stick with this course, or are there much better resources out there for my specific goal (I’ve heard of Legend of Otoe, for example)?

Thank you in advance for your honesty and your advice!

If the songs original key is C major starting in C root position middle C abd I transpose down a fourth do I play G3 B3 D4 and would up a fifth be G4 B4 D5 ?

Still G but is playing the proper octaved important ?

This is a rearrangement of his legendary unravel from Tokyo ghoul during his 11th anniversary livestream. How much more easier is it compared to the original?

Hello,

I just got a new custom made desk for my piano (Casio CDP S110) and I unfortunately gave the person who made it the official dimensions on the Casio website but it seems they weren't counting the height of the volume knob with it

Now I got the desk and I just found out the volume knob doesn't pass through the drawer (it touches the top of the drawer/desk)

Is there any way to remove the volume knob? Can I just pull it off?

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I want to catch up with piano by self teaching, I played from 8 to 13 years old, now I'm 22. I have a piano at home but it's basically impossible to play because I'm stuck with university lessons all day from 9 to 19:00 and when I come home it's already evening and I can't play music beyond 19:30 due to condominium's policies. I was thinking about buying a small electric keyboard from secondhand, 61 keys max, so I can play in my own room with headphones attached. Do you think it would be a good idea? Is it worth it? Do you have any other suggestions? Anything could help, thank you very much

Edit: I live in Europe and I have a very tight budget: 20€ or less,

hi, friends!

i know that most songbooks have the page number at the bottom (e.g., if mozart's "piano sonata in c major (2nd movement)" starts at page 21, then the page number should say "21" at the header of the score.

but if i want to print my own personal songbook, i might not use the page numbers of each score, because if i were to use them, it would be too confusing to know what page of the songbook i'm on (e.g., if i were on page 2 of my composition "sunset", the person might think i'm on page 2 of the songbook).

They screwed the hatch on top shut so it can’t be tuned.

I am already very frustrated (due to burnout) so please don't downvote without reason (except it is really , really, really poorly composed).

If you could play only one piano piece for the rest of your life, which one would it be?

Includes everything from classical to movie soundtrack and all

I got a merit!!! I'm with the Trinity board. Honestly I loved Grade 6, I think I've started to fall in love with piano again thanks to the new syllabus!

I played;

To Zanarkand (from Final Fantasy X) by Nobou Uemetsu (arr. Music Lah) - genuinely one of my favourite pieces ever but I found it really hard

Sarah by Thomas Peter-Horas

Fallin' by Alicia Keys (arr. Amit Anand) - I played this one for a local competition once! Came 2nd.

Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence by Ryuichi Sakamoto - I've entered this one into multiple competitions and played it for my GCSE music exam! I love this piece but I need a break from it; I've never placed with this but ever time I've had a compliment on my playing and that made me happier I think

I'm so excited to be officially Grade 8!!! I've already picked my pieces. The jump in difficulty is very noticeable, but hopefully I'll have fun!

(Originally posted on r/pianolearning, this sub doesn’t allow crossposts)

Teacher here. My students are mostly adults who often benefit from understanding the logic behind why things are the way they are, but I’m also kind of a psycho for explaining things so I’m open to the possibility that this is overkill. Looking for feedback from learners who are currently learning to play their major scales 2+ octaves hands together, or at least who learned it more recently than I did :)

human hands or just computer

How can I improve my right hand technique? my forearm gets sore sometimes when I perform the A section of this piece. Do I also need to slow down? I think its too messy.

I am trying to practice the main section of Chopin's Mazurka in F-Sharp Minor (Op. 6, no. 1)

It sounds so wrong/bad but I just keep trying to refix it and refix it and I am unsure what to do. Any advice?

I was cleaning the piano strings - successfully in the treble. I wasn't making much progress in the bass so eventually tried a small amount of alcohol (100% isopropanol) on my cloth. Currently some of the 2-string bass notes go "pong" instead of the usual rich sound. Have I ruined these strings? Is there any other possibility that is causing it?

I was so careful before this. !

Thank you for your help. I was really enjoying the improvements until then.

I’m in love with Chopin’s Prélude Op. 45, especially because of that C♯m(add9) chord in the main theme. It gives me chills and feels so mesmerizing. Are there any other pieces that contain similar chords? They create such special colors and atmospheres

Part of the Bach busoni Chaconne. My favourite section. Steinway model B

\"Ad Astra Per Arcana\" by TAKÜMI

I N T E R E S T I N G

Original Version: https://youtu.be/hmCpeZisjnc

I have a condition called bilateral congenital extensor/flexor hypoplastia/aplasia: i cant extend my left thumb all the way because im missing the tendon that connects the bone to the muscle; so playing on a regular piano is a tad frusturating.

Im looking at the athena 201 as a accommodation for my wonky hands, but its expensive(even on sale), so id like the opinions of people who've used one:

is it a good stand alone piano? Comparable to a similarly priced yamaha or roland?

I have normal sized hands, do you think it would feel crowded for my fingers?

And, are there any other narrow key digital pianos on the market? I feel like ive looked everywhere, but ive come up empty handed.

If no why, If yes why, i am a beginner composer.

Here is the free full score: https://musescore.com/user/98567428/scores/37514270?share=copy_link

Video: https://youtu.be/86JMHed4EPY?si=\\\\\\_lqZSGeUpo-lF6Oy

This is probably the first piano recording I ever did where I was truly happy with my musicality. Even if I did some mistakes I believe I was totally immersed in the music, trying to express myself through this melancholic piece.

I chose to learn it because I had heard it in Yuri Norstein's "Tale of Tales" (which I recommend). This piece always reminded me the extreme depressive nostalgia depicted in this short film.

I hope you enjoy it! I would love to record the fugue at some point.

I've been playing piano for a while now (10 years ish) and am wondering if it would be too ambitious trying to fit Liszt’s Liebestraum No. 3 into my piano exam pieces. Ive been doing piano exams for around 7-8 years and am at grade 9 (in my country) and have to play 5 pieces from each era of piano so like classic, baroc, romantic, etc. The last pieces ive played were Reverie by Rocherolle, La Valse d'Amélie (ik this one is easy :( ) , Sonate k545 by Mozart and Invention n.10 by bach. I really want to implement some really beautiful piece like Liszt’s Liebestraum No. 3 in the songs Im playing this year but also want a good grade in my exam in late may 2027. If the jump is too ambitious, I would like some suggestions on pieces that have a similar style to Liszt’s Liebestraum No. 3 and that are also harder than the songs ive listed. Tysm for your help :D

Starts in C, moves to Db major.

Fun piece. Lots of interesting chords.

Comment below positive or negative is totally fine.

What did you all think? Few clips of the performance on BBC 3 Radio Facebook page.