Re: [LAU] A Bach in appology and completeness :-)

Hello Josh!  thanks for the kind comment. Yes the piano is quite fabulous. Very life. I thought so, when I heard it for the first time. :-)  So how do I learn: It will be different for different people. But I can't read braille notation. I never learnt it. I know it exists and people can work with it, but it was never something for me. I have a notion of note lengths, rhythms and the like, but since my step sequencing days - long gone - it has drastically diminished. :-)  In my piano lessons I always learnt by ear and talk. So I've learnt Bach almost exclussively for the last 10 to 12 years. I got very used to the harmonies and in any case I'm not bad a hearing intervals. So we start with one hand (right or left, which is suites us at the moment) and then move forward at most four bars. Then we look at the other hand and finally we try to merge them. :-) I'm usually in the advantage, since I have recordings of all the pieces I learn. So I have a good imagination of what the piece should sound like. Beyond that, of course the general idea of note length and basic musical knowledge helps.  So I learn a piece in small bites. Very rarely my teacher tells me what to play and which length the note has, but it's quite slow. OK, we've worked together for more than 18 years now. We got used to each other and our methods of learning/teaching. Sohe usually knows, what I'm asking for, if there's a problem or uncertainty. He knows where to look mostly, when I discovfer a problem in a piece/part already learnt. It's quite effective I think. We at least manage four bars per half an hour. Mostly it's more than that. But some Bach fugues can be quite tricky. Also the beginning of a fugue is complicated for my teacher, as he has to look at the fingering and has to be comfortable with the flats and double flats and the sharps and double sharps. :-) But when he's had some time, we get through it quite well. :-) My teacher is closing in on 90, so I think it's pretty amazing, that we get along this well in personalities and manner of learning. I think it's quite a difference teaching a student by ear only, if you're used to reading notes and teaching your pupils to read notes and let them go rather quickly. :-)  Sorry for ranting, but I like the way I work and I love the way my teacher adapted to it. It shows me, that a lot of things are possible if you only put your mind to it. You need to be open for it, but with an open mind, you can perform quite efficiently and in a very kind and productive atmosphere.  Kindest regards           Julien