Piano, finally
Piano Finally is a podcast by an old bloke who is learning the piano, finally. I cover the process of learning the piano and music theory as an adult learner. I also review piano books, hardware and other materials from an adult learner's perspective.
Piano, finally
Introduction to Piano, finally
Embark on a musical voyage with me, David Reidy, as I tackle the grand adventure of mastering the piano later in life. With a lifetime of teaching others, I'm stepping into the shoes of a student to bring you an honest, insightful look at what it's like to learn piano as an adult. From grappling with music theory to testing the best learning tools and resources, I'm here to share this journey's highs, lows, and unexpected delight. If you've ever considered tickling the ivories yourself or are fascinated by acquiring a new skill, you won't want to miss my raw, genuine experiences.
As we peel back the curtain on adult music education, I'll guide you through the maze of online tutorials, local music schools, and the plethora of piano books and gear designed for beginners. I'll share tales from the trenches of navigating formal music examinations and regale you with the logical beauty of music theory, peppered with my fascination for physics and maths. No matter where you are in your musical quest, join me for a symphony of stories, tips, and candid reflections that will resonate with the curious onlooker and the aspiring pianist.
The book that my practice performance is from is The Joy of First Year Piano by Denes Agay. You can use this Amazon affiliate link https://amzn.to/3QXfUvm to see more details.
You can contact me:
- via email at david@pianofinally.show; this is probably the best option
- the show website, www.pianofinally.show
- Instagram and Threads @pianofinally
- and on YouTube
- all the podcast directories - list
- here's the RSS feed
Some of the links to books and other items mentioned in the podcast are affiliate links for Amazon or other providers. If you use one of these links, a commission may be paid to me at no additional cost to you. Thank you if you use a link.
All reviews of products, websites and services are unpaid, and no sponsorship has been received for any content on this podcast.
G'day everyone. I'm David Reidy, welcome to the piano finally podcast. [music] Piano finally is a podcast by an old bloke who is learning the piano, finally. I'll cover the process of learning the piano and music theory as an adult learner. I'll also review piano books, hardware and other materials from an adult learner's perspective. This is the introductory episode. The proper show will start in a week's time, but I needed to get back into the swing of podcasting and most of the podcast directories need a first episode to get everything in place so people can find the show. This podcast has come about because, although there are many wonderful podcasts and other resources available to learners of all ages, I couldn't find one that covered all the things in which I am interested in, in one place. So I decided to make my own, and I hope there will be other people for whom this show provides some entertaining and useful information.
David:As this is the introduction, here's a bit about me. As you can probably tell from my voice, I'm Australian. I was born here in 1962 and grew up in Mosman, a suburb of Sydney in New South Wales. I now live in a town in the Blue Mountains, a couple of hours west of the Sydney CBD. I studied physics at the University of Sydney and specialised in astrophysics. In my final year, I found that I enjoyed teaching and have a teaching degree and subsequently, a master's degree in secondary education. I've worked at a number of jobs, but I'm a teacher. I've taught in secondary schools for nearly 40 years, covering mostly science and computing subjects. Even when I haven't been in classrooms, every job has involved teaching something to someone in some way. I still work full-time teaching Science at a great school in Sydney's northw est.
David:Do I have extensive expertise in music? No! I'll go into more details in later episodes, but basically, I grew up in a non-musical family. I learned classical guitar for a bit when I was very young. Other than that, I've been mostly a consumer of music. I bought my first keyboard instrument in January this year, so I'm currently four months into my journey.
David:My plans for piano, finally, are simple. I want it to be the sort of podcast I would like to listen to about a subject that I'm interested in. When I walk into a music store and, believe me, I've been doing that a lot lately I see so many possibilities. One of my favourite stores for sheet music mostly sells string instruments, and I have to walk past racks of violins, cellos, double basses and more to get to the piano scores. Every time, I have to be firm with myself and remember that I don't have time to pick up another instrument. It's not much better when I get to the two full aisles of piano music and I have to restrict myself to the "asy piano section.
David:The first important job of this podcast will be to let you know about the things I have found that have helped me as an adult beginner, and I'll let you know what I think of them as a learner. There are some great YouTube channels reviewing all aspects of music, but usually the presenter is someone with extensive experience and considerable talent, and their take on books and equipment is understandably very different from what mine is likely to be. I'll also be talking about the best way to learn, or at least the best way I have been able to learn. So far, I have used free online resources, paid online resources, a local music school and a local private teacher. I'll go through the mostly pros and very few cons of each of those. As I progress, I also continually check YouTube and other media for interesting videos about pianos and music in general, so I'll pass along any gems I find. As a teacher who regularly has to set, mark, and give feedback on exams, I'm intending to try at least some of the formal music examinations through one of the Australian or international music boards. Finding a suitable organisation, a syllabus I like, and then preparing will all find their way into episodes in the future. If you're not interested in exams, don't worry, though. I'm doing it purely as a challenge to myself. This isn't going to become an examination preparation podcast, though maybe I'll add in a performance if it's going well.
David:With a background in Physics and Mathematics, it's not surprising that I really like music theory, so I'll be including some of that as well. Australia uses British terms for music theory, and so I'll be using them by default. You can expect tones, semitones, crotchets and quavers. Whenever I have to get technical. I'll try to remember to add step, half step, quarter note and eighth note, but I'm not promising anything. My background in Physics and Maths might also explain my choice of opening music. I'll elaborate on that in the next show. So that's it for the introduction.
David:I'm planning the first full episode to come out next weekend, the first weekend of June 2024. Weekly episodes will then follow. I hope you'll enjoy them. You can subscribe to this podcast in all the usual places and from most podcast apps, and I'd love for you to join me on this adventure. If you would like to get in contact with me, email is probably the most reliable way at the moment. My email address is david@ pianofinally. show.
David:pianofinally is all one word. The show has an Instagram account at pianofinally, but I'm not sure how much it will get used. I haven't used social media much since it went from being a nice place for a chat to a huge mess. There is a website for the podcast at www. pianofinally. show, which will slowly fill up with what I hope are useful resources. The show notes, and a transcript of this episode, are available there too. So until the next episode; I hope your piano stays in tune and you enjoy your time at the Keys. Here's a piece I'm working on at the moment, that's May 2024. Please do not feel obliged to listen to it. I'm including it both to keep myself honest with practising regularly, and so I'll have a record of how or if I improve over time. The piece is Good King Wenceslas from page 16 of the Joy of First Year Piano by Denes Agay. There's an Amazon affiliate link to the book in the show notes. Thank you. [music, played by David]
