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Reading Vs Listening to Learn Piano

I have hacked around on a piano for a few years, mainly learning a few chords and "faking" it a bit but I am at a point where I am stuck and would love to learn more.

Despite protests from traditionally trained pianists and their teachers, I unfortunately do not have the time, patience or inclination to really learn to read music.

Curiously, whenever I have been really moved and inspired by someone playing the piano (most recently by a customer in the piano department at Harrods in London)it seems they RARELY know how to read music but will say things like:

"Oh I just picked it up" (?!?!)

or

"I had a couple of lessons as a kid, but then I just started to PLAY"

With no disrespect to anyone who can sight read Chopin, obviously an amazing skill, that to me seems to be a more technical and analytical exercise.

Musicianship, in my opinion, is ultimately more spiritual and inspirational, than it is technical.

I have had this discussion with one friend who I think can "play" from both parts of his brain, although his intution seems to emerge more on the guitar than the piano.

Despite my protests and references to Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles, he basically said I just didnt "get it."

So two questions please:

1) Do any of you have experience, thoughts on the subject of intuition and improvisation vs reading music, especially for piano, and

2) If anyone would encourage me down that spiritual, intuitive path, what jazz, blues, and/or gospel music would you suggest I listen to, in order to just "pick it up" as mentioned above.

Thank you.
cwlondon
aida_w
308 posts
 
First of all you have to be musically gifted in order to be able picking "something up". Then, still, you need technical skills to put down to a keyboard what you just heard. If you can play a tune after having heard it just once or twice you're definitely in the position to go further.
I would recomend to "invent" own stuff as well, for a start, to find out if you have the skills at all - and, after all, see a teacher. I had good results with adults not being able to read music but trying to "hear-copy" first, then later getting experienced in that "technique". A last thing: I doubt that you get the right chords without any idea of the basics here.
Good luck!
pragmatist
336 posts
 
Two books that might interest you are these:

The Pianist's Problems,Newmann

Guided Sight Reading,Deutch(I know,but it is a fine explanation of a sight reading approach for beginners.)

A few years back,I took a jazz history survey course and had to do a paper for the grad credit. I did a biographical sketch of Charles Mingus.

Mingus was a cellist and if he could learn to play string bass,he could get paying work in roadhouses in Southern California. He got a bass and played along with a radio for about three weeks-getting good enough to play semi-pro bass. The rest is history.

It seems to me that if you can learn what you hear,you could play recordings of music you'd like to learn,and play along with them.
pragmatist
336 posts
 
Do you remember how you learned to read? Someone,probably a relative, read to you for a half hour a day,while you looked at the book,untill one day,it made sense. No one tried to explain the rules of grammar to you first.

If you ever change your mind and want to learn to read music,DON'T DON'T get caught up in "The lines are every good boy does fine;the spaces are FACE". Get a recording of the JS Bach two part inventions,and the music. Listen to the inventions and watch the music. Do that every day for a year and you might be suprised how much music notation skill you pick up.(Then do the three part inventions;then the Well Tempered Clavier.)

If that approach works for you, pick a piece of music you want to learn,watch the notation,listen to the recording,and play along. Then play and watch the music;then play it from memory.
cwlondon OP
1,210 posts
 
Pragmatist

Now that sounds great! Thank you for the suggestion.

For the one or two music lessons that I obviously did not stick with, "Put Put Goes the Little Steamboat" somehow did not fill me with inspiration as an adult.

I still find it curious that so many people seem to think reading is essential.

Again, how do we explain Stevie Wonder?

And could anyone please suggest a similar exercise to Pragmatists suggestion for the Bach inventions, but in a blues or jazz form?
cornfedboy
1,645 posts
 
get a player piano. it's probably the best to which you might inspire.
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