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Keyboards/Piano Learning Keyboard at age 25?, Need advice on Keyboard

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TSanson81
post Dec 4 2006, 11:53 PM, updated 19y ago

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hi all,

just wish to enquiry, is there any keyboard classes for adult? will it be too late for a person age 25 to learn keyboard (I don't have any music background,can't even read note, just played guitar for fun last time)?
i'm dreaming one day that i'm able to play electronic keyboard,
since i'm affordable now, what class can you all will suggest to me? what equipment should i have for startup? how much should i estimate to start this hobby? Or should I give up electronic keyboard n choose to stick back to guitar? Hope to get your professional opinion.
TSanson81
post Dec 5 2006, 07:16 AM

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QUOTE(tomzy @ Dec 5 2006, 01:36 AM)
dude, just remember it's never late for everything... from what i see that you're keen in the keyboard and yet confuse between picking up the keyboard or sharpen your skills on the guitar. i may suggest that you give a try by playing the keyboard first then probably invest on a low budget ones. cause keyboard and guitar are both differend feel in terms on playing the instrument. but if you really dig both of it then play both, it's always good to be a multi instrumentalist. one more thing, 25 is still at the age of learning man, so it's still good that you're picking it up now.
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Thanks for giving me so much confidence.... since all ppl here said age doesn't a matter, i would go for it.
but before this, which music school should i look for ? i'm living in KL, any suggestion?
as a beginner for keyboard, what is the basic thing i should learn? n what type of keyboard i can purchase?, i probably can afford around 1k to 1.3k for buying a instrument, the rest might saves for classes....
TSanson81
post Dec 5 2006, 09:35 PM

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Any other opinion~~??
TSanson81
post Dec 8 2006, 07:27 AM

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QUOTE(changhao @ Dec 6 2006, 01:27 PM)
Get your music theory right before progressing too far into playing the instrument. Many folks (incl. myself when I first started) tend to overlook theory but I can tell you, with good music theory knowledge, everything else will fall into place.

Also, the same music theory applies to all instruments, so should you tire of the keyboard and wanna learn a few other instruments in future, knowledge of music theory speeds things up quite a bit. smile.gif
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does that means that i should attend music theory class first? im wondering, once in a week for keyboard classes... n everytime is just 30 to 40min... is that enough? the remaining pratice at home?
TSanson81
post Dec 8 2006, 02:47 PM

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hey guys, juz survey the price n classes, they recommend me Casio CTK-900....said suitable n nice to beginner...., wat u all think?? price is RM1200,
TSanson81
post Jul 13 2007, 11:30 PM

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QUOTE(Andy214 @ Jan 8 2007, 01:41 AM)
To learn the piano or keyboard, it's better to buy a piano/digital piano because it will actually train your fingers and you'll actually learn faster... the sound is also very important, you'll be amazed how well you can capture the tunes/play better when the sounds are better... In a Piano/Digital Piano, the sounds are usually better than the keyboard.

I started with a 61-keys keyboard, that time I don't know much about these stuffs, I just wanna get something cheap for my lessons... later I found out the keys are not enough, the sounds are not satisfying, when I played on the digital piano in during the lessons, I can't play so well even tough I've practice enough, and catching the melody/etc is much easier when in the lesson with digital piano... the feel is very different... After I bought the digital piano, I improve so much and so fast, and the moment I touch back my keyboard, I feel it's so plastic and feels like a toy...

Anyway, as for the classes, I suggest you go for the "PLAY BY EAR" course... They have 3 levels in total and by the time you finish LEVEL 1, you're approximately Grade 5 of normal Piano lessons... There's only 20 lessons in LEVEL 1, which would take up to 6 months (or you can take it easy with 2 lessons each month up to 1 year). Actually this is NOT just learning the piano, it's learning THE ART OF MAKING MUSIC using the piano. You DON'T actually learn NOTES, you learn how to listen to a song, play it by ear, learn how to catch/build the chords, create your own style, etc... What do they mean by art of making music? In normal piano lessons, you're actually learning HOW TO play the piano and master it, in this, you're actually learning how to create music and also learning the piano since you're using it... which means, you can apply the theory/knowledge you learn on almost every instrument, you just need to know HOW to play them.

I'm still a student, currently undergoing Level 2, and I still can't read notes... but so far, I'm able to play the songs I want by ear and create the chords from the melody itself, some may not 100% accurate to the song but some chords are NOT fixed and you can also play the song very differently depending on the styles you apply.

Last time before I took the lessons, I was able to catch the melody by hearing to a song, but never understand what is a chord or the left hand part, I took up this lessons cause it's "PLAY BY EAR". If you can play by ear naturally, you should check out this course. One thing about this course is... it's a fast course, which means, you have to really work for it and train,... unless you are very familiar with the piano/keyboard....

Check:
http://www.playbyear.com.my
You call up to check for their presentation, they have students over 80 years of age as well... there's even a lady, forgot who is that, some datin I think, completed and graduated from Level 2 of the course... They even have blind students. On November last year, they have the blind students showing off on stage. The fees I would say it's very cheap since you don't need long time to learn... For each level is 2K+...

I would not suggest you getting a keyboard actually, but if you insist on getting one, try to get at least 76-keys, it shouldn't cost more than 2K for a decent one anyway. Since you have more budget, you should check out 88-keys Digital Piano with Weigthed Keys. Go test those keyboards/pianos before you buy to make sure you like how it feels/the touch and the sounds... Also, do check for the functions/rythms/etc.. which you require. (For "Play By Ear", the rythmn is quite important or very, but I never really used it cause my Level 1 "Coach" (that's what they call) never use it.).

If you wanna check more on digital pianos and keyboard, you can check Roland US website, but their instruments are NOT cheap...
http://www.rolandus.com
Navigate to each product, usually you will see there're videos for it and you can see what it can do. For Digital Piano, you can check out the HP series or KR Series, the KR Series is more expensive and there're tons of videos for it. For Keyboards, you can check out the Arranger series, check out EXR series, those are great Arranger Keyboards but they're expensive and there's only 1 or 2 videos (There's a cheap model, around 3K, I forgot the model name, it's quite new and has lotsa features too...). Finally, I personally like the STAGE PIANO RD-700SX, check out the videos... the cheaper version would be RD-300SX but it's quite a big difference for me.

Anyway, I'm not suggesting you to buy Roland since you're budget is low, just informing you about the website as it provides tons of videos/demos on the products, which other makes really lacks... If you're looking for latest features, etc... you can check Casio, it's very cheap and very up to date, just check their website and you can find their piano/keyboard have a lot of features, and they usually have learning functions too...

For sounds and touch/feel, you should try them out yourself, everyone has their own opinions on each make.

Lastly, good luck and all the best!
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play by ear very interesting.... where u attend the class nowadays? i assume u already in level 3 now?
TSanson81
post Jul 14 2007, 10:20 AM

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QUOTE(Cello @ Jul 14 2007, 05:18 AM)
Levels? Not grade?

Which music school you study?
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he is mentioning about school "play by ear" lesson...

Andy~ so which branch you attend the class? i wish to join too? and you clear about the fees and schedule? mind to share?
TSanson81
post Jul 17 2007, 02:58 PM

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QUOTE(Andy214 @ Jul 16 2007, 11:46 PM)
I attend the one @ subang, the last 2 classes they shifted to USJ Taipan,... very jam.... =O and no parking...

The fees as I know of is a one time payment, but I heard some student have some different arrangement on the payments.

As for the schedule, you are free to arrange with your teacher (they're called Music Coach instead, because they're like a coaching, guiding you). For Level 1 and Level 2, there're 20 classes for each level, for Level 3, it's split into 2 sub-levels, 20 classes each, total 40 classes. For each Level, you have 1 year to complete, so you can do it slowly or fast, it's up to you, most importantly, you can keep up and have enough practice. If you're already very familiar with the keyboard/piano, then you should be able to progress very fast.
Per level (which is 1 year, but actually 20 classes).... If per month, I straight open my own! =P
It's not exactly 2k, it's 2k++, not sure about the exact amount, but if you divide it, its roughly 100++ per class, since there's 20 classes. By the way, there's only 3 levels for the normal classes, there're other types of piano classes towards profesional playing. Basically, level 1 is good enough for playing for fun/hobby. Level 2 you'll learn about accompaniments (backups), different playing styles (jazz, latin, etc) which is very tough, especially to me, requires very good 2 hand coordination, timing and accuracy (it'll be beneficial/easier if you can play the keyboard/piano well). Level 3 I'm not exactly sure, but it's more advanced, such as, how to add additional chords/keys to make the song more alive, filling-in those "missing" part of a song, etc...

Hope the info is clear, for more information you can visit the website or call up for inquiry:
http://www.playbyear.com.my
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about RM100+ per class? how many hour it will takes? think its more expensive than normal one. which is about RM100 per month but only 4 times, about RM25perclass, but only 1/2 hour la. if 20 times only RM500. right? but ofcoz i believe there is different la...

TSanson81
post Jul 18 2007, 11:05 AM

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QUOTE(Andy214 @ Jul 18 2007, 10:17 AM)
Haha, that's one funny quote,... how old are you btw?

Anyway, do you know that normal piano lessons are the "Classical" music path? You're learning classical music, and you're spending way too much time on learning many unnecessary or simple things, some music school will shorten those, etc.

Well, my point is, there's always MANY ways to do things including learning, this is NOT rushing, that's why I say, you can take it slow, two weeks per class, heck you can adjust yourself, for easier lessons, you might only need little practice. Do you think what you're learning in school now is NOT simplified version? We're humans and we're always moving forward and advancing and simplifiying our life, make learning faster, etc... Be open and try to differentiate between "short-cut" path and simplified path... Many people can't accept these simplified or easier learning methods by simply accusing them as short-cut, etc...

Anyway, if you've been a teacher or teach before, any subject, you should know you can either teach the old traditional way, which usually takes a very long time, or you can find ways to make your student understand faster, etc.

For the "Play By Ear", there're teaching you creating music by your feeling and ear using the piano, the natural way, music is NOT paper, is your feeling and hearing... It's simply teaches you to understand what is music, how to create music, etc... You usually don't learn or understand it in conventional piano classes untill after Grade 5 mostly...

Before you judge something, try to understand what it does and how it works, this course is very straightforward and easy to understand, even old people can pickup easily, the oldest student if I'm not wrong is 80+, and got one Datin completed Level 2, fyi. Kids understand and can create and play the piano really really well within 2 years of classes usually (for Kids, they have 40 classes per level due to more attention needed). It's simply the same theory and technique when you self-learn, the founder/creator of this "Play By Ear" is a self-taught musician, he created all these simplified methods (e.g. formula for calculating MAJOR chords = R+4+3) and techniques, and he can play up to 9 instruments if I'm not wrong.

By the way, there're NOT just "Play By Ear", there're so many simplified courses out there on the internet, and it's not something NEW anyway. But if you plan to learn classical, then you're adviced to follow the conventional piano classes which will take years... Classical is a slow and tough path, if you can keep up and stay it's good, but don't one day say, "this is not what I wanted"... which happens to many who don't understand before taking up the courses, which is one major reason why they drop out of piano classes.

Try looking up Scott Houston "The Piano Guy", he has one book and video which teach you the simple methods of learning the piano... In the video, he also ask the question "Who wants to learn to play songs like the latest pop songs, christmas songs, etc?" and "Who wants to learn the classical music?"... obviously you know the results, and he also mentioned that many people didn't understand what the conventional piano lessons does and goes for it, and they're thrown book by book, playing "DO RE MI" for a few classes, and they can't even play the song they wanted after a long period of time... Watch the video, it's interesting and funny.. He also mentioned "Lead Sheet" (some called it fake sheet because they thought it's fake), if you don't know what it is, it's simply a song sheet without the bass clef, which many conventional piano players got confused and cannot play... In simplified methods, usually, they're using Lead Sheet mainly because they understand how music works, they can even come up with chords given the melody. For me, one drawback is I didn't learn to read notes, so I can't read notes, but even if I can, I can sight play, so this is one drawback/weakness with this course but doesn't mean one cannot learns it, just that I don't bother learning sight-playing as I don't use notes/sheet. I'm not really can't read notes, I know the "FACE" thingy, but I can't read it as fast. For notes/sheet usually I'll use to double-check for whether I got the correct chords, but you have to understand also that not all chords are fixed. I don't you don't take this as boasting, just sharing the information of what you can achieve from these courses, in fact, I'm considered not so good at it, if you compare it with the music coach, they can easily catch the chords and very fast, very impressive to even see. And don't say "because they're the teacher/music coach ma", most of them were students, many start from 0 or beginning, so some might only be few yeas or more exprience with the piano. Like my Level 2 music coach, which is only about 3 years in piano, but can play extremely well.

Lastly, altough all this *might* sound interesting and/or easy and intimidating... it's still important to understand and know that, which I've mentioned, you're required to work hard and practice as well and don't rush it... If you need more time to practice, do so,... it's important that you understand and can keep up...  Also, it does not mean no students will drop out / lost interest from these course, just less and depends on whether they know what they wanted and willing to work for it... For normal piano classes, you need to work hard as well, doesn't mean for normal it's slower then you can take it easy...
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Hey Andy... don't worry... i know u r sharing ur thoughts to us and i'm really appreciate it. By what you said above.... i really feel impressive about that. and i can't wait to attend the class....
ad u mean we can attend once per 2 week? that means the fees is depends on classes and not monthly basis right? so per class still 45 min per session?
TSanson81
post Jul 19 2007, 10:52 AM

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Wow... wow...... just relax guys.....
i got few to say to cello and Andy,

Actually I know what cello tried to tell us. he try to tell us that "music" / "piano" do not have any shortcuts, we must practice and learn from beginning. I totally agreed that IF MY AGE IS 19. If I would recommend a teenagers or a kid to learn music... i will ask them to spend a lot of times to learn it from very beginning including the history of music.

But come back to this forum's TOPIC, which i asked, which is Learning Keyboard at age 25...... I'm not that old enough until can SMELL DEATH... haha... but i'm 26 this year. I'm already a working adult with a lot of commitment even having wife and kid soon.... so i believe Andy actually will understand what we will need to take care of on this moment.... I can't put all my time into music as i'm not studying "DIPLOMA IN MUSIC" or anything.... like Andy and Cello said... i learn music is JUST for FUN and not any other reason like "showing off to girls" etc... haha... i wish to hav that moment too.... but like andy said... there is no much chances to do that... i learn music is for my own hobbies. I liked to jam as well.... that makes me even want to learn more instrument... so i can perform multiple instrument to PLAY FOR FUN.

Hopefully you all understand... we just share our thoughts and no objection here....
TSanson81
post Jul 20 2007, 10:06 PM

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QUOTE(Andy214 @ Jul 20 2007, 12:42 PM)

Talking about drum courses, I attended the talk or demo (sort of), they mentioned about rythymn which is also an important part in music. The talk was very well carried out and also explain the importance of music and how it affects people's life, etc.
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the do hav drum courses as well? wow... in the meanwhile... im thinking of getting a drum class as well... i already contacted the center person... said that will give me a explanation more detail on it.... but i briefly asked them about the fees... she said that it is RM150 permonth and the course will takes 1 year to finish.... i'm not sure about the detail... but probably they invite me for a presentation on this sunday at kepong... so i think i will going...
TSanson81
post Jul 21 2007, 08:12 AM

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QUOTE(Andy214 @ Jul 21 2007, 12:50 AM)
Their drum course I think is 499 or 599 for I think about 10 classes. If you're interested, you should attend their presentation, not sure when they'll held again... it's very interesting, and they let you get involved in some activity as well.

Anyway, for Play by Ear, there's an upcoming presentation as follows:

1.    clear up and get to the root of the problems people are facing when learning music
2.    play a game which help you discover whether you have music talent
3.    shows you videos and slides on how people achieve musicality

There's also door gifts worth RM115.00

Dates:
1.    21st (Sat) 2.30pm (Kelana Jaya)
2.    22nd (Sun) 3.00pm (USJ + Kepong)
3.    28th (Sat) 2.30pm (USJ)
4.    29th (Sun) 3.00pm (Kelana + Kepong)

If you're interested, you can pm me your name and contact number and the how many pax are going, OR
you can directly contact:

Alex Leow @ Play By Ear Sdn. Bhd.

41A SS18/1B Subang Jaya
47500 Selangor Malaysia
Tel: 03-56323397 24Hrs Hotline: 03-20733176
Fax: 03-56371802 URL: www.12playbyear.com
Email: enquiry@playbyear.com.my
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hey andy... i got a feeling so far... u seems like a staff for them... you seems so hard sales la... haha....
TSanson81
post Aug 28 2007, 10:16 AM

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QUOTE(DiAw @ Aug 26 2007, 08:25 PM)
Casio Ctk-900 is a good choice 4 you ^^
its function and price is worth 2 buy~(性能和价格的比值很高!) thts why i prefer casio keyboard more than yamaha~
hmm...may i ask you a thing? the keyboard price is RM1200...does it include Keyboard Stand and other equitment smile.gif ?
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yes, it come with stand and the pedal.
but the price is about 8 months ago already

 

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