Hi.

I would like to get some opinions on whether I should continue my Grade 6 piano..
I'm going to start my Grade 6 piano soon but I have this thought of not wanting to continue anymore..
Reasons are...I'm already 18..and going to college soon..and perhaps going overseas..so I don't think I'll ever finish Grade 8...
secondly..I only know how to read ''taugeh'' and don't know how to play by ear...
I plan to take up PBE courses cuz i personally think that playing by ear is quite important..
I don't want to be a musician who only knows how to play pieces when I have score sheets...
thirdly...classical pieces are boring...that's why I don't like piano lessons and don't practise what my teacher taught me...cuz what I do is only practising pop pieces..

But..the thing is..my dad thinks that Grade 8 qualification is important and told me that I should continue till Grade 8..

I really don't know what to do now...
Can anyone please advise me on this ?

Thank you.

This post has been edited by pink_princess91: Jan 15 2009, 12:28 PM

since you are more than half way there..why not go all the way ?

Continue la. You make lessons sound like torture.

continue..

continue..
the more u play piano, the more u train ur ears..

i never had playing by ears training before but i think my ears pitch recognition is quite good if not perfect..

the dilemma of should continue or not continue......................

anyway, i feel that you should continue. bout the play by ear, it can be learn or train.
you seem unhappy with needing to practice classical pieces. I used to think like that until I found out that classical pieces are actually training you. Maybe you can suggest to your teacher to find some nice classical for you to play.

bout the play by ear, i use to listen to those pop music that contains piano and try to play out the song note for note. Kinda hard intially, but it helps.

Wow everybody says continue....

If you don't like it why continue? Quit and take up banjo
Banjo is cool

i'd just share my thoughts on your situation, both positive and negative insights.

positive insights:

play by ear is cool and fun. but if you don't have the techniques, you can't even play what you have in your mind, and end up more disapointement.

grade 5/6 are what i call "hell period". many students having problem to continue at this stage, because when you're up to grade 5/6 you need to drill on techniques, and started to play boring pieces but those pieces are to improve your techniques.

it's normal if you find it boring, but you can start to buy some pop song pieces and play them. there's no rule for you to just play classical music, just play anything you want.

don't give up, after you reach around grade 7/8, you'll find all those hardworks you did were rewarding.

negative insights:

meanwhile, are you going to further study music, or just study something else?

if you're going to further study something else, then you'll find yourself having hard time to just have a mood to sit down and play some songs. when you get busy on your college/uni works, you don't really have time for other stuffs.

more over, if you're going overseas, you'll even need extra time to get accustomed to foreign culture and environment. you'll also need piano to practice, too, and might end up buying a piano oversea which you may or may not want - but the extra expenses is there, including potentially more expensive fees due to different market price. you'll be surprised even if in indonesia, music courses are more expensive than malaysia.

and lastly, you want to ask yourself - are you serious in further study of piano? do you like it? what do you want to do after you acquire grade 8? some people want to teach (read: earn money), some people simply love it and enjoy playing songs.

just in case, if you're into music study in college, uni, don't worry, it's never too late. finish a grade8 before entering college will save you a lot of time and more efficient in learning stuffs in college as you already have a good foundation. consider also picking up other instruments if you worry about career. i won't go too deep into this unless you want more informations (hell, i created the thread about music career and education, it never get revived).

good luck!

Hi..
I'm glad many of you replied..
And I appreciate every reply that all of you have given me...
Thank you very much ! =)

I really hope I can make the right choice..

it is to me......nyet nyet

think of grade 1-8 of music as your foundation levels. sorta like spm like that. its the basic and foundations of music.

if u plan to be any sort of musician, its just basics.
i know u wanna play by ear and thats not wrong. but having a good foundation will help u go further.

so you should finish up your lessons if u can afford n got the time.