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On Sat, Jun 19, 2010 at 5:30 PM, Julien Claassen  wrote:

quoted text
> 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

Very interesting, Julien. Thanks for explaining the process.

--

 joq

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