Following one of those wonderfully serendipitous encounters on the internet, I am delighted to present “Notes from the Keyboard”, a series of articles for adult amateur pianists, by Dakota Gale, chronicling his own experiences of learning the piano as an adult.
Four years ago, my wife surprised me with a digital piano for my birthday. I’d mentioned my desire to learn a few times and, ever the muse, she called my bluff.
I couldn’t read music. Finding middle C was a quest. I was a B-E-G-I-N-N-E-R.
And yet…she was right. At 38 years old, I tumbled rapturously into the world of piano.
Four years later, the honeymoon phase is over, and yet I remain motivated to play every day and am still loving the journey. (<–understatement: I’m head-over-heels for it.)
I even do stuff like learning to do portraits by drawing musicians! (My wife tells me that’s eccentric…)
I’m playing pieces by Chopin, Debussy, Beethoven, Liszt, and other famous composers that I thought were a decade off. Even facing the inevitable frustrations of piano study, I’m finding joy in piano every.single.day.
Learning piano transcends fun – I feel like I’ve unearthed a gift, a path to access some of the most beautiful music ever written. Accessing the pieces revealed a fountain of satisfaction that isn’t tied to money or achievement, a much-needed oasis of play as an adult.
In fact, I’ll often drop into a flow state for 30 minutes and be surprised when my timer goes off. Where else do we get that feeling once we’re done playing with Legos or mud pies?
You, mega-savvy adult reader, can do it too!
Adults CAN learn to play piano
I share my achievements not to brag (many pianists young and old far outshine my abilities), but to offer hope to adult learners. If you’re telling yourself, “Oh, I could never learn to play” or “I’m not musical” or “only kids can learn piano,” let me persuade you otherwise.
I’m shocked how many people tell me only children can learn. Well, kids are “naturals” at learning because:
They don’t over-complicate things, focusing on foundational blocks that are small and approachable. (Be it music, language, or other skills.)
Kids are able to practice more undistracted hours because an adult provides housing, food, and does their laundry. Their job is to be curious sponges; our Adult Role is often yawn-tastic Tuesdays, repeated.
Adults lack those luxuries. We put pressure on ourselves, try to play songs that are too hard for us, question if the time investment is worth it, and simply don’t have as much time to practice.
I’m an adult. (It snuck up on me.) On top of all the typical adult stuff, I have far too many hobbies. Sometimes friends do annoying things like interrupt my piano reverie to invite me to dinner or on bike rides. *sigh* The inconsiderate louts, I must practice!
And yet by carving out time each day to study piano, in a few months I reached a deeply satisfying level of proficiency that kept me coming back. After four years, I’m frankly astonished sometimes at what my fingers can do.
As a bonus, it’s beautiful for people to listen to (or so they pretend). A skill I’ll enjoy and develop for a lifetime, long after I’m done taking irresponsible risks on my mountain bike.
Beyond that, I’m fired up! I look forward to enjoying creating music the rest of my life and only wish I’d started earlier.
Dear reader, welcome to “Notes from the Keyboard: Adult Piano Chronicles” on The Cross-Eyed Pianist. This will be an ongoing series about my journey learning piano as an adult. I’ll share my journey (ups and downs!) and headaches with pieces and how I resolve them. I promise to absolutely not take myself too seriously—after all this is a hobby, not a vocation.
If you have ideas for topics you’d like to hear about from a dedicated amateur student of classical piano such as myself, please don’t hesitate to reach out. I’m looking forward to sharing this journey with you!
Dakota Gale
When he isn’t playing piano, Dakota Gale enjoys learning languages (especially Italian) and drawing. He also writes about reclaiming creativity as an adult and ditching tired personal paradigms in his newsletter, Traipsing About. He can often be spotted camping and exploring mountain bike trails around the Pacific Northwest.
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British composer and multi-faceted musician Matt Dibble died tragically in 2021 at the age of 40 from complications following the AstraZeneca covid vaccination. His untimely death left a void in the classical, jazz and pop worlds: he was a musician of great breadth, versatility, talent and innovation, and his 24 Preludes & Fugues, released posthumously, are a testament to this, blending neo-Baroque, jazz, easy listening pop, klezmer and folk music, and modernist influences into a deeply personal collection created over six years.
Only a handful of close friends knew of the ‘Preludes and Fugues’, which Matt began in 2015 and composed very privately, completing the set within mere weeks of his passing. Such was his devotion to this project that, when he first went to hospital, he told those with him where the compositions could be found, should anything happen to him. With the secrecy and longevity of the project, and the incredible timing of its completion, the story behind this music is akin to a romantic tragedy.
Who or what inspired you to pursue a career in music and who or what have been the most important influences on your musical life and career?
There was no musical influence until I saw and wanted a little toy piano at the age of 5, which my parents bought for me. Having shown interest in pressing keys that make sound, my parents proceeded to find me a teacher. In fact one of my several childhood teachers still follows my career to this day. She introduced me to the wonders of music through reading me all sorts of stories, literature and relating it to the music that we would listen to. I especially remember being inspired by the legendary recording of 12-year-old Evgeny Kissin playing both Chopin Concerti.
What have been the greatest challenges of your career so far?
It has definitely been a learning curve since winning the Leeds Piano Competition. You have to be very disciplined with your time, carefully estimate and learn about what you can or can’t manage, preferably not the hard way! Planning programmes has been especially challenging as you have to take into account many factors, e.g. my development, audiences, and of course what I want to say artistically.
Which performances/recordings are you most proud of?
I am pretty happy with the Transcendental Etudes for the time being. I really enjoyed the process of creating something in a church in Hampstead for three days straight. It was quite an intimate experience as opposed to being on stage. That music has such a vast variety of ideas, so I felt fortunate to be able to explore it and try to convey this variety.
Which particular works/composers do you think you perform best?
At this point, I don’t think there are any I could say I perform best. I’m constantly learning about the styles of each composer and sometimes I relate with one more than the other at certain times. I can only say that I could never stop playing Beethoven or Chopin.
What do you do off stage that provides inspiration on stage?
Everything in life contributes, from eating, visiting places, to spending time with interesting people. A more direct way of being inspired for me is listening to others.
Do you have a favourite concert venue to perform in and why?
Besides Wigmore Hall, I very much enjoy playing in the Philharmonic Hall of my home town in Almaty, Kazakhstan. I enjoy sharing with the audience of such different culture what I’ve learnt over here.
What do you feel needs to be done to grow classical music’saudiences?
Making classical music accessible to everyone so everybody has the opportunity to discover potential affinity for it. Of course, the earlier the better.
What is your most memorable concert experience?
Definitely Rachmaninov Second Piano Concerto at the Proms [in 2023] with 2 days notice!
As a musician, what is your definition of success?
Success suggests an end goal for a certain task. As there is no end to perfection in music, I’d say making sure of consistent growth however small, is a success.
What advice would you give to young/aspiring musicians?
Discover yourself, your strengths and weaknesses. Play to your strengths while working on your weaknesses. I was fortunate to have a teacher who assisted me with this.
Pianist Alim Beisembayev hails from Kazakhstan and has already made a name for himself, having won the world-renowned Leeds Piano Competition in 2021 aged just 23. He appears at this year’s Cheltenham Music Festival on Thursday 11 July playing music by Schubert, Chopin and Clara Schumann. More information
A noticeable stir arose in piano circles around Bordeaux recently when Maria Joao Pires scheduled a rare recital in the city’s Auditorium concert hall. One of the greatest living pianists of our time, she has become increasingly absent from the concert stage in the past few years. Her commitment to interests outside of the music world has taken over much of her time and interest.
In Bordeaux she played a modest programme of Mozart sonatas and two Debussy pieces. For 90 minutes without intermission, she displayed her famous keyboard touch, her blinding virtuosity and her respect for the score. Gracious bows between numbers showed her appreciation for the audience which, she said, came for the music, not the show.
As she said in our interview (below), “It’s not about me, you know.” She believes we have “more values to protect – nature and art, life itself “.
We met backstage at the Auditorium on a sunny June afternoon. She was relaxed in conversation, with an easy smile and a refreshing frankness about the piano world and about the effects of ageing.
A highlight of her teaching avocation was her U.S. production of her Partitura Workshop at Northwestern University in Chicago and at the Gilmore Festival in Kalamazoo, Michigan, last year.
Gilmore director Pierre van der Westhuizen recalled for me the impact she made in Kalamazoo. “Ms Pires took us back to the way music should be instructed,” he said. “These pianists almost became as apprentices. (The six participants) spent the whole day together, learning together, socializing together. Ms Pires asked as many questions of them as they of her.”
Ms. Pires also recalled the warmth and enthusiasm she encountered in Chicago and Kalamazoo.
In our interview, she spoke about life at 80. Her playing is hampered, she said, by a case of dystonia but she is not ready to retire. In the Autumn she heads for Asia, playing in Japan, Taiwan and South Korea. She will skip China because she has been blacklisted there for playing at a conference that the Dalai Lama attended.
She explained her restricted repertoire by showing me her small hands. She placed her palm against my “piano hands”, which easily engulfed hers. She avoids composers such as the big Russians, Rachmaninov and Prokofiev, whose demands on the pianist stretch well beyond the reach of an octave.
In our wide-ranging discussion, she said she still needs to practice, sometimes for one hour a day, sometimes for five hours. “What shrinks is not only your skills, it’s your repertoire. That’s life,” she said.
Here is an edited transcript of our interview.
MJ: At your recent recital in Bordeaux, the audience went wild. You got a standing ovation over your very fine Mozart and Debussy programme.
MJP: It’s not about me, you know. The real ovation should be about the dialogue with the music. We don’t need the ovation because we have more values to protect — nature and art, life itself.
You have just turned 80. Your fans have been expecting you to retire for some time. What does your agenda say?
No, I am not ready to retire. I have a couple of concerts coming soon, then I need a vacation, then in the fall I go to the Far East, to Taiwan, Korea, Japan.
What? Not China, site of the world’s biggest piano craze?
I have played a lot in Japan over my career but I don’t play in China any more because they won’t grant me a visa.
Did they give you a reason?
Yes, at a conference a few years ago l played for the Dalai Lama. To the Chinese leaders, that’s a no-no! But I still have many private students in China working with me online.
In Asia there are large numbers of serious piano students – too many for their local needs. Some of them will become great artists and they will come to the West, won’t they?
Certainly.
Are you concerned about the influx awaiting us?
I’m very concerned . Mainly about the number of people who don’t get the transmission of knowledge from a school or a culture to them, the players.
Your Gilmore workshop in Kalamazoo last year had six students, five of whom were Asians. Is that a sign of the future?
It is. No more comment.
Isn’t piano study a big problem in the USA, with all the electronic games and distractions from music lessons?
The problem is also in Europe. We have lost a lot of quality, in terms of knowledge behind the music. The schools do not make the transmission from the composers to us. We owe that to the composers. And it’s very sad because now we focus on goals and competition, and competition does not go well with art.
You had a life in the competition world, did you not?
Not really. At about age 28 I was obliged to compete because I was chosen by the (Salazar) dictatorship in Portugal and I had to go to the Beethoven Competition in Brussels.
You won that first prize didn’t you?
Yes but I am absolutely not proud at all of that.
Do you have an opinion about competitions?
I have an opinion, a very strong opinion. Competition and art do not go together. Unfortunately young people believe that if they don’t participate in competitions, they cannot earn a living. That’s an illusion, I promise you, it’s a total illusion. A pianist with skills and knowledge can do many other things.
Don’t young pianists from wealthy backgrounds have an easier way forward?
I have nothing against money or rich people. But I have something against how much can this can disturb our view. I see more and more young people being distracted by that idea. Money is replacing everything. It is replacing the clear view over everything. We need more empathy with other people. If we don’t have that empathy we are blind, in terms of consciousness. This is the worst thing that could happen.
Are you still playing regularly?
Yes, but I have a big problem with my right hand dystonia [involuntary muscle contractions in the hands]. This is taking too much effort. I also have small hands, so I always have problems. Age just makes it worse. [She presses her open palm against my “piano hands”. I easily envelope hers in mine.]
Ashkenazy also has tiny hands and yet he manages to jump octaves, even tenths.
Tiny is one thing. This is another. I have a child’s hands and that’s different from “tiny” hands.
Your repertoire seems tightly controlled, with accent on Bach, Mozart, Chopin, Schubert, Debussy.
Even among the French impressionists, I play with great difficulty. It’s not easy. And neither can I do the Russians, Rachmanniov, Prokofiev. But I like to teach pieces that I don’t play.
You have recorded Schumann and Brahms.
Yes, but I play them but in very small amounts.
You have been quoted as blaming Liszt for inventing the modern solo piano format.
No, Liszt was a great composer. How can I blame him? If I cannot play some pieces, it’s my fault, not his.
Over the past twenty years, workshops and teaching are taking you more and more away from the concert stage.
Yes, I have always been interested in the transmission of skills and knowledge. As an adult, I realized that the transmission is cut back. So the transmission of art is not happening any more. I wish we could be stronger in our complaining about what’s going on. We have no clear view over future generations. How to teach them, how to deal with problems.
How much energy do you have left? How much more stamina is there in you, living in hotels, taking planes and trains throughout Europe and Asia? Doesn’t that wear you down?
Yes, it does, and I was sick really badly for six months and this was a very good lesson for me. My body and spirit were saying “Come on, take care of yourself.” I still have a bit of energy but I rest when I need to rest.
You have said you suffer from stage fright.
I have a lot of stage fright. We have this responsibility, and that can give you a lot of pressure. So you don’t want to go on stage. I prefer if I wake up on a day that I have nothing on stage, I am happy. And if I don’t have to go into an airplane, I am happy. It is not a pleasant life. But it is a life that brings a lot of experience. A vision of the world, and of the people — how they react to things.
Are you still uncomfortable playing in public?
Yes, but I am comfortable with people who collaborate with me, people who are there to listen to the music. I feel they are friends.
Do you still need to practice?
Yes, I need to practice more and more. Sometimes an hour a day, sometimes five, sometimes nothing. What shrinks is not only your skills, it’s your repertoire. That’s life.
If you could choose, how do you want to be remembered after your time runs out?
No problem. I have no wish at all. All right, I have one wish. When I die, I don’t want to die stupid or mean.
Michael Johnson and Frances Wilson recently published a collection of interviews with concert pianists, under the title “Lifting the Lid”. The book is available through Amazon.
MICHAEL JOHNSONis a music critic and writer with a particular interest in piano. He has worked as a reporter and editor in New York, Moscow, Paris and London over his journalism career. He covered European technology for Business Week for five years, and served nine years as chief editor of International Management magazine and was chief editor of the French technology weekly 01 Informatique. He also spent four years as Moscow correspondent of The Associated Press. He is a regular contributor to International Piano magazine, and is the author of five books.Michael Johnson is based in Bordeaux, France. Besides English and French he is also fluent in Russian.
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