My Key to Success!

This week I learned three songs from my learn to play piano book. (Watch the video below!) So far, the songs are pretty easy for me to learn. But this may be because I played these three songs when I was really little and tried to learn how to play the piano...I learned in the brain unit for enrichment that the connections made as a young child are very important and can help you to learn something more easily in the future. As I have just learned, this is true, and because I tried to play the piano when I was very young, the piano isn't as hard for me to learn now! This is a very exciting realization because maybe there is some hope that I can learn the piano quickly and well...and maybe even be a piano prodigy some day!




Piano Playing for Week 2 Blog from A G on Vimeo.
Speaking of piano prodigies, I did some research about Christina and Michelle Naughton. They are twenty four-year-old identical twins who have been playing piano since they were four! Although they originally started out as solo pianists, now they are duet pianists. They play their songs together. Sometimes, they play on separate pianos, but they also often play together on the same piano. In fact, I saw them perform at the Kimmel Center a few weeks ago (that is how I know about them) and they played one song where their arms were all crossed over each other! It was so cool! I do not think that I would have enough patience to be able to practice with someone like that, especially not a sibling! Also, after watching some videos of the twins, I noticed that with all the swaying, emotion, etc. that they put into their music, if I were doing that, I would probably bump heads with my partner! There was a question/answer part of the concert that I went to, and someone asked the twins how long they practice each day. They replied that they practice for hours each day, varying slightly on the availability of  a piano when they go on tours. They also mentioned that when they started playing the piano when they were four, they practiced only for ten minutes each day, because it was important to have consistent practice to form strong connections in their brains, but it was unrealistic for a four year old to be sitting at a piano for hours each day. They also didn't become duet pianists until they were in college; they played singly until then. Here is a link to a video of the twins playing; it's amazing! http://youtu.be/R9qBu7TVOHg (I am sorry that it is a link to youtube, but I could not find a video of the twins on Vimeo or anywhere else that is not blocked on the school computers...)

I am still having difficulties with the numbers representing different fingers, and I also often have my left hand one key too far to the left, because in the book I have, it has both thumbs on the middle C, but that is uncomfortable for me because for the songs that I have started looking at for next week with two hands, I do not know where to put my second thumb so it is not in the way of the first thumb! I think that to overcome this difficulty, I will just have to continue to practice. 

Sources I used:
"Christina and Michelle Naughton Biography Pdf Free Ebook Download from Www.chambermusicdetroit.org." EbookBrowse.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Mar. 2013. <http://ebookbrowse.com/christina-and-michelle-naughton-biography-pdf-d404980105>.

Christians, Lindsay. "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pianists!" Madison.com. 77 Square, 26 Oct. 2010. Web. 01 Mar. 2013. <http://host.madison.com/entertainment/music/the-sisterhood-of-the-traveling-pianists/article_c75ae01e-c443-5b78-ae16-28239f307eb1.html>.

Malpass, Monica. "Take Note: Twin Piano Prodigies." 6abc.com. Action News, 9 Mar. 2009. Web. 1 Mar. 2013. <http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local&id=6698434>.