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Adult Beginner Piano Progress – 1 Year of Practice

Brandon Hawksley



***Update 28.01.2019*** Sorry for the wait, but I have uploaded a Q&A type video which answers the most common questions I get asked. I also go into more detail about my practice routine currently, and what I did during the whole first year.

Link: https://youtu.be/MyB6_wRtomY

Thanks for all your support!

-Timestamps-

1) Mad World 1:43
2) Fur Elise 2:11
3) Dearly Beloved 2:52
4) To Zanarkand 3:20
5) Nuvole Bianche 4:01
6) River Flows in You 4:26
7) Clair De Lune 5:06
8) Maple Leaf Rag 6:09
9) Chopin Nocturne in Eb Major (opus9 no2) 7:10
10) Sadness and Sorrow 8:08
11) Chopin Waltz in A Minor B.150 (opus posth) 8:40
12) Chopin Nocturne in C# Minor (opus posth) 9:06
13) Turkish March 10:13
14) Trying to learn Fantaisie-Impromptu 11:00
15) Mozart Sonata in C Major 1st Movement (K545) 11:53
16) Fantaisie-Impromptu 13:00

–

It’s been 1 year this month since I started learning piano and it’s been an amazing and somewhat life changing experience! You may think life changing is a little over the top… but for me it really is true, as this September I will become a full-time music student at University and I’m beyond excited for that!

I decided to make my own 1 year progress video, after watching so many myself before finally committing to purchasing my own digital piano. Who knows, maybe if it wasn’t for those videos I wouldn’t have ever taken that first step, which is crazy to think looking back now! That’s why I decided it was important for me to record these clips and make a video, in hopes of motivating someone else to take up an instrument, giving it there all and seeing where they can go with it too.

Up until month 8 I used Jane’s piano tutorials to learn 99% of the music I learnt. She is a retired math teacher and dedicates her free time to playing through requested pieces by viewers every single day! Mostly all classical pieces have a tutorial and many popular video game, anime, TV shows and movie compositions can be found on her channel. If you really want to learn but can’t afford a teacher, I think this would be your best option.
Jane’s channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCidvz_O5zdX7z2mr4zkeL2g

There are a few pieces I learnt on my own and for lessons which I didn’t put in the video due to time/not recording, so below is a more detailed breakdown of what was happening every month:

Month 1:
-Random beginner piano tutorials and books (stopped trying to read music and started to learn music through online tutorials)
-Gary Jules – Mad World
-Song of storms from The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time – Koji Kondo
-Beethoven – Fur Elise

Month 2:
-Dearly Beloved from Kingdom Hearts – Yoko Shimomura

Month 3:
-To Zanarkand from Final Fantasy X – Nobuo Uematsu
-Ludovico Einaudi – Nuvole Bianche
-Tifa’s Theme form Final Fantasy 7 – Nobuo Uematsu

Month 4:
-Yiruma – River Flows in You
-Ed Sheeran – Shape of You
-Ludovico Einaudi – Una Mattina
(Started getting lessons at the end of this month)

Month 5:
-Claude Debussy – Clair De Lune

Month 6:
-Scott Joplin – Maple Leaf Rag

Month 7:
-Chopin – Nocturne #2 in Eb major (op9 no2)
-Sadness and Sorrow from Naruto – Toshio Masuda

Month 8:
-Various classical pieces from the book ‘Classics to Moderns #2
-Chopin – Waltz in A minor B.150 (Op Posth)
(Stopped learning music through online tutorials and committed to reading music. Everything past this month I learnt by reading)

Month 9:
-Various classical pieces from the book ‘Classics to Moderns #2

Month 10:
-Chopin – Nocturne #20 in C# minor (Op Posth)
-Kuhlau – Sonatina in C major (op55 no1)

Month 11:
-Mozart – Turkish March (K331)
-Clementi – Sonatina in C major (op36 no3)
-Beethoven – Sonata #20 in G major (op49 no2)

Month 12:
-Mozart – Sonata #16 in C major (K545)

1 Year:
-Chopin – Fantaisie-Impromptu (op66 posth)

List of Books used (in somewhat of an order):
-Learn to play Piano by Alison M. Sparrow
-John Thompson’s Easiest Piano Course Books 1, 2 and 3
-Take Five and pass first time (for learning up to grade 5 theory) -Classic to Moderns Books 1 and 2
-Sonatina Album Volume 1 (Peters Edition)
-Chopin Nocturnes (Henle)
-Chopin Impromptus (Henle)
-ABRSM – A keyboard anthology Book 1 (sight-reading practice) -ABRSM – Encore Book 1 (sight-reading practice)

Here’s a list of some YouTube channels I found extremely useful when learning:
-Paul Barton: https://www.youtube.com/user/PaulBartonPiano
-Josh Wright: https://www.youtube.com/user/joshwrightpiano
-Cedarville music: https://www.youtube.com/user/cedarvillemusic
-Living Pianos: https://www.youtube.com/user/LivingPianosVideos
-Piano TV: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz0PmHG0RvQHazlEsFU-4uQ
-BachScholar: https://www.youtube.com/user/BachScholar

Pianos used:
-Digital Piano – Yamaha P-115
-Acoustic Pianos – Yamaha U2 (later upgraded to Feurich 125 as seen In last clip)

If you have any questions just ask 🙂

Brandon Hawksley

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42 thoughts on “Adult Beginner Piano Progress – 1 Year of Practice”

  1. **Update 28.01.2019** Thanks for all the support guys it means alot! I finally uploaded a Q&A type video where I answer all the common questions from this video, and go into more detail about what I did throughout the first year, and my current practice routine. I can't answer every comment here, so if you have questions, or want more details check out the video. Link below ⬇️

    https://youtu.be/MyB6_wRtomY

    Thanks so much for all your comments. I was replying to every comment at the start, but now there's just too many I can't respond to each one so sorry about that. Here are answers to the most common questions:

    Q: How many hours do you practice a day?
    A: 2-3 hours a day. Most days it's 3 hours.

    Q: Did you have any prior music experience?
    A: I played the flute for a few months in primary school, and also played the drums for a couple of months early in secondary school, but dropped both as I lost interest. I had never touched a piano before day 1 in my video as far as I can remember.

    Q: How are you reading by day 4?
    A: The book had the letters beside the notes, so I wasn't really reading the notes at all, just the letters C,D,E,F,G.

    Q:How did you learn?
    A: After the first week I gave up on reading and learnt everything using Jane's Piano Tutorials and Synthesia on YouTube. I soon realised that this method would bite me in the ass down the road if I wanted to learn classical music, so I invested in a piano teacher to help me become classically trained, and learn to read in month 4 (September). Now I learn by reading the sheets, and have been receiving weekly 30 minute lessons since September.

    Q: What materials did you use to learn?
    A: Check my description. I listed all the YouTube channels I frequently use and still use, and all the books I used throughout the year.

    The main goal of this video is to motivate and inspire others to start learning, and was never intended to discourage anyone or give false expectations, but I can see how it would for some. I want to say that my progress is definitely not normal progression, and I had no idea I would improve at the pace I did at the start. However, I have been working extremely hard and have been completely obsessed with it, and have done everything in my power to improve, by learning as much as humanly possible.

    To everyone saying it's fake and I'm a liar, I have no idea whether to take that as a huge compliment or just feel sorry for you. I would happily make a video with a testimonial from my teacher who saw me progress from Mary had a little lamb during my first lesson, to where I am now, but I'm sure the internet would just say he's also in on the piano progress conspiracy lol.

    I'm happy to make a video where I go into more detail with exactly what I did throughout the year, to give some more insight into my practice and possibly ease some people's doubts, so just let me know 🙂

  2. . I am a pianist but I'm self taught starting from the age of 7, now i am 14, and when i watched this, I have compared it to how i learned and I have noticed that you learned notes and all, and I have no idea how to read notes, but i am kinda like Advance and like really really good at piano when i have no teacher and this video inspired me to get a teacher so i can better my progress. Also, amazing job, you played so beautiful. If I could put emojis on this computer keys I would and show a little thumbs up, but keep it up. Pravo

  8. For does who don't believe that you can't do it in one year.

    Read about the great master with a God given talent far greater then me and many other in music.
    There a very few but there are out there and some are no longer with us , but one still is among us , is Mrs Ahmad jamal, he never played the piano ever in his life , then one day his uncle was bugging him…I bet you can't play anything on the piano.
    Jamal set on the piano and play note by note the Tune his uncle was playing.
    Uncle almost faint, lol
    That was a scary thing , a 3 yrs old playing like a pro , and never set on the piano and there you have it , a kid 3 yrs old God given talent , no effort hard work like my self , I bet I can't play what that boy played back then.
    Yes , some of us have a bit more talent then others.
    Some of us can be come very good at music with very hard work but not does that have that titan talent in them naturally.
    And the you have Mrs ahmad jamal saying that no body can play the Piano like Mrs Art Tatum today , he hasn't seen any one.
    He said it , there is no one out there that can play the piano like Tatum!
    No body , Tatum was a very scary beast , one time Tatum was sitting down listening to a big pianist , then the pianist ask Mrs Tatum , how did a do, Tatum said to him , if you would of play everything with One hand , then you could of got my attention….then Tatum sit down and play the whole very complex tune with One hand one time listening to the tune.
    How can that be possible? Right , I don't know , all a can say , the all mighty gave some man more talent then others for a reason.
    But is real , scary real , so scary that when Oscar Peterson heard Tatum play the piano he got scared and didn't wanted to continue playing the piano.
    Know Peterson was a scary beast on keys , so yes is very possible this dude did it in a yrs what jamal did one time at 3 yrs old.
    Maybe 40% could do it in a yr too but not everyone can , but maybe in 3 yrs , yes keep learning and practicing, we'll get there one day.

  11. I have played the instrument for 20 years. I’m amazed by your progress. If I don’t watch this, I would thought it’s impossible for an adult absolute beginner to get here in 1 year even with a teacher. However I do think a teacher could help you get even better. I know it’s very expensive but I also know you must really love playing piano. So please consider this in the future.

  34. The ignorance and jealousy here, dear lord… First of all, he practiced whatever BEFORE the films, then once he thinks he is ready he starts recording. Second, in his Q&A he literally says he just watches videos and copies them in the beginning. The day 4 thing was basically his fingers not moving to a different key and each finger was assigned to a specific note. Third, don't say something is impossible, or can't happen just because YOU can't do something, anyone who has been around music has seen people do crazy shit without even trying. Grow the fuck up and use your brains…

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