Its really difficult to train my left hand, i;ve started the piano for 4 months and my tone is not very even. My teacher emphasizes on counting, but i hate counting. though i admit its useful, its taxing to me. Do i really have to count my way through to grade 8. I`m already 21, its already disheartening to be starting at a such a late age, and i`m skeptical of how far i can go. 4 months into the piano and furthest i have gone is lavender blues and aloquette. that is only half a book (i`m using alfred`s basic piano course for adults) what i really want to play are pieces like Pachelbel`s canon in d and fur elise. My friend tells me my progress is a bit slow, and it probably will take another 3-4 years before i can manage those pieces. Is it true? if so, how can speed up my progress? i`m practicing 2 hours a day.

There`s no where one can speed up. Music is not a race, it`s a lifelong jourmey. If you`ve already done all that u can( I mean if I`m your teacher, I`ll be estatic to know you`re doing 2 hrs per day! )...then just relax and give yourself some time. Technic development takes time, so long as u practiced enough the correct way, you`ll go a long way.
Some people take just 3 months to learn Fur Elise ( I`m talking about the whole complete work ), yet there are people who take 3 or 5 years to learn. And so what if u take just 3 or a month to learn? What matters is the end product , not the time factor, and by having learned that much longer before attempting a much more difficult song, you would have developed a stronger understanding of the work, which otherwise will not show in haste learners. Trust me, Rome IS NOT built in ONE day.
And being 21 is not too late to start. I have 4 adult student...one started at age 13, another 23, another 38, another 40. And guess what? They are all piano teachers now. Talk to other beginners students more to find out what they`re doing, and don`t b take `ridiculous` comparisons to heart... If u engage conversations with an advanced pianist(but obviously immature)...of caz you`re bound to get snub at here and there a little .
Left Hand... Ok, you`ve to have a good hand shape (u can place yr palm over your knee cap and feel the shape). And make sure u lift , seperate and `walk` the fingers when playing the piano. Feel the keys with the most sensative and fleshy part of your fingers( fingertip).
And u can do scales, arppegios(esp) that work on building a strong handshape and discipline fingers.
Visit us at http://www.solomusic.net/forum
Thank you.

Quoted:...There`s no where one can speed up...
Sorry, I meant to type `There`s no way`
BTW, counting is an important device... it serves not onlr rhythmic purpose, but most essentially co-ordination purpose. If u can`t figure out when to press what note at what time, it will affect your overall co-ordination...esp. when the rhythm starts to deviate from just crotchets, minims and semibreves into future 4 against 3 or 2 etc.
Remember, counting=ability to interpret, understand and co-ordinate.

dude ive been playing for almost a year, and i can play flight of the bumblebee, and im starting fantasie Impromtue.......

Conquer the hard pieces and then the small ones will come easy....

Hey, Mister.. What speed are u playing?
And don`t think that virtuostic pieces like these are just about playing hell fast. If u think that`s all there is to music, sorry man, I pity u.

Thanks for all that advice, i really appreciate it. I`ll be working on it.

By the way, do you guys listen to Maksim? i think he`s superb, truly a great pianist. especially his latest piece "kolibre".

fantasy impromptu and bumblebee are beginner`s pieces. If you practice them slowly just about anyone can play them... and if you haven`t noticed, just about everyone does. You don`t realize the extent of technical the challenges within piano repertoire if you believe that playing fantasy impromptu is difficult. Moreover, you`re deprived of musical depth and interpretation. You should invest in some Debussy preludes and Chopin nocturnes. The notes aren`t very demanding (with some exceptions in the Debussy), so you have the ability to develop musicality.

You could have as much technique as Lang Lang and still sound like a student pianist. Musicality is what seperates great pianists, decent pianists, and terrible ones.

Quoted:..."You could have as much technique as Lang Lang and still sound like a student pianist. Musicality is what seperates great pianists, decent pianists, and terrible ones."
Well Said!

BTW, Dshen... seems like you`re a big fan of Maksim. I once saw him played live before. Great! Not a single false note, very friendly and cool guy.
But he has the habit of slouching when he plays. He tends to crouch foward. But alot of pianists does that(esp. people who played Bach)...or maybe it`s got to do with his height? Never mind... I guess no one will mind about little things like this. As long as you`re great... You`re GREAT!!!

Whats this rubbish about the fantasy impromptu being a beginners piece!! what are you on about? its difficult, its an advanced piece jerk, I know its not in the higher advanced range such as the liszt etudes or f*****g rach 3 etc... but you are being very stupid or I would say more likely that you are being arrogant because you dont have any trouble with the piece probably, so in your tiny head its easy.

Dont tell others that its a beginners piece when its clearly ADVANCED. A beginner would not have enough vision and strength to pull off the speedy impromptu parts at the start and end, its quite long also, not to mention the fact that you need to be musically sound to play the middle part effevtively as a contrast to the harder parts. If you still dont belive me that its advanced go to music-scores.com, bye idiot.

For me, I learned piano for about 4 years already. It is true as your friend said that you need 3-4 years to be able to play those pieces that you wanted to play. Now I can play Richard Cledement`s pieces like Ballade Pour de Adeline. As the years goes by, your sight reading skills will improve, if you continue to play everyday. It is good that you practice 2 hours a day. I would like to encourage you to continue your hard work. In future you will reap what you sow right now. Soon you will realize that the pieces that you tried to play lastime is easy. Just keep on practicing the same pieces over and over again and get familiar with it. Then you will not need to refer at the music scores again because it is already in your mind. Remember that when you play, allow yourself to flow with expressions like soft and loud. It will give a great impact to the pieces that you play. The key to all these is the word `practice, practice, and practice again`.

abergail, thanks for the advice. I`m working hard, though my progress doesn`t commensurate with the effort i put in. But i guess i`ll give myself a couple of years at the piano. Hopefully, the bulb lights.