Originally posted by Nightklavier:
Out of all of the people here, I think I might be the weirdest specimen. I'm a 20 year old guy living in North Carolina who has a wide ambition of getting a Ph.D in music history so that I can hopefully teach and/or write about it.
What's weird about me is how I discovered classical music. It all happened when I heard the first movement of the "Moonlight" sonata. If you can believe this, I used to be a punk teenager listening to the likes of Marilyn Manson (!) but when I heard "Moonlight" my life changed. In fact, I was so impressed and in awe that I knew I had to learn it on our old dusty piano that I never touched. Remarkably, (and one of my life-time achievements) is that I listened to the piece over and over and learned to play it on piano without any experience or even knowing how to read music. Basically, I tought myself piano through this. It took about 4 months to teach myself "Moonlight." It was such a long time, but you have to realize I was learning by playing 2 seconds of Moonlight and then playing what I heard on the piano.
When I later compared what I learned by ear with the sheet music, I was astounded (and proud I admit) that I only had a few slight fingering and notational errors. Ever since, I've kept that first movement of "Moonlight" in my repertoire and have been playing it every day for 3 years! Since then, I've also learned the second movement of "Pathetique," the Funeral March movement of Chopin's PS 2 and the Nocturne No. 11 in G minor. I'm working on Liszt's Dante Sonata and Harmonies Poetiques et Religiuses "Pensee des Morts" right now.
Yea, I'm insane for tackling those difficult works because after 3 years I haven't taken a single piano lesson, and instead of sight-reading, I read sheet music very slowly, learning one bar of music a week and playing what I have for months. Basically, I learn in the hardest way by memorization only and with no fingering advice. It's a huge mistake not to get lessons, but I just don't have time right now.
But through this "Moonlight" sonata, I discovered that I actually really loved classical music, especially piano. In the course of 3 years I've voraciously listened to all of the greats with a thorough interest in classical and romantic piano. My favorites are Beethoven, Liszt and Chopin.
Right now, I feel dwarfed by all of these older and more knowledgeable people here, but I have a dream to make this a career and my life. The history of these composers and their works fascinates me so much that I want to major in music history/theory and teach it. I've got a lot to learn, but I'm only 20, and after 3 years of being intimate with classical music, I think I've come pretty far.
I'm also a bit of a nut... you should see my bed room and my study: Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin, and Liszt portraits, busts, hundreds of books (and bookends), a few bobbleheads, a nightlight of Mozart's face, and I've even got custom made bumper stickers. I'm obsessed with these composers to the point of having an actual affection for them =)
Out of all of the people here, I think I might be the weirdest specimen. I'm a 20 year old guy living in North Carolina who has a wide ambition of getting a Ph.D in music history so that I can hopefully teach and/or write about it.
What's weird about me is how I discovered classical music. It all happened when I heard the first movement of the "Moonlight" sonata. If you can believe this, I used to be a punk teenager listening to the likes of Marilyn Manson (!) but when I heard "Moonlight" my life changed. In fact, I was so impressed and in awe that I knew I had to learn it on our old dusty piano that I never touched. Remarkably, (and one of my life-time achievements) is that I listened to the piece over and over and learned to play it on piano without any experience or even knowing how to read music. Basically, I tought myself piano through this. It took about 4 months to teach myself "Moonlight." It was such a long time, but you have to realize I was learning by playing 2 seconds of Moonlight and then playing what I heard on the piano.
When I later compared what I learned by ear with the sheet music, I was astounded (and proud I admit) that I only had a few slight fingering and notational errors. Ever since, I've kept that first movement of "Moonlight" in my repertoire and have been playing it every day for 3 years! Since then, I've also learned the second movement of "Pathetique," the Funeral March movement of Chopin's PS 2 and the Nocturne No. 11 in G minor. I'm working on Liszt's Dante Sonata and Harmonies Poetiques et Religiuses "Pensee des Morts" right now.
Yea, I'm insane for tackling those difficult works because after 3 years I haven't taken a single piano lesson, and instead of sight-reading, I read sheet music very slowly, learning one bar of music a week and playing what I have for months. Basically, I learn in the hardest way by memorization only and with no fingering advice. It's a huge mistake not to get lessons, but I just don't have time right now.
But through this "Moonlight" sonata, I discovered that I actually really loved classical music, especially piano. In the course of 3 years I've voraciously listened to all of the greats with a thorough interest in classical and romantic piano. My favorites are Beethoven, Liszt and Chopin.
Right now, I feel dwarfed by all of these older and more knowledgeable people here, but I have a dream to make this a career and my life. The history of these composers and their works fascinates me so much that I want to major in music history/theory and teach it. I've got a lot to learn, but I'm only 20, and after 3 years of being intimate with classical music, I think I've come pretty far.
I'm also a bit of a nut... you should see my bed room and my study: Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin, and Liszt portraits, busts, hundreds of books (and bookends), a few bobbleheads, a nightlight of Mozart's face, and I've even got custom made bumper stickers. I'm obsessed with these composers to the point of having an actual affection for them =)
I'm married to a lovely lady who teaches history in high school, and we have three children.
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