For
a few years now I have been interested in learning to play the piano.
The idea came to me following an accident I had in 2006 when I
accidentally sliced through the tendons of two fingers and a piece of my middle
finger knuckle on my left hand. It took a five hour operation to repair
the hand and many months in plaster followed by physiotherapy to get it
useful again. At the end of the process the consultant surgeon said the
repair was very successful, but added jokingly, I would probably never
be able to play the piano.
A couple of years later this remark was still playing in the back of my
mind and being a little bloody-minded decided to see if I could prove
him wrong. Initially I brought an M-Audio Keystation 61es midi keyboard
and started learning some fairly basic melodies. However after a couple
of years persevering with the keyboard, I was challenged to play
Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, which proved to be quite a challenge. The
first problem was the M-Audio Keystation 61es didn't have a larg enough
range of keys, Moonlight Sonata needed to be played on a full sized
keyboard. Eventually I purchased a KORG SP 250 stage piano, which was
an excellent step up from the M-Audio Keystation. The feel and sound
was completely different with the KORG SP 250 responding much more like
a real piano.
With the sheet music freely available
on the internet (it can be downloaded from here), I downloaded
Beethoven's Symphony No 14 in C sharp minor. The music instantly
exposed the limitations of my playing. The animated score available from musanim
really helped check the music is being interpreted correctly.
Not
being able to read music I made a notes primer to make it easier to
identify the position of the notes on the staves correctly.
Using
the primer: middle C sits between the base and treble clef. Notes
shown on the treble clef are normally played with the right hand, notes
shown on the base clef are usually played with the left hand.
Click on the image
for a larger version.
I suppose I got the bug,
finding playing music a really rewarding way
to de-stress from the day to day grind of work. The KORG though an
excellent piano, didn't really suit the decor of our lounge so I have
now invested in a Yamaha Clavinova CLP 380 PE. This looks feels and
sounds just like a real piano and now takes pride of place in the
lounge.
I have sold the KORG, but am still left with the M-Audio Keystation 61es, so if
anyone wants to make me a reasonable offer for it, I would be happy to
hear from you. Use the contact form if you are interested.
For
Sale
M-AUDIO Keystation 61es MIDI Keyboard
The
M-AUDIO Keystation 61es has been used infrequently for a couple of
years up until I brought the KORG SP250 above. The keystation was then
stored in the spare room.
Its complete with an adjustable keyboard stand and music stand. It includes all the original packaging and disks.
Offers in the region of \A350.00 would be appreciated
Features
61-note velocity-sensitive semi-weighted action
pitch bend and modulation wheels
volume/control slider
advanced function button for programming
sustain foot pedal input (no pedal)
octave +/- buttons to extend keyboard range
Separate MIDI out jack routes MIDI signals from your computer to control external devices
powered via USB
Can be used on Linux, Mac OSX, Windows XP
Ableton Live Lite music production software
This keyboard needs to be plugged into a computer with appropriate midi software to work.
