Right. I have been taking classical singing lessons for a few months now, and am surprisingly quite good I can sing in French and Latvian (and English of course!) and am VERY pleased with my progress! To help with my pitching and general sense of musicailty, I started to play the keyboard as well to help me do scales, arpeggios etc.

This means that I have taught myself how to read the score and play the keyboard too. So my sight-reading is now very good, and I can play all the vocal melodies of my songbook very well. Although I have always wanted to play the piano, I have been a little anxious about it as it's unlike playing any other instrument, (that I know of). You have to learn the treble clef as well as bass clef, (different scores): your left hand does the bass clef and your right hand does the treble clef. You're reading two different pieces of information in two different parts, for either hand that you have to sight-read and play at the same time! I always thought it was too much like hard work until...........

Last night. I decided to take the plunge. Geoff bought me a piano book, a level up from the one that I have as I already know many of the basics, such as time signatures etc. He suggested that I practised a basic grade 1 piece, by learning the left hand first, then the right hand and then combining the two. 'Easier said than done', I thought, but then after first beginning to play, I found myself not only able to sight-read, play the bass clef parts and the treble clef part, but I was doing it from memory and by ear!!!!!!!!

An hour after beginning to learn, I had cracked it! I had learnt how to accompany myself on the keyboard! I was also singing the words to the song, so now, I can proudly say that I now can play 'The Swing'. I can play a whole piece (albeit a short basic Grade 1 piece), and can sing too! I can sing to the music that I myself am playing! How cool?!!!! Go me!

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That's fab, well done! I'd love to be able to sing, but I have the voice of a cat stuck in a bag of gravel I WILL learn to play the piano one day, it looks so hard though, so I'm in awe of you Sel!

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YAY!! I'll just pretend I know exactly what you are talking about!!!

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I'm impressed - well done you! I've always wanted to play the piano - oh well after I win the Euro Lottery tomoro nite maybe I will!

Well done Sel! I remember having a half hearted go at playing the piano in high school but I don't think I have the fingers for it

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Well done Sel Ive always wanted to take singing lessons x

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well done and hat off to you!

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Well done Sel, and so quickly too! I've never tried to play the piano but I know I can't sing (just enough to keep my boy amused! )

That's a very descriptive sound of your voice there Emma!

Playing the piano is very much like anything else, practice makes perfect!

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