Project by: Charlie Cloud (10th Grade)
Project Advisor: Nicholas Wight
Student(s)’s Advisor(s): Sandra Ramirez

Description of the Project:

I plan to over the course of the next trimester learn to play the piano starting completely from scratch. I am a person who loves to try new things especially things of which I have zero knowledge of and to just dive right into. With this honors project I hope to get a basic understanding if not further knowledge of how to play the piano and learn to play 1-2 songs by the end of the trimester.

Final Product (e.g., documents, images, video, audio, poster, display, etc.):

Final Reflection on Learning:

Going into this project I expected it to be not too hard, but I learned that skills like these don’t develop overnight. Learning the basics skills was about as easy as I thought it would be but I never anticipated how much extra practice and repetition is needed to really make your work good. It can take weeks to make an improvement to a piece that might not even be fully noticeable in the end result but without them the song would not sound good. Being able to play the song with both hands was a challenge especially keeping rhythm with the right hand which moves pretty quickly.  Moving from different chords presents itself as a challenge too especially when you can only give attention to one of your hands at a time and have to build the muscle memory to move your hands without even thinking about it. I learned for myself to never underestimate my challenges and that practice really does make perfect.

Update on Progress from Weeks 1-3 (include any photos or video if relevant):

Throughout the first couple weeks I have been using a learning tool called Yousician to help me learn the basics of the piano. So far I’ve been able to cover basics like the c-position, playing with both hands, and a couple basic chords. Some chords I know so far are C, Am, Em, F, and G. In the next coming week I should be able to finish learning the basic skills I need to carry out learning some songs, but so far it has been a productive start. Below I have linked a recording of one of the practices I have been doing.

Update on Progress from Weeks 4-6 (include any photos or video if relevant):

During weeks 4-6 I’ve finished learning the basics and I have moved onto learning my first song which I have decided on it being Movin’ Out by Billy Joel one of my personal favorites. At this point in time I have learned most of the song but haven’t perfected it yet. I assume going forward from this point it will just be practice until I am finally able to play the entire thing. Being able to play with both hands together is in rhythm is a big step and I am hoping moving into the final weeks of the trimester I’m able to finish strong completing the learning process for this song and one more. Below is a recording of the first time I was able to play the main riff of the song.

Update on Progress from Weeks 7-9 (include any photos or video if relevant):

Through weeks 7-9 I was able to finish learning Movin’ Out. Although I was not able to complete my set goal of 2 songs I am proud to say I was able to finish this song as it took a lot more practice then I would have thought. This experience did provide a good learning lesson for me in that learning pieces of a song isn’t too difficult, but learning and most of all perfecting the entire thing is a challenge I didn’t foresee. Below is a recording of when I was able to get the riff perfected and a little extra section that I had to learn which you can compare with the recording from progress update 2 to see the small but significant improvement with the speed.