Things have been going pretty well with the book Im in, Alfreds basic adult course 1. That is until about a week ago I fell into a learning slump. Im forgetting things I thought I'd known, and it seemed pointless in going any further. So, instead of moving into the G position I'll be going back over the previous sections and really nailing down C and middle C. Its easy to get caught up in moving foreward and then neglect reviewing past lessons. Playing the same notes with different fingers is confusing to me. I guess youve all been there at one time or another.

zoso, yes, I'm sure everyone has been there at one time or another. I am in a slump myself right now.... shake it off!!!

Me too. I'm trying to improve speed in tremolos and chording and I feel as though I'm starting to go slower than before. Also, I've been working on a simple left hand part for three months now and I still make mistakes when I play it .

I`m dealing with it by reminding myself that I'm in this for the long haul and that, if I give up now, I'll look back a year from now and be REALLY depressed becaue I still can't do it, but if I relax, slow everything down (even if it seems like regressing) and play in a relaxed[/b] way for a month or so, I might find I'll look back a year from now with the eyes of a person who can do what i'm trying to do now.

You might want to keep in mind the "spinning plates" concept of practice (no, I didn't come up with this). Like the entertainer who spins plates atop of rods, you get the first several going before moving on to the next, but you always need to go back to the first ones and give them a little push or else they'll slow down and fall.

It's helpful to regularly devote a little time to reviewing earlier concepts while spending most of your time learning new concepts.

Zoso,

Although no one likes to hear it, the "adult" methods books can progress pretty rapidly for an adult with no or little prior music experience.

A variation on "spinning plates" is "two steps forward, one step back" or what I think of as consolidating learning. As you progress ahead, you need to go back and continually review.

Continuing to review some of the same earlier pieces can behelpful, but so can using NEW easy material. Get another adult book or a kiddie level one book and play it.

The "playing the same notes with different fingers" problem is a drag. We all go through it and you'll be amazed one day this will click. Again, spending some time (5-10 minutes a couple times a week even) with really baby material and playing it without adding any fingering #'s can really help you get that keyboard geography.
I liked using the Denes Agay book "Joy of first year piano" for sight reading and consolidating my learning.

It gets better....and worse...in cycles

Dorrie

Hang in there, zoso. When these slumps come up (and they WILL; they're inevitable no matter how experienced you are) it is easy to become frustrated and tempted to give up.

Here's a suggestion, which you may or may not want to try: Go back to the very first page of the very first lesson of your Alfred's book. Play whatever's on it. Easy-peasy, wasn't it? Think back to when you started piano and did that lesson for the first time. It wasn't easy then, I bet. Then play through the first couple of lessons and compare how much easier it is now than it was at the beginning. You have[/b] made progress, I promise; it's just the current difficulty you're having that's making you depressed.

There's no harm or stigma in backtracking and consolidating previous lessons. Just keep working at it, and in a few weeks you'll be amazed to look back and remember what was giving you trouble now.

hi zoso.
you've only been playing for a month correct me if im wrong.
you should be having a hard time, that seems to be the law at the very start.
1.dont worry about a thing.
2.keep practising, no matter how bad you think you're doing
3.pay careful attention to what you're playing
4.if you stay steadfast and keep at it, the slump will evapourate and you'll start suprising yourself.
when i started my first method book i sat and payed each piece 30 or 40 times in a row. i was not impressed with myself, but if i could play it from start to finish with only one or two errors i moved on to the piece. you need fresh material or you arent learning anything new. thats my opinion, i thrive on fresh pieces to work on.
anway, i've just about completed my method book series. i never ever envisioned that happening.
keep your head up and keep marching.
you're at a stage where you're programming your mind in a new language/system of symbols, it takes patience.
i also found myself that i seemed to improved, or notice an improvement in my playing every 3 months. it felt for me like trying to bash a wall down for 3 months and finally it falls.
maybe you'd get a lot of help out of a teacher?

The spinning plates is a good example, maybe Im trying to do to much and getting ahead of myself. AS far as the fingering thing Im gonna have to slow down and let my brain make the shift as well as my hands. Theres a lot to absorb. Thanks for the encouragement.

Zoso,

Hang in there! The slumps are part of the learning process. Think of music lessons, or the piano lessons as steps in a ladder, or more like climbing up the side of a mountain.

You'll go through 'easy' periods where you'll speed along like crazy then you'll hit some hard ground that'll take you awhile to catch on to. It's the hard ground parts that make your frustrated because you feel like your not learning anything. The reality is you are learning, but at a slower pace.


The thing is you won't realize it, but there are things you are learning right now that you'll only really click on to many years from now. As an experienced pianist, I'm still learning everyday, and there are things I'm only understanding now even though they were shown to me 5, 10, or even 20 years ago.

John

i'd say just keep going, and don't even look back. keep going with your method book, and instead of going backwards, you go forward and finish the book. a lot of techniques will take time to grow on you along the way and along the new things you're learning as well. trust yourself and time, and there'll be time later that you realize what you have accomplished.

I agree with Monica. And if it truly gives you joy then do it and fight through the "slump". You can DO IT, Zoso! And we're here for you.

And it isn't an "either/or" situation. Sometimes slowing the pace of new material while doing the new can help you get over the hump.

So if right now you are working on say 3-4 one page songs in the middle of the Alfred adult, you might drop one and spend that time in review activity of one kind or another.

I find I have to "mix it up" every couple of months to find the right balance between frustration (too much new stuff) and boredom (not enough challenge). And sometimes, it's not even about the piano, it's stuff about work or kids. Even when work and kids don't take my time away from the piano, they do sometimes interfere with my focus.

You will come through the slump and how you do it will teach you how to handle the next one

Dorrie

zoso, wish i wasnt so upset before i would have posted something to you sooner, anyways i will put in my 2 cents now that i have half my mind back:) i too am going through alfreds and have been playing about the same time as you....so here goes my 2 cents, i had the same problems with getting confused on fingering positions, so i started writing my own practice methods, and it made it easier for me and the music just clicked i also bought the books that go along with it to slow myself down because i thought i was moving to fast....i also supplement with a dozen a day books finger power and reporotoires (spelling wrong i know). it helps tremendously for me. and i feel great about my playing. i to went back to the beginning, and everything just went to junk for a few days, oh well i said and just kept practicing. just dont practice if your to frustrated otherwise you will get that much more frustrated. just take things slow...and supplement with other books that reinforces what you are currently working on. well thats my 2 cents worth:)