Thanks Lyn. I would like to listen your pieces, why not share with us some of them?

I'd love to - once I get over "freezing up" when some one else is listening. I even have problems when I think my husband can hear me playing. Will also have to check out how to record and then upload the song I haven't done that before.
I'm still working on Ol Solo Mio. I've been working on the chord progressions in the theory book too.

Hi Fliper, thanks for this post! I was looking for information like this in the last couple of weeks... one of my friends recommended Keith Snell series.

I almost finished Level 1 last year and got interrupted... I restarted the same book N+1 times now:) and I'm exactly where you are at: Little Brown Jug and Chiapanecas. Hope to hear your recording somtimes!

I really like the recordings and videos people have posted here. I bought this book as a supplementary book to my lesson books (they're in Japanese, and contain no theory--I wouldn't be able to read it anyway!). Anything I've tried to play so far was a bit boring, so it's nice to see the pieces get more interesting!

Wow, 157 pages to this thread, don't think i'll be reading all of those but i may flick through a few of them.

I'm looking into getting this book as a total new begginer. This may be a very silly question, but do you need to be able to read sheet music for this book? Or does it teach you that too? I can't yet do that, so there's no point in me getting it yet if that be the case.

Also, after reading some of the older posts on here, it seems there are several different versions of this book with revised versions too. What is the best version to get? I'll most likely be getting it from Amazon so any links to the appropriate one would be great, i'd rather make sure i get the right one first time round.

Mark

You can buy it with or without discs. Mine came with 2 music CDs. I just went to find a link for you, but found a June 2011 copy, which judging from the cover has a DVD instead. So I would go for that one if it were me... the cover illustration is exactly the same as the one I have. That book has 159p, which mine has... so I'd say the only difference is the A/V material supplied. Others may be using a different one?

June 2011 version


(No such thing as silly questions) But to answer you, no you don't need to be able to read sheet music, the book helps you with that. You start with the 5 fingers on middle C, D, E, F and G and the music you read has the note name in it to help you get started. There are also pages through-out the book with exercises for you to fill out. Others will chime in with details I have left out.

This happens to me and to a lot beginners. My recordings are made with a lot of work, it is not just seat, press the "red button" (recording) and play .
It helps if you know well the piece and play it concentrated, without thinking in the other things or let your fingers play alone (called "muscle" memory). It is like the other things you need to learn, you need to practice to feel confident.

See this
http://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1671793/
http://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1787690/1.html




Hi Wish4 Thing, I am sure that you will finish it this time! I like your recordings, I always listen yours after I learn the piece.



As Nikky said, the book starts from the begining


Regarding the books I quote this
"Re: Alfred's Basic and ALL in One Adult Piano Course Book #1 - 09/05/10 03:04 PM
Posted by: mom3gram

Alfred Basic Adult Piano Course - has lessons and pieces to play, but you must buy a separatetheory book. Levels 1,2, and 3.

Alfred Basic Adult Piano Course All-In-One - same lessons and pieces as above with the exception of maybe two or three different pieces, includes theory and exercises. Levels 1,2 and 3. (Has spiral binding with is nice because it lays flat)

Alfred Self-Teaching Piano Course - same lessons and pieces but with more explanation and study hints for each piece. Has some bonus pieces at the end of book. No spiral binding.
You can post here with any of the above, as MOST of the pieces are exactly the same."


http://www.amazon.com/Alfreds-Basic-Adult-Piano-Course/dp/0882846167

http://www.amazon.com/Adult-All-One-Course-Lesson-Theory-Technic/dp/0882848186/

http://www.amazon.com/Alfreds-Self-Teaching-Adult-Piano-Course/dp/0739052055/

http://www.amazon.com/Alfreds-Self-Teaching-Adult-Piano-Course/dp/0739078453/

http://www.amazon.com/Alfreds-Teach-Yourself-Play-Piano/dp/0739033999/

Please search the most updated versions of the books as these links are old. Nikky book link is newer that the above link for the same book.

Note you can purchase the book with CD or without CD. The Self Teaching can be purchased wuth a Cd or with a DVD (I did not know this with DVD).

I have the Alfred All-In-one and also the Teach Yourself book with a DVD (DVD is very nice IMO).

Thanks for the encouragement, Fliper! I'm planning to finish it by Feb or March...

I've developed a bad habit: I play with CD... meaning I wear headphone while I'm recording. So I probably focus too much on following the rhythm on CD rather than pay more attention to myself playing... I feel that some of your recordings have better dynamics. Keep up the good work!

The bewildering selection of Alfred books had me confused in the beginning too. I ended up with the all in one, because I wanted the theory. The spiral binding is referred to as a comb on amazon, btw. It took me ages to figure out what they were on about...

I "printed" the thread to a pdf file and now I can do a search inside the pdf. I use the free "cutePDF":
http://www.cutepdf.com/products/cutepdf/writer.asp



We would like to listen your recordings too
In page 156 (post #1824588) I posted some free web sites with piano sheet music. I like them because they are graded and they have also video or audio files to listen the piece as should be played. And they are in English too



Thanks to mom3gram, we can understand the Alfred books

Regarding the books, from page 156, quoted from Lin in AZ post;
"I'm using Alfreds Adult Basic Lesson and Theory Level 1 they are individual books. I think they go into a little more detail than the All in One."

Thanks for the links - lots of good hints. I'm getting there on O Sole Mio and will try recording it on my keyboard. I haven't used the recorder before but maybe with use it will help me with the "red dot" syndrome.

Before going to the next tune how flawlessly should I learn to play it? I am working on Dueling Harmonics and the darn flute keeps throwing me off when I play along with the CD.

Do most people going through this book retry on a single tune untill it is played flawlessly before proceeding?

I am not a terribly slow learner, but I only seem to find about a half hour to an hour of practice a day. Between the tunes I will practice the scale of C and 1 through 4 of Hanon exercises.

Mark

Nope!

I'm working with a teacher. I wasn't shooting for flawless perfection, but I was trying to get everything up to "good enough to play for an audience", or very good. My teacher passed me on a lot of the pieces in Book 1 when I didn't think they were good enough...but I trusted her judgement. And here I am halfway through Book 2! So I guess she knew what she was doing!

So, no, IMO, they do not have to be FLAWLESS. I think if you are working by yourself without a teacher, though, you should shoot for "very good" at least. Flawless? Perfect? Nah.

My teacher marks things off as finished before I feel they're perfect. I think she's trying to see if I've gotten the point of the lesson rather than actually playing the piece perfectly every time. (This is from my Japanese lesson book btw) I think she knows I'd rather spend my time working on things that are more musical rather than these lesson pieces.

Yeah, I would rather be playing something that is more musical on an in-tune piano.

It seems I will practice the part without the CD I do o-k. Then when I play with the CD I stumble in the middle then can't recover until the last note. But, if I stop practicing it for a minute and come back to it, I do better. Why do things seem to set in that way?

Mark

I am self teaching. I proceed to next piece when I know to play it, not perfect. Then I return to it, mostly as warm up, to improve, while I am learning the new one.


Play with the CD or with metronome is a skill to learn, imo. I like to play along the drum beats of my digital piano

My teacher has me starting with The Can-Can. I can't play it nearly this well yet. Why am I Blue sounds a lot more interesting!

Can-can sounds pretty good but the tempo is on the slow side. As you become more comfortable with it you should try to increase the tempo up to around 160bpm or so.

Also, the song starts out forte (loud) and then when it hits the descending G major scale it is marked piano (soft) and then it increases in volume as it goes down the scale reaching forte again at the beginning of the 3rd line.


As to Marines' Hymn, you are missing the timing on your dotted quarter notes. Remember when there is a dot that follows the note you have to give it 1½ times the normal duration. So 1 dotted quarter note equals the the same time as 3 eighth notes.

I put the notes into the notation program Musescore and then recorded the playback using Nero wave editor.

Audio .mp3 here: http://www.mediafire.com/?s54hk4w1sx1aoff
(The software is playing the song, not me)

Musescore file: http://www.mediafire.com/?fef7m7225lf9c2c

For people asking what book to get, if you are learning by yourself then I'd definitely get the self-teaching book.
http://www.amazon.com/Alfreds-Self-Teaching-Adult-Piano-Course/dp/0739078453/

Each new song is introduced with a little overview, some tips on what to look for, etc.

Thanks Johnny for your detailed comments. You gave me nice clues to improve. Dynamics is one issue to me. I need a lot of practice .
Accurate timimg is other thing to improve. I was playing "La Cucaracha level 1" from Gil DeBenedetti site, and I had trouble with tempo because there are a lot of pauses. And there are not eighth notes.
http://www.gmajormusictheory.org/Freebies/Level1/1LaCucar.pdf

Also thanks for the software information.

Thank's to all those who helped with which to order.
Think i've found the one I want now so will be ordering it at end of month with some books for the kids too.
Can't wait to get it and get started.

So this would be the same as the all-in-one, but with extra information, making it a more "complete" book?
Noticed it has 192 pages so seems to be more in it.

The All in One book was published in 1994.

The Self-Teaching Book was published in 2008 and is basically an updated, and better version in my opinion, of the All in One Book. The main difference being that each piece is more thoroughly introduced like a teacher might tell you before you start to play a piece.

To say it is more "complete" is not entirely accurate because they took out about five songs to make room for the introductions.

The songs they removed were probably chosen because they were not really necessary and in some cases may have been a bit of a stumbling block for some learners.

I have read on this thread that a lot of people have had a hard time with the song, Good People, which is no longer in the new edition. Other songs that have also been cut: Lightly Row, Aunt Rhody, Liza Jane, Chasing the Blues Away, Blues for Wynton Marsalis, Auld Lang Syne

On the other hand, several longer songs have been added at the end of the book of the Self-Teaching version: Somewhere Over the Rainbow, At Last, Singin' in the Rain, Laura, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.

Thank you for clarifying that. I'll get that ordered next week so should start it in 1 to 2 weeks time. Looking forward to it!

Wow, good to know! I personally never liked those blue pieces... Thank you!

I always felt relieved that I didn't have to do those two pieces.

Anyhow, Jericho is finally coming together, and now I've started on Greensleeves. It seems a lot easier than the previous few songs.

I'm starting it out without the pedaling, then I'll add it back in later.

excellent progress, Johnny! looking forward to listening to your Greensleeves with pedaling:) I'm still at Jericho... will have to travel this week, won't be able to touch it for a while:(

Well, yes I'm finally progressing again. I was on Jericho for months. For some reason I couldn't get motivated to work on that song.

I decided to go back in the book and relearn some of the previous pieces as well learning a Christmas song or two, and spending little time on Jericho. But finally, Jericho started coming together about two weeks ago.

So now I'm on to Greensleeves, and I'm enjoying it a lot more. I'll see if I can get a recording up of it once I get it down.

I like the blues pieces. They are not also easy to me, but give me a sense of play "real music" Maybe because I like blues.

I was listening to some of the recordings from the people who are participating the upcoming recital... wow, are they really beginners?:) I wonder if anybody from this thread is going to be part of the recital...