Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Alfred's Basic and ALL in One Adult Piano Course Book #1

1silkyferret, don't fret. Soon, you'll get to the Blues stuff, where Alfred's ASKS you to swing the 8ths...

Just got my Afred's Adult Complete Course Level 1 today in the mail... son is sleeping for the night, so it will have to wait till morning

Welcome to Alfred and good luck!

Mark...

Thank you,

Looking forward to that part of the equation.

Yes, I did it! I faced "Beautiful Brown Eyes" and the use of the damper pedal for the very first time, and I'm happy to report that it's not as bad as I had originally thought that it would be. But then, I know that this is just the beginning.

I also liked and needed Leschetizky solution exercises for developing equal skills for all of the fingers, since my fourths and fifths are definitely weaker then the others. I was going to post and ask for suggestions on how to improve in this area but then I came upon these exercises.

BTW, I broke one of my own rules and peeked a few pages into the future and saw "The Amazing Aerobics of Hanon, No. 1 & No. 2" on pages 78-79 and I'm freeking myself out right now. I knew that I shouldn't have looked.

Hope everyone has been enjoying your practices and playing.

Key Notes

Key Notes, you know I am as much a rookie as you are. I toyed with those Hanons... it turns out there is a pattern hidden in the complexity. It looks much tougher than it really is. But I also admit that I am not playing those any more, as I find them utterly boring. Maybe when I get a teacher, I can be convinced that it's worth it, but right now, I don't think I am missing anything.

Recently, I haven't gotten anything as polished as I worked to earlier in the book. I talked about this in the blog recently. My standards for "it's time to move on" have lowered as the pieces have become more complex. Nevertheless, I keep working on the things that aren't perfect, so the list of things currently in progress has gotten pretty long. At this point, I am working on everything from Little Brown Jug to The Stranger.

I must say, The Stranger is BY FAR the most musically interesting piece in the book so far.

AWTPP, It's interesting informations regarding the Hanon pieces, although I'm not too surprise to learn of this hidden, perhaps repetitive patterns within them since most pieces of music does tend to have this common characteristics.

Looks like you are almost done with book 1 since you are up to The Stranger, page 129. "Rookie" or not, you are 64 pages ahead of me, and that's really great regardless of how rough you are currently feeling about the unpolished statuses of your pieces.

I agree and have found this to also be true for myself as well in terms of knowing when I should be moving on. I can definitely be wrong being so new at this but what helps me in determining this is as follow. I feel that there's a difference between learning how to play a particular piece well versus learning all of the intended techniques in that particular piece or lesson well. Because at some point, I found that I've already learned the techniques but still haven't yet been able to concistently play those piece(s) as expressively, smoothly or as flawlessly as I would like them to be. So as long as I felt that I've learned the techniques well, I can then move on to the next lesson or pieces with the intentions of going back to replay and review them for as long as necessary for reinforcement. Thus, I also have a list or a few pieces that I always go back to for warm-ups and to do fine tuning with.

Thanks for your reply and insights. I'm looking forward to discovering The Stranger with your positive review.

Regards,

Key Notes

Key Notes, what happened was this. Early on (think Alpine Melody, for example), I was able to get to the point to where I played the pieces without error, with some sense of musicality, over and over again. Lately, I have gotten to the point to where I could play most of the notes, with some errors, pretty consistently. But my practice sessions (which have been admittedly sparse lately) could not progress me past that point. I would spend hours and hours, spread over the course of many days, consistently making the same errors over and over. Or maybe there would be three phrases that give me grief, and I would get one or two of them right once in awhile, only to trip up on the third.

Chuan Chang discusses this phenomenon in his book. His solution is to practice the difficult parts over and over again until they are basically automatic. This hasn't worked for me. I bet if I had a teacher, he / she could probably get most of these errors cleared up in no time. But alas, I don't have a teacher, and won't for the time being. So instead of playing the same imperfect phrases over and over again, I have simply come to accept imperfection (for now), and move on simply if I can limp my way through something.

Wish I had a way to record, so you could see (well, hear) what I mean. Maybe I'll post a Youtube clip or something. I keep threatening to do that on my blog, but haven't made good on it.

When I am "done" with Book One, I figure I will take some time, maybe a few weeks or a month or so, to go back through the second half of the book, and see if there was any improvement on the things I couldn't perfect. My instinct tells me to expect some improvement.

Hello everyone working on Book 1. Here's a small update of my progress.

Keynotes, Congratulations. I'm basically at the same spot. I just hit "Beautiful Brown Eyes" this weekend and hope to play "Alpine Melody" sometime during this week. I move on to new songs about the same way you do. It seems that the first few times I get a song right, I still don't feel I have "mastered" (if that word can be used) the technique being presented. That's why I also go back and start 3 or 4 songs back each time to continue to "burn in" those lessons.

I am working on a few other things at the same time as the Alfred's. Because of that, I am working my way through Book 1 a bit slower than I would like. It's taken me about 3 weeks to get from "When The Saints Go Marching In" to get to "Beautiful Brown Eyes". I am looking forward to some of the later songs in the book that I have heard via recordings and that I really want to be able to play. However, I enjoy the variety of mixing in stuff with the Alfreds. Besides the Alfred's Book 1 songs, I am working on the Czerny Op. 599 exercises 11, 12 and 13, which I find fun and a decent challenge at this point in Alfred's Book 1, plus it gives me a bit of that "classical music" feel that I don't get playing the tunes in Alfred's.

I peeked ahead too (actually, I scanned the whole book the day I got it). I think these two exercises are actually Hanon 1 and Hanon 9 of his original 60. I also find them mechanical and repetitive, but helpful in my case. I have been doing each one a pair of times for a warmup during the last two weeks. Once you memorize the pattern you don't need the sheet music and it takes literally 4 or 5 minutes max to run through both of them twice.

AWTPP, Have you made a decision on the piano/keyboard yet? I really like playing on our piano, but only get 2 or 3 practices a week where I am not asked to cut it short because of the kid's bedtime. I broke down and sold off a few things via craigslist so I could get a Privia PX-200 to practice each night using headphones. I can't wait until it arrives!!

Good luck and lots of fun to all of you still working on Book 1.

This is a bit OT but I hope you all don't mind....

Always Wanted to Play Piano.
I just jumped over to read you blog. Besides the fact that, in regards to learning to play piano, we are facing many of the same issues and reaching many of the same conclusions, the story of your mom almost made me fall out of my chair laughing.

My mother-in-law came to visit for a week this past Saturday (from up north, she lives in Savannah, GA so I call her a yankee). She has not been to visit since before we acquired our piano. She loves classical music, studied piano when she was younger, and has always been supportive of our daughter learning to play because she believes musicality is a very important part of raising children. She was very happy for us when we told her on the phone we had bought a real, acoustic piano for my children to practice.

Well, for the past two years, she never, ever, not even once, touched the cheapo electronic keyboard my daughter kept in her bedroom to practice her lessons. I've never heard her play a note. Anyway, so she arrives, unpacks, we have dinner, etc... I tell her all about my Alfred's Book 1 and play "Saints" & "Money Cant Buy You Everything" and tell her how much fun I am having learning to play. She thinks it is great that I am learning and is impressed with the Alfred's method book for Adults. She looks at it and says, "Oh, I love this song (O Sole Mio). I tell her to go ahead and play it and she agrees with a "don't laugh because I haven't touched a keyboard in over 40 years" (YES, Fourty!)

Well, she does "O Sole Mio", "Raisins and Almonds", and "The Entertainer", all one right after the other, sight reading, at a good tempo. She hit a few wrong notes and fat fingered a chord or two, but boy was I impressed. She hasn't had a piano since she went to college and never played since then because she was embarrased she could not play as well as she had been able. She has now inherited (kidnapped) my daughters keyboard and my copy of "The Library of Piano Classics" (which I can't play anyway) and is excited that now that she has retired, she can dedicate time to regain her skills.

A funny sidenote is that she doesn't "know" the sheet music notes. She was educated using the french Solfege "do-re-mi" system so she is using my Alfred's to try and learn our CDEFGABC notes on the Grand Staff. To her, a "Prelude in D Minor" is a "Prelude in Re Minor" and if I ask her to play a "G" she doesn't know which key to press.

Life can be funny. Have a nice day!!!

I started Alouette yesterday - not bad, I can play it without mistakes, albeit a bit clumsily. So far, nothing has stumped me like "...Brown Eyes" did, and I still seem to have a mental block about that one sometimes. Yes, it's beginning to sound a little bit more like music now.

OT: I mentioned a few days back about my grandchildren playing a duet at their recital. Well, they did okay, although my granddaughter evidently turned around and glared at her brother a few times, indicating that either he made a mistake or was playing to slow for her. But at least they finished together and didn't get into an argument. Unfortunately, Dad forgot to charge the video camera, so I won't get to see the recital. Evidently most of the kids did a duet with a piano playing parent, and one kid played with her grandmother. My son mentioned that maybe next year..... I told him not to even think about it. :-)

mom3gram,

Take a look at "The 5 Browns". Maybe it will inspire your grandkids (and you! :-))

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQAJTL5ztBY

I jumped from page 27 to Entertainer and it was good decision. The reason is pretty simple: play music you love and you'll do fine. Next thing I am going to do is real Entertainer (you know that Alfred's is simplified 1/4 of real one) and then "Maple Leaf rag".
About teachers. I am sure that having a teacher is very important to keep their families well financially. 99% you can get from books.

It's interesting to know that Chuan Chang's technique of repeated playing of problem areas such as this has not worked out for you. It has worked for me, and from what I've read on this forum, a few others as well. Yes, perhaps a teacher would definitely be helpful at this point, but until then, perhaps more practice time may also help.

I'm sure when you are ready to, you will. You can also post and share your recordings via http://www.box.net, as many people here has done.

When I am "done" with Book One, I figure I will take some time, maybe a few weeks or a month or so, to go back through the second half of the book, and see if there was any improvement on the things I couldn't perfect. My instinct tells me to expect some improvement. [/QUOTE]

As a true beginner, I constantly have this fear that once I can play a piece well and then stop for even a day or two, I would forget and have to start working slowly back from the beginning all over again, but amazingly I've been finding that the opposite to be true. I can still pick it up where I left off and start playing it again with minimal mistakes.

I would like to believe and hope that you would also find the same to be true for you when you do decide to go back and work on them again.

Good luck to you!

Key Notes

Thanks, and a for you as well.

Besides the Alfred's Book 1 songs, I am working on the Czerny Op. 599 exercises 11, 12 and 13, which I find fun and a decent challenge at this point in Alfred's Book 1, plus it gives me a bit of that "classical music" feel that I don't get playing the tunes in Alfred's.[/QUOTE]

Hmm, this is very good to know, that you are able to play Czerny's pieces at this early stages of learning already. Unless you've had other musical instruments background, it makes me wonder if I could also since we are both at the same place in the book. I like the idea of being able to play more classically sounding music but thought that I would have to wait for quite a while, maybe six months to one year(?), to get all of my basics and foundations down first before I can even touch them(?).

I think these two exercises are actually Hanon 1 and Hanon 9 of his original 60. I also find them mechanical and repetitive, but helpful in my case. I have been doing each one a pair of times for a warmup during the last two weeks. Once you memorize the pattern you don't need the sheet music and it takes literally 4 or 5 minutes max to run through both of them twice.[/QUOTE]

Very helpful to know.

I broke down and sold off a few things via craigslist so I could get a Privia PX-200 to practice each night using headphones. I can't wait until it arrives!![/QUOTE]

Good for you!

I was so excited once I ordered mine that I could hardly sleep, especially the night before it arrives.

I love watching and listening to your youtube link to "The 5 Browns" performances. Fantastic! And your mother-in-law's story is pretty uplifting and funny too.

Happy playing to you!

Key Notes

Good for you mom3gram!

Believe me, that "Beautiful Brown Eyes" was giving me black circles under my eyes as well. I stayed up wee into the night and AM hours to attempt to tame it. I've always been afraid of learning to use the pedals in conjunction with everything else, and I guess I expected it to be harder since this is my very first time learning it, and I'm sure it will be with more advance and harder pieces in the future, but it wasn't too bad for this piece. I don't know, or maybe I just got all scared with anticipations from hearing how hard it was for you and a couple of other people here. Silly me.

OT: I mentioned a few days back about my grandchildren playing a duet at their recital. Well, they did okay, although my granddaughter evidently turned around and glared at her brother a few times, indicating that either he made a mistake or was playing to slow for her. But at least they finished together and didn't get into an argument. Unfortunately, Dad forgot to charge the video camera, so I won't get to see the recital. Evidently most of the kids did a duet with a piano playing parent, and one kid played with her grandmother. My son mentioned that maybe next year..... I told him not to even think about it. :-) [/QUOTE]

It's really too bad that you didn't get to see or hear your grandchildren's duet performances, but I'm sure you must be so proud regardless. And I seconded redeagle's uplifting inspirations to you to think about your son's suggestions. What beautiful experiences and memories that would make.

Happy playing and best regards,

Key Notes

The recital was on a weeknight, about two and a half hours away from me. I don't drive at night anymore, and am not really comfortable driving that distance by myself either. So I'm disappointed in not seeing a video of the recital. I did get to see last year's, when they were just beginning. It's funny how different the kids are. My grandson is 15 and learns note reading, etc. as a normal beginner. My granddaughter is almost 11, and has been playing by ear since she was about 6. She has no patience for reading music, and plays her lessons pretty much with a combination of ear and memory. She picks things up so easily - but the two of them had real trouble playing together and it usually ended up in an argument. I'm glad they were able to pull it off. They played "Parade of the Wooden Soldiers".

As far as my playing with them, I'm still struggling with early level 1 stuff, I don't have a real piano, just a 61-key keyboard, and I don't have a teacher. And, like I said, I live 2 1/2 hours away. And we haven't even added stagefright into the mix yet. :-) So my playing a duet with them is just not practical.

I have a question which might be worthy of it's own thread, but we'll start here, and escalate if it seems worth it.

What part of the learning process for a given piece is the most beneficial to long-term expertise? Suppose there is a learning curve for a new piece, where the initial acquisition of expertise is very steep... initially (Stage 1) I might sound like a complete idiot on a new piece, but after a couple hours (Stage 2), you can recognize the tune, then there is a period of refinement where everything gets smoother (Stage 3), and finally a long period (Stage 4) where the last little kinks are getting ironed out.

In which of those stages am I improving the most? Which is the most valuable?

Reason I ask is, more and more, I am finding myself putting considerable time in the last stage, ironing out the little things that trip me up. And I am beginning to question whether or not this is the best use of my practice time.

If I know what a piece is supposed to sound like,I am in luck,otherwise I am screwed for reading rhythems.
One pawed I am fine,put in the other one and it all falls apart. I have the right hand part of Kumbaya down fine,the left hand part ok,when I put the 2 together,it all falls apart. (what was that note again thats a G duh!)and for me the idea of reading the notes as well its 6ths is part of the problem I had before. I learned A was 2 fingers down b 1 finger plus thumb c no fingers...not the note names just the what is it supposed to sound like and what fingers go down....
bad idea. I did not know that at the time. So needless to say,I still look at anything in bass clef as "what is that note"not wher do I put my finger,I am attempting to not make the same mistake again.
sometimes step one for me is what are the notes for the left hand,then what is the timing,as in counting. I have written in some of the counting for pieces.
never had to do that for flute.
all steps are valuable. the most valuable one i guess would be the one that makes you go AHA I think I got it....just when I think that I discover NOT,...and its back to practice.
sounding like a complete idiot..happens a lot to me.
the last part of fine tuning a piece can be the hardest for me. Its a "i think I got it...but then I record myself and discover,no way jose.....I am just using the roland keyboard now...away from my favorite yummie toy /////serious withdrawal symptoms may occur...
I have been given permission to go a tasty tower in Ok City but its about a 3 hour drive each way and with gas being 350 a gal...and I get about 15 miles to the gal.

I have a question for you guys. How many of you have a hard time whith the last 2 measures of Lavender's Blue,as in iding all four notes.

I think I have the rest of the piece down mostly.