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

mom3gram
It warms me and makes me smile to read you say that.

Yes you're right, yesterday I finally played the first part "well" so I started the second part and it was easier. I played it with a steel guitar sound and it was pretty cool actually. My preference goes to Can-Can for the moment, it's fun to play. It's really enjoying when you can eventually play a piece rather well. It's a challenge. The first 5 minutes of a new piece, I always want to stop and sell my synth, always disgusted by the difficulty and feeling like I touch the keyboard for the first time. But I keep it up and after few days, I start to hear the melody and it's very cool then. It gives me the energy to carry on.

I just finished Why Am I Blue - I had to start the piece by playing the chords in the left hand and then have the right hand join in. I found that helped me get the right beat. Now I don't have to do that anymore and I can play it pretty well. I'm starting LIttle Brown Jug - which I already hate. But, to supplement that song, I'm starting Danny Boy in My First Book of Celtic Music.

I took my first lesson on 2/20 and I'm now up to Little Brown Jug. However, I had accordian lessons as a kid and so was able to zoom thru the beginning of the book even though I hadn't played anything in 40 yrs.

"Little Brown Jug" for me too. I've got the RH down passably (most of the time) and am working on trying to integrate the LH into it.

Dilbert, I enjoy playing "Can-Can" too, now that I can. That one gave me fits in the beginning too. :-)

Dee180...I just finished "Why am I blue?" too. I did the same, just play the beat with my left and add in my right hand. Now it's real easy to play and fun too. However..."Good People" is giving me some trouble.

It's really hard for me to get motivated to practice a piece that I don't really like...like the Marines Hymn for example. For some reason, I just did not like that piece. And Little Brown Jug - don't like that one either but will get thru it somehow It helps to read the forums and know that there are others out there who, like me, are struggling.

Hey if you are teaching yourself, then you are always free to just skip it or substitute something else, eh?

I'm having a hard time practicing at all the last week or so. I've decided I'm not going to have anything ready for the recital, which is okay, I'll get in the next one, I need to move at my own pace.

Enjoy!

I actually really liked Marines' Hymn. I don't like Good People though, it's giving me problems. I tried playing "Little Brown Jug" too and that's difficult as well. But you just have to practice and you'll get better which will motivate you to practice even more and before you know it you've completed the piece without error in no time. I remember learning "Jingle bells" way back when and I thought I'd never get that. Now it's a piece of cake. But I agree, it's hard to start a piece when its so hard.

I liked "Marine's Hymn" too. Plus it was short and not too difficult.

I hated the first half of "Good People", I couldn't get the notes right, I couldn't get the rhythm at all, and it sounded awful. It took me forever to get it right, and I still don't particularly like it. But I like the second half. The "call and response" is pretty cool.

"Little Brown Jug" is hard, but I don't think it's as hard as "Good People". I've started playing it hands together and it's slow and halting but I can do it with only one or two mistakes. It may not sound like much to someone listening, but I can tell that it's coming along. It took me a well over a month to get that far with "Good People".

Just checking in, I'm slowly moving on. Up to Lullaby now. I'm not having any pain or numbness, but still taking it quite slow and haven't resumed lessons. I'm trying to decide right now if I'm going to resume lessons, as she really pushes me. While I was mentally up to the challenge and making great progress, my constant desire to exceed expectations was taking a toll on my body, and I'm starting to think that maybe taking it at a leisurely self taught pace might not be my best bet.

Hi BarbVA
Glad to hear you are still here. Also glad to hear you are easing back into the piano. Maybe "your" pace might be best for now...good luck!

I have conquered Blow The Man Down.
At the beginning it was hard to put together the two easy LH and RH parts, so I concentrated on the LH and when I got a steady beat everything was much easier and it clicked!
I am happy, because this is the first piece with two autonomous parts for the LH and the RH, so now I feel more self-confident.

Welcome back, BarbVA. It's good to take it slow after coming back from an injury. Maybe you can get the piano teacher to ease up on the workload.

Boogieman, congratulations on conquering "Blow the Man Down". That's a major milestone for this thread. :-)

Congrats boogieman52...We all had trouble with "Blow the Man Down"
I know I did... Practice truly does make perfect.

Thanks very much! That's why I'm so happy... :-)

Congrats boogieman. Blow the Man Down is almost like a graduation of sorts, to a new aspect of playing. When I conquered it, my self confidence in soared.

Thanks so much Carl Mc! It's great to find a message board like this to help beginners out!

Anybody else doing the Greatest Hits book find the sight reading on The Rainbow Connection difficult? The fingering is fine, I dont' even mind moving around, but maybe its the 4-6 week break I took, I'm back to having to read the bass clef as treble plus 2, where I was starting to get that down without thinking about it a few weeks ago. That song is kicking my butt right now, not in like Blow the Man Down where you had to train the hands seperately, this one is more like training the brain to read each clef seperately since its not a constant rythm. Am I alone?