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

I agree with you dee180...I like playing the broken chords too. I think they're easier and they help with the beat. I first discovered that with "Why am I blue?" They act as a beat and make playing the melody a little easier.

CHIAPANECAS is starting to drive me crazy...grrr
I thought it'd be easier than LITTLE BROWN JUG but it's not
I got the first part it down but the middle part is giving me problems.
I can't wait till I'm done this first book...lol

Well, I'm through Rock it Away, but have to admit that Lullaby on the prior page still needs a little work, not that its hard, just that its so boring, if I practice it once in a setting I'm done. I liked Cafe Vienna and Rock it Away on the other hand.

The next song coming up in the AI1 is Joy to the World, not so much looking forward to that with summer just kicking off (might have enjoyed it closer to the holidays). So I'm not pushing myself to move on at the moment. Instead I'm spending more time on the Alfred's Greatest Hits, have the Rainbow Connection down pretty good, but I want to run it by my teacher on Wednesday as I feel like I have a few things off and don't want to make the wrong corrections. And still plundering through Desperado in the Rock book I bought, I think its actually a level or so ahead of where I'm at, but I'm making progress slowly and enjoy it, so it motivates me.

One thing I've noticed though, is as I'm progressing to larger spans between notes, if I go back to the easier songs where your fingers don't skip a key, I'm all over the place missing the notes accidently stretching too far. So I'm finding it important to keep going back to train my mind and hands only to stretch that extra distance when needed.

If anyone here has a piano teacher, could you please share any of the tips he/she gives you for us who are just learning by ourselves...that would be greatly appreciated. Anything tips really, big or small. Thanks in advance.

@Romolo: Here are some things my teacher told me that I would never have noticed by myself:

1) I was playing the notes 'disjointedly' (note per note) until she pointed out that notes should be played 'connected,' even though there is no legato marking on the piece.

2) When playing the left hand with repeated notes (such as in 'Money Can't Buy Everything') my right hand starts playing disjointedly, imitating my left hand (Of course, when you repeat a note you can't play legato!).

3) I was having trouble with NO. 2 until she told me to look at my hands while playing. Now the problem is mostly solved (and I don't need to look at my hands anymore, either).

4) She taught me how to count to the rhythm (I know this is basic, but to a rhythm-challenged person like me, it's a miracle I could even follow a beat! :D)

5) I should press on the keys harder. Probably due to my unweighted keyboard (which I am soon about to ditch for a much better DP :)) my touch is equivalent to 'p' (piano) on an acoustic.

Well you probably know all of these already, but those are what I could remember..and today's my 3rd lesson!

Thank you very much...I'll keep all of those tips in mind when practicing. I don't have a teacher so I'm just learning with this book but helpful tips like yours are appreciated. Thanks again

Romolo = My teacher pointed out that my fingers were not close enough to the black keys making it difficult to go from chord to chord. She especially thought it would be helpful with LBJ and it was!

Ok, here is my Jericho... on to the next one.


http://www.box.net/shared/v4k4ycelbi

Sounds good Carl, thanks for sharing.

My current keyboard doesn't have a pedal, but my teacher made me practice with an imaginary one for "Harp Song" (was it?) and it was quite a struggle coordinating my foot with my hands! I was all over the place, LOL. I'm going to practice it properly when I get my Casio PX-720 (with weighted keys and pedals) hopefully later this week.

I'm currently on the 1st Hanon exercises and a few variations of that exercise taught to me by my teacher

Just wondering....did the Hanon exercise help any of you in any way?

Romolo: Here's some basic tips, having not seen or heard you play...

It's very helpful to do a couple exercises with each song as you're learning to read rhythms & music.

1) Go through the song and name the notes (out loud, not in your head). Your own voice is one of the best ways for you to learn and remember, and of course you want to learn to read those notes as quickly and easily as you can!

2) Count out loud and tap the rhythm on your lap with your right and left hands.

3) Count out loud during your practice; whether you work on hands separate or hands together.

Watch out for tension in your wrists, hands, fingers, and upwards in your shoulders and neck. Many people tense when they are concentrating and if you pay attention you can avoid building any tension habits into your playing.

Practice often. 10 minutes per day is more effective than 60 minutes once per week -- our brains learn by repetition over time.

Listen to recordings. There are lots of folks here who have recorded the pieces in the book; more on YouTube. Listen and discover what you like and don't like about others' interpretations... and learn from that!

Record yourself. When you don't have a teacher, it can be really hard to hear certain things: pauses, changes in tempo, dynamic variations that aren't what you intend, etc. Recording yourself and listening will help you discover where your trouble spots are and overcome them.

My biggest tip is to not be in a hurry! It can be hard to take your time and learn everything thoroughly, especially on songs you don't like, when you don't have a teacher. Give yourself the gift of building a strong foundation by taking your time.

And play something you really love everyday.

Hope that's helpful!

Best,

Kim

Kim, thanks. Those are all good things to do/keep in mind.

Carl nice job on Jericho, but I think you missed the tie on the last note of the second bar. It goes dot dot dah, rather than dot dot dot dah.

Thanks PianoTeacherKim for all those tips...
I don't really find myself counting out loud but I know I should.
Sometimes I just don't know how to count with some pieces.
Like with eighth notes and dotted quarter notes, I was told to count "1 n 2 n 3 n 4 n" but it's hard sometimes and it just makes me go slower.

WJ3
Yep...missed that one. Thanks for the heads up. Got that fixed, but I think I might be still cheating the 1/8 rest?

Workin' on "Amazing Grace."

Way to go angelojf...... When are you going to join me in book 2? I am going pretty slowly. You can probably catch up with me pretty soon.

I just finished this book! It took me almost exactly four months of lessons, although I wasn't focusing completely on this book alone.

Now I'm not sure if I should start on book two or do something else. Any opinions?

Congratulations! I say just throw in the towel and forget it!

Seriously Major congrats from someone just at that beginning of this one. Have you looked at book 2? What about supplemental works? Looked at them? What did you teacher suggest?

Congrats on your new keyboard. Let us know how it turns out.

I think Hanon addresses the physical hand weakness in a person's ability to play. For that reason I do think it is initially, important to address this weakness. Eventually, you will have to decide how to devote your practice time and if there is room and or time for such practice.