This is going verrrry slowly~ for me! But i will preserve! I have almost gottento the end of the "Star Spangled Banner", the tremelos are a bit of pain :rolleyes: and the "Toccata in D Minor" will take me until next year

I do have a question? This is on the F#Major scale. Why does the fingering begin with 2 on the right hand and 4 on the left? I have asked my instructor and she didn't know. Just wondering Thank you!

I'm also working on "Toccata in D Minor". Perfect for Halloween.

Not sure about the fingering question. But I think its just because it works. The top of page 2 is really difficult. But I really like this one.

Here is Funburger playing is like a master:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_TwITj3kqM

Mark

Mark, I should not have watched Funburger's demo. I know I will never be able to get my "old fingers" to move that quickly. I hope mastering that piece is not a requirement for completing Level 3. Actually, I can't say I liked the sound of the piece. I'd hate to have to work so hard on a piece that I did not like. Perhaps one acquires a taste for it with practice.

The scales that begin on "odd" fingers do so to avoid weird finger crosses when you are playing so many black keys. If you tried to play those scales as you would a C Major, for example, you'd end up trying to cross awkwardly in spots.

Thank you IrishMak for your response! I just had to find out why and it does make sense!

And I am in FULL Agreement with you OldFingers!
I am wondering if my fingers will make it through the first page

And also, Thank You Mark!

HI gang - just finished my study of the 1st Book 3 piece ("Super-Special Song") this morning - easy piece and fairly boring which I enlivened by re-arranging with different repeats and endings (but won't bore you with details) - also finished up review on "Waltz in G Minor" from Book 2, which is a real nice piece if executed properly.

Now, onto my next victims, er, a, pieces: "Calypso Rhumba" in Book 3 and a review of the "Theme from Symphony 6" in Book 2.

I'm also working on a version of Bach's famous "Minuet in G" and a Christmas Carols medley to be submitted to the upcoming "Holiday Music" thread on Dec. 1st - were you aware of this upcoming event?

Regards, JF

P.S. Mark - are you still interested in getting recorded versions of Book 3 pieces to upload to the OP just like for Book 2 - or have you heard enough out of me already?

Sure, if your willing to do them.

Hi guys!

I posted a kind of general introduction elsewhere yesterday, but just wanted to let you know that I'll try to participate in this thread as much as I can. I'm slightly illegal, since I am just finishing the minor details on book 2's final 'canon in D'.

And since my piano teacher just disappeared for a 3 week Brazil hoiday (I am jealous!!) I will probably officially be starting in book 3 a few weeks from now. But to jump into the book 2 thread with just a quarter of apiece to go seemed a bit weird....

Ingrid (I'll read through the tread to get to know you all a bit better...)

IngridT [/b] - welcome to PW, the Forums and the Alfred 3 thread!

As you probably already read I just started Book 3 myself and so did Cyborg - Mark, piano4, Oldfingers, Irishmak, snowyday and a few others have been attacking and conquering the Book 3 pieces for awhile and are showing the way and offering encouragement and helpful guidance and support.

It's nice to have you with us - it sounds like you'll be an asset to our friendly, helpful group.

Regards, JF

Well, I don't know about the "guidance," but I'm in for the encouragement and support! Welcome, Ingrid. Book 3 has some challenges, but there are some pieces that are just amazing once you get 'em.

On my front, progress has been slow lately in Book 3. Still trying to get the Jazz Ostinato a bit speedier. First page is ok sometimes; 2nd page tends to be a train wreck. And the Soldier's Joy hornpipe is slowly coming together, mostly. And then I just have a ton of Christmas stuff I'm working on- a few jazzy and different arrangements of things, and a bunch of more traditional things. It's making fitting it all in for practice time tough.

Do any of the rest of you use the All-In-One book? And, if so, do you do the theory pages? Just curious.

Yes, IrishMak, I use the All-In-One book and I do review the theory pages. Fortunately I learned most of the theory when I was pursuing a Lead Sheet approach to the piano. In my opinion, the theory pages are very important, particularly in relation to understanding the Circle of 5ths, which I found to be the key to unlocking the secrets of the piano. I know I am probably cheating, but when I start a new piece I label all the chords, as would have been done on a lead sheet, and then the I,IV,V7,I chord progressions become apparent. With the Circle of 5ths, one then realizes, that the same structure is being followed wherever you are on the circle, so there is no structural difference from one key signature to another, and all of the keys on the keyboard make sense. When I was a young student, it all looked like a big mess to me as I was never aware of any overall structure.

On the other hand, my teacher tells me that most of his students don't care about understanding the theory and just want to play pieces, so the attraction to theory might be a matter of personal taste. As an engineer, I always wanted to understand the "why" of things.

Since you are a few pages ahead of me I wonder if you have any advice for learning "In the Hall of the Mountain King". I don't particularly like the piece, but I know it must be a good exercise in learning to read the bass clef for the right hand. For some reason, I am completely discombobulated as I can't seem to get a feeling for my fingers on the keys.

Bob

Yes, I use the AIO series and yes, I do study all the theory pages, and have been doing so as I've worked my way thru the entire series - or I should say more precisely that I work my way thru the theory pages as a review since I've studied theory in some depth in other books over the last couple of years.

And like OldFingers I often write in the chord names as I study a piece just to keep the "harmonic context" in mind, and to put the theory into practice, so to speak I even use the theory to re-harmonize certain passages or whole sections when I don't like how the authors have done it.

Always good to hear from you guys - it's a long, lonely struggle otherwise

Regards, JF

Irishmak - sounds to me like OldFingers is asking for some guidance [/b] from you - and you said above you didn't "know about it" - but I know you do and here's your big chance to offer some

Regards (and I'm watching because I often need some too :p ), JF

Thanks, to you and John Frank! I wondered about the theory part, as no one ever seems to mention it. I also go thru the theory pages, and will sometimes have my teacher check them for me (if they aren't formally assigned. Some of them she just says to do when I get the chance.), since I get confused easily! LOL But I have found them valuable not only to understanding the how and why of the music itself, but it seems to help my sight reading as well. I recognize chords (and chord structures) far more easily now.

As for "Mountain King"- I had to go back and look at the piece and my lesson notes for it, but, really, what I did mostly was a lot of hands separate work on that one. I, too, find it a bit disconcerting to read the right hand in the bass clef. I know the notes, but it seems more difficult to do the mental translation to get my right hand below middle C. And slowly, slowly, as is so often the advice. I built the speed in very small increments. It does help with this one that the pattern stays largely the same, so the hands separate work helped ingrain that. After all that, it was repetiton, repetition, repetition.

It does help that I do like that piece. I do find it far more difficult to put real, productive work into something I just don't like!

IrishMak, thanks for your analysis of "Mountain King". It helps to know that I was not alone in finding it difficult to play bass clef notes with the right hand. Your point about the pattern being largely the same was very helpful. At slow speed I'm starting to get the segments OK but my transitions from segment to segment needs work, but, I now feel progress is being made. In the meantime, I've moved on to the next two pieces, which I find to be much easier.

Bob

Hey all,
So I'm getting my "wishlist" together and was looking on Amazon. I don't see a book #3 theory listed? Up till now I was using #1 Lesson + #1 Theory. Followed up with #2 Lesson + #2 Theory.

So what's best to order (use) for #3?

Thanks in advance
SC

Alfred's Adult All-In-One [/b] , Level 3 - it has all the theory you could want or need interspersed with the pieces - get it and get with it - we want you here with us on our journey!

Regards, JF

:D Thanks JF,
I'll be sure to modify my listing so I get the all-in-one as oppose to the separate (since the other doesn't appear to exist).

Still gotta finish #2 first but the impending arrival of the new toy scheduled for Weds this week should help!!

How many pieces do you still have to work on in Book 2?

A few, I'm only 20pages in. I was just checking on what to add to my Xmas list - I'll be here by or just after Xmas..

Bob-

I hope my notes help you with "Mountain King." There have been more pieces in this book that have given me trouble, I have to admit. But my teacher says not to be discouraged by that. She says the third book really does take a bigger leap up in difficulty than the others do. And that they tend to introduce multiple new things in one piece. Too much for my poor brain to handle some days! LOL

Finishing up study of "Calypso Rhumba" (not a particularly hard or exciting piece) in Book 3 and review of the "Theme from Symphony No. 6 (nice melodic arrangement) from Book 2 today.

Moving on to "Fandango" in 3 (after theory review) and to "Fascination" review in 2.

Also, continuing work on Bach's Minuet in G (from the Anna Magdalena Notebooks) and a beautiful, but seldom heard, Christmas Carol called "See Amid The Winter's Snow" from a collection entitled "The Big Book of Christmas Carols" (really nice intermediate level arrangements).

Regards, JF

Hi Ingrid! Another welcome to the group!
I am still struggling through the "Star Spangled Banner with the tremelos, but it's coming. And guess what I finally did... Got to the first page of Toccata in D minor... just the first page mind you!
Still haven't had the chance to hook up my web cam to get on a youtube site yet... maybe I will get the chance over the holiday! Work and grad course intervenes! I found a copy of Sheet Music Magazine i think dated ( Ill have to check) any how that has some real nice Christmas arrangements. I'm attempting "Oh Holy Night". So maybe I'll have together

Take care everybody!

"Fandango" is a cool piece that I enjoyed very much. YMMV

I've been assigned the next two pieces "Modern Sounds" and something to do with Alberti Bass. Sorry I don't have my book in front of me now. I'm working a couple of other Christmas pieces as well.

The Alberti base is critical for the piece right after it. (Serenade) I'm still working on cleaning this piece. It was a major hurdle for me. Especially in the hand independence area.

Yes, I can already see where it will be a pretty cool piece - nice exotic latin sounds you can really grab ahold of and make dance!

YMMV?

Regards, JF

Finishing up work on Fandango - relatively easy, but good piece with a solid "Spanish" feel -

I hit upon an alternate ending for it - the Book's ending is good, but I think it can be enhanced slightly with a little extension.

What you can do is (after the D.C al Fine) play thru to the end as written - then repeat the last 3 measures [/b], and in the last 2 measures [/b] play both hands one octave lower [/b] than written (which means, in effect, the RH is played 8vb on the repeat and the LH is played where actually written, or "loco") - observe all rests as indicated.

Here is a demo - played 1st as written, then a brief silence, then played as enhanced or extended:

Fandango (alternate endings)

Hope you find this useful, JF

I have a question for you more advanced folks about how long you work on a learning piece before moving on. I listen to recorded pieces at the start of the Alfred's strings and rarely stay with one long enough to reach that level of polish. Should those recordings be viewed as the typical point to move on or are they a bit better because people liked them? I am currently on about page 50 in book 2 and want to make sure I am not hurting my learning by moving too fast.

BobH - "stay with" a piece until you are happy with it - although it's easy to say but hard to do, try not to compare your playing of a piece with how others play it. There will always be someone somewhere who can and will play a piece better than you and I.

Continue working on it until you can reasonably play it as written, that is, as the composer or arranger intended - this doesn't have to happen the first time you study a piece - work on it for awhile - maybe you'll like your results and maybe not - when you get tired of beating on it, move on to another piece for awhile, and then come back to it and work on it some more - maybe you'll get it to where you're happy with it this second time - if not, repeat the process.

You don't have to "master" a given piece at any given time - do the best you can and then move on - often when you come back to a piece after being away from it working on several other pieces and for several months you will do better on it just simply because of your increased skill level and the confidence that only developes over time with additional hard study on a number of pieces.

And don't struggle with the compulsion to play "error-free" - it just is not going to happen - try to minimize them or yes, eliminate them, but don't expect it or be too disappointed if you just can't achieve this - even the great concert pianists make mistakes all the time, but most of us don't recognize them simply because of the complexity of the music and the pianist's otherwise remarkable technical skills.

The "polish" or musicality of a piece is important, but right now concentrate on getting most of the notes right and the tempo corrrect and consistent. The rest will come with lots of time and dedicated practice.

Relax and enjoy what you can do at each level and stage of you progress.

Regards, JF