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

Thankyou! that's really great to hear

Thanks for sharing. I'm just getting started and it's fun to hear what is to come.

Hi everyone,

I'm thinking of getting this book for my dad for Christmas. He's always expressed an interest in learning piano but the only books I have are the ones I used at age 7...not the most interesting pieces for his age. Thanks for giving me a great gift idea.

That's a fantastic gift. Be sure to tell him about the ABF forum too.

I have a question about “The Entertainer”. 2nd page, 2nd Staff, 1st eighth is an F#. But 2nd measure 3/4 F has a Natural sign in front of it? I thought when a Note is sharp or flat accidentally, the Sharp or Flat only applies to that measure and back to normal/natural in subsequent measures. In the 3rd Staff, I have the same question but opposite problem now. This time, the last note of the 1st Measure is an Eighth D#. If the same holds truth for the 2nd Staff, then shouldn't we play the Eigth D in the 2nd Measure as D# since it doesn't have a Natural sign in front of it? I am confused… My understanding is that, Accidental Sharps and Flats end at the end of each Measure. They don't carry into subsequent Measures. If this is true, that Natural sign isn't necessary and very confusing. If this isn't true, then I have been doing it wrong all along. I’m not sure if my question is clear enough for you to see what I see. If you see what I’m seeing, please tell me it’s a misprint or it's there but doesn't have to be there. I’d be devastated if I’ve been doing it wrong all along. Thanks.

Sharp, flat or natural only applies for the measure.

If there is not an F# due to the key signature, than the redundant natural sign is just a "courtesy".

Great. Thanks Triryche.

All of a sudden, I can play "He's Got..." at CD tempo (playing along with the CD) a few times tonight without mistakes. This is truly an adventure with wonderful surprises. I am so happy. Have a fantastic night everyone.

Great, Nguynen!!! I tried "He got..." right hand this morning, and I have to say it is not easy - especially since I don't know the song! (Will check it on youtube later...)

My "Scarborough Fair" is coming along reasonable well as is "Raisins & Almonds". I have been playing right hand of "The Entertainer", and I love it. Now, the left hands seems much more trickier... I played it last night, then I took out my "50 piano greatest" that came with Clavinova and that song is in there (more difficult, of course), so I put it on to listen, and my husband came to the room thinking it was me playing so well!!!! Optimist - I guess maybe 20 years down the line I will be able to play it, but not any time soon!

That's great, Nguyen! I thought I was playing it pretty well yesterday also, although definitely not at PianoNoobAlex's tempo. LOL

I attempted "Entertainer" - RH- once, but wasn't ready to focus on learning something new yet. It's snowing and sleeting today, so I can't go Christmas shopping, so maybe I'll try "Entertainer" again.

Gintarec and mom3gram, thanks very much for sharing this joy with me. “He’s Got…” has sure caused me havoc. My LF either stops or not steady when I increase tempo. Last night was the first time I could do it a few times playing along the CD without those mistakes. I felt like a child ... ecstatic... and wanted to announce it to the world. But moments after I posted my joy, “The Entertainer” brought me crashing down to Earth.


I like this part. Your husband thinking you’re playing that well put some serious smiles on my face... In 20 years, I guess anything we play will be fun. If we don’t enjoy it that much, I don’t think we’ll last that long.

Mom3gram, great to hear your “He’s Got…” is going well. It takes me more than 2 weeks for this one. Though I was able to play it at CD tempo a few times last night, it’s definitely not that smooth every time. I figure it’ll be a few more weeks before I can call it “polished”. “The Entertainer” is a different story. It doesn’t sound as good in the CD as “Scarborough Fair” or “Raisin and Almonds” but somehow I just love practicing this song. I still have a long way to go though. My 1 week per song doesn’t work anymore. Now it’s more like 2-4 weeks a piece.

I finally get my PC to play video and MPEG files. I go back and check your video Rod Michael, and I really like this one. Moments like these are invaluable Have fun in Book 2.

Nguyen and BazC, I think the thing that's hard for me with Got Those Blues is not the rhythm - which seems easy enough - but just that I can't quite sight read it at full playing speed, so that requires some amount of memorization, and that's the part I'm having trouble with because it seems a little odd.

I'm still ill and havn't practiced much since last Thursday.

I didn't get the Alfred method book (Hal Leonard one instead), but would still like to see and try the musical pieces you guys are playing and practicing. Can I get those songs somewhere for free? I found the entertainer, but it seems the version is very difficult.

Nothing new here - I am still at "Scarborough Fair" and "Raisins and Almonds". I can say that "Scarborough Fair" is progressing well, and depending on Christmas shopping I might get it done this week. Not sure about "Raisins and Almonds" it may need a day or more longer, as I am trying to concentrate on the first one. Also, I just can't resist playing RH of "Entertainer". I am loving it. Can't imagine adding LH, but they - RH sounds great!

Don't know how I am going to force myself to do "He got...". Will start listening to it on youtube, maybe it will help.

Yes the full version of the Entertainer is MUCH harder than the Alfred version. Many of the tunes in Alfred books are simplified version you won't find anywhere else. A few can be viewed using the look inside feature on sites like Amazon, I learned one of the level 2 tunes like that.

The basic book is pretty cheap anyway, book 1 is available through Amazon UK for £2.50 - about $4.00!

Gintarec - I found the Entertainer "clicked" much quicker than I had expected, yes it was tricky to begin with but not as bad as I feared. It's great fun to play once it starts to flow too!

Amazing Grace on the other hand was a pain, I still don't know why I found it so hard, I still have difficulty playing it through without mistakes

Nothing new here either (at least piano-wise). I'm about in the same place as gintarec - trying to polish "Scarborough" and "Raisins", and experimenting with the RH of "Entertainer". I'm a little bit further along with "He's Got the Whole World" but it still sounds choppy. And although "Amazing Grace" looks easy enough on youtube, I tried it once and can't imagine how I'm going to get through it. As for Christmas shopping, well, I had a car accident yesterday (I'm fine) and can't drive my car. So no Christmas shopping today. Plus I need to stick around for my insurance company to get back to me, and for the police to notify me as to when I can pick up the accident report. So I guess I have lots of time to practice today. I was a little too distracted to do much yesterday. Today might just be the same.

Yikes! Glad to hear you're OK!

Hello everyone! I just got my daughter a new DP and I wanted to start learning it also. My daughter takes lesson but I want to learn from a book. From what I've read so far, the Alfred All in one course is the one to get. Is this the correct one from Amazon with Plastic comb? Amazon I've been using the Bastien Primer books.

That's right - that's the one most of us are using in this thread.

I used the Bastien Primer books before I started with Alfred Adult All-in-one also. I think you will like the adult book a lot better.