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I arrived at Blow the Man Down today and I've been doing it for an hour or two or something. Definitely the hardest song so far, I can't even play the second measure correctly yet. Well, sometimes I can, but that's more down to luck than anything else. Having to play those same cords twice in a row with the eigth note in between is very tricky.

Physics? From the Netherlands??

Sorry for jumping in here, but your username caught my eye. This is really funny! How many dutch people do we have over here at Pianoworld? And how many of those might have studied physics? LOL!

Ingrid (Yep. Physics. Groningen, but quite a while ago)

PS..and welcome to the forum!

Hoi Ingrid, I imagine the pool of Dutch physics students at these forums is pretty small indeed Utrecht here by the way and thanks for the welcome!

Leon,
That's awesome. How are you doing with Entertainer & AG? I took a peak at AG last night, and man oh man, it looks a daunting piece. I'm not too worried though cuz I'm sure I won't get there in at least a few months (8 more pieces to go before that one). Hope you're doing well. Tell us how you find AG? Like it, not like it?

I'll listen to you and Leikela. I'll look into buying that Greatest Hits & maybe also the Christmas supplemental books.

Physics,
Congrats on getting to "Blow the Man Down". I remembered feeling really good after I got that one under my fingers. Hope you'll enjoy it. Nice to see you and Ingrid connect on that Land of the Tulips.

As for me, I have finally been playing "Little Brown Jug" to my liking at CD tempo. Chiapanecas is also flowing smoothly under my fingers now. It feels great. I started and practiced "O Sole Mio!" last night for about an hour and a half and my fingers are still all over the place, they have not a clue how to play this piece the way my brain tells them to yet. I plan on spending 2 weeks on this piece. Wish me luck.

How is everyone else doing? Book 2 & 3 threads are very lively. We have to get together and get this thread noisy again. It has been very motivational & inspiring for me these last six months. If it's not for this thread, I might have slacked off here and there, but now I find myself very commited. Let's continue this tradition for ourselves going forward and leave an inspiring legacy for the next wave of beginners as the previous ones have left for us.

Happy Playing!

I won't get into them until I'm satisfied with "San Francisco". I'm making better progress on it now. I need to keep reminding myself to take it slowly; two measures at a time, sometimes one. I've got a lot of time over the next couple days so I should have it down soon. I'll let you know what I think of Entertainer.

Another dutch guy here, and believe it or not, I studied physics too (Eindhoven, hbo).

To get back on topic: I don't use Alfred during the lessons, so every school holiday I bring out my Alfred AIO 1 book to see where I am now. I haven't really put the time in, but I figure that I am almost ready to tackle The Entertainer and Amazing Grace. Last holiday I tried Chiapanecas for a couple of minutes, but I couldn't get the feel for it. Today, I tried it again, and now it felt easy (not that it's ready for performance, but in a couple of days it should be).

Now back to Burgmuller op.100

Nice to see a lot of interest in the fine art of physics here

On topic: I just sat down for a bit of practice again and suddenly something just clicked while playing Blow the Man Down. Don't get me wrong, I'd still get booed off the stage, but I actually managed to conjure up something that slightly resembled the song. I really want to nail it though, because I want to move on to my real objective, Scarborough Fair, which is one of my favorite songs.

Way to go Physics, it feels so good when BTMD finally clicks.

Well, its official, I'm an Alfred's Book 1 graduate, got the signed certificate in my hand to prove it ;-) I also received my Book 2 tonight, but I'm going to move slowly on that until after the holidays so I can get a good Christmas repetoire under my belt. I'm off to thread 2, but I'll be checking in here as well, I've been following so many people's journeys for so long. I want to be here to cheer you all on, plus I'd miss you all if I didn't at least check in. Hope to see you all in thread 2 soon! Thanks for all the support, encouragement, advice and all the other good stuff I've gotten so far, I couldn't have done it without you all!

BarbVA,
CONGRATULATIONS! I'm so happy for you. Don't abandon us lol... I won't be joining you at least another few months, if I can keep myself motivated to complete this book that is. Like you said, we probably won't get through it without you either Cheers!

Leon,
Great to hear again. That's how I usually do it; always make sure I get one song at a time before moving on. It keeps me focus. It's hard at times because I want to move on but like you, my patience previals. One song at a time works for me.

Oudeis,
Glad you're with us though not using Alfred. Hope the Entertainer & AG are going good. Let us know. You guys should form a Dutch group study. lol...

Physics,
Glad to hear your progress on BTMD. It always feels good to get it going no matter how clumpsy right. Also, BTMD left hand will help you a lot toward the end of the book. Keep it up. Scarborough Fair is also one of my favoriates, along with Greensleeves. I'm so looking forward to those pieces. I keep reminding myself not to rush and that my goal is "One book per year" to keep my patience in check. Sometimes I just can't help scanning ahead lol.

Good day all.

Congrats, Barb, on graduating!! Also congrats to Physics on BtMD... I haven't gotten there yet but I have certainly read many... spirited... thoughts on that song in this thread.

I am hoping to be there soon but I am holding myself back for a while until I master the right-hand D7 chord. I'm having a lot of trouble with it (specifically with Alpine Melody). I can play the song through with both hands at the proper tempo, but I can't seem to jump from G Major to D7 and then play the D7 chord smoothly. I play the proper 3 notes but with the awkward positioning involved I hit the 3 notes with various degrees of strength and the chord doesn't sound smooth.

So I am stuck at that spot in the book for now... I am anxiously awaiting getting to BtMD, though...

moos,
Do you have a teacher? You could ask your teacher for help. I think there are practices design just for that. I self teach so I don't know any resources to point you to. I also found it helpful just to practice those chord progressions. Not looking at the song or any notes, I just practiced going from G to C back to G then D7 and vise versa, all kinds of rotations very slow at first until it's smooth then increase spead. It could help... Practice... Practice... Practice... You'll get it down before you know it. We all went through that bump. Keep it up.

When I play that song, it was just a lot of repetitions. I think it's one of those first songs that actually sounds like music. I felt so good that I finally play some music and I just kept on practicing, over and over. I did all the ways the book suggests, 8 octave higher, lower, moving all over the place. I think I spent at least 2-3 weeks with it. I even go back many times after I have moved on. It was fun and somewhat instinctively hitting those notes after so many repetitions.

Congrats Barb I hope to see you in the 2nd book soon then. Still waiting for it to arrive here so I'm working on supplemental pieces but I can almost not wait for the 2nd book to arrive to finally make some good progress.

Hi Nguyen, I am self-teaching as well so don't have a teacher. I took your advice last night and just practiced the chord progressions and that helped a bit! I think I am going to step back even further and just play that chord over and over so I learn the proper strength to hit each key with. That's the hardest part for me because I can definitely move my hand to the proper position but when I actually play the chord the sounds just don't sound at the same time. So I think I will start with just playing the chord over and over and then move to chord progressions and then move to the song.

I also think I will move forward a bit and dabble with the Middle C position for some variety. I will just make sure I keep practicing the D7 every day until I perfect it. Thanks for your help!

I just got back from a trip. Ten days with no piano access. I was able to read the PW forum though, so I could at least read about piano. LOL.

I don't seem to be TOO rusty. I practiced "O Sole Mio" for a while today, and I can do it well MOST of the time. Another day or two and I will put that one on the completed list.

I have to confess that in February I will have been on Book 1 for two years. I don't know of anyone else who has taken this long (so many of my "classmates" have come and gone), and I really would like to finish before then. But these last several songs have really been kicking my butt. I knew when I started this that I would be slow, but I'm a bit disappointed that I have been quite this slow. On the other hand, I would never have believed that I would be playing recognizeable and almost musical piano at all when I started. I could probably rush my way through the rest, but I really want to learn them properly so I have a good base before starting Book 2. I think I'm going to buy Book 2 now though, and keep it on the piano as an incentive to work harder.

Quagles,
Nice to see you back here. You should keep on practicing those supplemental pieces and wait for me to move to book 2 together LOL... Just kidding, it'll take me months to get there. Don't forget to check back, a lot of us here need encouragements to achieve what you have.

mooshinator,
You're welcome. That would be a great way to tackle it. I think all of us here agree that after practicing that so many times, it'll become second nature, meaning when you see that chord, you hit it right on. I'm looking forward to hearing that you've finally get it. It'll feel really good...

mom3gram,
Welcome back. How was your trip? Must be great cuz you don't seem to miss Piano that much LOL.

I am also at "O Sole Mio!". It's my fifth day now on that song and it still doesn't sound the way I like it yet.
Do you find its tempo/rhyms difficult? I can play the whole song not missing notes or chords, but my tempo or rhyms aren't consistent. I don't know why. I listen to the CD like 20 times, get back to the Piano, and still my version isn't as smooth. I start out SLOW like the first 3 chords, then everything just keeps increase speed on its own. I can't keep the same rhyms or tempo consistently throughout the song. I hope it will come but right now, it just doesn't sound right, or at least how I like it. I gave myself 2 weeks on this song, it's almost a week now, I have one more to go.

Yeah, I think I remember reading your threads around the time that Key Notes and others, beginning 2008 you started? I could be wrong because I go back and read everything and it's a lot. I remember Key Notes. She self taught and she posted almost everyday. How's she doing do these days you know?

Anyway, 2 years is ok. I don't think that's bad. I figure there are what 70 something songs in the book right? If we do 1 per week, that comes out to about 70-80 weeks. That's about a year and a half. Some from this thread did it in 4 months I think, some 6 months, I would like to be able to do mine in a year. If I can do better great, but I don't rush because when I started, I told myself this thing is growing old with me, so no matter how long, doesn't matter. What matters is, this Holiday Season, I can play some music. Last Holiday Season? I played zip music. It's a great feeling mom. Keep it up. I'm rooting for you to move on by Feb.

Good day.

mom3gram,

I don't think you should feel disappointed that you've spent the time you did so far learning. As you said yourself, it is pretty amazing that you (and even myself) are able to play some of the songs that the book offers. Tell me to play some of this stuff before I started this book and I would've thrown that book to the other side of the room. lol.
Although the destination is important, I also believe the journey is as well.


With that said, I'm not so sure if maybe my pace is going a little bit too fast. Went from beautiful brown eyes to standing in the need of prayer which is about 10 pages just last night (also learned fur elise level one on the side). I've been using PianoNoobAlex's videos on youtube and a metronome to keep me in check since I can't find a teacher in my area and if I'm able to play them at the correct rhythm and tempo for x-amount of times, the pages keep turning. Am I going about this the wrong way and need to slow it down?

fanatik, well said.

I am not qualified to give advise because I am a newbie myself. For me, I give myself 1 song per week or 1 book per year just so I am relaxed practicing without pressure. My logic is, if I set goal too high, say 6 months to complete this book, whatif I can't achieve that? I think I will feel pressured and pressure leads to rush. I wouldn't be able to enjoy practice. My practice will probably not be as complete because I will want to move on just to finish the book. There are a lot of reasons why I give myself plenty of time (one year per book). The one thing I always remind myself everytime I seem to rush is "slow down, don't worry what you can achieve this Christmas. 5 years from now, look back and see where you're at, not next month or next year". I always remind myself that. It's hard. It takes a lot of patience to stick to that simple mindset, I admit, but for my own good, I know I have to do it.

You may be born with music talent. You're moving fast but everything is right. Or maybe something ins't right. We won't know unless there's a teacher guiding you. I find practice very time consuming because somewhere in the book, after the first few pages, when it shows us how to count, fingers #, how to recognize the notes, it says something like this: from that point on, practice the songs the way the book has shown you up to that point. Meaning practice beats/tempo (count, claping etc... whichever you like most). Then play the notes based on the counts you just mastered. Once you done that and get it down, play the song as you count its notes. Once that's done, play the song as you read its notes. If there are lyrics, play the song as you sing it. If I do all this, it takes a lot of time. Just to count the notes alone could be as long as one practice session, usually 1 - 1 1/2 hour nightly for me. I must admit I don't do this for every song but I always do it for the harder ones. I think this is why some songs take me a lot longer than others but I'm sticking to what the book suggests and see where it all leads me.

Whatever works for you fanatik, just make sure not to cut corners. The counting, clapping, notes reading out loud and singing, in my own interpretation of the book's intentions, I think, is to help us figure out songs without having to rely on the CD or any form of recordings, when we are good that is, not now, not for a while. LOL. I can figure out an easy song now, without having to listen to the CD, but some songs... man, really kick butt.
keep up the good work everyone, and good weekend!

Thanks for the encouragement, Nguyen and fanatik22. Yes, I was here when Key Notes started. I see her posting occasionally on Book 2, and she seems to be doing well. I actually started the same week as AlwaysWantedToPlayPiano, who is now 2/3 of the way through Book 2. At the rate I'm going, he may finish Book 2 before I finish Book 1. LOL

I moved along pretty quickly until "Beautiful Brown Eyes", and then I slowed down. Some songs after that were easy, but most took me a couple of weeks. I think I had trouble with Lullaby, Can Can, Little Brown Jug, as well as a couple of those blues songs. I basically gave up on Good People, but I don't want to give up on anything else. As for "O Sole Mio", yes, the rhythm gave me trouble, as well as all the moving around, and a few of the unusual chords. I still can't play that arpeggiated chord fast enough. I got frustrated, and moved on to Jericho, and the Stranger while I was still learning O Sole Mio. Those went much easier, and I've already completed Jericho, and can play the first half of the Stranger perfectly. Still working on the second half.

As for my trip, it was to see my daughter and her family. I hadn't seen my three grandsons since last Christmas and they kept me really busy, especially the 5-year old who wore me out. He didn't give me a chance to miss piano. I miss those guys, but I'm really glad to be home again.

I use PianoNoobAlex's youtube videos also, even though I have the Alfred CD. I like Alex's versions much better.

I've made good progress on BTMD, but I can't say I'm really playing it as intended yet. I have the notes down for the most part, but I find it really hard to coordinate the legato parts of the right hand with the 'normal playing' of the left hand. This is especially true for the 'and please pay attention and listen to me' part. The legato pieces in the other parts more or less seem to come naturally, but they could use some work as well.

Mooshinator, I'm right where you are (or where you were a couple of days ago, anyway). That right hand D7 gives me fits. It's that stretch to the F# with my thumb, which puts my hand in a weird position. I'm also practicing it slowly -- sometimes I get lucky, but most of the time... eh, not so much.

(My first post here after lurking for a couple of months, by the way. I'll post a proper introduction later on, but I just want to thank everyone here -- this site's been very helpful, and I think I'm at a point where I might be able to join a conversation occasionally.)