Well, no real practice today. I did run through "Amazing" and "Entertainer" once each, but I'm coming down with a cold, and my head hurts, my eyes hurt, my throat hurts, and my nose won't stop running. Maybe I'll feel more like playing tomorrow.

Sorry to hear that, Mom3Gram. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Well, my guests are landing in UK in 6.5 hours, and the house is still not in right order, so I guess my practising is off until they leave now (next Tuesday). Having a toddler (18 months) will be a change for us as we have no children.

'He's got...1 is coming together now, and I can actually play it speed (if I remember which key I am playing first bars!) 'The entertainer' is glueing together as well, and I have tried putting both hands together for 'amazing Graze', I it was not too bad - extremely slow, but ok.

I do hope to join you mom3gram in the next thread not too long away!

Mom3gram, hope you get well soon and resume practice.

Gintarec, have a good time hosting your guests. Are you going to perform a few of your favorites for them?

I am dragging myself along.

Wonder how everyone else is doing? Some we haven’t heard in weeks; hope everyone is doing well.

Opinion?

I had been working on AIO #1 book for about a month and a half. I decided it would be a big help for me to have a teacher. I have had only 2 lessons so far (10am each sats.)and I have not touched the keyboard. The 1st half of each lesson was a talk about piano history and music periods. The second lesson he spent the last 10 minutes drawing staff lines and cleffs with the every good boy thing. I said to him that I am to the point I can read pretty well on both staffs and some on the ledger lines and have worked myself to pp 28-Jingle bells- but- I don't think he either doesn't hear me or just has in his mind what his course he will take. Seems like he is talking to a child. He is going to use my AIO Book - 1st week assign: practice to pp26. which is what I explained to him is all I have been doing for over a month. 2nd week assign: practice to pp32 Dueling Harmonics. I feel like I was making as good a progess self teaching. I like the fella and I have real hopes for the next year but I am wondering now if in my mind I should be holding my lessons with him on a short leash. I am thinking of working with him through January and decide if this is going to work. I have asked for a 11am lesson because at 10am the studio opens and we don't get settled into the room untill 5+ after 10. There aren't many teachers in my area and that mekes me reluctant for change. I realize I need to give him and reasonable amount of time before judgement to change - but - can I ask what are your thoughts of it? I think finding a teacher at my age (65) adds to the difficulty for sure. Am I making any sense?

Thanks, Richard

Hi Richard,
I don’t have any opinion because I am currently going it alone. Best of luck to you though, hope it works out.

Have a great new year Eve everyone. Enjoy and stay safe. Best wishes in 2010 and beyond.

Best,
Nguyen

Richard,

He probably just wants to make sure you know what you say you know before blowing past it.
I'd say give it some time, having a teacher/regular lessons is good for lots of reasons, if for no other than it will force you to practice to keep up with your 'homework'.

It may be that this guy just doesn't know how to work with adult students, and if that's the case you'll figure that out pretty soon, and then, yes, find someone new. But I think your plan to stick with him through January couldn't hurt.

Thanks for the responses. I am just whinning a bit I think. I have my 3rd lesson tomorrow and as mentioned I will stick with the guy through January. He did say that most of his students are at bginning intermediate around 2 years. I would be estatic with that.
Ever foreward,
Richard

I don't think it's whining. I am planning on starting lessons sometime this month and I know I wouldn't like to have to go all the way back to the beginning. I am hoping that whoever I get for a teacher is willing to evaluate my self taught skills and start from someplace appropriate. On the other hand if there was a good reason for starting over and I liked the teacher enough I guess I would be willing to put up with it for a reasonable amount of time.

Good Luck and I will be interested to hear how you make out.

Hi Richard, My teacher is 90 so you'd just be a youngster to her!

Ha ha!! You got my chuckles up bolt - Thanks.
The teacher did tell me he had 1 student that is 73.

Thanks Doug for your kind thoughts. I think trying to find a teacher that fits, at any age or level is kinda stressful. I sure don't want to get into a routine of switching teachers or a rep to that effect. I may be just too excited about the journey ahead. That may be one downside to self teaching for any length of time in that it is a challenge for both teacher and student to get started at the appropriate place and level. I have to admit that at this point I do feel like all the practice I have been doing has been blown off so to speak. It may well be this is his way of "feeling me out" and assure himself I am where he wants me to be. I really don;t want to be a teacher rotator so I plan to give him some room and I am hoping that we will both be happy by the end of the month. I have been hiding in the basement with my DP but the last week I have been on the acoustic in the living room at my wife's and pop in law's insistence bless their hearts - they like to listen to even the over and over things.
Happy new year to you and good fortune. I ran in a nice 4 mile New Years Eve race last night and it was a great way to start the year out.
Richard

Well, I had my 3rd lesson today. Got my hackles mildly up once but overall I feel that this was a good lesson and I am hoping the lessons from here forward will be productive and keep me wanting. I did manage to switch my time from 10am to 11am each Saturday - I would rather not be subject to the store opening on time. I had to listen for almost 10 minutes about his experience with his ex and kids, child support and sold his piano out from under him issues.
So, I will not shorten the leash anymore for the month.
Thanks for listening, Richard

Hi Richard, that sounds like a frustrating experience... I am sorry to hear that your teacher is moving you along so slowly.

Do you find that your teacher is making comments on your playing and providing suggestions for improvement, or is he artificially making you go slowly even though you are playing all of the pieces properly? That would be the deciding factor for me, i.e. if my teacher is moving me slowly because he is meticulous and picky and insisting that I play each piece to absolute perfection I would be more understanding. But if he is moving me slowly for no discernible reason I would get very frustrated.

On another note, I see that several new folks have joined this thread since I posted last... welcome aboard, everyone!!!

Mom3gram and Nguyen... congratulations on (almost?) finishing Book 1!! I am not sure if you guys are "done done" with the book but it sure sounds like you are pretty darn close and at most are just polishing things up. I will be sad to see you move on from this thread but happy for your progress!

I haven't been able to play as much over my vacation as I wanted (too much traveling) but I did get a decent amount in. I have BtMD pretty much done; I can usually play it at tempo without error but occasionally make a mistake. It still doesn't come easy though and requires a good deal of concentration to really play cleanly.

I've also been working on "Lone Star Waltz" and... yuck. A combination of (a) being difficult due to the hand position changes, and (b) not liking the song, is making this one a drag. I am pushing through it, though.

A question for those who have done "Lone Star Waltz"... do you guys look at your hands for the position changes? I am trying to learn the song without looking at my hands and I think that's making it three times as hard. I assume that it's probably a good habit to learn, though?

Happy New Year, everyone!!

Mooshinator, I think I eventually got "Lone Star Waltz" to where I didn't need to look at my hands, but in reviewing Book 1 this week, I definitely had to look. As long as you can take a quick peek at your hands, and not lose your place on the score, you should be okay.

I'm not "done-done" yet, but I did start playing the first song in Book 2. It's just a review, so it's easier than the last few in Book 1. I still haven't polished "Amazing Grace" or the "Entertainer", and maybe won't for a long time, so I will be taking them along with me as I move to Book 2.

Thanks for the response and thoughts mooshinator.
Actually the Saturday's lesson was the 1st time on the keys. he had me go through Jingle Bells and the Dueling harmonics on pp31. My next assignment is to work up to pp35. He commented that he could tell that I have been practicing and working on the material. Not sure how since it was my 1st time on the keys with him. The only comment on posture was hand and wrist position. I know my posture is very poor on a good day and I am looking for more corrections on it at the piano. Then he went over all the time signatures (very slowly) and at least 3 times I tried to explain to him that I put a lot of effort into learning the note and time meanings, but, it was like I said nothing. I guess he must be sure to cover it and I understand that. It just seems that he has this canned knowledge in his head and it must be let out at his pace regardless. I am hoping that in the next lesson or so that we come to a point that the information and teaching will be fresh, new, exciting and productive for both of us. The teacher never did what I would call "evaluate" me to get a handle on where I was or if I knew anything at all verbally or at the piano. I can't imagine how this would be if I self taught for say a year or more, it really IS frustrating.I paid for January so I will wait until the end of the month to make the tough decision. Well sort of - If I surely see it coming I am going to start calling a couple other teachers try to get an interview with them around the 3rd week or so. I am taking the lessons at a music studio so maybe I just expected everything to be great. All the other local teachers I have found teach in their home studio. Well, again, thanks for listening and valued suggestions. Richard

Mooshinator, same with me. I also got “Lone Star Waltz” to the point I don’t have to look at my hands anymore before moving on.

As for Book I, yes, I’m done with this Book already. My “Entertainer” is at CD tempo now. I only need to smooth out a few passages of Staccato, Legato, P and F that I can’t quite master yet. Getting it to CD tempo, I found, is easier than getting it to sound smooth and musical as CD. My “Amazing Grace” is smooth now, just not at CD tempo yet. I think I have spent 4 weeks on this one already. Maybe I’ll be done with it in a few more. Getting Triplets to CD tempo is tough.

I’m not moving on to Book II anytime soon though. I am somewhat confident that I have gotten all Book I pieces down but not so confident of its Theory, especially scales and chords. If you ask me what Key Signature is for F Major, I’d have to sit down, think about it for a while before I can come up with the answer. I want to go back, review everything, and would like to have these Chords become second nature before moving on. Plus, Gintarec and I have made an agreement to finish this Book around Easter, so I’ll hang around here for awhile, or at least until she’s done.

I've been out of town so I haven't made much progress. Looking forward to having time tomorrow to start something new. While I was gone I took my piano flash cards and learned all the notes on the staff.

I bought Alfred's Basic Adult Sacred Piano book (level 1) and Masterwork Classics (level 1-2) for me for Christmas. It's nice having more pieces to play that go alone with what I'm learning.

Still thinking about lessons....probably just not bother for awhile longer.

Thanks!!! I don't know how long it will take to 'master' the last 3 pieces. 'He's got..' is almost there, I can play it at a decent speed, although I am not happy with the way it sounds yet.

'Entertainer' and 'Amazing Grace' need a lot more work done, though! One day I will be able to close this book for good. One day.

Hi all-

I'm very new to the piano (three days in!) and I am teaching myself. I know it is better to get a teacher, but I live in a foreign country where I'm not sure I could find one (at least not one that spoke English) in my area. I really like The Alfred's A-I-O Book so far but am wondering if you all would suggest any tips for how I go about using it (i.e. how fast should I work through the book, how do I prevent from falling into bad habits since there'll be no one to check me, what are some good supplementary books ect.).

If it makes any difference for you all to know, I had probably 6 months of piano when I was 8, as well as a semester of guitar in junior high. I came out of it with a basic understanding of what a whole note is and a mean rendition of "Ode to Joy." Not much more. It's a little daunting teaching myself something like this. So, any advice would be great. Thanks in advance!

Hi Isolde! There are several of us self-teaching with the Alfred AIO Book here. I'm sure that I have picked up lots of those "bad habits", and I don't really know how to tell you to avoid them. As far as how fast you should go, take as long as you need. I'm pretty slow and I've been here forever. LOL Be sure that you understand the theory that is presented on each page, and that you can play the song reasonably smoothly. If you have the CD, or can listen to the youtube versions it helps to see how the piece should sound. If you have any questions, someone here can probably answer it, and sometimes people from the teachers forum can help too. Good luck, and have fun!

Thank you for the quick response mom3gram! Looking at the youtube versions is a really good idea. Good luck starting book 2!

Isolde, Welcome to Alfred Book 1 and best wishes. Hmmm… how fast? It takes me about 11 months and I'm still not done yet, others maybe more, some 3-4 months.


I don’t know the answer as I am also self-learning. I do this sometime though: Slow down and watch my hands to see if they are in the position the book shows, wrist raised a little above keyboard etc… any soreness after a 2 hour practice …, Am I breathing comfortably (this is quite difficult to do at first), Do I sit straight (I tend to not sit straight but I’m working on that)? These are little things I picked up from the Book and tips from various threads here. Besides these, I have no idea if everything else I do is right or not.


I don’t know any Repertoire books but for practice, I like the Fingers Aerobic Book. I am not that far into it, just about 1/2 way. At my level, there are some very challenging/difficult practices to strengthen the 4th and 5th fingers. I like it not because it’s fun or musical, but rather I realized my fingers need more work.


Last but not least, it’s official Mom3gram has graduated Book One. Congratulations!

Hi Isolde, I am also self-teaching and although I am sure that it is impossible to avoid ALL bad habits the two things that I recommend are:

1) Go slowly - there is no rush to finish the book, and the more time you spend drilling the simple concepts into your brain the easier the later concepts will be. Don't skip over things like counting a rhythm, playing dynamics, etc...

2) Be meticulous - be your own worst critic. A lot of times I will play a piece and my wife will compliment me and say that it sounds nice and my response is usually "Well, yeah, kind of, but I sort of flubbed a note here and didn't play loudly enough there", etc, etc... I try to be painfully aware of every mistake I make, while at the same time remembering to congratulate myself on my accomplishments. Even though it is hard to play a piece perfectly, I always know where my weaknesses are and what I need to work on the most for future pieces.

One thing that I do which has proved VERY useful is every 2-4 weeks I start the book over and very carefully go through it from the beginning. Obviously, it should be pretty easy since you've already been through the material so you will move through the book pretty fast. But carefully read each page and check the way you are playing to ensure that you are doing everything properly.

It is hard to spot mistakes when you are first learning a song because you are spending so much mental energy trying to learn new concepts. But by going through the whole book every few weeks, from Page 1, each song is much easier to play and so you have extra brain power to really watch and listen to your playing and look for mistakes.

Finally, I agree with everyone who recommends comparing your playing with the CD that accompanies the book and with youtube clips. I have found and corrected a few mistakes this way. I usually try to play the song on my own at first and once I get to the point where I can "mostly" play the song at a slower tempo, I then check myself against the CD before I really start practicing it over and over again.

Use these forums (and google, of course...) to get answers to any questions you have!

Hopefully some of this helps... I am no expert and have only been playing for 3 months, but all of the tips that I suggested have personally helped me spot mistakes that I made. I am sure that I have other mistakes and bad habits that I haven't spotted yet, but at least I have corrected some of them.

Good luck!!!

I have watched YouTube video's on the proper sitting postion, what the proper wrist position should be. I always stay aware on if I'm tensed up or not. I just pay attention as best as I can.

How fast should you go? I've only been playing for 4 weeks (which means I have no valuable advice) but I just keep on working as fast as I want. I keep a list and keep going back to older stuff until I get it down completely, then I cross it off my list. I have some supplemental books of other practice pieces that I also play as I go through the book. Just more practice at the level I'm at.

I bought a metronome to help me keep the beat and so I know if I'm up to tempo in other books. (I only use the metronome now and then.)

I'd also suggest using some on-line sights to learn some theory. I use http://musictheory.net and http://www.teoria.com/exercises and http://pianolessons.com.

I've played a woodwind instrument in the past so I can read music and know some theory. But I had to learn the bass clef, trying to understand chords and so forth yet.

Another thing I saw suggested, is video tape yourself and then you can better see you body and hand positioning.

Good luck! Welcome and have fun!

Welcome, Isolde! I can't add anything to Mooshinator's post. This is nearly identical to the way I'm approaching things. However, I'll be very busy on the piano learning other things, so will probably not get back to the book until sometime in Feb., and will probably start over at that time. Good luck, and don't forget to have fun!

Hi All,

I have finished the Book 1. The amazing grace took me a lot of time, especially the appregio and count. I did the recording sometime ago before Xmas.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hko6FgPAPCQ

I would like to concentrate proceeding with Book 2 (I am on the second song of Book 2 now). Hope to see you all in Book 2 thread.

Regards
Andre

Well, Andre, you played it better than I can. Congratulations. See you in the Book 2 thread.

You just can't leave book one can you...lol

Very nicely done Andre. Congratulations on finishing Book 1.

I am happy to report that I have found a teacher and will be starting lessons next Wednesday. He uses Alfred's and wants me to bring my book and will evaluate me to see where we should start.

I am currently working on Standing In the Need of Prayer and really enjoy playing this one. It must be the nice way the chords sound. The tune kinda sticks with you and I find it stuck in my head all day. I am also tuning up Beautiful Brown Eyes and Alpine Melody. I had been doing Hanon Exercise 1 prior to starting Alfred's AIO so I use that as a warm up and it wasn't anything I had to learn when I got to it in the book but I am having a time of trying to get the pattern of Exercise 2 down. I'll wait for my teacher to show me how to do that one if he uses them.

I probably won't go any further than this before my lessons start.

PS mooshinator - Where in upstate NY are you? I'm about 20 mi. SE of Rochester

I'm about an hour South of Albany, on the east side of the Hudson river.

I am not all that familiar with the Rochester area; I've been out there a few times for weddings and to see friends, etc...

I went to school in Potsdam, NY, (3 1/2 hours NW of Albany... practically Canada) and a lot of my friends from there are from the Rochester area; I seem to remember them talking about some restaurant with "garbage plates" or something like that...