Hey everybody! Welcome to all the newcomers in the past couple of weeks!

GracieCat - I am finished with book one! My still teacher hasn't decided if we are going to continue with Alfred's, so I don't know when I am going to start book 2. I bought it and book 3 before I started lessons, so I will eventually start it, even if I have to do it my own. Maybe on the next week or so. I remember having the same problem with the Entertainer. I had to play it over and over before I got it. That's one of those spots where I am my own worst enemy - I know I'm going to mess it up, and I do.

Doug, I hope your lesson comes around soon - I would go crazy if I kept having to play Scarborough over and over. I don't know why, but that one was my least favorite.

Thanks for the welcome. The "one horse open sleigh" two measures of Jingle Bells is *killing* me. And I think the more I practice, the worse I got. Decided to stop and try again later.

Welcome all new people! This is a great forum and you will get alot of great advice on how to proceed...we have all been there...so there are alot of areas of problems that are similar with the music. The people here are just wonderful and so supportive!

Interesting discussion on left handedness. I have recently changed over from using primarily a digital (not one that has the weighted keys like a piano) to an acoustic. I have had to put more pressure on my hands in order to change. I have noticed that I am really pounding alot harder on my left hand, so much so, I'm drowning out my right hand. I guess I should be practicing some right hand exercises in my Aerobics book.

Getting to Book 2. I'm on Entertainer now and my teacher is pushing me fast. She doesn't need me to make sure pieces are polished. I used to spend about a month on each one...and I sort of miss that. I don't want to move on until I can get something down well. I'm not in a rush...so I have to talk to her about that. She gave me Entertainer, Finlandia, Whole World in His Hands (ick) and a piece out of a classical book, I haven't even started yet!! (My lesson is on Wed!!). But I would rather work and do my pieces almost perfectly before moving on. But that is just me. I think I almost have Entertainer down--so I think she will put me on Amazing Grace this week...so I should be in Book 2 sometime in August.

I haven't even looked at Book 2..think I will tonight!

Have a Great Day everyone!

Nancy

agentmorgan - Don't feel too bad about Jingle Bells! I didn't exactly "blow it out of the water" when I was learning to play it. After reading your post, I tried it again and it took me about 3 run-throughs to get it up to snuff! The Entertainer seems easier to play at this point! For the level you're at, it's a hard song! Hey, maybe a shot of "Captain Morgan" during the evening session might reduce your stress level!

GracieCat - Speaking of the Entertainer, I still have a bit of a problem with measure 11 too. My hands "tense up" just for that little collection of notes. I wondered if it was me being left-handed, but I'm not sure this is the case. The rest of that piece I could probably play with my toes by now if I had to. Amazing Grace isn't that "amazing" but is getting a little more "graceful"!

DougF - I feel like I'm in the same boat constantly playing The Entertainer and Amazing Grace to death relieved only by "Good King Wenceslas" which is coming along rather well! You realize that if you don't play the material your teacher expects you to play well, you'll get rusty on them, but then play them so much you're starting to get sick of them! A quandary of sorts!

The nice thing about Good King Wenceslas is that it is constructed of a series of chords that need to be played rather quickly to sound musical! It's also in 4/4 time so it's kind of a break from Alfred's which seems to have a lot of 3/4 pieces. I've also played a couple of musical selections (e.g. Brahm's Lullaby) from the Faber's Adult Piano Adventures 2. It has some nice pieces and even though it's their level 2 book, I'd say it starts with music that's on the same level as Alfred's Book 1, after Blow the Man Down! It has a little more theory and practice pieces and every once in a while, I pick up a concept or idea that seems worthwhile and can apply to a current Alfred's selection. Hey, I'll steal from anybody!

I'm going to switch to Book 2 in another week or two! I just need to polish up the last two Book 1 pieces to a point where if I had a teacher, I'd get passed on both of them!

Thanks for the welcome everyone. I'm finding it now taking much longer to move on to the next tune. Lullaby I can play passibly every once in a while. Joy to the World is in the same boat. Got Those Blues! I've only messed with once. I did manage to get What a Wonderful World learned and have uploaded it to youtube.

Nancymae - I was wondering how you were doing with your new piano. When I went from my non-weighted old digital piano to my new one, it was quite a shock! I've also noticed a difference in touch and feel between my digital piano and my friend's acoustic piano. It's hard to describe the difference, but it's there! I also have to restrain my "smarter" left hand a bit, otherwise I have a tendency to drown out a bit of the melody, altho', that seems to be less of a problem as time goes by. At least, with a "weighted keyboard" your fingers are going to get stronger the more you play! This will make it easier to "strangle" any "music critics" out there, which can be a very handy attribute!

Banjoman- Another nice job on "What a Wonderful World"! The Greatest Hits books tend to have sightly harder material than Book 1 so you can give yourself a pat on the back for that one! I always think of the late Louis Armstrong when I hear that tune, as it's been used so widely in TV commercials. Keep those videos coming!!!

I am having a love-hate relationship with Scarborough Fair. I really do like the piece but I can't seem to make it all the way through without a mistake somewhere if I am pedaling. Hands separate, hands together, slow, fast no problem. As soon as I add the pedal, whammo, mistakes appear out of nowhere. It's getting very frustrating since I have been playing it for over 4 weeks now. I don't have any trouble with Raisins & Almonds and it's very similar to SF. I don't have any trouble with He's Got... and I'm not having much trouble with The Entertainer. I am longing for my teacher to either help me with it or tell me we can move on but I don't know as yet when my next lesson is. I feel like the person who needs their shrink and he/she's out of town.

Doug F - I think the vast majority of us who are at the end of the book have a love-hate relationship with pedaling! I'm in the school of either all-pedal or no-pedal at this point. In looking at Scarborough Fair, I can remember pedaling constantly on until "one who lives" and then going back to full-on pedal. That eliminated a lot of problems with the song! I just think that if you can pedal like the book suggests, then more power to you! I can't, at this point, and probably won't be doing it as indicated, for quite some time! I just don't think it's a critical issue to deal with. If I had a teacher that had a "problem" with my attitude on this, if they had strong objections, he or she would be an ex-teacher in short order! It's funny you bring up this issue ... my "50 Greatest Christmas Hits" just uses a simple "with pedal" with none of those pedal point lines ...on songs that need it! That's just the way I like it! Pedal to the metal and play on!!!!

Craig, my teacher is a stickler for things like rhythm, dynamics, and tempo. He doesn't mind the occasional missed note or starting over a couple times. We have been working on proper pedaling techniques so I wouldn't get away with not lifting at least in the vicinity of the markings. I can miss by a little bit but I have to at least be trying. I can tell by the sound now when I should lift but it's just something else to complicate things. I get excited now when I see a new piece with no or little pedaling. So far it seems I can only do 4 things at once, LOL

Doug - It's interesting how pedaling is much easier on some songs than others. I didn't seem to have a problem with Raisins and Almonds like I did with Scarborough Fair. It just felt more comfortable to pedal at the marked points. I guess I empathize with the description of Gerald Ford, by Lyndon Johnson as "that guy can't chew gum and tie his shoelaces at the same time". I resemble that remark! But it's not like I ever played Scarborough Fair at "prestissimo speeds" either and couldn't keep up! Raisins and Almonds just "breathes better" for lack of a better description and I can manage it for some obscure reason! Does that, in any way, make sense to you? If it does, please explain it to me!

Post 4000! I guess we're popular, if not super-talented ...yet! We're slowly "transitioning" to "greatness", Alfred book by book!

I agree with you Craig. It's much easier to pedal smoothly on Raisins and Almonds than it is on Scarborough Fair. Even in the 14th and 15th measures where I occasionally fumble a little. I know what you mean by "breathes better" but I am at a loss to explain it to you. I was reluctant to start pedaling on Raisins when I first started playing it after the trouble I had with SF but when I started I quickly found I had nowhere near as difficult a time with it.

Oh Lord...PEDALING!!! I have not been pedaling yet...except backwards!!!! I have been on a digital with no pedals, and now with my new piano, I'd better go back and learn this. Note to self: ask teacher tonight!! Those things aren't just pretty decorations!!!!!

My husband watched me play last night and I had told him about my left hand sounding louder and he said that I am playing with my hand stationary using my arm instead of my hand (more force), but I'm using my wrist with my right, so I'm going to make more of an effort to attack the keys in the right manner. My teacher said that I should be able to lay a book on my hand/arm..and it should be straight at all times. I don't have a problem doing that with my left, but my right is a different story! Why is it so easy to learn the incorrect way??? but hard to learn the right way to do things?????

Luckily, I have committed many tunes to memory (by playing them a gazillion times) so I can watch my hands instead of the music!

Happy Playing!!

Nancy

Craig, only three tries, eh? You sound like my Organic Chem prof. Said about the only way to improve my test grades was a shot of brandy right before to settle my nerves. Tended to make one or two 'brain freeze' errors on every test. Just managed to get through Jingle Bells at a rather, umm, stately 76bpm. Given how much trouble I'm having with it, I'm really worried about the hard stuff (BTMD, etc.)

agentmorgan - Did I mention I majored in Chemistry in college? Everything is memory by association in my book! Bass is played as "levo" or "s" and treble is "dextro" or "r". Always remember "esterification reactions" can be your friend! Make aspirin from scratch and use it after playing Jingle Bells for the millionth time. And while music theory can be hard, I still think it's easier than Calc I,II,III,IV and Differential Equations. In terms of Physics, think of it not as "Blow the Man Down" but as "Moving a Mass by an Applied Force", much like you're moving the keys with your fingers . Those eighth notes will seem more logical!

Thanks for the welcome. My chord changes now sound good on either LH or RH. I'm up to alpine melody at the moment. I thought I'd mention something that has helped learning - I tend to pause and stutter when a chord change comes up in a song. By using a metronome when playing, I am thinking about the next click comming up and it forces me to look ahead ... and the pause & stuttering goes away. Once I can play it well with the metronome I turn it off and can play the piece without the pausing & stuttering.

Lesson results:

I was PASSED on Whole World in His Hands! (My husband is so happy!!) I worked so hard on the hard pieces I really flubbed up My Wild Irish Rose, so I have to redo. I'm almost there on The Entertainer, just a little timing problem.

I need to go back to various songs to do the pedaling on them before moving to book 2. I get the pedaling on Raisins and Almonds--but Scarborough Fair has me puzzled. Why push the pedal down and up on the same note? Do you depress before you hit the note and then raise it afterward? Then depress again? I'm confused.

My teacher gave me Frankie and Johnnie in the Favorites book to help me with my rhythm...it's a pretty cool song. Sort of rag time like Entertainer. So, I will have fun with that one...just hope I can get it up to the speed it needs to be!!

Going to have my 4 year old grandson here this weekend, so I won't get much practice in. So, I will probably be on the same songs next week as well!

Signalfromzero--that is wonderful that you can play with the metronome! I had the same problem about hesitating. Don't worry, more practice and that will go away! Playing with a metronome is a skill by itself! That is awesome!!

Hope everyone has a productive piano experience this weekend!

Nancy

Nancy, you should lift the pedal and instantly press it back down just after you hit the note the marking is below. The idea is to clear the ringing of the previous notes as you start to play the next sequence of notes but keep the new notes ringing. This way all the notes don't ring over each other.

Here's how it should go:

Left hand - Pedal Down, D (quickly lift and re-pedal down) F A, D (quickly lift and re-pedal down) F A, C (quickly lift and re-pedal down) E G, etc..

So in 2 measures of D F A, C E G you would play D, quickly lift and re-press the pedal before moving to F, then A. Then just after you play C do the same thing before moving to E and G. It doesn't do much when you are playing the same chord but you will be able to tell the difference when the chord changes.

Hope this makes sense.

Practice it with left hand only and changing between 2 easy chords like above. You'll be able to tell when you are doing it right.

Thank you Doug, I'm printing this out to put by my piano for lunch time playing! Thank you so much..hopefully we will all get passed SF this week!!! Yeah!

Nancy

I'm so absolutely stoked!

Last night before church I asked the pianist to play the beginning of this one song I've heard her play. I knew the music and knew she was adding in a bunch of stuff. She was breaking up chords and running them up the keys.

This huge lightbulb went on in my head. I came home and looked for a song to try it in. I've spent today playing Amazing Grace REALLY slowly and making the left hand break up the chords going up 3 or 4 octaves. 1-2-3 sorta fast, but flowing. It would be a cool exercise in adding to the music for you guys. It is so fun. It's basically playing the left hand by ear using the music as a guide.

I'll try to get a decent recording here today. It's not going to be perfect but that isn't the point. It's so fun!

Hello Everyone!

I just started Alfred's Self-Teaching Adult Piano Course which is great except it's not spiral bound so it doesn't sit on the piano too well.

I'm up to page 29 and just started yesterday (got the 4ths and 5ths) - I have already done a lot of music stuff when I was playing bass earlier this year so I have all the notes and rests down. Now I'm just trying to the notes on both staff down.

Anyway I'll be poking in from time to time and to see how others fare. This thread will be the biggest thread on the site if it's not already

agentmorgan, I had a rough time with jingle bells awhile back. Just jump back to it every so often and you'll get it soon enough.

Progrmr, welcome!

Well, I recorded Amazing Grace with the run of broken chords that I added today. (Are they called arpeggiated chords?) I can play the version out of the book just fine, but when I try adding the run through the chords I had to watch my hands and was constantly losing my place on the score. It's choppy with some wrong notes and is way over done with the runs...but at least you can get some idea to what I've been trying to add today. It's fun. I'm glad I asked the pianist yesterday to show me what she was adding to the music she was playing.

I started the song like it's written in the book, then I start over and play it with the runs to better hear the difference. Basically most of what I play in the left hand is repeated over and over as you go up the octaves.

I think I missed a section in the music, but here it is. Anyone else game to give it a try? Doug? LINK

I also started book #2 yesterday even though I still have to polish Entertainer. I'm not sure I'm going to get those 2 measures polished or not.

GracieCat - That was tremendous! It sounded like you've played for 2 years and are going on to Book 3!!! The arrangement of AG in the book sounds too clumpy-thumpy to me. Your's just blew me away! Maybe we should all contact Alfred's and have you do the new series "Improvisations for Alfred's Adult Piano, Books 1,2 and 3"! I'd buy them!

Don't you just love it, when you make a discovery like that, where it just "encourages" you to do more and more! I've discovered similar things through purchasing an "easy Scott Joplin book". I wanted to do the rest of the Entertainer, not just the first part like in Alfred's. This author uses different notes in some spots. I've found that when you're playing a chord, where between the left and right hand, you're playing 5 notes, that they can be split up differently, where instead of playing 2 notes in the treble clef and three in the bass clef, you could do a switcheroo of sorts and play 3 notes with the right hand and 2 with the left instead. This is especially true if the notes aren't far from middle C. Sometimes, this makes what is a two-hand chord, easier to play. It seems to me that a lot of what we think of as "rules to play by", when it comes to piano, are not written in stone ... more like in sand ...at a beach!

No way GracieCat. I am barely through AG hands separate.

That was fantastic though. You definitely have natural talent. Like Craig said, it sounds like you have been playing for years, not months!

Welcome progrmr,

I have the Self Teaching book too and like it for the extra content it has but the binding should have been spiral like the All In One series. I use the All In One spiral bound at the piano and carry the self teaching one back and forth to work with me so I can refer to it there if I want to look something up. If I want to play any of the extra pieces from it I just make a copy of it to put on the piano.

Can I make the assumption from your screen name that you do some kind of computer programming? I do some database development work.

Yep - computer programmer by trade since 1998. Definitely tougher ways to make a buck, but it's pretty high stress most of the time. It's a good challenge though.

I am 100% with you on the binding...my light doesn't shine on the book right because of the way the book sits on the piano. Also the pages blow around when my fan is running. I'm about to just fess up the $$$ and buy the spiral bound book.

Having fun tonight with Jingle bells lol! First 8 bars are coming along...making my hands behave is turning out to be a bigger challenge than I expected!

I manged to pass JB abet with a C-. Going to let it sit for a week to save my sanity then work on it again. I too wish the non-AIO book were spiral bound. Been using a small clip to keep the the pages open. I bet a copy shop could rebind them into a spiral but the clip is working well enough. My fellow total beginners, if you need a break from the book, I suggest the Preparatory Piano Literature by Faber (ISBN 9781616770273). 'Real' music and do-able.

Welcome progrmr. I'm currently working on an associates degree in Computer Programming from the local community college. I had never done any programming before but so far I like it. Good luck with the piano.

Thanks! If you've got the "knack" for it, programming is a great way to make a living - G/L and stick with it if you hit tough spots. It'll click at some point and then it's just a matter of practical experience.



I have officially switched over to the "Adult All In One Course: Lesson, Theory, Technic Level 1" book with the spiral binding. MUCH better. Although I'm a bit dismayed at the attempt to teach note reading by intervals. I don't agree with this approach at all IE "start on G, then up a 2nd, then down a 3rd" etc. IMO, just learning the notes is the best approach.

On page 35 of this book which is introducing G7. Pretty easy, I'm getting it.

Looking forward to hitting that page 50 wall everyone talks about

ok, I need some feedback. Keep in mind that I've been playing piano for about 4 days so even getting through the simple stuff is pretty amazing to me lol!

I'm not sure I'm getting this whole "legato" thing - seems like the way I've always played the notes. Anyway I've got a recording I made which while not great it's good enough to critique my playing.

What Can I Share MP3

Am I doing this legato thing right? If not how do I change this up?

thanks!