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

Why time goes so fast when I am the piano? I thought to myself, oh, I just sit down for a bit, and then go to bed, as feeling very tired. The next thing I know is it 1.5 hours later, and I still don't want to stop! But, couldn't keep practising the new bits all the time (I went up to page 83 tonight , but will be going back few pages tomorrow to polish off some pieces - it keeps me more motivated if I try to jump forward a bit and actually, it is easier the next day after some rest). Also, my left hand pinkie was starting to ache, so it needs it's rest for the night!!!

Can't wait for my first proper lesson!

Well, I'm officially working on everything from Greensleeves through Amazing Grace. Greensleeves, Go Down Moses and Raisins and Almonds are almost perfected, although I do still have occassional stumbles they don't seem to be in the same place each time. I've about got the left hand rythm down for He's Got the Whole World. The Entertainer is coming along nicely and its amazing how much easier it is compared to when I tried it several months ago, still need to work on the speed though. Amazing Grace is also making nice progress except that darn arpegiated chord, lol. I'm so close to being done with this book, and I know it isn't a race, but there is a sense of accomplishment to move on to a new book that I so want to experience. So basically I've been focusing all of my practice on finishing the book, but need to get back into my scales, cadences, apreggios, Hannons and supplemental pieces soon.

I'm not expecting to get a pass on everything at my next lesson which isn't until October 14th, but just maybe if I keep practicing I'll get a pleasant suprise.

It sounds like you are doing great, Barb. Hope you get a pass on all of them.

I too want to concentrate on finishing the book. After all, I've been on it a lot longer than most. I started Greensleeves today - and I'm really liking it. It will be a great one to add to my Christmas repertoire.

So there is another arpeggiated chord waiting for me in Amazing Grace? I still haven't been able to play the one in O Sole Mio fast enough. In fact, I still have some problems with that piece, but I really needed to more on to save my sanity. I do still practice it though, as I don't like to give up on anything.

I'm really starting to get excited about nearing the end of Book 1.

Raisins and Almonds is good to go it seems, occasionally an error near the end but doesn't happen all the time. So then its just He's got the whole world in his hands before ill try the two last songs, and I haven't even really tried The stranger yet. Maybe ill go back to it but I'm not sure if ill bother.

Having problems with the rhythm in he's got whole world for the left hand otherwise it doesn't look too hard but its gonna take some time to adjust to the rhythm especially where the syncopated notes are. Hopefully I won't be stuck on it cause I'm really looking forward to The Entertainer (maybe not the progress in learning it, but finishing it that I look forward to :P)

Ok, I've hit my first hurdle. Blow The Man Down... seems easy enough, play right hand, play left hand... put them together and oh goodness, I have two left hands! Any tips for co-ordinating that one?! Seems to work really REALLY slowly, but falls apart as soon as I add any amount of speed or fluency to it. Apart from lots of practice, are there any tricks for it?

@ Oz Lekeika: Don't worry, Blow The Man Down is considered one of the first significant hurdles in the book. Once you get it, you'll wonder what was so hard about it The only tip I can give you is...to count!

As for me, I'm still working on smoothing Amazing Grace. I showed my teacher a while ago the 'rough draft' and apparently it's good to go after I've smoothed out the hiccups caused by changing hand positions. She said we might start working on Book 2 next meeting (after I've passed Amazing Grace, of course). Hooray!!

Blow the Man Down - if you can get it to work slowly, then you are home free, as the speed will come eventually. But if you really can't get it hands together at all, here's what I did. I made a copy of the score, and I divided each measure into beats. That way I could look at which finger/fingers I had to use on each beat. I only had to use this sheet for a day or so before I was playing it correctly from the original page. It was a tough one, but it feels so good when you get it down.

I still play Blow the Man Down regularly I guess I'm afraid to forget how to play it LOL. Yes, it was the first real stumbling block which taught me a great lesson - patience and practice overcome all difficulties. Something that looked totally impossible to play one day, will come into place with enough time and lots of practice.

I'm polishing the Entertainer and working on Amazing Grace. It's really nice but I can't make it smooth enough. There is a long pause every time I'm changing hands position. I've also polished 2 pieces I was working on for my teacher and can't with to start another 2 she has picked for me. Not enough time to work on them all, but I'm loving it all.

Hi guys! This is my first post here, and I just wanted to say that this thread in particular is amazing and inspiring! I've always loved listening to music but never learned to play an instrument when I was younger. Not sure exactly why, it just never really came up and nobody in my family played an instrument. Never occurred to me, I guess. Well, recently my first child was born and my wife's family is pretty into music so my wife and I were talking about introducing our daughter to music... and it occurred to me, hey, why not learn an instrument?

So a few weeks ago I bought a keyboard and Alfred's All-In-One Book 1 and started learning. I've read through a bunch of this thread and there's a ton of great information. I really like that a lot of people here are self-teaching. I've seen a lot of negativity towards self-teachers in other threads on this forum that I was quite taken aback by, but seeing so many self-teachers succeed in this thread is inspiring!

So right now I am working on the second version of When the Saints Go Marching In. I'm practicing those F major chords with my right hand and having a minor struggle with it. No biggie, I am sure that a few days of practice will take care of that!

Thanks everyone for such a great source of encouragement!

Mooshinator - welcome! I agree that this thread is inspiring. Everyone is very positive and supportive, having come to piano as adults, or re-discovering long lost desires and aptitudes. I also have drawn a lot of encouragement from it. Good luck with your piano learning!

Does anyone know where I can find a recording of the stranger in Alfreds book one. I'v never heard it before and am having trouble figuring it out.
Dave

Here's a link to The Stranger:
http://www.wjchorus.com/mp3player/i...=/shared/piano/ALFRED/The%20Stranger.mp3

CTD... Here is a recording I made awhile ago.

http://www.box.net/shared/s8iq9lb7r0

MARK!!!!!! Would you put a copy of this link on page one. Thank you

That was great, wj3! I've only gotten through the first 9 measures, and not very musical at that. It's nice to hear the whole thing on a "real" piano. The link I posted is from a site that has all the pieces from the Alfred CD, which does not sound like a real piano. A good place to look if you can't find a piece anywhere else though. I think there are several people working on "Stranger" right now in this forum.

Hooray, got up this morning and played Blow the Man Down several times right through without error and at a reasonable speed! Definately the biggest challenge so far, to the point that I moved on a few songs and kept going back to it. I think it's finally there! Up to Lullaby now, the few songs post Blow the Man Down aren't quite as difficult which was a relief after some serious thinking and frustration.... thought I'd never get it!

Congratulations on getting Blow the Man Down. That's a tough one.

Congrats Oz, that song is a big milestone for most in the book.

all set, and well done!

I don't have my book 1 handy, did I place it in the right position?

Thanks Mark

Hi everyone. It's a been a long time since I posted in here although I've still been reading. As for my progress; I'm just putting the finishing touches on "Nadia's Theme" from the Greatest Hits book. For anyone not using this book in conjunction with the lesson book, I HIGHLY recommend it. I feel as though I've gotten SO much more practice and have become much better than I would have without it. I've spent so much time on these songs that when I get back to a song from the lesson book, it feels like a bit of a reprieve. Next up is "Raisins and Almonds" from the lesson book. It's looking like I'll get through both books in just under a year.

I plan on moving on to each of the second books afterward, but first I'm going to "reward" myself with the Beatles easy piano book. Obviously I won't go through the whole thing but I'll work on songs from it while I continue my lessons. "Beatlesque" pop (and particularly the Fab Four themselves) is my favorite type of music so I'm very excited to start playing it.

I'm glad to see that everyone here is doing well and I like hearing about your progress. Maybe eventually, I'll make a recording and post it here.

Hi there. I've been a lurker for about 10 months and bought my digital piano (Yamaha Clavinova CLP 340) through reading about digitals on this forum. I love my piano.

I've been plugging away at Alfred's book and currently on page 48. I desperately need motivation as I'm not a big fan of the Alfred's repetoir of songs, some pieces are lovely and fun to play and I can see how this book has helped my playing, so that keeps me going.

I'm currently working on Prelude 'The Polish Dance' by Chopin. Just beautiful. My goal is to build up a repetoir of pieces I love so I can play for enjoyment.

Looking forward to getting to know you.

**Oh, can anyone PLEASE tell me how to do a search. I can't find the search button anywhere! Thanks