My teacher prefers Fabers, but will use alfred's as well. We also use the alfred's supplemental books for extra assignments.
@wish-If your lessons would give extra stress, then continue to self learn. This is supposed to be fun!
@praise-I too am a complete beginner and will finish book 1 in a year. I also feel like I can't move on until I've perfected the current piece. Sometimes my teacher tells me to move on anyway. She says that its not cheating, that I have learned what I needed to learn on a particular piece and its time to move on.

I like Fabers, but playing "extra" things from other sources is more fun. Makes me feel like I am really playing songs.

Thank You, I have put lots of work into it, but it has been rewarding.

I like the Faber selections, but I am supplimenting with an Alfred Level 1 Sacred Songs, I love it. I enjoy playing and singing songs that I know and learning new ones.

I think my playing may be improving because I am finding it faster to get my four pages per week into decent shape. Yay!

I really like the Piano Adventures music. I think it's creative and sounds good.

That is great that you are seeing such improvement. Congratulations.

I also like the music in Piano Adventures.

How do you determine the right tempo for each song in the book? Do you listen to the CD or the teacher will tell you the right tempo? Thanks.

Wish4 Thing, I have a metronome and use the metronome markings on each piece as a guide for tempo. The book usually gives a range of tempos. As a personal challenge, I aim ultimately for the top of the range (but start practicing slower, of course). However, when I first started doing this getting even close to the lower end was a real victory.

Okay so Im not going anywhere. I think my teacher quit. I've left a few messages and I've not heard from him. I haven't had a lesson since March and he still owes my son and I an hour each, so yeah.. I think he quit!

So I'm going to go back to what I was doing before him and just carry on with the Faber Accelerated Level 1. That will put me back to about halfway through the book. I'll keep on learning with the scales (I have a book) and the Theory(I have two books for that.) and use the technique and theory from Faber also.

What do you guys think?

Sorry you are having teacher problems. I personally need a teachers guidance and the accountability of having to play for her each week, but I realize not everyone needs this accountability.

Happy Playing

Allegro Modertato, Part B is giving me a fit this week.

LH eight notes and right hand quarter notes with staccato. I can play it hands seperate but when I put them together it goes south. Well at least I have until Wednesday to get it.

Anyone else on this song?

I can't seem to find a sample recording on youtube or internet... so I typed the first few measures of Classical Dance in a software that can generate MIDI, does this sound right?

OK am I correct in my understanding that the CDs don't have examples of the pieces being played, but instead are accompanying tracks?

However, I am finding a lot of 5 and 6 year olds on YouTube who are happy to show me how the pieces are supposed to sound. Most of 'em anyway, this kid seems a little ambivalent...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuyutsh0yWU

I'm learning to play Don't Cry For Me Argentina in the Piano Adventures kiddie book 2b. It's fun..it's just the left hand is always lagging behind.

I think getting the hands to work together is a problem we all have as newbs.

It's funny, I have the 2B "kiddie" book and I can't find that song in it.

I didn't realize there are 4 books for each level, plus three more supplemental ones.

It's like comic books, gotta have 'em all ... comic books you can play!

Yes Don't Cry for me Argentina is in one of the supplemental books, maybe the performance book. It's fun to use them all.

Yes! I am looking at buying ALL the books for each level, and starting over at Level 1. Buying all 7 for each level still isn't that much money.

The adult book is cool, but it doesn't have a song about getting up early to eat the leftover popcorn and darn it if Mom didn't feed it to the duck! With an illustration! The duck's the size of a goose - I'd not mess with him!

The kiddie books seem like a much more thorough course of instruction than the adult ones. And there's such a sense of *fun* in them.

I found the learning curve from piece to piece to0 steep in the adult books. I'm really enjoying the Junior Series and I do find each piece is gradually more difficult..but not too difficult..and the songs are really nice. In the chords book 2b there are great pieces. I don't find this stuff childish at all and like you, I enjoy the drawings.

I restarted accelerated book 2 and here are some recordings... welcome any feedback!

• Stars and Strips Forever: this arrangement doesn't sound very musical to me... not sure if I'm doing anything wrong?
• Rustic Dance: saw a youtube video , wow, how can he play that fast... should I try to play up to his tempo? I don't think I can though... I personally like this version (start at 4'08") better, 4 hands sound richer!
• Taps in F and Taps transposed to G: I like anything slow with pedaling:)

faster Rustic Dance:)

I was having trouble playing American Fiddle Tune (Turkey in the Straw) at 160 bpm. But after the faster Rustic Dance, the Turkey seems able to dance faster too! Good exercise for me...

American Fiddle Tune (Turkey in the Straw): F major position and transposition to C

Looking forward to seeing everyone's progress too!

That's one fine turkey in that straw!

I just ... just? OK 2 weeks ago, got "all" the Level 1 books, the 4 core books and Popular Repertoire and Gold Star Performance I think, and while I've been really swamped with keeping up the place here (a very busy 5 acres) and doing lab work, and not getting practice in, I've read through 'em and wow. The kiddie books seem to go into things in more depth, more on technique, and feeling, and thinking about music (disguised as "Mouse Missions" of course) I'm just really impressed.

Right now speaking from my own naive at best viewpoint, I'd recommend any adult to get the kiddie books and start with Primer level if you're a musical newb, and have fun being a kid again complete with colorful pictures and Mouse Missions.

(I get some relief from the work when the land owner's back in 3 weeks, and my fail-safe plan is to sign up for piano class at the local jr. college. I'll be overjoyed if they use Faber material.)

I need to get a teacher again. I have slacked off of working on the Faber material. I have started chugging away at the All in One book 2 again. Funny thing is......I really like it! I am still hoping to get through the level 2 and move onto the level 3 books. I still practice quite a bit, but I have been engrossed in my Joplin material.

Hello again, everyone!

fingerspitzngefuhl, the kid's books really are a valuable approach you will appreciate forever.

Wish4Thing, I love your recordings! I have to get myself a MIDI cable to start making my own for "future generations".

Well, I have quite the amount of homework this week - and I love it - with Parasailing, Pumpkin Boogie and New World Symphony Theme. I'm fine with quarter notes, my real job is to get the pedalling right.

Here is the rework of the Classical Dance Does this sound better (or worse ) than the old recording ? Thanks!

fingerspitzngefuhl and ragtimefordrones: thanks for the nice words about my recordings, hope to hear yours some day:)

ragtimefordrones: I think we started the same book at about the same time, you surely progressed alot faster, nice job!

fingerspitzngefuhl: I "inherited" my current Faber book for older beginner from a friend... she also has 3A. I hope I will have chance to get to 3A some day, and that's the regular book for kids, right?:)

I went to Mexico for vacation for 8 days, no touch on piano... and won't have much time for piano for next couple of weeks because of work Meanwhile, I also wandered off the Faber's book to play some of the easy pieces on gmajormusictheory.org, it's fun!

I had picked up 2 of the Chordtime Books level 2b - Jazz and Marches and Ragtime. I really enjoyed them so since I'm about through with Alfred's Adult Level 1 I ordered Faber's Adult All in One Book 2 and have found the different approach from Alfred's has added a lot to my knowledge base. For me they complement each other very well.

how many beats per minute when tempo says allegro? (for Malguena?) Thanks!

(OK, here is my recording at 168bpm... Malaguena)

Hi everyone. I hadn't had any musical exposure before starting lessons 6 weeks ago so I was a complete beginner.

In my first lesson, the tutor showed me a couple of books and I picked Adult Adventures as my main one and I find it a very good source.

This week's assignments were "Procession" and an extract from "Surprise Symphony" which is giving me my first exposure to stacatto.

My lessons have followed a similar format to others. I'll play the pieces I've been practising, then the teacher will look through the book and get me to try two or three new ones and occasionally throw in an exercise.

I also bought the "Really Easy Piano Tutor" book as a supplement and have attempted a couple of pieces on my own. Since I "got" my practise tunes quite quickly this week, I've been trying "Swan Lake" from this one. I'm getting there but the fingering changes do slow my tempo. It's a fun piece to learn though.

And also, I've been making a first attempt at transcribing a song ("Lithium" by Evanescence). I've got the melody (slightly simplified) and will next try to figure out the bass line. Tricky but really good fun.

So all in all, a busy week of practise Oh and to get back on topic, I'm finding the Faber book a very good learning tool...

Hi, how is everyone doing? I'm going slow...

ran into a question today, would like to get some help from here...: how to interpret the double vertical lines below (circled in red)? Thanks!

Double lines: end of a section. In this case, marking off the introduction from the body of the piece.

ETA: don't pause at the double bar line unless it makes musical sense to pause, which in this case I don't think it does. A slight pause for effect might be interesting after the first beat of measure 4, but this is quite independent of the double bar line.

Thanks, PianoStudent88!

I found the following info on internet, which didn't seem to apply to this piece... To me, the "introduction" sounds the same pattern as the "body"...

In this case, the difference is that the intro has the LH only. Not a dramatic difference, but enough to distinguish it. I think use of the double bar line is a bit fussy in this piece, but I've noticed that the Fabers seem to use it a lot to mark off introductions.