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

Manowar, I've only been at this for 8-9 weeks and I'm working on pages 90-94. I started already knowing how to read music. Basically I've just had to learn the notes on the bass staff and where notes are located on the keyboard. (My flash cards really helped me learn the notes on the bass staff.)

However, now I'm really slowing down as the material gets harder. The good news is that it's nice to go back into the book and play and what I thought was hard is now easy. You'll see that same progress.

Some days I might play 2 hours in spurts throughout the day. Other days I'm lucky to get in 15 minutes. Some days I'll play just for the fun of it, and other days I have a goal and practice a set goal.

There’s hope. You probably won’t be as fluent on the keyboard as your 10-key like a concert pianist on the Piano… But you can definitely get a piece at your level to the thoughtless stage. I used to struggle through the last 2 pieces of the book, but now, I cruise through them without thoughts, scores, looking… anything. It takes awhile though. For me, 2 months side by side. If I’m not trying to iron and smooth out Hanon, I’d have moved onto Book 2 already. Besides, I’m trying to look for a Teacher now and hopefully get one soon. I don’t want to move any further on my own. Wish me luck

That's really good to hear. I had began to wonder if I could really make it through the book. I had been trying to play the pieces at the end of the book for fun. It's beyond me at this point.

I was planning on getting a teacher when I finished the book too. But, I've heard there is an opening with a teacher I was hoping to get in with. I think I'm going to take it!

Good luck in your search for a teacher.

It's good to see some activity on this thread again. I think we fell back to page 3 for a couple days.

Like GracieCat I am also around page 94. I am working on Lone Star Waltz and just beginning Cafe Vienna. I started this book in the middle of December but had been using some other resources since early September so I was able to go through the first 30 or 40 pages rather quickly. Now I am averaging a song or two every couple weeks. At my current rate I am hoping to finish up book 1 sometime in late summer or early fall. I am also taking lessons (using this book) but have only had 2 so far. My last lesson was canceled and I had just switched from 30 min every week to an hour every 2 weeks. So it will have been 3 weeks when I have my next lesson. Our first lesson was spent mostly getting to know each other and me showing what I could do. The second lesson was showing how I was doing on the things he suggested I work on and starting a new piece. I don't think there has been a lot of knowledge gained from the lessons yet but I know that will change as they continue.

There are times when I am starting a new song that I wonder if I'll ever get it but sure enough it all comes together with patience and perseverance. I too have a varied practice routine. Some days I go back to past pieces, some days I don't. Some days I work on a new piece from the Greatest Hits book that complements book 1, some days I don't. I always give plenty of time to practicing the pieces my teacher expects me to show progress on. Most days I practice for between 30 and 60 minutes. When things are going well I can easily put in 2 hours without even noticing the time, when things aren't going so well I struggle to get to 30 minutes. I never do less than 20 minutes and I don't skip any days. The progress just happens as a result of staying committed.

The greatest hits book can work with book 1? I figured it would all be beyond it.

Hi Folks, - Well, for the last week, I've been working on "Can-Can" and it's progressing nicely. It reminds me of BTMD done at high speed. Getting it accurate at tempo is the hard part, I occasionally hit the right key with the wrong finger or vise-versa. I have one small problem with it that I didn't have with other songs. For most of my life I lived in Northern NJ and for the last thirty years heard those commercials on TV for the supermarket chain ShopRite and their twice annual "Can-Can" sale. Here's a couple of samples:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdpYxZzhATQ&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNyLHDAdsqY&NR=1

I keep hearing that commercial everytime I play the piece!

I hope after I get it mistake-free and at tempo, I'll be rewarded by something like this appearing in the living room! LOL!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVljWHTKjNs&feature=fvw

Northern New Jersey here too! My son and daughter both kept telling me that I it didn't sound like the "Can Can" that they knew. Of course, it didn't help that I was hitting wrong notes and playing it too slow. I got it eventually though, and you will too.

When you hit somewhere around page 74 in the All in One Book 1 it tells you that "You are now ready to start playing from the Greatest Hits Vol 1". That book has a spot at the top of each piece that tells you at what page in the AIO you are ready to play the piece in the GH book. They go together nicely. I am at around page 94 in the AIO book and I think there are 3 songs in the GH book that I am "ready" to play. It works out nice as supplemental material if you like the song selection. There's a nice variety of selections in it although some of the arrangements leave a bit to be desired. I was looking forward to playing My Heart Goes On but when I play it from the book it doesn't do much for me even though it sounds correct.

As an aside - There is no CD to go along with the Greatest Hits book. I was having a little trouble getting the rhythm down right on one of the songs so I used a program to enter the score and create a MIDI file that would demonstrate to me how it should sound. If anyone is interested in any of the pieces in the GH book in MP3 format, let me know by PM and I will send it to you. I have the first 5 pieces done but it doesn't take long to create one if there's one further back in the book you want.

Hi Gracie--

I also type 100 words per minute, so I'm hoping that my typing and office skills will have SOME impact on the piano. I sure am loving it...and kicking my self for not starting it earlier. But, I have typed since I was 16 (many moons ago) and now am counting down to retirement! (8 years, 8 months and 6 days--not that I am counting!!! So, I'm hoping that the longer I practice and with frequency, I'll have it down. I already can play the C, D7, G, and F chords without looking--but I have to position myself on the c chord first as my home base.

It's FUN, FUN, FUN...and I'm lovin' it!

DougF - I know exactly what you mean with the Greatest Hits Vol 1 book. I couldn't wait until I got to the point where I was far enough along to play "My Heart Will Go On" and it was a bit of a let-down. My problem is, with songs like that, I research them on Youtube or my CD collection to discover what key they're "really" in, and what the best piano arrangement sounds like, and I'm disappointed when it's vastly different from what feels like the "special ed" version that I could possibly play at this point!

In the case of "My Heart Will Go On", the original Celine Dion version is in the key of E (or C# minor...I'm not sure!). The Greatest Hits Level 2 (I'm an optimist...I bought both!) has a more "advanced" version in the key of F. I guess it won't be until we finish AIO 2 in your case, and regular Adult Book 3 for me, that Celine will be beating down our doors to provide the vocals! LOL!

My Greatest hits book has a disclaimer saying that the songs may be harder than the corresponding page in the Alfred 1 book. They are, but they are fun to play.

It's a nice way to take a break from the main book. I've done a few out of it, and am up to Rock Around the Clock (tough for me ..)

Hi all. My teacher search update.

I finally found a teacher. She comes to students’ houses for lessons so it’s perfect for me as I have a young child.

This morning was our first lesson. We went back and review everything in Book 1, most importantly theories, techniques, dynamics etc… but not pieces. I played the last 2 pieces of the Book for her, “The Entertainer” and “Amazing Grace”. She passed me on both. She assigned me C major 2 octaves scales and the first piece of Book 2 "Down in The Valley" for next week. Yay…! So finally, with a teacher, I was reassured I have been doing it properly and graduate.

The sad thing is she will be teaching me out of the Faber & Faber’s Piano Adventures series, starting Level 3B. This means Book 2 “Down in the Valley” is only an interim piece until I have my PA books ready.

That said, I’d like to say I will visit this thread often and see how all the familiar faces are doing. I will also try to work on Book 2 on the side and look forward to seeing you in Thread 2 soon.

Also, if I like Piano Adventures and stick with this teacher, I will create a “Piano Adventures” Group Study Thread similar to this to see if anyone will join me.

Finally, it has been an adventure filled with joys and tribulations thus far in Book 1. There were days- Blow the Man Down, Got Those Blues, Little Brown Jug… I could easily quit. Thanks to all the experiences and joys shared, I got through knowing everyone struggles just the same. Without this thread and all the supports, I am probably not bragging about my graduation now. I thank you wholeheartedly, gratefully and happily.

Best wishes,
Nguyen

Congratulations on finding a teacher, Nguyen, and getting passed on "Entertainer" and "Amazing Grace". I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't get a pass on either of them, especially now having not played them regularly.

Wow! Piano Adventures 3B - that's "advanced stuff" for us. I've picked up my "Adult Piano Adventures" again, and I'm working on "The Rose", which looks very easy but it's slow and I have trouble with timing on the slow ones.

Today I gave myself a test on about 10 of the last pieces from Book 1. I gave myself grades. 1 - like I'm seeing it for the first time. 2- - stumbled through. 3 - Played slowly with minimal mistakes. 4 - played at tempo with minimal mistakes. 5 - played well. Sadly, most of them got a grade of 3.

I confess that I haven't been practicing as much lately. So I have my work cut out for me, reviewing as well as working on my new piece.

Hope to see you on the Book 2 thread as you work on "Down in the Valley". That one is pretty easy.

Enjoy your new classes.

Hey I'm thinking about purchasing this book, it's obviously popular and looks like a lot of people are having success with it. I was wondering how much better it is to get the CD with it? It's harder to find one that includes it. Is it much better to have or will I get along just fine without it?

It's good to have the CD so you can see if you are playing the piece correctly. The quality of the CD isn't great, but it's better than nothing. However, if you can't find it, or choose not to spend to money, most of the pieces from Book 1 and Book 2, and a few from Book 3 are on youtube.com played by PianoNoobAlexMan.

Back in page 111 of this thread I posted a link to the CD for this book if you get a copy w/o the disc like I did. Mine is en route. There are several youtubers who recorded every song like mom3gram said.

mom3gram, thanks for the well wishes. I'll see you in Book 2 soon

Hi All,

I am 68 and started playing (self taught) about 5 years ago. I can play some things pretty well and other things not so well. I recently decided to firm up my foundation a little and purchased the Alfred's Adult AIO course book. I am enjoying it and it shows me that I have much to learn. I started browsing through it and playing each piece until it was what I consider "pretty good" but not perfect. I have progressed to page 119 ... Little Brown Jug. This is where things have begun to get difficult enough so that I will need to spend much more time on each piece in order to get it to "pretty good". I am hopeful that this book and my dedication will get me to the next level ... whatever that is. LOL ...

Like others have said ... I just enjoy playing and I have no particular goal other than to just keep getting better. I think this Alfred's course is going to help me do that.

I have read through a number of the comments within this Alfreds Level 1 thread and found them to be very insightful. I hope to share my experiences and insights where appropriate in the coming months.

Keep Practicing ...

Well, just so you know ....

The CD does not contain piano versions of these pieces. The Cd contains big band versions of them. If you do not know the piece it probably is helpful but if you want the CD to listen to how it should sound when you play it with the piano, you may not be happy.

I have found them on YouTube and like that better because it is an actually piano version and done by someone who appears to have just recently learned the piece.

The CD contains both the piano portion and accompanying music, which is very annoying if you are checking to make sure you are playing correctly.

Luckily, the two portions are separated out so that the piano portion is played over the right channel and the accompaniment is played over the left channel. If you disable your left channel, you can hear only the piano portion.

This makes it *much* easier to use the CD for checking your playing.