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Welcome Happyhah. Lots of help and support here....

Theme from SOLACE anyone able to follow along with the notes?

bobjr, not sure what exactly you're asking. How to play it or how to read some of the notes?

Well... I'm having a hard time following along while i play because of all the jumping around, especially at the end of the song. So I find myself having to look at the keys instead of the notes, matter of fact this was giving me so much trouble I seem to have the whole song memorized from playing it so much, so when i try to read the notes and play at the same time, i find it hard to follow along with the notes.

Unless you are trying to master sight reading, you should play it in a memorized fashion. When was the last time you saw a concert pianist read from sheet?

on to "La Bamba" it is then. I guess I will just have to master sight reading after i learn how to play

Good luck with La Bamba! A small advice from me is to go through it and spend some time with it, but if you find it's taking too long, you're not alone, and you should move on. For me, it is so far the hardest piece to get to record quickly, that's my measure of difficulty: If you can record it fast, it is easy.

Here's the Hokey Pokey... That wasn't so easy but reasonable
The Hokey Pokey

Nice job with Hokey Pokey MIM

For those that were interested in Clementi's 36/1, I have posted a recording of myself playing the first movement in the Sept. piano bar. Check it out and let me know what you think,

Sincerely,

Waltz, take this as a compliment....this is the first time I see you play with good "musicality". There is feeling and correct interpretation of the piece, and your fingers looked relaxed. Good job!

I really envy all of you folks upstairs for the good pieces you work on. I can't wait to get into real music post Book 2.

Waltz, why did you mean by 10 months playing the piano? Did you really finish Book 1 and 2 in less than 10 months?

MiM,

Thanks for the compliment. Yes, I began playing piano last November and quickly became obsessed. I finished book 1 in 7 weeks and book 2 in about 7 months.

Fast work Waltz, to get so much done in such a short time. I am feeling a little obsessed myself right now. Any spare moments find me at the piano. I come to the forums to keep from driving the dc completely nuts. They've heard Guantanamera and Overture all they can stand for today... But, hey, I've nearly got 'em down. I do play others that I'm trying to recover from the old days, but Alfred's gets top priority.
Thanks for the warm welcome all!

If you don't mind, I have a few nosy questions. What other kind of musical learning did you do before, may be playing another instrument? or may be just messing around with piano or keyboard without any formal lessons, etc? When you say you finished book 1, did you do all the pieces, and did you bring them all to recording quality?

I know there are very smart people out there, but I think it takes a special kind of intelligence to learn music at this fast pace.

Actually I do have 1 more question about SOLACE if you don't mind. The song is 4/4 so you look at the left hand and the pieces of the broken cord are 1/4 note each that is fine. But the right hand you got 4 1/8 notes and hold for another 1/8 note then 1/4 then 1/8 again. If you look at the way they line up you will see that after the 3rd 1/8 note you have the 2nd 1/4 note on the right hand lining up. for the 3rd part of the broken chord you would be at the 3rd 1/4 note, but on the top you would be at 5/8ths if you play it after you hold down for the additional 8th. Am I missing something here? Should I just be playing things as I see them or should i be calculating the count for the top and bottom and playing in order of the notes?

I think you are analyzing it the correct way, as you should. It is called ragtime music because of this ragged style.

The first LH quarter beat occurs simultaneously with the first RH 1/8th note. Because the quarter notes are to be played detached, you may want to think of each LH quarter note as a 1/8th note. So, the second 1/8th note is hit while your LH finger is up in the air.

If you follow this analysis, you will see that the 3rd quarter note you are asking about is hit while your RH 4th finger is pressing on the 4th note (the E).

You should also analyze it assuming the quarter notes are played in full, not detached.

MiM,

No problem. If you've watched my Alfred's 2 youtube videos, that is more or less the extent to which I've learned every piece in Alfred's 1, Alfred's 2, and currently am doing in Alfred's 3. I did not skip any part of either book; I did all the pieces and other exercises they indicated. As you implied (and did so correctly), I do not spend much time making each piece "beautiful" musically. Yet, I do play them correctly. I try to play them exactly as written, and do best to add dynamics. I like to focus my time learning techniques involved in playing the pieces as opposed to enjoying myself with musicality. That will happen in the future, when I start to build repertoire.

Oh, I forgot the first questions; silly me

No, I have not played other instruments. I would consider this my first time learning piano. Although at UVa I did have a fellow undergraduate teach me some piano when I was 19; but, being candid, I made zero progress then.

If that be so, you certainly have it!

I'm still a little confused ,For example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jSgJcq5Gn0
in this video pianonoob seems to be hitting the 3rd 1/8 note with the 2nd 1/4 note from the left hand and it sounds correct. Is he playing this correctly ? It sounds good to me.

That's right, you hit the 3rd 1/8th note together with the 2nd 1/4 note. That's consistent with the above and that's how it should sound. Then you hit the 3rd 1/4 note, while your RH finger 4 is still on E. Finally, you hit the 4th 1/4 note while your RH finger 3 is on D#.