Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Alfred's Basic and All in One Adult Piano Course Book #2

on page 130 introducing augmented triads. I don't remember learning "B" I remember a B sharp major with 2 sharps, but the "B" major triads show 2 flat signs. Did i miss something or is that a little bit confusing? I don't seem to be having any issues with playing anything or augmenting triads...

edit: I take that back, "Deep River" is giving me problems, but it is with the left hand arpeggios, not with the augmenting triads. I guess its good that I found this weakness now, give me something to work on.

You didn't learn B-sharp Major. It's a non-standard key, enharmonic to C major. I think you mean B major, which has 5 sharps (#s: F, C, G, D, A).

I'm looking at the page now. BMaj: B, D#, F#

The augmented would be BAug: B, D#, Fx (F-double sharp, AKA, G).

While I don't see it on this page... maybe you're talking about B-flat major (bs: B, E)? That major chord would be: Bb, D, F. Is that maybe it?

The previous lessons where B Sharp Major and G Minor, so whatever they have on 130 seems to be new. I guess it doesn't matter, they are just demonstrating the idea of how to augment. I don't remember them going over "A" either.

I have been watching this for a while with little contribution - i have been doing a lot of music theory - byt I am now back on with Alfreds. I an about to try, Rock My Soul, Brahms Lullaby, Night Song and Hokey Pokey. By the way - I am not using the all in one book - but the adult beginner series that seems to have a few less songs in it. Are all the four above in the longer one?

Once more, there is NO B-sharp major (in standard theory) There is C Major, which is enharmonic to it.

They previous lessons were B-*flat* major, and its relative minor, g minor. And yes, 130 is only going over how to augment the major triads.

A major would be:

A, B, C#, D, E, F#, G#, A; AMaj: A-C#-E, AAug: A-C#-E#

Hi all, I'm now working on polishing Light and Blue, though I still go back to fine-tune Guantanamera and Overture. I can't say I "passed" them until I get a pass from my teacher, who is currently on a break so I'm working on my own in the meantime. I just realized recently that I really like the genre called "Blues" and "Rags," so I'm having a lot of fun with "Light and Blue" I have a question though, how do you time the long-short 8th notes in blues? I'm really confused and can't tell if my rhythm is right My teacher, unfortunately, doesn't seem familiar with the blues (gasp!) so she never plays the 8th notes long-short.

I'm jumping out of the woodwork to say that personally, I don't think the song sounds right at all unless you play the long-short 8th notes. Did you check the list of recordings in the first part of this thread to see if someone had recorded it?

Here's JohnFrank's recordng of light and blue: http://www.box.net/shared/nixnfx68sk from that first page.

I really liked Guantanemera also

-Nancy

Marimorimo it is hard to explain what blues is supposed to sound like, but i found this here maybe you can get an idea from it, she sounds good to me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeNe88JC2LA

the more i listen to it is seems the left hand is playing a little bit too evenly, maybe not a great example but still sounds good for what it is.

here is better example from what looks to be some kind of a pro

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlbsJcTbP8Y&feature=related

Oh yeah, I know this lady, she is goooood, very talented lady from Hong Kong. Listen to a song she composed here:
Sha La La

I thought I would not like learning Hokey Pokey, but... you're right -- it's kind of fun! However, I don't have a teacher, and am stumped at how to play the last bar. At first I thought 8va] always meant one octave higher, and it seemed so awkward to play C, G (with left thumb) and then jump up an octave to play the last C... then I see on youtube people playing 8va an octave lower, but in the C,G,C --- do you only play only the final C one octave down, or the G and C both an octave down?.... Tell me.... what's it all about?

hmmmm, when I played it I played the LH normal (no 8va), but the last note for the RH 8va, but it seems that you should play the C as written, and the G and last C 8va. I'm assuming the 8va notation only applies to notes directly above (or below) it!

That's the beauty of a digital piano! Headphones!!!

Rob

nancy w & bobjr: Thanks for the tips and links! I think I may be 'getting' it already, but I'm not really sure. I have another question, though. Would the beat still be even with a metronome?

Book 2 Update: I'm currently working on the Hungarian Rhapsody, I'm nearly 2/3 of the way there..

Hi guys,

I've been enjoying reading through parts of this thread for a while now, and thought I might as well introduce myself!

I'm a Belgian student turning 24 this month. I started playing the piano on my own and taking singing classes since the summer and my dream is to hopefully one day be able to become a sort of semi-nice jazz pianist and be able to compose some of my own songs and perform them - although I don't know how realistic that is... But it's okay to dream right? I'm focusing on the basics now and hopefully next spring start learning a little blues as a lead-up to jazz.

Right now I'm at about 1/3rd of book 2 (just skimmed through Brahm's lullaby). I have the feeling the songs go pretty fast and easily right now (eg Sakura, You're in my heart, Brahm's, ..)..

So I was wondering, do any of you sometimes skip some pieces? I have the impression not all of them are really necessary, and I'm wondering whether I would progress faster if I skipped a few pieces here and there and have a bigger challenge when practicing the other pieces. Not that this book is not challenging, but I'd like to get the maximum result in the minimum amount of time (like all of us, I suppose :p) Anyone have any experience with this?

Also, I was wondering how extensive your guys' book is. It seems like my book is a simplified version of book 2, with less songs (eg Chopin's 10.3 is missing, which I regret a lot!). It's got 96 pages and about 41 pieces in it, aside from a theoretic part and some other excercises.

Thanks! Looking forward to spending some more time on this forum!


Herman

I hate to say it, but I've been a bit frustrated with the Alfred course...for a while now.

It's not about the musicality of the pieces themselves - I actually quite enjoy playing everything starting from the Wedding theme. It's about the never-ending LH chords and the very loooong review section. I wish Alfred gave more emphasis to the LH as it does with the RH. I believe strengthening the LH is essential for me to be able to play the music I really want to play (mostly classical).

Of course I can just supplement Alfred with other pieces which is what I am doing, but it's starting to frustrate me that I have to look at other sources to make up for what's lacking in the book. And it doesn't help that the review section is so long and I won't be learning any new LH chords beyond C, G, and G7 for a while. And I wish the 16th notes would come quickly, but the book is taking its time!

But being the "diligent" student that I am, I never skip pieces. So I'm trying my best to get the review section over with and get into new material, but at the same time, it makes me miserable because time spent on Alfred = time not spent strengthening my LH, and time not spent learning more challenging material.

I feel that the book is holding me back

My teacher is away for the month so I'm working on my own now. When I see her again, I may talk to her about my concerns and see what'll happen. But even so, I have a strange kind of dogged loyalty to Alfred (I already have Book 3) so I'm not willing to drop the series entirely.

Sorry for the rant

------------------
@ Herman: I hope my ranting hasn't scared you off! Alfred is a good method, but I guess no one method is perfect for everybody. Some people skip pieces, others like me don't (my teacher is strict that way). Since it seems like you're self-teaching, you can just go at your own pace. Oh, and welcome to the forum!

Hey marimorimo,

Thanks for the welcome As you probably noticed, I changed my nickname; as I think Herman sounds a bit static, I like Manu better

I get your drift about the Alfred's books. Actually half an hour ago I was playing one of the few pieces that does require a bit more use of the LH (Rock-a my soul). I do agree though that the LH seems to be neglected quite a bit in the Alfred's series, especially in the first 2 books it seems.

Have you taken a look at the scores in the 3rd book? I don't know what they look like, but from listening to a few pieces from the book in the Alfred-3-thread, I get the impression that the LH is finally getting the attention it deserves and not just playing chords the whole time.

This also annoys me a bit, but I've been well into the series for a few months now, and am eager to finish them! I figure the LH will be exploited sooner rather than later, and if after the Alfred's series I am not satisfied with its evolution, I will look for challenging pieces for my LH myself. I hope you'll find what you need later on in the series!

BTW, where are you in book 2 and do you have a teacher? Right now I'm practicing Brahm's lullaby and also perfecting the preceding 2 or 3 songs. I'm 100% self taught up to now and would like the idea of being able to consult someone from time to time (if necessary) in order to solve possible technical problems . Of course I am also willing to give you advice, but obviously I wouldn't be able to guarantee you correct advice as I don't have an expert supervising me, just my own experiences! Keep your Alfred spirit up and see you around,


Manu

Getting very frustrated here, it looks like I won't get much progress the next months. Ordered the all in one collection a month ago, still not arrived. Today I got a message that it was returned by the postal office, after 1 month. So now it'll have to be sent to somewhere else, so I'm looking at probably at least 1 more month before I get it. So damn frustrating, because I just can't find the book in this country and I'd have to order any other books as well..

Its amazing how long it can take to deliver something which usually takes a week by another company. Maybe ill have to order another book but I don't know from where, my mail never arrives anymore it seems.

Sorry just incredibly frustrated and I can't even find an online edition of it either.

Book 2 is really painful, I am at Danny Boy which is the last song before Canon in D... I listened to other peoples recordings of Canon in D and I feel a bit sad that they didn't use the original in the book. Hopefully Book 3 will be better.. but looking on the bright side, my piano skills have increased a lot so I can't say it was a waste of time. It served its purpose, I'm just anxious like I'm sure some of you are to play "better" songs.

@Manu85: Yes, I do have a teacher but she's away for this month. I have Book 3 and I took a peek at it before (but that was a while back and I don't have the book with me now) and the pieces at the very end (Fur Elise, Moonlight Sonata) are some of my goal pieces so I'd be very glad to work my way up to playing those. But I still think that Book 3 focuses a lot on LH chords. Not that chords are a bad thing - I think it'll help in playing Pop and playing from fake books, but not helpful in others, like Baroque.

I'm only up to Hungarian Rhapsody by Liszt right now. Brahm's lullaby was one of the earlier challenging pieces in Book 1 and I'm looking forward to playing a more advanced version But anyway, I decided to take a break from Alfred for the meantime so I'm currently learning a Baroque piece from the 'The Festival Collection Book 3.' The piece didn't look hard, but it was a test of LH-RH coordination! I was continuously mixing up reading the bass and the treble clefs, which almost never happens with Alfred! It was such a good exercise I'm thinking of concentrating more on the Festival Collection book rather on the method book.

@Quagles: I was wondering why I haven't seen you lately...so that's the reason why! I sympathize with you. I ordered some music books last month on expedited shipping but my package still hasn't arrived. I feel cheated that I spent more on the expedited shipping option. Why don't you spend this time learning pieces from online sources instead? It'll be a nice break from Alfred