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pianoluvr - glad to be of service - good luck!

Finishing up "La Donna" - nice piece & a little tough. Anybody else do this?

JF

This thread was down on page 3 - am I the only one currently working in Alfred 2? "Earth to Alfred 2 users - come in please". :p

Regards, JF

JF,

I'm still using Book 2 but we've only worked on one piece during the past two months. I was originally hoping to wrap this book up by around June. With my recital at the end of May, etc. I'll be happy if I finish by the end of the summer.

Cyborg - good to hear from you again - are you still working on "The Riddle" or have you moved on to something else?

I'm wading thru the book piece by piece (whether I like them much or not) and I'm currently on "Black is the Color of my True Love's Hair" (I think the title is longer than the song!) Then I think there's only 10 more pieces to go until I'm done with 2 - then onto 3.

Since I self-teach I'm wondering if I should sign the Achievment Certificate at the end of book 2 myself!

Regard,

JF

I had thought I would be joining you Book Two folks by June, but now I am not so sure. These pieces at the end of book one are taking longer than I thought.

AWTPP - that's ok - no one is in a big hurry - which pieces are you working on specifically at the end of book 1?

Regards, JF

Rounding out Little Brown Jug (I've played it twice so far at tempo with no errors... twice out of maybe hundreds of attempts) and just starting Chiapanecas.

JF,

Yep, I finished "The Riddle" and enjoyed the piece very much. It's the only piece we've worked on over the past two months from Book 2. I've been working on additional material and my two recital pieces and I imagine it will continue that way for about another month. Regardless, I can't wait to get back to working on Book 2 pieces and finish the book.

FWIW, I'd sign that certificate myself!

I'm in Book #2; currently working on Intro And Dance and Streets of Laredo

Undone - as the book says the "Intro and Dance" piece was adapted into a big pop hit called "Those Were the Days" way back in the 1960s for singer Mary Hopkin (it might have been her only hit) - I think the book's arrangement is really excellent - I recorded an enhanced version of it which I might upload to the upcoming recital or the next monthly piano bar.

See the video of Mary's big hit here on YouTube .

Regards,

JF

Thanks JF. Yes, I know the song "Those Were the Days" quite well. As soon as I started playing the first few bars of this piece for the first time I thought "Hey, I know this one, but not by that name".

I'm still here and in Book 2..I just haven't been posting very often (actually, I haven't even been to the board as much as I'd like) I'm getting near the end of book 2 and my teacher hasn't said whether we're doing book 3 or not, yet. She has me learning Sonatina Op 36, No.1 by M. Clementi as well as Loch Lomand from Alfred. I just finished Deep River, although I still have some issues with the arpeggiated chords. I thought I had that down a few months ago, but apparently not. I guess I'll keep working at it on my own as she has said we're moving on...She's also hitting theory a lot harder now.
Glad to see this thread make it back to page one.

Char

Char - really glad to know you're still with us - how do you like the Loch Lomand arrangement in Alfred? I was looking forward a little to that piece (and Danny Boy too).

Also, the Clementi piece - I've read other posts refering to his works - are they a bit more challenging than most of the pieces in Alfred - is it from a collection of his works that I could ckeck out at Amazon?

Regards, JF

Your going to like Clementi Prelude in D minor that's in book 3....

I haven't been posting much, been a practicing fool with all the pieces and my recital pieces. I have to exercise much abstinence from PW

My teach is being a perfectionist on this one :rolleyes: stucato with legato she says. I will be on it forever. Im done with Frankie & J, Black ITCOMTLH and starting WJCMH and the Sym 6.
She is not letting it go by any means

Hi IamElise - Finished La Donna, for now (some slightly tricky RH jumps in 2nd half) - will review it later - also pretty much breezed thru Black and F&J - will start WJCMH tomorrow - also have been reviewing both Hava Nagila & Olympic Procession trying to polish them off (fun pieces both) - hoping to finish up Book 2 sometime this summer.

I know what you mean about how tempting it is to check out PW & have been cutting corners on practice time lately a little because of it - this must cease! (immediately after this session).

Regards, JF

I'm still in book 2 and it's my choice more than the teachers. She doesn't like to go strictly by method books especially these modern ones.

She is also a perfectionist which has it's pros and cons. You tend to stay on pieces forever and when you think they're good to go she'll have you do it faster or add pedals, or do this that or the other to it.

The con is you don't go through method books quickly the pro is you become a better pianist in a shorter period of time.

I started swinging sevenths yesterday and it's all done!!! I practiced it for 15 minutes yesterday and it's down. Today I'll do another 15 to polish it nice and squeeky, make sure I have the count and rythym down. Counting is my big fopa, it's not that I don't know how to do it, I'm just lazy and won't.

She started me on 4 new pieces this week in addition to the 4 I'm finishing up. I had her under control for a month but last class she went nuts on me again and loaded me down.

I really like swinging sevenths.

Sounds like you are doing great. Any chance you doing something for the recital? Love to hear one of your side pieces...

Mark...

Hey Mark,

I still have the red dot syndrome although I don't have issues playing for people.

I haven't even recorded myself in ages, we'll see, I hope someday to beat that wall down.

I have the red dot problem too...but after a few million takes it generally comes out half way good...