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Congratulations Michael, thanks for share your experience and your advices. Will you start the Alfred 2 book?



Here is information from this thread regarding Alfred Books
"Re: Alfred's Basic and ALL in One Adult Piano Course Book #1 - 09/05/10 03:04 PM
Posted by: mom3gram

Alfred Basic Adult Piano Course - has lessons and pieces to play, but you must buy a separate theory book. Levels 1,2, and 3.
Alfred Basic Adult Piano Course All-In-One - same lessons and pieces as above with the exception of maybe two or three different pieces, includes theory and exercises. Levels 1,2 and 3. (Has spiral binding with is nice because it lays flat)
Alfred Self-Teaching Piano Course - same lessons and pieces but with more explanation and study hints for each piece. Has some bonus pieces at the end of book. No spiral binding.
You can post here with any of the above, as MOST of the pieces are exactly the same."


http://www.amazon.com/Alfreds-Basic-Adult-Piano-Course/dp/0882846167

http://www.amazon.com/Adult-All-One-Course-Lesson-Theory-Technic/dp/0882848186/

http://www.amazon.com/Alfreds-Self-Teaching-Adult-Piano-Course/dp/0739052055/

Note you can purchase the book with CD or without CD.



Welcome to this thread Chuck. Congratulations steveMac too.

I finished Rock It Away. Ii souds nice. I am starting to practice C major scale and learn "Joy to the World".

Actually, I think I'm going to finish all the supplement pieces in Book 1 (Somewhere Over the Rainbow, Frankie and Johnnie, Laura, etc.), and then I'm going to go back to two of the original books I purchased when starting--Alfred's Greatest Hits from the movies and Alfred's All Time Favorites, both Level 1.

This will of course delay my getting into Level 2, but I'm in a marathon here, not a sprint. I have to think that, armed with all the new skills I've developed in Level 1, I'm only going to be deepening, enriching, and cementing those skills with these two other books. After that I should have more than enough preparation to go on to Level 2.

Plus, of course, I'll have a whole BUNCH of neat music I can play and entertain myself with. And, after all, that's what we're all about in the first place, isn't it.

I'm working on Got Those Blues and I have to say it's been the most fun song to play so far. It's still pretty basic, but I feel like I can connect to the song more than anything else I've played so far. The fact that my hands are moving around more than they have been also makes it feel more like I'm playing and less like I'm learning simple things.

I've still been playing everything from BTMD on up every day too, along with the C Major scale and Hanon exercises.

Thanks for the advice and you too Lefty. I am going slowly hands apart and then together very slowly. I say the same thing with each new area...I will never get this..and then it just happens, kinda like the first time you rode a two-wheeler.

i posted this as a seperate thread, but maybe someone here can answer

I just got a piano teacher, and we will be going through the Alfred All In One Adult Level 1.

one thing i am worried about is that while it may help with technique, i'm worried that at the end, i'll just be able to play the pieces in the book, but not really know how to PLAY if you know what i mean? As in, coming up with chord progressions, embellishing them with rhythms, etc.

My primary reason for learning piano is for songwriting purposes, and to have the ability to add piano to my recordings. (guitar is my primary instrument)

On guitar, i had basic chords, and was already able to play a bunch of my favorite classic rock tunes, and even noodle around a scale over then in i'd say 6 months (i've been playing for 10 years now)

seems like piano is much harder to get to that level, unless one primarily focuses on just chords and harmony i guess. Does it take a long time to get to that level?

it's a little easier for me since i already know music theory very well, and studied jazz guitar for 3 years. But applying that stuff to the piano is hard.

my ultimate goal is to be able to come up with stuff like Long and Winding Road by the Beatles. and by that i don't mean learning how to play Long and Winding Road, but i mean coming up with progressions that have similar type of embellishments, etc.

Is this book basically only good for getting good at the technique of piano?

Rich,
We're both coming at piano with similar backgrounds and goals. I've been playing guitar for 10 years and my main goal for piano is for songwriting and accompaniment. I've been messing around with piano since last Fall and I actually find it to be easier to play nice-sounding progressions on the piano than it was starting on guitar. With the guitar, you need to crunch up your fingers to make the chord shapes, build up calluses, etc. I find the piano keyboard to nicely spread out and easier to picture where the notes are.

I've finished Alfreds Book 1 and am working through Book 2. I'm using this course more as an academic exercise than anything else, since the music I want to play (and write) doesn't usually have sheet music to play from (just chord charts). I have found that it has helped my finger independence and I learned some interesting rhythms too.

I suggest you go to Youtube and check out tutorials for "piano accompaniment" "patterns" and also tutorials for playing some songs you like (i.e. "Long and Winding Road"). I did this and I found that, by learning songs like this, I picked up some techniques I could apply to my own music.

One more thing -- make sure your teacher knows what your goals are with respect to piano so you're both on the same page, so to speak.

Good Luck!

I am still in "Joy to the World", it sounds nice and is not very difficult.

I made a small break to do some recordings from Alfred AIO 1 book:

017 - Jingle Bells - 2011-06-11 v01.mp3
http://www.box.net/shared/fyb14513f00zusrha817

058 - Cafe Vienna - 2011-06-11 v02.mp3
http://www.box.net/shared/tffkjanz0c1vk5nhyteq

059 - Lullaby - 2011-06-11 v01.mp3
http://www.box.net/shared/17rqkbs41htbdkf11x20

060 - Rock It Away - 2011-06-11 v01.mp3
http://www.box.net/shared/j2u7cx27hzi0kupdadaz

i will have to disagree with you mr luke the piano is far more difficult to play than a guitar as you are doing different things on both hands i taught myself to play guitar which is rather easy but i need a teacher to learn piano which is far more difficult

What did you teach yourself exactly on the guitar, to play some chords? I'm sorry but your post, as is often the case, is nonsense.

Do you honestly think this is easy? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8X2jyoW0Fg I'm pretty sure two hands are required and they most certainly have to play differently.

If you compare like for like, guitar is every bit as difficult as piano.

Just for fun, I thought I'd "translate" one of clayts' posts into something closer to actual English.

Before:


After:


Easier on the eyes (but still not so easy on the brain :))

And maybe I've been playing my guitar wrong all these years, but I definitely do different things with each hand when playing it.

C'mon.. isn't all guitar just Cowboys chords?

this is one of the highest technical levels you can achieve when it comes to rock/jazz fusion guitar. This man, Guthrie Govan, is considered one of the best studio session guitar players around. He can play any style of music as if he's been playing it exclusively for years.

according to the guy at blues jam tracks. They let him listen to the backing track one time through to get a sense of the chord changes. Then he recorded this in one take, completely improvised on the spot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdrweUGfuP0

.

I'm finally pretty up to speed with "Over the Rainbow," though it's going to be an ongoing work in progress. Last night I started "At Last" with the right hand, and I can tell it's going to be lovely.
Integrating the left is going to be tricky, though.

The end of Alfred #1 is in sight! Though I hope soon to finish it, I'll be coming back frequently to play such favorites as "Rainbow," "Stranger," "Amazing Grace," etc.

(Notice how cleverly I made an entry to the "Alfred's Basic and ALL in One Adult Piano Course Book #1" thread that was actually ON THE TOPIC).

Now i know for sure you are a troll. Ignored from now on.

I finished up Somewhere over the Rainbow last week. I enjoyed that piece and i have continued to play it this week, just trying to add more expression. I started At last at the weekend. Another nice piece, the left hand is a little trickier and i'm looking at my hands a little more often than for previous pieces.

I see what you did there

Steve, when you say "you are a troll," I am hoping you mean the poster who posted a single period and not me. I've been trying my best to be un-troll-like, but sometimes it's hard.

Sorry Michael. I was referring to Clayts. That last post of his it is very evident.

I'm also looking at the end of the book. Next weeks lesson (every two weeks on lessons for me) will be the D min section and start of the batch of songs at the end.

I've got book two ready in the wings. My teacher indicates that after we get part way into book 2, he'll be giving me some additional assignments outside of the basic book. My wife is voting for some Christmas chorals.

Jim

After reading lots of archives, I figured it was time to sign up and join the conversation. I've said more about myself over here. As I said there, my heart is with Faber & Faber Piano Adventures (working in it on my own), but my teacher has me in Alfred Adult All-In-One Book 1, so here I am. I've had 5 weeks of lessons and am up to page 95, Brahms' Lullaby. Because of what I knew how to play already, and had taught myself about I-IV-V chord playing from Bastien Older Beginners before starting with my teacher, little in Alfred has been a challenge so far. The things I've had to work on the most are the Hanon, and Cafe Vienna. I found Cafe Vienna to be like a tongue-twister for the fingers, but have finally gotten over the hump with it.

I've read through the book once already, in advance of getting through it with my teacher, and I have to say, the pieces at the end seem like a quantum leap in difficulty. We shall see how I feel when I get up to them after properly practicing the whole book though. I've been practicing The Entertainer a lot; I really love it. Picked up the real sheet music for The Entertainer out of curiosity -- hoo boy, it'll be about a million years before I could play the real thing instead of a simplified version.