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Hi Guys...

At the moment I'm working on "O Sole Mio!" on pg 124 and seem to be stuck at the arpeggiated chord measure on the last phrase. I'm doing my best but can't seem to get the hang of going from Bb/C to the chord on that measure. Any suggestions?

may not be much use; but the fingering of the c note on the treble clef changes from 5th to 2nd finger (during the hold down) allowing the 1st & 5th fingers to easily hit the rolling Bb.

You may of course be struggling to drop your 4th finger onto the F but you could try using the 5th finger as you come out of the roll.

As always practice this section over and over at a very slow pace until it becomes second nature.

The fingering is also not set in stone, you are free to experiment and find what is right for you.

How important is the CD? I just got my piano and the book but it doesn't have the CD.

I have not heard the CD but if it is the same as book 2 with accompanying instruments, it can be hard to actually distinguish the piano. This makes the CD less relevant, whereas book 3 has plain piano pieces making it an important aid.

This forum has the post "Important Topics on the Adult Beginners Forum" where you can listen to others play the content of all three books and much more.

However youtube will give you a number of different performances of the same piece to base your interpretation on. This is assuming you do not have a teacher to guide you.

I think the CD has piano and other instruments on two separate channels. So you can turn down the left speaker and hear say just the piano, or turn down the right speaker and hear just the instruments (or maybe I have the speakers reversed). This doesn't seem to be clearly documented because this question, about not being able to hear the piano, comes up a lot.

Hi Alux, while there are general principles of what makes some fingerings preferable to others, fingerings are also individual to each pianist and what works well for one person may not work so well for another. You can experiment with both Alfred's fingering as given and also the fingering you propose and find out what you prefer.

One of the things to note that the Alfred's fingering illustrates is that there is the standard fingering when playing a scale as an exercise, and then there are the fingerings you might use when a scale or part of a scale appears in a piece. These might be different from the standard fingering, depending on what else is happening before and after the scale fragment.

In this case, I actually prefer the fingering as Alfred's gives it. The 1-2-3-4-5 in mm.26-27 makes it easy to run up from F to C. Then my hand rises in a gentle arch and descends on 1-3 for BbD in m.11. This kind of short (or perhaps medium) jump is something I'm used to doing.

I see the logic of what you are proposing. By turning the thumb under to play C in m.27, fingers 1 and 3 are closer to the their next places on Bb-D in m.11. (I wouldn't justify this by the fact that turning the thumb under is also part of the standard fingering for an F major scale, because in this case the scale stops at C and you have to consider what comes next in order to evaluate what finger to use on C.) I don't like this proposed fingering for myself, because, I feel like my thumb is trapped on the C and I'm having to dig it out in order to get it back to Bb. Also, although the thumb on C is close to Bb, it still requires a hand shift(from 1-3 over C-E at the end of m.27, to 1-3 over Bb-D at the start of m.11). So your proposal requires two hand shifts: one to turn the thumb under, and another to get back to Bb-D.

Of course, my preference partly depends on the fact that shifting from thumb on F to thumb on Bb is an easy shift for me. If that's still a challenging shift for you, and you find the shift from the turned-under thumb on C, to the thumb on Bb to be easier, then you can choose to practice to make the F to Bb shift easier, or you can just decide to use your proposed fingering and use the turn-under and the C to Bb shift.

Hey, a newbie here with a beginner question. I'm now on the page 20 of the Level 1 book.

I'm trying to understand how I can use counting or tapping to help me time the "pauses" between quarter, half and whole notes?

I can time the by the ear pretty well but how does one in practice count and play at the same time, any video examples?

Thanks.

edit: OK, I actually found some good resources after I figured out what I'm looking for.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VK8pzcjzUXE
http://www.piano-play-it.com/music-rhythm.html

Well, I have given myself a pass on Albert's level 1!

I decided to do the last songs that are added to the all-in-one (Over the Rainbow, etc) in my spare time and go on to book two.

This forum was a great encouragement to me. I wish everyone well and hope I see you all in the book two thread.

Just started "Blow the Man Down" and it's a bit difficult, especially the first measure and the ones after that are similar to it. Anyone have the same problem?

You seem to learn fast. I started before you and am stuck with Lone Star Waltz ^^ But I find that Lavender's Blue is more difficult than Blow the Man Down.

I'm on page 30, started last week. Here's Jingle Bells on which I spent something like 2 hours. https://soundcloud.com/raikku-2/jingle-bells

You play very well.

However I think the D in the 0.09 (end of second line) should be longer. You can play this part in the recording to see it.

I'm just getting started on book one. It appealed to me because it suggested that it covers a bit of practice, bit of theory etc.

Can anyone recommend a companion book or books?

Regards.

For companion, you can buy Alfred's Basic Adult All-Time Favorites Level 1 and/or Alfred's Basic Adult Piano Course Pop Song Book for extra pieces/songs, and Alfred's Basic Adult Piano Course Finger Aerobics or A Dozen a Day Book 1 for warm-up exercises.

The Afred's Basic All in One is enough, though. Other companion books just help your practice become more interesting and less bored ^^

Does anybody know of a single location where the pieces from book one have been recorded on video? I'm finding separate recordings but they are all over the net, but mainly youtube, I was hoping that there was a single location I could frequent and compare my learning to others' examples.

Regards.

Hi Randalthor,

youtube is the place for the videos. But I caution you that most of the videos on youtube play at a tempo way too fast and ignore the dynamic markings.

I have the DVD that goes along with the book and that has been invaluable.

But my favorite youtube player for Alfred Book 1 is CelloMel's Practice Log.

Best of luck!

Hi scorpio,

Have you played Pathetique in the All-Time Favorites book? If possible, can you upload your record. I am practicing this piece and need example to compare ^^ Thank you.

Hi mattroilanh_tt,

First off, I am so flattered you wanted to hear my version, thank you so much! I had been working on this piece a few weeks back. But we have had a rough six weeks (family illness, elderly ones), and I have not had the time to focus as much as I would have liked. I plan to get back to uploading soon.

I do not know if you have seen this one, but here is my favorite youtube version: Sonata Pathetique (from Alfred's All-Time Favorites)

mattroilanh_tt, I have seen your videos and I am very impressed. I look forward to more of your uploads.

Hi scorpio,

Because I learn after you, I often visit your box channel to listen to your version. I think you play better than other version in youtube. I am using Afred All-Time Favorites and Greatest Hits, so if you done any piece in these books, please upload. Thank you

I need some help. Can you listen to the two recordings below and tell me which one sounds better. I am not talking about the piano playing (although those comments are always welcome). I am trying to get a handle on the quality of the audio. Both recordings are the same; one is unprocessed and one has been processed using Mixcraft. Getting a good quality audio remains my white whale.

A: Got Those Blues! (page 107)
https://www.box.com/s/9b0riz47jwsa7tfpexnm

B: Got Those Blues! (page 107)
https://www.box.com/s/h3l26w0ykxx9n06705x0

Thanks so much!