So far I like many of the songs in book 2. La Raspa isn't as bad as Caccurcha...or however you spell it...lol

I believe the All in one has a few more songs and some more theory...

Yes, what Mark said. The All in one has about 30 more pieces and lots more theory.

Oh I see. Too bad I didn't get that version then. Nagila Hava sounds nice.

I have the basic book too. Does anybody else have the cd. I think it does help some. I can play La Raspa with the cd but Scherzo and dance, I got lost!

Pianoluvr, I'll scan the complete nagila hava for you. It's actually one of the nicer arranged pieces I've run into so far, here's 2 pages of it. I'll scan the other 2 this evening.

this is page 3 and 4, I'll scan 1 and 2 this evening. http://www.box.net/shared/3mutra7cjf

dat, no one has the cd for book 2 that I know of. Most of us will make recordings to help out. funburger is really good at picking it up right away. I have to play it for about 20 minutes to get back in the groove.

I do have an old scherzo recording when I first started practicing it, if you want to listen. I should have recorded it when I got it down really good but sometimes, life is a bit rushed around my house. Don't mind the mistakes and hope it helps out a little.

http://www.box.net/shared/mxyf11fkdh

Thanks so much! It looks like a really fun piece. I can't wait to give it a try. Probably will have to wait for the weekend though. School's started. Blergh.

So, how's everyone doing in Book 2?

I'm on Aloha and Pomp and Circumstance this week. I hate them both, lol, but I know that I really need to work on the arpeggiated chords so am trying. I've been trying Pomp and Circumstance with different voices on my Clavinova since I can't seem to get into it. Just having an off week, I guess. Last week was the Space Shuttle Blues which I really liked. Glad this thread got bumped back up.

Char

I didn't want to hear about any bummer songs...lol I'm about six or seven songs behind you. I will say there are some really nice pieces in this book.

Maybe it's not the songs, my attitude in general isn't that great this week (rough week at work) I agree with you that there are some nice pieces in this book. Guess I'll work on an attitude adjustment as well as my arpeggiated chords. lol

Char

hey mama, I find learning the pieces much easier when I use different voices on my digital. Not sure why but it works so well for me especially in the difficult sections.

I am not that far yet. I have a stupid question. In the song Scherzo, the end of the third line on the second page says both hands 8va. Do they mean both hands an octave higher or the right hand an octave higher and the left hand an octave lower. I get confused about this!

Both hands an octave higher...

Thanks Mark for your answer. Now I know how to do it. It is hard for me to get the ending up to speed.

Its just a matter of practice, in a short time you will have it down. I rather enjoy this piece too, I play it with a serious sound than the happy sound that it was intended...

Keep up the good work...

Mark

Just wondering if anyone goes back and plays the earlier pieces in the book after you have moved on in your lessons. I have a tendency to just work on my current assignments and if I have time try pieces from other sources than my Alfred's. I know there are a few that I would enjoy playing again in the Alfred's, but I just don't think to play them.

Char

I'm just finishing up "Battle hymn of the republic". I really enjoyed "Arkansas traveler" and "Musetta's waltz"

Kind of funny that you asked that mamawatchman, I did last week. I had been without lessons for a few weeks and was a little bored and ended up playing some of my old stuff. I was surprised that it only took a few tries to get back in the swing.

It's recommended that you take 10 minutes and play your last piece. Which reminds me, I should so that more often.

I'm up to Brahms Lullaby and I play book 2 from the beginning everyday. It helps me fine tune pieces that I haven't played as clean as I would like...

Brahms Lullaby looks hard. I'm doing The House of the Rising Sun. I always have trouble with broken chords. I like to go back and do the other stuff but I always run out of time.

For me it takes a while to play pieces clean. Thats why I try to run through the book each day. Over time they get up to speed. Brahms Lullaby will take some time. My first run through, I couldn't even make it out...:lol
The daily repetition is what really help me get these songs down.

Hello, is anyone able to help me to scan "Canon in D"? I would like to learn it after seeing the playing from funburger. She just simply did it so nicely and beautifully =) Also i don't think i would want to purchase the book 2 just because of this one song. I'm still looking out for a suitable book to continue with my playing. Thinking of book 3 or faber.

I can scan it, I still have to scan the rest of nagila hava. I'll do it when I do nagila. I'll try to do it after class tonight, I was supposed to scan it last weekend but I had so much stuff going on.

Just started on Swinging Sevenths. What a pretty tune. The timing seems a little tricky in the second bar (it repeats every other bar for a while), but I think I'm doing it right. I'll find out at my next lesson, I guess. Still trying to finish up Pomp and Circimstance. Just when I think I have it, I start messing it up again. My teacher told me at my last lesson, that I had actually played it better the week before! ( I have to say that I agree). Hopefully, I'll get it right this week. 3 weeks is plenty long to spend on this piece!

How's everybody else doing?

Char

Hey everyone! Well, I'm on Morning Has Broken. My teacher and I just started it yesterday. It doesn't look very bad. So far, I have to say I'm a bit disappointed with the songs in Alfred 2. They're not particularly difficult. Are they really pretty easy or am I just not far enough in the book yet?

Canon In D

http://www.box.net/shared/jkg1y4mn36

Nagila Hava

http://www.box.net/shared/3mutra7cjf

Looks like I'm not following Alfreds anymore, I'll find out on thursday. I think we're going to continue but it's not as focused as before. She assigns me stuff from different books. She's so energetic and so in charge. I love it!!!

My teacher has me on Helen Curtis and we jump around and I've learned and improved so much in just 2 lessons. My husband commented yesterday how different I was playing.

Right now I'm on Beethoven's Sonatina in G, Nava (memorized hopefully done with it this week), Tchaikovsky Theme from Piano Concerto no. 1 from Piano adventures level 3b page 24 and 25 (this one is easy I wanted to do this one).

In addition I'm doing czerny exercises and some etudes from Helen Curtis book 1 and some really interesting exercises study in 3rds, doing legato by puhsing on keys.

I think there is a lot of review at the beginning, so yes they do get harder the further you go. At least it seems so to me. I was really challenged last week with the arpeggios in the Aloha song, but can really see some improvement. I think (so far) that book 2 is more about fine tuning tecniques now that we are getting better at reading and timing, etc.

Char

Hi
I've just started on Book 2 though still struggling with Amazin Grace. I decided I could get stuck there for too long. I'm enjoying working my way through the Faber Adult Adventures, the early pieces have been good sight reading practice and I like having a CD, so I just bought the Alfred level 2 one. As I have the all in one book, this is a bit of a disappointment. For those considering acquiring it, it has 43 tracks, of which 37{ish} are in the all in one book, leaving approx 30 songs in the all in one uncovered. I have not yet opened it as I am undecided over whether or not to keep it, though I suspect I will.

I regularly review earlier pieces, particularly those which have given me a problem.

Oxfords Gal, sounds like you have landed on your feet with your teacher and are taking off to new levels.

Oxfords Gal, thanks for the effort in helping to scan Canon in D. That's very nice of you =) Also glad to know that your teacher has actually help/guide you to improve in your playing. I'm still quite hesitate to get a teacher cos' not sure whether i can catch up with the pace. Has always been feeling rather tired after work every day and not sure how you ppls cope with practising after that....is it the burning passion for piano in each and everyone of you that keep you ppls going?

hi ipooh,

thanks, I was glad to do it.

Well I'll tell your from my personal experience.

I get up at 430 am to be at work at 630am, I have a house 3 dogs and a husband so I have plenty of work to do when I get home as well.

I love the piano but I'm not overboard with it and I had a bad experience with a good teacher so my love for what i was doing dwindled a bit.

My motivation dwindled even more with my dissappointment in my second teacher.

In comes in teacher number 3. There are teachers then there are teachers who can teach. This lady loves to teach and our lessons are an hour and a half long. This lady's energy and enthusiam and gift for teaching has me only thinking of the piano. I am so enthused that i go to bed late just to practice and staying up late is unheard of for me.

She had me doing grace notes from a simple technic, that alone made me so happy. I had given up on doing grace notes for the past year and I learned within seconds something that I couldn't do in a year. Now I look forward to them. Everything about the way she teaches is amazing. She is truly a blessing and a gift that came into my life.

So to sum it up her passion is contagious and her ability to teach and get results quickly is contagious. Not to mention her good humor, positive energy and beautiful outlook on life.