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

Yea, your probably right, but it sounds so good just a bit slower, and I bought into the "night song" mystique that says (to me) slow and kinda drifting over still night air.....

That's my theory and I'm sticking to it - but will speed it up I guess...

Can't wait to hear what your teacher says....

Teacher played it just like the video...the Coda at the end was real slow though...

wow my night song didn't sound like that. I went back to it last night and tried to play it like she did. I'll try again in a couple years.

I cancelled class last night. My arms, and elbow joints are hurting. I'm not sure why maybe I'm playing tense, I tend to do that when I'm learning a new piece or if I have a lot on my plate.

Here's my space shuttle blues, I messed up in there but oh well. he he. I'm trying to get used to relaxing when recording.

The rythym is probably all wrong, I'll find out next thursday. My teacher doesn't play the music for me ahead of time but we go through it to make sure I don't have any questions.

I'm going to work on speeding it up a bit if need be.

http://www.box.net/shared/trllc59798

Sounds good to me, thats my next piece, so thanks for the demo...

Very nice Oxfords Gal. I don't know if this is good or bad, but I play it at the same tempo as your recording (although I must say you play it better).

For some reason, I did not care for this piece, and moved on to get away from it. Maybe I'll back up a little and give it a go again. It sounds better than I thought.

Well, I also play Night Song at a rather slow pace- with my teacher's blessing. We tried it at several tempos and both of us liked it a bit on the slow side. Just depends on your taste and interpretation- there are endless ways to perform any piece, and any of them can be "right."

Hey everyone! Been trying to figure out all day how to record my songs on my laptop and upload it online(thx a lot to Oxford Gal for the help!), and I think I've finally done it. These are the latest songs I'm up to; they aren't perfect, and I know I probably messed up on the speed of it, but here ya go anyways! Hope they work!

Night Song

Space Shuttle Blues

Wow...you nailed those...excellent!! Can I use the links to the list of songs in the opening post as a resource for everyone?

Mark...

awesome z32 I tried playing my space shuttle blues fast but my teacher told me to slow it down to a lazy blues tempo but I like it fast better!!!! but I follow her advise.

I just found out a few days ago that she was a concert pianist. My piano tuner came to the house the other day to tune my piano and asked me who my teacher was when I was raving about her and he said "she's a great pianist". I lover her so much she always hugs me when I get there and when i leave.

She also corrected me on the rythym yesterday as well.

Yours is much better though. Keep up the good work. You're very talented.

I loved your night song as well. wowie, makes me want to polish mine up.

mine corrected for rythym. I was playing the triplets long short and my teacher told me the triplets remain triplets but the other 8th notes were the ones you do long--short. It only took a few tries to redo the rythym.

this was on my ypg 625. I love that little digital.


http://www.box.net/shared/trllc59798

hey any of you guys doing any supplementals besides alfred's method?

I'm doing solffegietto by cpe bach and I feel kind of lonely. we're not focused on alfred's as much as I would like to be.

I'm also polishing beethovens sonatina in g major first movement and we're moving into the second movement next week if I can play it the way she wants me to play it.

mark, errrrr since you be the leader /hides, how would starting a beginner only supplement page.

we can talk about what we're working on aside from alfreds and post our recordings. it would be nice to have the same peeps in this post on another thread.

Well, I'm at Introduction and Dance now. We're going so slowly through Alfred since it seems like we're focusing on everything except Alfred. lol So I know how you feel Oxfords girl. I have two songs in Suzuki, a song from Anna Magdalena's, a simplified version of Debussy's Reverie, and Chopin's Waltz in B minor. I actually feel a bit bad that we are not treating Alfred as seriously, but on the other hand I enjoy doing other pieces.

As a random question, how long is it taking everyone to complete Book 2?

well pianoluvr it's going to take me a long time now that we don't focus on it much. I'm in the all in one adult and we only take 1 piece at a time and if there's something not right with it i do it the following week as opposed to correcting it right there and then and getting it over.

I'm going to just work extra time and do another 2 during the week and trying them out so we can move faster. Although alfred's is a bit clunky I like the method since it builds up to book 3 and it's a step ladder that's needed for me at least.

I like doing other pieces as well for variety but the solfeggietto takes up a good chunk. kids love that piece and go through it, but i'm no spring chicken

No problem Mark, go ahead and use the links(and any links I might post in the future) however you want.

And thanks for the comments on my two pieces everyone! Now that I know how to upload, I'll try to post more songs more often!

Thanks!

And please tell me you have been playing for a long time...otherwise I'm going to be depressed. My pieces don't sound even close to yours...

Hehe, I haven't really been playing for a long time; I just picked up the piano last January and have been messing around with it up to this point. I did take a semester-long Piano class last spring, but I can't really say I got anything out of it. My teacher was foreign and had a VERY thick accent, so it was hard to understand her concepts. I pretty much just taught myself for that class, relying on my own understanding of basic piano concepts for the most part. The good thing is, the class worked out of Alfred's Book series, so it was very easy going at my own pace.

Hehe, and don't worry if your playing doesn't sound exactly like mine. Everyone has their own pace, and I actually have a habit of HAVING to be able to play a certain piece fairly well before I can proceed to the next piece. That's why it sounds decent lol. I just can't continue on if I know I'm having trouble playing the previous piece.

Hehe, let's all just keep at it!

mark, don't be discouraged as z32 said everyone has their own pace.

The way I see it is some people climb the ladder fast and some take their time. We all arrive at the same destination and see the same sights and all accomplish the same goal.

People learn differently.

I remember one time hearing something really profound that stuck with me.

Student A gets all A's and receives his doctorates. Student B got all C's and got his doctorates.

Both people are excelent in their fields.

The difference between both students is Student B had to work harder but he retained the material simply because he had to work harder at it and is just as good as Student A.

Have fun in the journey. There are many student B's here and I'm one of them but I feel that someday I will be really good, it's just going to take me a tad longer so lets just have fun getting there.

Thanks loly...I needed that...

Me, too. I've been playing for 16 months and don't begin to sound as smooth and polished as anyone I've listened to on here. I know it will come eventually. I guess it's not a race....
Char

Lovely recordings Z32. Hearing these and those posted by Mark, Oxfords Gal and others is inspiring, and a distinct improvement on the official Alfred CD. Why the publishers thought fancy recordings were more helpful than a CD which actually shows one how the pieces should be played is a mystery to me.

Good advice Oxfords Gal. The only yardstick I try to use is myself, as in "Have I improved that piece/technique/fingering etc?" I know it's subjective and if I ever acquire a teacher I suspect I will leave the first lesson feeling a little downcast. I'm definitely a Student B.

Mark, your pieces sound good to me. Are you going to link the Supplemental thread to the Alfred ones?

Currently on La Bamba, the first piece in Book 2 I have disliked. So tempted to pass it by. Tuts at self.