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Waltz – I really liked you recordings of “Frankie and Johnnie” and “Black is the Color”. “Frankie and Johnnie” was another one of my many favorites in book 2. That transition is about the only issue I could hear in your recording, and it is a tricky one.

Undone

Thanks Undone . How did you do the transition? Fast fingers or is there another technique?

Waltz, I like the sound of Black is the Color. Very nice.

AWTPP, Did you happen to save that 6 to 7 minute performance of Solace on YouTube? I would love to see it if you still have it since I'll be moving on to this piece next.

I've got Alexander's Ragtime Band together and up to tempo, but with a few mistakes at the end.

Key Notes

Sure!

Here are a couple of clips showing the entire piece. You'll see links to other versions in the "related videos" tool bar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzRWvPMzyCU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eR5hagMTuDg

This is the one that really blew me away. It's just the second movement, and the video is a little jumpy, because it appears to be taken from the player's perspective. But it shows just how simplified our version is in Alfred's. It's really something.

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

Thanks Key Notes, yes, it is a lovely tune and fairly easy to play.

AWTPP, thanks for sharing those links. The last rendition (that blew you away) seemed to be less dark than the Alfred's arrangement; more playful or frolicsome perhaps.

My playing of "When Johnny Comes Marching Home":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRrEK8XCf58

I liked this one

Thanks AWTPP. Will check them out when I get a chance.

Key Notes

Hi Waltz,

I had to wait until I got home and tried it before I could answer your question. First a disclaimer: I am not a piano teacher nor am I currently under the tutelage of one, so anything I’m doing could well be the “wrong way”; proceed at your own risk.

With that said, they way I played this was different than when playing an entire chord with the left hand. In that case I would move the entire “hand shape” into the new position. For the left hand transition in Frankie and Johnnie (5-2-1 rinse and repeat), I keep the 2-1 more or less over the F & G and just move 5 up to play the E-flat. Then, as that is being played, I move 2-1 up into position for the B-flat & C. It feels a little funny at first, but (with a little practice) allows me to make this change without a noticeable pause.

Hope that makes sense.

Undone

Wow! You really nailed that one.

Undone

All right, that actually makes me feel better. If I understand you correctly, then how you played it is one of the strategies I had tried. However, like you said, it feels awkward at first, and so I decided to simply try increasing my speed, which I never succeeded at doing. I surmised that I was probably not talented enough to do the smooth transition but by what you said, it is probably more of a technique issue. Thanks

And thanks for listening to When Johnny Comes Marching Home and for your comments. That is such a fun thing to play

How are things going for you Undone? Have you began Book 3 or are you taking a break to work on other items?

Its been freezing cold here when I get home so I lose some practice time waiting for the heater to warm the house up!

But I ticked of Guantanamera, I can play it through without errors half the time and got a few good recordings. I am almost done with Light and Blue but I want to get a bit more speed with it and work a little more on not looking at the keyboard so much.

Keen to move onto the next few pieces though I'm still working on the two songs from the greatest hits, they seem a but harder than anything in book 2 so far.

Things are going well. I’m “hard at work” in book 3, I’ve completed the first two pieces; “A Super-Special Sorta Song” (what a name) and “Calypso Rhumba”, and have started on the third “Fandango”. There’s also a bunch of new theory work in the beginning of book 3 (circle of fifths and the names of positions within the diatonic scale). So far, so good.

Undone

Way to go! That was quick for the first two.

How is your practice time distributed each day? As far as completed pieces, new pieces, and exercises.

Yay!!! You're off to a wonderful start in book 3 Undone. That's really great, but not too surprising.




Hi Wrenn, I don't know where you live but it was in the 80s here today, pretty hot but I love it. Hope it'll warm up for you soon.

May I ask which two songs in the Alfred's Greatest Hits book you are referring to that you felt are a bit harder than some of book 2's songs which you've already encountered so far?

Key Notes

Im in Australia so it winter here. I miss the warm weather but at least the cold means its skiing season!

The book I have is actually Alfreds All-Time Favorites book 2. The first two pieces are Dance of the Hours and Gypsy Love Song. You can see the sheet music for the first piece here:

http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/look_inside/3659065/image/186683

I find the first piece the hardest mainly because of the sections where the right hand plays a complicated melody, while the left hand is also doing complicated stuff. So far in most alfreds pieces the complex sections are short and usually just one hand is doing something tricky, and the other one is doing something predictable.

The second isn't that hard, it just feels hard because I haven't practiced it much yet ;-)

If I’m lucky, I can get about an hour to practice each weekday (more time usually, but not always, is available to me on the weekends). I always start out with some scales and such to warm up and then go right into my “current/new pieces”. I try to spend the bulk of my practice time on these, but I save a little time at the end to run through “my repertoire” (and I use the term lightly) of pieces that I try to keep somewhat in shape. For these I have a list of pieces that I simply rotate through at the end of a practice session playing anywhere from one to three of them a day. If I have some extra time, this is also where I will play around with some of the other music in my ever expanding collection in search of pieces that I’d like to add to my “current/new pieces” study that come from sources other then my current Alfred’s A-I-O book.

Right now my “current/new pieces” consists solely of Book 3 pieces (which is why I’m making some decent progress). I’m sure this won’t last however; I always have other pieces I’m itching to work on.

Undone

Waltz excellent job on When Johnny Comes Marching Home It really sounds like you had fun with that one.

It's interesting that you spend most of your time on new pieces, something I will keep in mind. I have thought of reorganizing the method I practice. Thanks for sharing that Undone.

EDIT: Do you practice arpeggios or Hanon along with scales? Currently, I only really do scale exercises. Thanks again Undone.

Thanks HBG! It is a fun thing to play, not too hard but an exercise for the hands

My playing of Waltz in G Minor:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wh40MwjZ9Tc