Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Alfred's Basic and ALL in One Adult Piano Course Book #1

@DougF and Crusader: Thanks, I figured it wouldn't matter too much. In Greensleeves, only part of the notes have finger positions written above them, so I guess they intend you to just do what you feel is best.

Also, the Burgmuller Opus 100 "25 Melodic Studies" can be downloaded free in pdf. form from HERE.
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Progress! I can make it through BTMD finally. I still have to get it up to speed, but it's coming together.

Hi All,

Well, I went and got the program--Alfred's, but I think I got the wrong one. It's not the "All in One" book, but just the Adult Piano Course set of books. Oh well. I sure would have liked that spine edition! Anyway, I'm up to learning the C and G7th chords and having a BALL!!! Sometimes it's frustrating not to move just two fingers at the right speed, but someone else told me just to be patient, and give it time.

I have a question--When all of you are working through your books, do you go back and review different pieces you have mastered as a "warm up"? I find that I become rusty on various pieces, so I need to review them before learning something else. Is this a common occurance? Or am I a dunce??? with frazzled fingers??????

Thank you!

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!!!

I generally go through the previous 4 or 5 pieces in the book a few days a week. Sometimes I will sit down and just not feel like reviewing old pieces and I'll jump into the new stuff, but probably 5 or 6 days a week I spend a few minutes each on old material.

Also about once a month, I go through the entire book from page 1 and make sure that I can play each piece properly.

Don't worry if you are slightly rusty when you first go back to an old piece. I don't think most people can keep a piece 100% fresh without playing it consistently. I think the key is when you go back to play an old piece it will be rusty at first, but re-learning the piece back to perfection should be much, much quicker than the first time you learned it. Good luck!!

CONGRATULATIONS GRACIE CAT!!!! That is such an accomplishment! I experienced it just 3 weeks ago and it still makes me really proud. It is a beast of a song!!!!!

That's great GracieCat!

I am hoping to get a pass on BTMD tomorrow at my lesson. I have been doing fairly well on it and it's up to speed too. It's actually kind of fun to play when you do finally get it. I am still having a heck of a time with Lavender's Blue though. I am hoping to do well enough on it tomorrow to get it checked off and if I do I vow to NEVER go back to that one again! I have played it so many times trying to get it right that I despise it now.

Like mooshinator said I too go back and play previous pieces. I bounce around and pick pieces randomly and it takes me a time or two to get it right but they usually come together very quickly.

Thanks everyone. Like everyone else above, I continually go back and replay songs. I go back for practice and to make sure I'm getting it all down. I also wrote down page numbers of songs I enjoyed in the front of the book so when I just want to play for fun I go to those songs.

As moonshiner said, there are times when I start at the beginning and go through the whole book. It doesn't take long and you'll know where your weakness it. (Mine is using the pedal.) I tap with my right foot to keep time and then the light turns green and I have to step on the gas all of a sudden.

DougF, the worst thing about Lavender's Blue is the repeat. You get halfway through and they tell you to start over again! LOL

Bummer. Teacher just called and canceled today's lesson.

Guess Lavender's Blue and BTMD will have to hang around for a bit longer. I am going to move on to the next piece though.

Whew, it's been a long time since I checked into this thread with my progress! I am still practicing regularly!

I have BtMD to where I am quite happy with it. I still have to really focus to get it completely correct, whereas some of the earlier songs I can sort of zone out and play, but I *can* play BtMD well and that's what counts.

Strangely, I have found the next song, Lone Star Waltz, to be harder than BtMD. BtMD was hard, but I was able to just tough through it by playing it slowly and repeatedly. Once I got the rhythm down, it wasn't so bad and I could play it correctly over and over.

LSW is so frustrating because of the hand movements. I would get them down one day, and then next day I'd sit down and I couldn't move my hands to the right spot. So it has been very tedious to learn this, it's basically 2 steps forward each time I practice it and then 1 step backwards by the time I play it again. The one thing that is helping is that I've played it so much that I have it memorized, and this makes it easier to watch my hands for the jumps. I'm almost there with this song, just a little bit to go.

I'm also playing the Rainbow Connection from Alfred's Greatest Hits. Really enjoying this one!!

So at this point I have learned LSW and RC solidly and am just perfecting them. I'm just starting to learn Cafe Vienna. I can't wait to play the next song, Lullaby, so maybe I can actually get my 5-month old daughter to sleep...

Yes, I had trouble with Lone Star Waltz as well, but now that I'm somewhat further along, it's much easier. Playing it again a few weeks ago was the first time I had noticed that I was making real progress. With everything I had done up to that point, I was thinking to myself: "Well, if I had pushed myself, I probably could have done this song right when I first started". That's because I didn't feel I had really been learning that much. When I went back to LSW however, I had no trouble at all whereas before I struggled with it. That's when I saw I really was improving, I just didn't notice it.

Anyway, after consulting with my teacher, I will be continuing with book 2 after all, but together with book 2 of Carol Barratt's 'The Classic Piano Course Book 2'. I still don't like the songs in Alfred book 2, but hopefully Carol Barratt's book will make up for that.

I just bought this book from Amazon. Unfortunately, I accidentally ordered the one without the CD. Anyone know where I can buy the CD stand-a-lone or have one they want to sell me? PM me or reply

Byron, I think Sheetmusicplus.com sells the CD's individually. I could be wrong though. You can also find most of the pieces from Book 2 on youtube. Good luck with both your Book 2's.

Mooshinator and Physics, you are right, the hard part about "Lone Star Waltz" is the hand movements, or jumps. Luckily, it's an easy piece to memorize. I never attempt to memorize pieces, but I got this one down quickly, and it did make it easier to look at where I was moving my hand. You will find quite a few pieces with that type of hand movement as you get further into the book.

Agree. Also, this piece helps getting the other pieces down a bit (just a bit) easier.

I just found it for under $9 at Compumusic.com a little cheaper than sheetmusic site. Just ordered it in fact because I am in the same boat as you. I've found various youtubers who have recorded every song from book 1 and have been using that as reference but different tempos and volumes might be incorrect.

https://www.compumusic.com/Store/Forms/Item/Browse.aspx?keywords=Alfred%27s+Adult+All-in-One+Piano+Course+-+Level+1+%28CD%29

For all of you who completed the book 1 course, about how long did it take? This is for all of you who were brand new to piano and with no teacher or lessons. I'm in week 3 of learning and I just reached When the saints go marching in. I play once or twice a day usually for like 15-30 mins at a time average. Might have missed a day completely. I find it very satisfying each time i'm turning the page and moving ahead.
I'm in no hurry, and I basically play each piece decent before I move on. Tempo and loudness are probably way off though lol. Just curious.

Manowar, it took me a little short of 2 years. That's most likely the longest of anyone here. I've heard anything from a couple of months to about a year from others. Everyone is different. It makes a difference if you have a teacher, if you work from just Alfred or from other books as well, if you play another instrument, if you have a good ear, if you pick things up easily, if you have a lot or a little time to practice, all kinds of things can speed up or slow down your progress. It's good that you are in no hurry, it takes the pressure off and you can enjoy the process more. Good luck, take your time, and have fun.

It took me about a year to go through Book 1. I have a teacher on an irregular basis, & practice 30 minutes to an hour most days, occasionall more if the phone doesn't ring.
Enjoy yourself!

Manowar--I'm about the same level with you...maybe a couple of pages past. Hey..at least we will be ready for the Superbowl! (Assuming you are routing for the Saints). But, I figure, whoever you are routing for..you can play one of the songs that will be played there!

I'm really loving the Alfred system. I find myself going back to earlier exercises and finding that I can play them better. I try and practice daily, but it's tax time and I'm an accountant, so there are days when I don't get to touch my beautiful keyboard! :-(

It's sooo much fun!

Nancy

Nancy, you said you're an accountant. Then know the feeling of using a 10 key calculator without giving it a thought as to what numbers you're hitting. Do you think one day we'll be able to have that same feeling when we play the piano? (I use to work as a bookkeeper and it still amazes me how fast my finger go on the calculator without much thought at all.) I want that same feeling in both hands on the piano. That would be awesome.