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Joined: Nov 2006
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I am a true beginner, Mark. I'm not gifted or talented so this is where I belong.
I'm on calypso carnival (both hands play stacatto yuk) and the one before that, some bluesies spiritual piece.
Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear, Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair.>>> Herman Munster
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Originally posted by loly: I am a true beginner, Mark. I'm not gifted or talented so this is where I belong.
I'm on calypso carnival (both hands play stacatto yuk) and the one before that, some bluesies spiritual piece. I looked at book two...boy it's going to a lot of fun...
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Joined: Nov 2006
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I liked scherzo, a lot. where are you in book 1 btw?
Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear, Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair.>>> Herman Munster
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Originally posted by loly: I liked scherzo, a lot. where are you in book 1 btw? Next week is the Entertainer...then just Amazing Grace left...
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Joined: Feb 2006
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Mark, i went through book 2, and to tell you the truth, i only liked a few of the pieces in it. it was a real drag for me. so hopefully you have some disicipline to drudge through the pieces you dont like:) as if you press on and move on to book 3, book 3 really rocks, i like most of the music in it and its alot of fun book 2 i see as a stepping stone to playing some really fun music this is just my opinion i am sure alot of people like most of the music in book 2, but not me. i did like canon in d, light and blue and brahms lullaby because i started playing the lullaby at night to put my little one to sleep and it worked everytime enjoy and press on as it only gets better from there:)
If it ain't fun I ain't doin' it:)
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Joined: Nov 2006
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Discipline is the key word. I was being a little sarcastic when I said book 2 would be fun. But I'm so determined to learn piano, I put up with songs that I really don't like... And I love what you said about the stepping stone, Its like if you do the work, the reward will be waiting for you... Thanks for the motivation!! PS: I'm on pace to finish book one in about 6 months. Book 2 looks like it could be a year long project.
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Joined: Apr 2007
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hi that is about where i am at.count me in . have to mention the teacher(ex) said i needed a challenge and picked canon(end of book) which i am tryingto refine-didnt find it hard except one section. at the moment 9just today) going back as i have had a break and have forgotten a fair bit!~ but i love it especially on my neww piano.
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Joined: Oct 2005
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I got trough book 1 not to long ago. I think it costed me about 6 - 7 months. And now I am in book 2. I like Roman Holiday and Goodmorning, also The Wals from Musetta. Anyway i'm not working in the book anymore , I decided to pause it. I dont find the songs challenging, I'm doing some harder stuff now (teacher says im prty amazing for such a new student), like préludes and soundtracks from movies. Perhaps after a while i will go back to book 2 and just play it rapidly so it does not cost me much time. Oh by the way the Entertainer is lovely
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Joined: Jan 2006
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I am almost finished with Alfred's 2- just (I think) 2 more pieces and the Canon to go. Not much more than that, anyway. I found a few pieces that I liked enough to go back to them now and again, but most were in the "learn it to get the theory/technique down" category. I also have one of the supplemental books and have worked on a couple pieces from that. I don't know if my teacher will have me move on to book 3 or not. We'll see. I also usually have one or two things not in the Alfred's book to work on, so I get some diversity in my practice.
-Mak
1889 Mason & Hamlin screwstringer upright Kawai MP-4 digital
--------------------------- When life hands you lemons, throw them back and add some of your own. Stupid life.
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Joined: Nov 2006
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Originally posted by IrishMak: I am almost finished with Alfred's 2- just (I think) 2 more pieces and the Canon to go. Not much more than that, anyway. I found a few pieces that I liked enough to go back to them now and again, but most were in the "learn it to get the theory/technique down" category. I also have one of the supplemental books and have worked on a couple pieces from that. I don't know if my teacher will have me move on to book 3 or not. We'll see. I also usually have one or two things not in the Alfred's book to work on, so I get some diversity in my practice. Hi IrishMak, How long did it take to get through book two? And has the book helped you progress to a higher level overall. Just curious to see where I'll be when book two is complete. Thanks Mark
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Joined: Jan 2006
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Looking at the book (my teacher writes the date we start a page on top of it), it took me just under a year to get thru it. But then, I didn't always work steadily out of it- some pieces, as would be expected, took longer than others, and there were times when I didn't have things to work on from the book.
As for it helping, yes, I think it did. I was kind of "fumbling" for a while with my lessons- wasn't working out of any method book, and just picking stuff I was interested in or that my teacher brought in. But it wasn't structured enough for me to really feel I was making any sort of progress at any kind of steady rate. So we re-evaluated and decided to go back to a method book and just supplement it with other stuff. I actually started with Alred's 2- never did 1, but that was mainly because I already had 1+ years of lessons at that point and my teacher felt that book 1 would have been backtracking too much.
Bottom line: I do feel the Alfred's book has helped. I think (and my husband has said that he thinks I do) I play better now. I'm not sure if I would be where I am if I had just kept up with the random stuff like I was before. HTH.
-Mak
1889 Mason & Hamlin screwstringer upright Kawai MP-4 digital
--------------------------- When life hands you lemons, throw them back and add some of your own. Stupid life.
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Joined: Nov 2006
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When I started playing in book 2, I had the mind set of "Are you kidding me?", the songs are so easy you can easily do 2-3 each lesson. So far the only one in there I liked was scherzo because you get to speed it up as you go along.
I like to follow things through though, I'd rather go through the whole thing than think on down the line that maybe I missed something.
I also do fabers and fabers is faster paced than Alfred's so it keeps me busy and entertained
Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear, Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair.>>> Herman Munster
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Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 70
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... man when i did book 2 and came to the first quarter and did a little bit more i advanced alot, before finishing the book, but i think music sheets from internet help me more. they are more difficult, entertaning ect. I often do these next to working in Alfred's and not just 1 the whole book but loads.
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Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 12
Junior Member
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Hello!
Well, I finished Book 1 after about 8 months with my teacher. She doesn't require perfection on songs. I'm of mixed feelings on this. On a certain song we'll work on timing and on another song we'll work on something else, but I'm always surprised when she says, OK, we can move on now. I'm kind of a "work harder," not "work smarter" kind of gal, so that throws me for a loop, a bit. I want to make sure my progress is proper. I mean, I'm paying a lot of money. On the other hand, if we work on something for a long time there seem to be diminishing returns. So, I don't know.
I'm not starting on Alfred 2 yet, or the Faber 2 (I just finished that one, too). Right now I'm working on Piano Town Lessons 3 (same as the 7-year-old girl who comes after me), Robert Vandall's Modal Expressions and a couple minuets here and there. I kind of miss the Alfred. I liked the songs in it.
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Joined: Nov 2006
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Nrrdgrrl,
My teacher is the same way she doesn't expect note perfect but she wants the dynamics, rythym and tempo perfect.
As she says note perfect will come later and I agree with her on this. Once you have the basic 3 years of music lessons down, your perfect notes will come much easier and by that time that's when you're probably going to play for pure pleasure so it makes sense that at that time you'll have tons of time to spend on polishing your pieces to perfection.
I looked at my next piece in alfred's last night and was able to play right through it, I don't understand why alfred's 2 is so easy, maybe it's to engrave the foundation we learned in book 1, I'm so looking forward to book 3. I'm ready for a challenge.
Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear, Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair.>>> Herman Munster
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Joined: May 2007
Posts: 1
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hi everyone! i just start. in sherzo, how do i move from finger 5 to 3 in "fingers can fly"? thanks
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Joined: Jan 2006
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On that note (the D on the word "fly"), you are playing that with your left hand finger 3. So you just bring it up into the treble staff to play that one note, then move right back down to the F maj chord in the bass staff.
-Mak
1889 Mason & Hamlin screwstringer upright Kawai MP-4 digital
--------------------------- When life hands you lemons, throw them back and add some of your own. Stupid life.
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Joined: Nov 2006
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Started book two today with the teacher...I feel like I just graduated...
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I just started this book today with my new teacher myself. I'm coming from a different series of books so Alfred's is different for me. There are some holes that needs to be filled and there are some things I'm ahead on that will be covered later on the book. So I should learn some new stuff but some will be a review for me.
I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.
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