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Bleh.
*discouraged*

Maybe I could be demoted to book 1. I can't play anything.

Hang on malkin, you know it gets better!

Malkin,

I've followed your progress for a few years and you seem to be doing fine. You have a great, self-deprecating sense of humor. Like many of us adult learners, you are very hard on yourself.

Just remember...



I'm sure your teacher is right and you are a very good student.
Hope you get over the rough patch soon.

Jim

Thanks for the encouragement sinophilia and JimF.

I'm in a bit of a generalized February Funk, I think. The weather is cold and gray, the air is polluted, so we've all got sore throats and burning eyes, and we haven't received the fixit part for our bicycles which are under recall (LONG story).

Malkin I'm with you! The last two weeks have been horrible! You'd think I'd never touched a piano before. My teacher thinks I'm just tired from the weather and overworking lately.

I'm going to keep plodding along and hope it improves.

Today I officially started book 2! I am starting to learn La Bamba and For He's a Jolly Good Fellow. I still have Greensleeves and What a Wonderful World on the go, so I have my fingers full now.

Hi guys!

See there, sinophilia? I told you that you would pass me up! Good job!

Congrats and welcome, Becca. I seem to remember crossing paths with you elsewhere on the forum. Maybe in the Book 1 thread.

Things come in spurts for me. I'm currently in a lull waiting on a big spurt LOL. I'm working on Loch Lommand, and it's coming along, but very slowly.

One would think that we would practice less in the summer (when it's warm outside, because we want to go play outside!) and more in the winter (when it's cold and dreary outside, and we are inside all the time anyway). But I agree - I'm kinda in a winter blah myself. There's also a lot of drama at my work, and it permeates everywhere. When I have free time, I just want to rest and relax and do nothing.

On the other hand, I've been working on Ivan Sings by Khachaturian. It's a lovely little piece, and it's very very close to being polished.

I'm in a bit of confusion with repeats in La Raspa.
I'm guessing you play to '1.(to next strain)' , skipping 2, the last two lines look more like normal repeats but then 'D. C. Al Fine' sends you back to play Fine?
Seems in an odd order, or I'm just having brain fade again?

Thanks.

It looks a bit confusing, but you play the first part with ending 1, then the second part with ending 1, repeat second part one octave higher with ending 2, then start all over, playing the first part accelerating slowly, with ending 2 which notes the end of the song. D. C. al Fine sends you back to the start until you hit Fine. The closing double dot thingie sends you back to the matching opening pair of dots. Good luck!

Thanks a lot.

I just began posting in the forums after much lurking. I, too, am in book 2. I'm working on hava nagalia on my brand new piano ... I was playing before on my little digital yamaha piano. And that was fine, but what a joy to play and practice on my new acoustic!

I bought all 3 level books and at one point zipped through book 2 without really trying to learn the information in it. And I didn't try to perfect the techniques and lessons. I'm very impatient, but that's not good. So I recently took a few weeks off and then went back through my Alfred books from the beginning. I found this quite helpful and am enjoying the book this second time around, really trying to learn inversions, etc.

I'm so glad to find these forums ... So excited to learn and improve on the piano

Hello Heather! Congratulations on your acoustic!

I enjoyed most of Alfred's book 2, but I'm also a very impatient person. My approach to these books is basically to learn about a song a week, study all the technique and theory in it and then move on (somebody called this "the weekly throw-away song" method). Once in a while I select a favorite song to fully memorize and polish with the aim of getting a decent recording of it - but maybe just 6 or 7 in the entire book. I don't think it's necessary to perfect all songs, but make sure to practice all the basic techniques.

Hi Diana! It's great to be here

I'm a bit of a perfectionist ... OK a lot of a perfectionist! My impatience led to me not really practicing all the techniques, which is why I am going back through it. But you're right - thanks for reminding me that I don't have to do everything perfectly!

Hello everyone on book 2. I'm starting Amazing Grace in book 1 this week, so will be starting book 2 soon.

I have been debating whether or not to go onto book 2 for a few weeks. I was considering moving to another method such as First Impressions by M'lou Dietzer, the Keith Snell books, or even just doing ABRSM material by grade. My primary interest is pop, and styles such as rhythm and blues. I'd like to do the Pop Piano method by Mark Harrison, but need to get to the point where I can do that without struggling. And thus, I decided to stay in the Alfred's books since they seem to be more in line with my long term goal.

So I'll be following along in your thread, and would like to join in. I'm wondering if anyone else was considering switching methods between books, and if so are you satisfied with your choice to continue with Alfred?

Anyone else have difficulty learning Chopin Etude Op 10 No 3 from this book. I know this is not the full etude and perhaps the changed key is to make it easier, but it does not seem consistent with the relatively straight forward music of the book. To my mind it even makes Pachobel's Cannon in D which is supposed to be an advanced piece, seem easy. Anyway I am struggling so far but hope to master it. It may take a lot longer though than the other pieces

@earlofmar
Indeed, the Chopin Etude is probably the most difficult piece in the whole book, even in its simplified form! That's my opinion anyway. I had a very hard time learning it and could never bring it up to tempo.

@hamlet cat
I am also more into learning pop/blues/folk than classical music, and I find the Alfred's method just perfect because it's a blend of all this! But I also bought the Piano for All series, it's a completely different method which mainly teaches chords, rhythms, and accompaniment techniques. You might want to have a look at it.

I agree with Sinophilia that Etude 10-3 is one of the hardest pieces in Book 2. For me, also a favorite--one of those that I continued to play (eventually from memory). It's worth the effort, imo.

The key (F major) isn't (imo) necessarily easier, it's just that the key of the original piece (E major) isn't introduced until half way through Book 3. Even with the simplified arrangement in Book 2, there's a lot going on in the music. Several voices, a couple of grace notes, some two-part writing, a range of dynamics, four "parts" to learn (starting with first full measure, m.1-5 and m.9-13; m.6-8; m.14-16; m.17-end).

Best wishes with the piece and the rest of the book!

AND it is likely that it is one's first experience with all the stuff Stubbie mentions.

Hey, guys!

Welcome, Heather and hamlet and earl!

I suppose if the pieces were interesting to me, I'd practice on them more and roll through at a breakneck one-a-week speed like Diana , but most of them just aren't that interesting to me.

I started Danny Boy last week, though, so I'm getting there! This is the 2nd to last piece in the book!

I am also working on Chopin's Prelude in E minor Op 28 no 4. What a BEAUTIFUL piece. I've wanted to play this for a while, and finally asked my teacher if she thought I could tackle it, and she replied, "oh, yeah, this one will be easy for you." LOL. As I've mentioned before, she always overestimates my abilities, so I figure if she thinks it will be easy for me, then I should be able to get it sounding good in a couple of months with a lot of work. It's coming along pretty good so far.

I finally dropped Mozart's Sonata Facile. I worked on this one for a long time, 10 months or so. I think it really was over my head and beyond my abilities. I could muddle through the whole thing, and most of it was memorized...but I never did get it up to even a moderate tempo. Nonetheless, it was great practice for me to work on it, and I learned a LOT.

I'm so jealous!!!

We started on a rickety old acoustic that wouldn't hold a tune. It wasn't long before I bought a Casio digital...but it's just not the same. I've really got the itch to buy a new acoustic.

My teacher's studio is in the back of the local piano store...which means I have to walk by all the gorgeous new pianos every time I go to my lesson. Naturally, this makes my itch that much worse! I've been eyeing one....but I haven't played it because I'm afraid I'll fall madly in love and buy it on the spot! But I may not be able to resist much longer.

I know! My husband and I have been looking casually for about a year, but then when my youngest fell in love with playing it gave us the perfect excuse to buy one. I grew up playing an old acoustic as well that was never in tune, but there was just something about it that I loved. I hope you are able to scratch that itch soon