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BTW I think everyone would agree there is no best method.

Well I said ONE of best methods. Not the BEST one As to the Fundamental Keys I received one a couple of days ago. I wouldn't call it a "method" per se as there's very few instructions there. As to all the technical stuff she just attaches a couple of pages with scales and arpeggios without mentioning how and when to incorporate them in practice sessions. It seems Alfred's is much more sophisticated instructions-wise. Speaking about books you've mentioned when would you start using them? From the very beginning? When the first half of the Alfred's was mastered? Towards the end? Cheers!

Surprised to hear Fundamental Keys is disappointing. Are you aware of the video series that goes with the book (to be found on the website). While the additional cost to me seems like a bit of a "double dipping" compared to private lessons this is an economical method.

As far as learning other material I am no teacher but have this to say. Many have written they move through the Alfred Book 1 very quickly to the midway point where it gets progressively more difficult. I would encourage anyone to stick with the book to the end and take in all that it has to offer. However if you just cannot get and enjoyment from the material material then work on something you do like. This may be further ahead in the book or elsewhere.

Surprised to hear Fundamental Keys is disappointing. Are you aware of the video series that goes with the book (to be found on the website). While the additional cost to me seems like a bit of a "double dipping" compared to private lessons this is an economical method.

As far as learning other material I am no teacher but have this to say. Many have written they move through the Alfred Book 1 very quickly to the midway point where it gets progressively more difficult. I would encourage anyone to stick with the book to the end and take in all that it has to offer. However if you just cannot get any enjoyment from the material material then work on something you do like. This may be further ahead in the book or elsewhere.

For us beginners we always want to dabble with something new which may not be in our method books and there is no harm in that.

I now have Fundamental Keys and so far it is working well with adult students. I think it has just enough instructional material. The instructional paragraphs are extremely short and very informative about the one thing they intend to teach you, then you get a lot of pieces in which to practice the new skill. FK is oriented toward learning to do things by practice, not by reading pages of information. So there are a lot of pieces which will teach you useful skills in a logical order if you learn the pieces to the point of mastery. But obviously none of my students are working without a teacher so I can't speak to that.

Alfred lost my confidence the minute I saw how many times they misspelled Dvorak!

For me, the videos are very important and a "key" element of Fundamental Keys!

As I've already mentioned there're some scales and arpeggios in the back of the book but not a single word about how and when to practice them. I know there're teachers who prefer their students to play through the carefully selected pieces which incorporate all the needed technical studies so there's no need to play scales and arpeggios and other technical stuff. But I don't think that's the case with FK. I may be wrong though.

Rachel used to have a video (free on her site) specifically devoted to scales. It didn't survive the transition to the new site - I've inquired whether it will be available again.

Scales aren't really necessary in learning piano, but they are a good way to warm up, concentrate on your technique, and learn the "feel" of different key signatures which will make it easier to play pieces in keys outside of C major.

I have been putting up lots of scale and arpeggio videos on my YouTube channel over the weekend. Not finished yet, but have all the majors up. There are slow versions for beginners at scales to watch, and faster versions for checking you're playing with the right finger numbers and have all the right sharps and flats.

A very important note to remember about learning scales is that you MUST use the correct fingers. I have the finger numbers in the information section under each video. You can go straight to my YouTube Channel (in my signature)or I have organised lists of technical work with links here:

http://theivorytimes.blogspot.com.au/p/tinymozarts-scales-and-arpeggios.html

I have just started learning "The Entertainer" and I am loving this piece. The previous few pieces (Scarborough Fair and Raisins & Almonds) also sound great to me as they use broken chords which give that New Age solo piano sound I enjoy.

My teacher and I have agreed to move on to book 2 in this series.
Only one piece left until the bonus pieces. I will probably start on some of the revision pieces at the beginning of book 2 while learning the bonus pieces in book 1.

I just recently found this mega-post thread! So far I've read the first 25 pages and the ones from this year. I'll probably go back and read some more later on, but I decided to jump to the front so I could start logging my progress.

When I first bought my digital piano it was with the intention of learning to play by teaching myself. Well, it didn't take me long to realize I would be better off with a teacher. So I found one and it turns out she uses Alfred's Adult All-In-One Course, so... here I am.

In my first lesson we started at the very beginning of the book and covered everything up to page 23. Within those pages, the instructions for "Ode to Joy" (pg 13) and "Aura Lee" (pg 17) are:


And for "Playing On The Grand Staff" (pg 20) the instructions are:


Instead of doing any of that she just had me play the notes. Not once have I had to count aloud, clap, or sing for those or any of the other songs we went over. Believe me, I'm perfectly with that! But it made me wonder, does anybody actually really go through all those steps for each song? I can sort of see doing the counting and clapping, but singing?!?

Overall, my first impression of my teacher is mostly positive. I like her teaching approach to learning the piano, and she has a calm, nonjudgmental manner so I don't feel all tense and nervous, even though I know she's watching every little move.

In my second lesson we reviewed everything from the week before and then went over the melodic and harmonic intervals, which took us up through page 31. I really struggled with playing the harmonic ones. Partly because I don't have all the notes memorized that well (especially in the bass clef) and partly because I've got klutzy fingers.

After struggling through my second attempt at "Dueling Harmonics" (pg 31) I lifted my hands off the keys, flexed them a couple of times and said, "My hands feel stiff. I think I might have some arthritis, or something." She replied, "Then maybe you'll need to take some Advil. Now, why don't you try that again one more time." Hmm. I didn't get a whole lot of sympathy there.

When my hour was up she checked off some sections as done, though not as many as I thought she would. So lots of stuff for me to practice for the next lesson. Now that I've got more to work with I'm to increase my practice time. I'm going to aim for an hour a day, probably breaking each hour up into 2 or 3 sections.

Congratulations on the start of what should be a wonderful journey. Being able to afford a teacher is a great luxury (some would say you cannot afford not to have one). But while a book is trying to speak to the self guided student a teacher may have other methods for teaching the same thing. They also will not try to overload you where as a book sort of throws everything at you at once. Perhaps a little early for her to judge but a teacher may also decide you don't need to do those steps if you already have a good sense of rhythm. Personally I have not had to do those sorts of exercises and I am twenty months in.

Loved it.

LindaG,

If you are feeling pain in your hands when you play, you should NOT continue to play. I wasn't sure from your post if you were joking with your teacher or not, but if you really were feeling pain that is a serious red flag and it should not be ignored. It is possible to seriously injure yourself with bad piano technique. It is very important that you learn to reduce unnecessary tension from your body as you play.

Also, counting is an essential part of playing imo. It is incredibly easy to distort a rhythm without being aware that you are doing so. In fact, even people who count often distort their rhythm (They count in a way that matches what they are playing instead of playing in a way that matches a steady count). So learning how to count properly (it's not as simple as just counting, you have to know where to put strong beats and weak beats, and why) is a very important skill to develop. But with that being said, you are learning an incredibly complex skill and you need to learn it step by step. I suspect that your teacher will introduce counting different rhythms before too long. If they don't teach it at all, I would find that very very strange.

Thanks, earlofmar. My teacher actually did say during my second lesson that I had a good sense of rhythm. So at least I have that going for me. Well, for simple tunes with a 4/4 count anyway. Paying for piano lessons is a real stretch for me, so I'm just looking at it one month at a time.

Hi fizikisto, I didn't say I had any pain in my hands, just some stiffness. Some x-rays 15 years ago showed early arthritis in my back, so I wouldn't be surprised if I have some minor arthritis in my hands. I took up running a 1-1/2 years ago and that helped relieve all sorts of back problems I was having. I'm sort of hoping playing the piano will have a similar effect on my hands.

Or it could be that you have never used your fingers and hands in this context before and your fingers are still finding their feet (pun intended).

As a runner you will well remember the first days when it was exhausting to run any distance but with a careful regime you can over time reach "the zone" where you feel like you could run forever. Learning to use your body, arms, wrists and fingers is no different, it is a slow start to begin with and things can feel a bit odd at times. There is a danger of injury if one is not careful, but over time as endurance is built up your hands will evolve into those of piano athlete. Your teacher will keep you right and an hour a day practice is not excessive.

Haha, a piano athlete! Well, that all sounds very encouraging, thanks for that. And I'll be careful.

Just checking in with a mid-week update.

I've got most everything under control so far, except for "Dueling Harmonics." Mostly due to hesitating between notes while I'm trying to sight read the harmonics instead of relying on the finger numbers. But I'm also messing up on the piano and forte. Hopefully I'll get it figured out within the next couple of days.

I just realized as I'm typing this that my forearms and hands are nicely aligned and my wrists aren't bent down and resting on my desk as they normally are when I'm typing. And I'm actually (almost) sitting up straight. Haha. There's hope for me yet.

Well, anyway, it sure would be nice to have some fellow level one's in here with me!!