Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Alfred's Basic and All in One Adult Piano Course Book #2

ajames, same here. When I started out, my plan was to go through the Alfred books, all three. In fact, I got a great deal on the books I own them all. I worked through the first book on my own - and honestly, I think doing it on my own was the best method for me. I was well prepared when I started lessons. My teacher had no interest in continuing the Alfred series; so two books sit idle.

The Alfred series (and most method books) provides structure, a valuable commodity when self learning. But as I have discovered, there is so much out there that is playable for the novice. It is a shame for anyone to plod through a method book (especially if they are not enjoying the material) when there is so much diverse material available, and free.

I have found some pieces I particularly like in the Alfred books. As you're working on other things, you might use Alfred for sight-reading practice, and if you find a piece you like, you can decide if you want to take the time to learn it.

ajames, the next time you meet a piece you don't like in the Alfred books, perhaps instead of playing through it once or twice in a practice session, you might try this instead: break the piece into small sections, and then work on one small section at each practice sessions. Work both hands separately and, eventually, hands together. Won't take any more time per practice session than the once or twice playthrough, but should lead to mastery sooner.

Agree, Books 1 and 2 are a valuable resource for those self-teaching--the pieces are level-appropriate and the pieces build upon each other as you go through the books. Yes, there's lots of non-method book material out there, good material, but it's hard for a beginner without a teacher to judge its appropriateness for you at that particular time. If you have a teacher, the teacher can and will choose pieces that teach you whatever you need to work on at that point.

I did part of Book 3 but was branching out by then. After not too long, I decided I needed a teacher and got one.



I liked some of them, too. Etude (10/3), La Donna E Mobile, Theme from Symphony No. 6, Fascination, Love's Greetings from Book 2 and Come Back to Sorrento from Book 3, to name a few.

scorpio, it's a very cool point in the journey, isn't it, when you realize just how many many great-sounding pieces are coming within reach? Even if some (most?) of them were written for children...



PianoStudent88, Good advice. That's normally how I approach pieces, by breaking them up. But for pieces I don't like, I tend to play them through once, go "ugh", then move on to other pieces I enjoy more. Not the most efficient approach but I eventually get there...

Hi Everyone. I'm new to the forum and am working in Book 2 currently! I'm nearing the end (currently on Ballin' the Jack). Was wondering how long it generally takes people to play through a given piece in Book 2?

Welcome to PianoWorld, Mike. This isn't going to be very satisfying, but the answer is....it depends.

Some of the factors influencing how long you spend on a particular piece include (1) how long does it take you to master (learn) whatever new technique or key or tempo in a particular piece; (2) once you've learned the piece, are you bringing it to performance standard? (3) Do you like it enough to keep in your repertoire (in which case it is *never* done); (4) how many pieces do you work on at any one time and how long do you practice each day; (5) Do you practice every day? (6)Do you have a teacher who tells you when you've learnt what the piece has to teach you and it's time to move on?

For myself, I usually had several pieces in the works at once--something new I was in the process of learning, something further along that I was trying to polish up a bit, and something I played as part of my repertoire. If I didn't care for a piece, I took it to the learned stage and then moved on; the ones I liked I played longer and put more effort into. And, frankly, some pieces are easier or harder than others. I probably spent a minimum of a week to ten days on something short and straightforward; longer--much longer--on others. In hindsight, I should have spent more time on most everything, but that's hindsight for you.

I can say (I'm only a third through AIO #2) that I spend 1- 4 weeks per piece so far. It really depends on how much I focus on a given piece and how many other (non-Alfreds) pieces I'm working on at the time. They vary quite a bit in difficulty IMO so some may be quick to finish and others may take longer.

Welcome to the forum Mike. I agree with everything Stubbie wrote which applies to any piece we learn. Time spent on a piece has become irrelevant for after 20 months of learning there has been a great difference in time required from:

a) a week - learned what I needed and moved on.
b) six months and counting - pieces that may be a bit of stretch or really find important enough to work on.

Are you going to go on to book 3?

Thanks for all the input, everyone. Those were the answers I was hoping for. I was mostly trying to gauge if the majority of people were able to proficiently play these pieces in a short amount of time (an hour or two). Basically, if the extreme was actually the norm, that would not be a good sign for my playing! Otherwise, I'm not too concerned if it takes me 10 hours to learn a piece and someone else 9 or 8. The bigger concern would be if it took that person only 1-2 hours to my 10. It's always hard to tell on here since most everyone is working on other things during the Book 2 journey (myself included).

Earlofmar - Yes, planning on going on to Book 3 next. I'm hoping to get to it by the fall given my current rate. Also looking to start one of the Jazz/Ragtime series as well during that time. My main motivation to start piano was to eventually play Ragtime/Stride. It's going to be a long journey, but hopefully a successful one!

Howzit to all.

I have bought Alfred's Book 2 and hoping to start it soon, once my teacher ticks off the last few pieces from book 1.

I have paged through Book 2 and I found it exciting. Looking forward to all of the pieces but a few that caught my eye:
La Bamba
Bridal March
Canon in D
Fascination
Also excited to learn two part writing, this should allow me to play Disney songs in the Hal Leonards book I am wanting to buy.

Hi Jeremy SA,
I'm working my way through Alfred's AIO #2, up to around p. 50 (Calypso Carnival). Difficulty seems highly variable to me, but it could be because I'm working on a lot of other pieces, some of which are more advanced than where I am in Alfred's.

I actually liked "La Bamba", but from reading this thread most didn't. I think it doesn't sound very good unless you can get the tempo up pretty high, which takes a long time.

Hi ajames,

My teacher has started me on additional material too.
As soon as I started, it was clear why she did it.

She gave me "Classics to Modern", from a glance they appeared much simpler than the Alfred's songs I had been playing. But it took me longer than I thought to get the first few songs playable.
I figured out that my eye is well trained on recognising triads instantly(from the Alfred's books), but other left hand figures I was taking longer to recognise.

So my teacher obviously identified that I need to train myself into recognising a vast array of patterns on sheet music.
So I am going to stick with the additional material alongside Alfred's, even though I prefer the Alfred's tunes better.

Well this sucks.... My college student music teacher seems to have fallen off the face of the earth (new boyfriend) so I've started looking for a new teacher. Until then I'm polishing off up to Alexander's Ragtime Band in Alfred's AIO2. Meanwhile I've been working on "My Heart Will Go On" and "Que Sera Sera" from Alfred's Greatest Hits. Anyone else use the Greatest Hits?

I have ALfreds Greatest Hits #1 and I enjoy playing some of the pieces. On some of the others I didn't care for the arrangements. They seem really sparse but still difficult to play, if that makes any sense. I don't mind the challenge but only if I know I will like the result.

Are you working with GH #2? Maybe I'd like those arrangements better.

I learned Nadia's Theme from Greatest Hit's #1 and Que Sera Sera from GH#2 which is actually a good arrangement and progressing nicely with My Heart Will Go On from #2. There are a few more songs from #2 I'd like to learn in future. I also bought Greatest Hits #3 for when I hit the ambitious stage. What I like about them is that they correspond with AIO books. I'll set up a YouTube account and post what I've recorded so far sometime over then next week or so.

I finally found a teacher who's happy to take me on so I start lessons this Monday & every other week after. :-)

Thanks Alux, I might have to get GH #2. It's been over a month since I bought any new music anyway, I'm going into withdrawals...

Congrats on finding a teacher! Hope it works out well for you. My teacher has been a huge help for me, going on 7 months now.

Hi, I recently joined the group, and I'm currently working my way through Alfred's second Book, I just got to scherzo, and I was wondering how to play the note that crosses from the bass line, am I supposed to play it with my left Hand? why are there missing beats? I'm guessing that is just a way of make the score "look nice" but I'd like to make sure I'm not missing something.
thanks a lot.

Welcome AndresD!
You're referring to the two places where there is a diagonal line and the "LH 3"? Yeah, the intent is to bring your left hand over to play those notes. As for the missing beats, you mean the lack of rests in the bass clef? I don't think they did it to look good, I think it was intended to minimize confusion. If they put rests there, you might think the left hand shouldn't be playing anything for those counts.

thanks a lot ajames, makes sense now.

I'm still pluggin' along, up to Brahm's Lullaby. Getting near the halfway point in the all-in-one book.

I did get the Alfred's Greatest Hits #2, and these arrangements are much nicer that the GH#1, Thanks Alex. I also picked up "Jazz, Rags, and Blues" #1, which is a lot of fun. Working on some more sophisticated rhythms and getting out the "swing".