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

Hello AndresD! Welcome to the group :-)


That's awesome Ajames, glad you like GH#2. There are some good material in it. Have you decided what song you're going to learn first? Never heard of the "Jazz, Rags, and Blues" #1 but will check it out shortly.

Alex, I'm working right now on the first one: "Show Business". I do like the arrangements much better than the first Greatest hits book. They seem only a little more challenging to play but sound much, much better to me.

"Jazz, Rags and Blues"-- If you like those styles, I can really recommend the first volume. The pieces are really fun and engaging. I'm finding some of the rhythms challenging to get right so I must be learning something too.

I've been on a bit of a tear lately, adding ~2 pieces a week to my practice. I'm still working on Tchaik. "Morning Prayer" and have been for several months. I like having a longer term project and lots of shorter term simpler pieces, I think it really helps with reading. Up to "Lonesome Road" in Alfred's, I have to say I've been enjoying the Alfred's pieces much more lately.

Ajames, how are you progressing with "Show Business" in the GH#2 book?

I finally got around to setting up a youtube channel so here my first attempt at recording. It's "Nadia's Theme" from Alfred's GH#1. The video isn't the greatest but seeing how it's a laptop cam it'll do & I'm starting to get the hang of the audio editing program.. http://youtu.be/a5VHdFa-vvI

Alex, Your "Nadia's theme" really sounds great! How do you get the strings track? You should post it to the Piano Bar thread.

"There's no Business like Show Business" is coming along, I'm just trying to bring it up to speed now. My teach pointed out where I was being a little sloppy with the rhythm so I'm using the metronome some.

Really enjoying the Mier book 1 "Jazz, blues, and rags" also, probably trying to do too many pieces at once. My work on Alfred's is in like 3rd or 4th place now, since I also have a Tchaikovsky piece "Morning Prayer" and a piece for the Schumann recital also. My problem is I enjoy starting new pieces too much...

Thanks & not a bad idea about the Piano Bar thread. Will look into that later over the weekend.

hehe.. I hear ya there! I've stepped back some to re-focus on AIO #2 lessons as I was getting carried away with other material. Not so much things I want to work on now but for later on as I progress. Ended up buying $80 of new music online last week which should arrive in a months time to add to my ever growing "to learn later" pile. When I told my wife she just looked at me and shook her head saying I got enough now to keep me busy for the next 10 years. lol

Hi to all! So happy I got in this thread (which means I finished book 1)! I bought my piano exactly a half year ago and I'm happy with my progress.
I'm currently working on Tumbalalaika, and I actually like this song. My pedalling sounds very weird though, so I should definitely look into that. I have a tendency to add the pedal only after I get my both hands more or less right. But it's fun to practice a song I like, because I kind of got tired of Alfred 1 but then I had already bought book 2... I'm also looking forward to House of the Rising Sun, I love that song so much.
Now I'm looking for some books to play on the side, what are you guys playing? I was hoping to find a good course with plain (boring) exercises and another with some nice songs to play on my level.

Welcome gravity blues! Congrats on finishing book 1! I'm working out of the All-in-one book 2, it doesn't have Tumbalalika, unfortunately. I wish it did, it sounds like a nice piece. I guess they took it out of the AIO book so they could put in more latin tunes (lol).
I'm the same way with the pedal, I only try to add it in after I can play the piece reasonably.
I have a ton of other books I've picked up over the last year, I probably do ~2-3 outside pieces for every Alfreds #2 piece. I like to always be working on new pieces and I think it helps with my reading. I'm a little further along than you so take that into account. Here are my recommendations:
*) "Fresh Impressions" series- New age style. Don't pass on the "prep" level book, there are some really enjoyable pieces in there- Just hold down the sustain pedal and play.
*) "Jazz, Rags, and Blues" - book1. I really enjoy these pieces. Great fun to play and challenging.
*) "Essential Keyboard Repertoire" - Vol. 1- classical, 100 popular teaching pieces. If you like classical, a book you can grow into. I would recommend this over "First lessons in Bach", since most of the same pieces are here, and the layout is better, IMO.

Let me know what kind of music you like and maybe I (or others) can make some more recommendations

Hi Ajames, thanks for your response. Ahh, I didn't realise the AIO book didn't have that song, I somehow thought that book would have all the song of the basic version + some extras.
I've experienced Alfred to be a little boring when it's the only thing I'm studying. I'd also like to train a little more on more complicated pieces for my left hand. I feel like I should treat both hands equally
I'm actually only starting to listen more to classic music. I've always been into Prokofiev and Rachmaninov, but I'm currently trying to expand my musical horizon. When it comes to contemporary music, I've fallen deeply in love with the piano parts of Muse.
Thanks for your suggestions, I'll look into those!

The classical stuff is good for getting the left hand engaged. You might try "Alfred's Masterwork Classics", the first book is pretty approachable. Wow, I just realized all my suggestions are Alfreds publications. No, I don't work for them! There are lots of other publishers that do graded repertoire books.

Sorry, I can't help you with Muse sheets. In my experience, the pop arrangements tend to be more advanced, like mid intermediate level. I have a book of Enya arrrangements, but I haven't even tried playing them yet...

Welcome to the thread GB. There are a few exercises out there for peddling so have a look around. As for outside material, I just completed "My Heart Will Go On" from Alfred's Adult Greatest Hits #2. What I like about it that the songs in it corresponds with Alfred's Adult All-In-One Level 2 getting progressively harder.

Here's a copy of "My Heart Will Go On" from Alfred's Adult Greatest Hits #2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvfsSQNgakY&feature=youtu.be


James, How's it all going?

Thanks for your suggestions, James and Alux.
Also, Alux, very nice performance in the video, I really enjoyed listening to this!

Alex, Very nice! I'll admit I played through that one a few times and decided to skip it. You really did it justice, I think.

I'm moving up through Alfred's 2, at the dreaded "Hokey Pokey" now. Ok, joking, it's not that bad. Still enjoying Miers book "Jazz, Rag and Blues" - been playing every piece so far. I made a recording of "Show Business" (I record almost everything I work on for my amusement, mostly)- maybe I will upload it. It's pretty sloppy though.

I've been going through this thread and found out I'm not the only one who has struggled with "Light and Blue", that's a relief! I've been self-learning for the past 6 months, and have now decided to take a teacher. I've noticed my progress is slowing down so this might be a good time to make the investment. I'm hoping to have my first lesson next week!

Book 2 is a big step up and there are more than a few challenging pieces which just take slow effort. It is a common problem, but I don't think we are prepared for just how long some pieces take to sink in. The bad news is it just takes longer and longer as the pieces get more difficult. The only way to combat this is to work on multiple pieces which also keeps learning piano interesting.

You will not regret the decision to get a teacher and I hope you find the right one that suits you.

Hey GB, I agree with Earlofmar, if you find a teacher who works well with you it can make all the difference. A teacher can also help you find supplemental pieces at your level which can be a big help, I think.

Well I am finally finishing up book two. I started this book in 2010. My teacher didn't like the method book and we worked on various other stuff. I have since moved and am self teaching now. I am working on Danny Boy and Canon in D. Looking forward to starting book three. Maybe it won't take 4 years to finish this one.

Congratulations wj3, staying with the book to the end no matter how long is a real achievement.

Congrats wj3, good luck with book 3. I hope to get there someday too.

I've been a little slow getting through Alfreds pieces lately. Just starting Hava something right now. Been working on "Que Sera" from GH#2, just now getting it down. It was harder than I expected, the left hand needed a bit of extra work. Also still working on "Morning Prayer" and my Schumann recital piece.

gravity blues, how did your first lesson go?

Alex, how are things going with you?

Hi All! Hope everyone's well

WJ3 - Congrats with Book 2! While I've got a long way to go I'm looking forward to tackling Cannon. Earlofmar is correct, so long as you're enjoying yourself then time is never an issue.

Gravity Blues- All go well with your first lesson?

Ajames- Looking forward to hearing "Que Sera" and the others you're working on. There is very little from GH#2 on YouTube, let alone GH#3 which is why I've only posted from them.

Things are moving a bit slow here lately due life but I'm chipping away at it. My teacher has me working on the Major scales C,G,D,A,E & B two octaves both parallel & contrary along with their respective chords in root, first & second inversions. To help me expand she has me reworking "Down In The Valley" by adding full chords (ie: 1st measure phrase 2, change single note in treble to a chord & broken chords for the bass) kind of like they did with "Morning Has Broken". I've started working on "Theme from SOLACE" and taken a break from outside material for the moment.