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

KaylaX, I don't have the book handy (I'm upstairs getting ready for bed), but the piece I just learned was Circus March, which is about a third of the way through Book 2.

I can't play ragtime either, but I think there are some easy rags in the Jazz, Rags and Blues books. I know there was at least one in the Alfred Basic Library Jazz, Rags and Blues 1b.

Bump.

Bringing this up from page 3.

The most recent piece I learned out of this book was Loch Lomond, which I enjoy. That, Danny Boy and Musetta's Waltz are probably my favorites.

I am at the home stretch, seven more to go until I complete Alfred's level 2 I think I will go back to Faber Piano Adventures Level 4 after I complete Alfred's level 2. That will probable take a year to complete.

Seven more pieces.... Wow!

I think a lot of people go on to Piano Adventures 4 after finishing the Alfred Adult book 2. I know Blackjack did it, and it worked well for him. I'm a LONG way off from that, but I will keep it in mind. Hope you stick around for a while though. This thread keeps disappearing. I guess we need some Book 1 graduates to move up.

I'm still working on those inversions. I need to wrap my mind around the fact that the same chord can have different forms.

Try this:
Think of a family with 3 kids, posing on the stairs for a picture with the oldest on the lowest step, the middle child in the middle, and the youngest on the highest step. You can position the kids on different places in the staircase, but they will always be the same kids in the family.

Oops! Correction. That was BrianDX who went on to Piano Adventures after Alfred.

Here is a question of curiosity.
Where are you in Alfred's 2 and do you plan to complete it or are you off to greener pastures?

Hi Birdgolf, just wanted to reply. I am near the end of the book, working on the last four songs. Yes definitely plan to complete it. I have worked over a year and 1/2 on it. But sometimes I do get distracted and wander off to blues-'r pastures. I do like Meir Jazz, Rags, & Blues and I wouldn't mind investigating some of Mark Harrison's work. Keep up the good work.

Hey! Any body out there learn Alfred's "Danny Boy" pages 138 & 139? How long did it take you?

I'm not up to that yet, but I love "Danny Boy" and can't wait till I get there. Is it difficult? I guess it is, or you wouldn't be asking. I'm still at the First Inversions. I've had the flu, and even now don't have the energy to sit and practice for more than a few minutes.

Hi mom3gram. Hope you get over the flu quickly; it sure can be miserable. Uh! It looks like DB is going to take awhile because of one not being familiar with the key of Eb major and because the left hand is doing a little bit more than usual. Rh has some tricky fingering too. Spreading the fingers out. So no problem, just have to grind it out at a slow pace until I get it. I would guess it is early intermediate level or higher. On the plus side it is very beautiful. Later, BG

I hope to be in this group soon so I started reading thru the thread. Bumping it back to 1.

Thought I'd resurrect this thread now since I'll be working on a select and random group of the pieces in this Level 2 method book for limited time anyway...

Where is blackjack?

First section of Book 2 is a review of Book 1 - both theory and practice pieces - the most appealing of the latter so far are: a delightful original work by one of the Method's authors called "Light and Blue", a pleasant little version of "Morning Has Broken" with 4 different (and not too difficult) left hand accompaniment patterns to attempt, and a highly simplified and shortened but still slightly challenging version of a Joplin Ragtime piece called "Solace" (similar in all these respects to "The Entertainer" in Book 1) - also another likeable piece I'm currently wrestling with called "Festive Dance" which is a short, up-tempo "classical" style work.

I'm not attempting all of the pieces here - only those that have a musical appeal for me, and some of those that present new techniques...or new keys...

"Festive Dance" is a relatively easy piece that has a "classical" sound and feel to it - it's an enjoyable piece that one can have a lot of satisfaction in playing well - it consists of 2 distinctive 8 measure sections with a D.C. al Fine at the end of the 2nd section - a nice added touch here is to repeat the last measure of the 2nd section before returning to the beginning and do so ritardando, then start the 1st measure in section 1 a little slower than indicated, gradually picking up the tempo - make the last chord at Fine short and sharp and loud. This is more fun than a beginning level pianist should be allowed to have!

I enjoyed this one also, although I never was able to speed it up.

mom - you would probably find it rewarding to go back and re-do this particular piece - it's a real "vacation" from more complex studies...

"Intro and Dance" in the Review Section is another really fun piece - it's based on an old folk song and has a lot of musical interest - it's in 2 parts: a slower, softer "intro" section, which leads into a faster, louder "dance" section - which can be repeated 3 or 4 times if desired - when you get it under your fingers it's a blast...

It was the basis for the pop song "Those Were the Days" decades ago, videos of which are on YT.