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Thanks, I'll work on that. I hope to eventually be able to afford to get a teacher, but for now, input like this is great!

GidgetKeys, if you are of age. Check with your local Sr. Center. I'm paying $2.00/half hour lesson at our Senior Center.

RP

Thanks, I think I'm a little short of that yet. Plus I work full-time.

Hi All,

I am on page 69 of first book and finding it difficult to play F# with the little finger of left hand, whereas easy to play with fourth finger. Is it okay to use fourth finger in this situation?

Thanks,
Manish

If it works for you and does not cause pain it is fine. Actually the 4th finger is always the weak finger and if you can use it so much the better.

If it makes sense to do so, then do so...on this occasion for this song only...

However - it is precisely because you are having difficulty using that little finger at this very early stage of your development that you should force yourself to use it - and do so over and over and over until it is no longer difficult, i.e., until it seems just as easy and natural to use as the other fingers - there will be 25,001 situations in your playing eventually where you will need that finger to perform many types of passages in the music you're playing - you can't continue indefinitely substituting other fingers for it - you had better master it's use now on the really easy music you're attempting before it becomes a large liability later...

Chopin said that "every difficulty slurred over now will become a ghost to haunt you later"...(something like that...)

I had precisely same concern, so posted.

Well, the most amazing thing happened! The moment after posting the question, I continued my practice with little finger itself and was very smoothly able to strike F# with the left hand, albeit slowly. I was really very happy!

I’m ashamed of my practice habits lately but I’m still hanging on. Just a lack of motivation.

C'mon monkeeys, still waiting to hear that Journey song...this time of year it's probably going to get harder too. Now that it'll be getting warmer, there will be more outside chores and activities trying to pull you away... Stay focused!! LOL

Thank you for the kind words of encouragement GidgetKeys. I haven’t touched the Journey song in a bit either. I did an Alfred lesson last night and a PVL today. I know that it’s simply impatience. I’m frustrated that I can’t walk before crawling. I think I’m getting back in the groove. I see that you are progressing very well. GREAT JOB and thanks again. Mb

I'm now going into my third week working on "Amazing Grace". Getting the triplets to work smoothly is a challenge for me. I either rush them or take too long. I will probably be at this one for another two to three weeks.

I don’t think I have “Amazing Grace” in the ebook. Hang in there Finfan, you’ll get it.

I think I’m back on the train after a couple of good sessions. I’ve started on “Alouette” now. I had to play catch up to refresh.

Maybe you own the self teaching e-book that’s available for instance in the iTunes Store? That e-book only contains a part of the printed book. Afaik e-books 1, 2 and 3 together contain the content of the printed book 1. So e-book 1 isn’t the same as printed book 1 and e-book 2 isn’t the same as printed book 2. All three e-books contain around a third of the printed book 1. I think Amazing grace is at the end of the printed book 1 and so it will be in e-book 3.

I am not sure if the full printed books are ALL available as an e-book or pdf.

Out of curiosity, which book are you mainly talking about? Or which one is used by most? Alfred’s Basic Adult Piano Course or Alfred’s Adult All-In-One Course?

I’m using the Adult Self Teaching ebook. It has the audio/video included. There is a difference.

I'm using the Adult All-in-one Book Level one. My teacher has the electronic version and he found Amazing Grace in that. He also played the audio file for the song. It had an obnoxiously loud organ track laid down with the piano that I think killed any chance of it being useful for learning purposes. If you want to hear what a song from the book is supposed to sound like I prefer the youtube videos put out by "tinymozarts".

J van E, I hope this didn’t come off as a smart remark as that certainly wasn’t my intention. As I read it back it just looks that way to me.

Finfan, when I started there was a comment on here that recommended the ebook to save time in not having to look up YouTube which I agreed. The video/audio in mine is straight up piano. That said, I wonder if I’m leaning on it too much. I played guitar for so long “by ear” and I should practice reading more. I really like the signature in your posts as it rings so true.

Also, the ebook I have is the three part (and 3 prices) one. There was a thread on here at one time that explained the different versions. I’ve been quite happy with it.

No problem, I certainly wasn’t offended or anything like that!

"Joy to the World" on pg. 103 is an easy piece to play (and a fun piece, even out of season...) - I made it a little more interesting by adding a right hand part in the first 3 1/2 measures - this simply mirrors the left hand part there (which is carrying the melody), except the RH part is an octave higher - however, I only play this on the repeat of the entire piece - the first time thru I play it as arranged - also, after the second play-thru I repeat the last 3 measure or so at the end, only ritardando...

Note: for those of you so inclined Alfred has a 2 vol. supplement to the AIO series consisting of sacred pieces (hymns) which are cross-referenced to the main method books by page no. & difficulty level - these pieces seem to be much better arranged (with more instructional value) and more satisfying to play than many of the pieces in the Greatest Hits books - please keep in mind that one doesn't necessarily have to be a religious person to enjoy playing these pieces - good music is good music!