Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Other people do Piano Marvel?

No, you have to find it all yourself.

Today I started back with Marvel. I don't know any more from whom I got the tip but anyway thanks, for classical bootcamp. I had to start somewhere and level 3E where I left off seemed to me way too difficult. Even level 2 of the Bootcamp was hard and it took me a whole afternoon before I got the 100% on the first three songs. I was able to read the notes but I was especially bothered with the tempo, the long and short notes. Tomorrow the fight continues. It will come back, I'm sure. My first SASR test I scored only 365, and I was for a while above the 400. Crazy anyway that you forget everything so quickly... it will be the age good excuse for everything that goes wrong.

I am terrible at sight-reading. Just terrible. I have been taking the SASR and my current score is 330. I've been close to, but not higher than 400. My current score is so depressing I've even stopped taking the SASR. Because if I think 330 is bad, tomorrow will be 270! So you are doing quite a bit better than I am and I just finished 4-A. I did get some sight-reading exercise books from Amazon.com and hope that by working through the exercises I will improve.

Try taking one of the sight reading bootcamps. My score was roughly the same as you when I started. Now I get upset if I don't break the intermediate level at 473 (which I occasionally don't). I did the hymns bootcamp and that helped a lot. I have also done some of the classical bootcamp.

I still feel my eyes read ok, its just my fingers don't do what I want them to.

If you go to the library and you type in the search window SASR , then you will get 6 levels sight reading. I've done that to level 3. If you are going to do the test then the surprise is a little less big because you recognize it.

Quick question. No fingering instructions for 4-B#6 and 4-B#7 -- Root Position Triads. Are all RPT supposed to always be played with the same exact fingering? 135?

Thats certainly what I did. I guess the idea is to teach you about centering

Occasionally I still do a SASR test, to remember the notes, and yesterday something strange happened. I got the error message "PDF for song not found" and it continued to repeat the previous song, over and over again I found it so funny that I forgot to do an error message.

For those of you who have gotten to the upper levels of Piano Marvel (PM), have you noticed a significant improvement in your technique and ability to read and lean music?

I started Piano Marvel a year or so ago and got to level 4, but then I went off on my own to build my repertoire - mostly from the "Easy Classics to Moderns" series. I'm thinking about going back to PM to improve my technique as a supplement to my repertoire building from other sources. I don't find the "songs" in the PM lessons to be that appealing, but I'm willing to go through them if it helps my technique. I'd probably also take the SASR test a few times a week if I do renew my subscription with PM.

I'm assuming I'll get a few "get a teacher" replies, and yes, I'm considering that and know the benefit of a teacher, but I'm particularly curious about the PM lessons - do they ultimately pay off??

I find that PM after level 3 is rather a disappointment than something to learn. For a beginner, the difference in difficulty level 3/4 is far too large and it lacks instructions and examples after level 3. I may not have done enough to get through the technique, but that seems so boring and useless if you only want to learn to play a few songs for your own pleasure, and especially learn to read sheet music. And that's where PM succeeded, for me anyway.

I agree. I got really frustrated while in level 4. One reason is that it the songs / exercises were not at all appealing to me. Once I got a "golden star" for a song, I was so relieved to never have to hear the song again. But if they are really good at building up technique, I might be willing to start up again where I left off.

you might try some of the bootcamps from the library to help with reading, and there are lots of level appropriate arrangements of actual songs in the Library. They seem to be improving them all the time. I have one song (might have been an Elton John song) that when I first added it, didn't have the minced and chopped versions available, but shortly thereafter, it was added.

I think it doesn't matter whether we are playing and practicing to get a trophy closet full or we search the library for songs that we like... we always learn anyway. When I start back I only learn the songs that I find pleasant... since Arabia and Irish Jig I know that it is not necessary to be able to play such miserable songs at an inhuman speed. I am not a masochiste.
And technique we always learn, whatever we play I think. I find the fingering even disturbing, there's already so much you have to look out for and your fingers usually find themselves the most natural way. I usually get confused of those numbers above the notes...It also depends on what you want to achieve with the lessons.

Wow. This thread was buried. Anybody still here?

I haven't been very active with PM lately as I've been concentrating on my method book and some other music, but in the last few days I've opened it a little more frequently.

This evening I attempted an SASR. The first attempt was disappointing. The score was better than the previous attempt but not as well as my current personal best. So, I did it twice. The second time was better. A new personal best of 358, but its disheartening that the score was as high as 362, and there's something just not right about achieving a passing grade for an exercise and the overall score dropping.

All in all, I'm pleased that there was some improvement, but I feel like for the amount of time I spend practicing, it should reflect in the score. I suppose I should take the SASR more often.

I am still doing it some, but mainly I am uploading some of my own things to PM and using it to learn them. I find being busy with piano lessons with a method book leaves little time for PM.

I remember some conversations about that. Sounds complicated.

It was at first. But it's pretty wired now. I can find a score and upload a new piece, even with some chopping/mincing, in about 20 mins total. But yes, in the early days when I couldn't even get Musescore working correctly, it did seem very complicated.

I still do an SASR every few days, but I am spending so much of my practice time polishing my repertoire and learning a new piece that I haven't gone back to it that much. I was hoping to use it to add to my tally for the 40 a year club, but I haven't had time for that either.

Hi guys,
Playing the piano is the last of my worries now, both my husband and I have been listed in the hospital, I am now putting my PC back on for the first time in months. Playing piano I can not now, a lot of pain, a lot of pain medication, I can not sit or lie down... October 1 back to the clinic, I hope for a solution finally. Keep practicing friends, I'll still be back someday.

So sorry to hear this. I hope both of you recover soon!

I second this. Get well soon