Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Alfred's Basic and ALL in One Adult Piano Course Book #1

It would be interesting to compare recordings of pre-covid skills & post-covid skills. Perhaps the coronavirus was a boon to (healthy) piano players everywhere -- if a pandemic can have a bright side.

I have been despairing of my playing posture. The more I focus on my hands, the more I slump. So trying something new: I pretend I'm Yulianna Avdeeva. The goal is to look elegant while sounding elegant!

The magnificent Ms. Avdeeva -- Mussorgsky

Interesting how she gives herself plenty of room: seat back from the piano, arms well out to the side. I just watched a video of Glenn Gould, & the contrast in playing posture is shocking.

Had a couple month hiatus from the book to work on some supplemental pieces even though I only had 2.5 songs left. Hal’s Easy Zelda book has been great, sounds like the real thing.

If anyone out there feels like they need a break from the book I think the Zelda book is a good level to try before getting back to old reliable Alfred.

Ohmygosh, Piano-no-jitsu, I had no idea such a thing existed! What a perfect Christmas gift for my son, who bought a Casiotone 200 to learn piano with me & is loving it for recreating his favorite classic video game tunes. He is going the Synthesia route, & I'm trying to convince him he might as well learn to read music. Hal's Easy Zelda just might get him going in that direction. Thank you so much for posting about it!

I'm out in middle America for several days checking in on my elderly parents. I'm having PWS -- Piano Withdrawal Syndrome

I swear piano playing is addictive, lol.

Whenever I am away from my keyboard or guitar, I practice mentally, hearing the notes in my mind and envisioning my hands playing the strings and keys. I often have the songs I'm working on playing on my phone as well. Seems to tide me over.

Hope your folks are doing ok.

Actually made a mistake, No expectations, book is done by Alfred lol (go figure). Seems like a great idea! I think the book level is right around the end of Alfred Book 1, (maybe some a bit harder as well), so it pushes what we think of as “easy”, but I think the payoff for learning the songs is better.

There’s a good YouTube channel that has all the songs if you wanted a sample.

https://youtu.be/uTi7qGN7wJ4 (Which I think is the easiest song in the book)

I just realised I must have an old version of this book. It looks like there is a newer version with a handful of extra pieces at the end. I also own this book (https://www.alfred.com/alfreds-self-teaching-adult-piano-course/p/00-30115/), which is pretty much a duplicate of the original book with a bunch of extra 'study guide' pages. It has most of the missing pieces at the end, but it doesn't have the last two:

- The Ballad of Gilligan’s Isle.
- Chattanooga Choo Choo

Is there any way I can get these two without having to buy a 3rd version of the same book?

Thanks, Bluesy42. Thanks, too, Piano-no-jitsu, for the additional info.

I just watched a few of your videos and they sound really great. I will be revisiting them as I move through the course. I like blues so will be looking again at those tunes.

Kilo, does your Alfred's come with BOTH a CD and DVD? Mine didn't come with either, but upon further research I see they have a book plus CD version and a book plus DVD version, but not both, unless it's the "Self Study" version. Very confusing! I was able to view some the DVD videos on a sample selection of the "Self Study" version on Apple iBooks. I wonder if it's the same videos on the DVD? I wonder if I should exchange my version for a CD or DVD version?

Definitely a great way to chart progress.

jbloggz, don't forget there's an F# in V7 chord in G major for The Marines' Hymn piece.

Oops!! I can't believe I did that. This is exactly the thing I was hoping people would notice, thanks!! Without a teacher its so easy to have a wrong note and not even realise. I now have to re-record that one to remove that embarrassment.

I just started with Little Brown Jug today and am trying to battle through it. I don't really like this one, so keen to get past it. I can (sort of) play it at about 80bpm now, but I think its going to take a few days to get it up to around 130ish, which is where i think i should be. It's a bit annoying how they don't have an indication of the "correct" tempo. How fast do you guys play it?

They do. Moderately fast.

I googled it for you. Allegretto – moderately fast (98–109 BPM).

Nope Bluesy, just a DVD. It basically gives one a nice video of the someone playing - the thing is they are available to all online too matey - also just as a heads up I only watch/listen when I am practicing sight reading not playing to get my eyes used to note jumping etc. Therefore not a worry to us lot in truth

Still need to refine my Chattanooga Choo Choo a bit, but I am starting Alfred book 2 this week at the same time (skipping some songs as there's some review/overlap with Book 1 at the beginning)!

I highly recommend "92 Piano Keys"'s demo on youtube for Alfred: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNrdgfJH33M&list=PLIx-hGjmqNJE9M_m1oMkNl8BRdATc1m8d
I've found Norma's demos super helpful, love how her musicality makes beginner songs sound like real finished pieces.

Thanks for that clarification. I am exchanging my book only version for the DVD version.

Back from my trip. Interesting how rusty you can get after being away five days.

Hi all.
For those that started with this Alfred method, I am thinking of trying
it after using Simply Piano for a year and wanting to try something else.
Would this work for me if I don’t have a teacher?
Not sure whether to try a book method or another more interactive
online method

Thanks

FWIW - I would say it is really a matter of asking what do you want out of going through another of the same. It might sound harsh but all of the introductory course books essentially do the same thing. They introduce one to a taster of music theory mixed with bit of fun and practice focus to underpin all the advice and theory. There is absolutely no harm in buying and running through any amount of these 'book one' courses but they are a singular stepping stone to the next book or pieces. The only caveat is if a student does not get what a particular course is offering then swapping to another is a good idea.

For me, been playing for many years with no actual tutor, bought 'Alfred the Great' as a refresher and attempt to fill in any blanks on theory and give me a focus - back to basics. It is a great book and would highly recommend to anyone. It is 10 - 15 GBP $ well spent.

The best advice is to just keep playing and read as much music both on the instrument and most importantly off it too. Simply visualising the piece should never be underestimated. Wish you well in your progress danthman and welcome to this thread

Oh wow, Yao, a new level of learning -- you must be eager to start on your new phase of piano! Keep us posted on how it's going.

Thanks for that link. Good observation about her musicality makes the tunes sound like real finished pieces. I had trouble getting Lone Star Waltz to sound good instead of just a collection of mechanical notes. I'm going to imitate her interpretation.

Which brings up a point: how to bring variety, spark, & feeling to one's own playing. It's like my cooking -- I get tired of my own palate & recipes. With piano, even during this beginner phase, I see that I interpret everything the same way. Yes, I'm paying attention to notation, but it's being processed by (limited by?) my brain & ear & physicality. So there is a uniformity to my piano playing. A style, perhaps you could call it. I'm wondering -- as I listen to the fabulous, soulful piano of Leon Russell -- I hope to develop enough skill to play like that. But even if I had the skills (ha ha), I could never play like Leon Russell. Because I'm NOT Leon Russell. His brain, ear, & physicality are his own. We are who we are, we do the best with what we've got, & the reality is average piano playing for most people.

Maybe that's why some of the current classical pianists mug & emote so terribly much at the piano. They're throwing everything they've got into feeling & interpretation in order to give the music life. (Ha, maybe you have to do that to any piece you've practiced a thousand times. Maybe they are bored to death with a piece by the time they get it to performance level?)