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I'm with ya Bob. Although I've not actually recorded anything (yet) there is always going to be people far better than us, heck look at Kawaigirl who can churn out masterpieces only days after seeing the sheet music..

But hey, we're here, we're having fun and we're doing it

Nice Hava Nagila JF!

BobH, I'm sure that you are a lot better than I am being that far into book 2, eventhough you may not want to compare yourself with such a newbie like myself, but like TTigg said, at least we are having lots of fun trying.

Cheers,

Key Notes

BobH, don’t feel depressed; there are many paths to our goal of learning to play the piano and we all have to find the path that works us. Some people like to take each piece to the point where they feel they’ve learned enough from it and then move one, I’m just one of those obsessive-compulsive types that will keep working on a piece until I’m happy with the recording I get, even if it takes months (I’ve been working on a single “supplemental piece” for six months now and I’m not even close to being able playing it all the way through yet – even with mistakes).

For me, the decision on “how fast to proceed” has been one of the biggest decisions I’ve had to make while working in Book 2 without a teacher. Sometimes I feel like I’m stuck in a rut and not making any progress when I haven’t started on anything new in weeks and I’m still not close to being finished with what I’m working on, but then I finally do get another piece “finished” and I’m happy with what I’ve accomplished.

I only play for my own enjoyment and have no aspirations to do anything more then that. So I’m not in any hurry to reach any sort of grade or ability level, it’s all about getting some enjoyment out of what I’m doing while I’m doing it. And if I decide to switch paths and try an entirely different approach tomorrow, well that’s fine too.

Just enjoy the ride!

Undone

Undone,
I really was just kidding about the depressed part of my post. I must admit though that your playing has a clean finished quality about it that I never achieve. I am happy with the Alfred's series but I consider the pieces as stones in path and not music I want to add to my repertoire. As a result I get so far and then move on. I always felt the polish would come after I reach a certain level of proficiency. When I hear someone play the way you do I have to wonder if it would be best for my learning journey to slow down once in a while and really nail down one of the pieces. Let me just add that when I look back on what I could do 6 months ago to what I can do now I am more then satisfied with my progress.

BobH - to use an old Pennsylvania Dutch expression you "might be putting the cart in front of the horse" - that "certain level of proficiency" that you are hoping to reach so that you will then be able to "polish" the pieces you're working on may never come if you don't perhaps slow down just a little and take the time to play each of those "stepping-stone" pieces in the various levels of Alfred (and any other pieces you're working on) to the best of your current ability (as opposed to just "getting by" with them) at the time you first encounter them (or as you review them).

"Polishing" each piece as you encounter it to the best of your ability at your current level is essential, and is itself a stepping-stone on the path to reaching each new "level of proficiency" - the polishing comes first and then gradually over time new levels of proficiency are reached (not the other way around).

You may never become proficient (at least as much as you would hope or like) if you don't work constantly at playing each piece as best you can over an extended period of time.

But, playing each piece "as best you can" doesn't mean playing it perfectly, without mistakes - it just means having reasonable control over it to the extent that you can play it as intended by the composer (or editor) - that is, at the indicated tempo with the indicated dynamics andwith some degree of musicality (while keeping mistakes to a reasonable minimum) - the mistakes you make in pieces at a given level will be gradually reduced as you review them periodically (polishing them even more) and as your skill level increases over time with more demanding pieces.

So, don't worry too much about mistakes, but always keep in mind that polishing leads to proficiency - not the reverse.

Regards, JF

Edited for spelling, grammer & additional thoughts.

Once again, I've logged on and spent too much time reading.
I just started Pomp & Circumstances and it seems like a big step forward. I'm kind of in the same boat as BobH in that I move on when I finish something. I don't have any polished repertoire other than Night Song which I just finished. I don't know if that's good or not but with a limited amount of practice time I like to work on new things. I do Hanon and Alfred. I actually like the Hanon exercises. I think they help my fingers and also make a good warmup.
Gtg. I'm supposed to be working.

Hey J.F. – I just started on one of your favorites from Book 2: “Ballin’ the Jack”. This one is going to take some time (even though I’m quite familiar with the song).

Undone

Yes, I enjoyed that one a lot - but it wasn't easy - if you go over it enough eventually you get it partly or wholly memorized and then you can concentrate on the somewhat tricky fingering (and the slightly tricky rhythm) - have fun - I somehow suspect that you'll "ace" it sooner rather than later!

Regards, JF

wOw Arkansas Traveler =

Every now and then Alfred seems to throw me a "curve ball" and have my fingers doing things I think they were never meant to do.

Yep, don't think I'm going to get a check mark this week from teacher on this one. I mean I can play it but just "very slowly"

Still, I was already warned book#2 was going be much harder than #1

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by TTigg:
<strong> wOw Arkansas Traveler =

Thanks for the warning, I'll have to continued to practice my Hanon exercises even more diligently, I knew that there's a reason for everything.

And just an observation about myself but I've found that I really enjoyed playing and listening to those arpeggiated chords, such as in the ending of "Guantannamera" - what pretty sounds.

Cheers,

Key Notes

I am struggling with La Bamba. It seems as if there was an abrupt learning curve vs. the previous Theme from Solace. Can anyone corroborate this?

Hey Mark - here's a new, improved version of Danny Boy for the OP - and this one is more faithful to the book - if you will, delete tha one you already have there and use this one instead:

Danny Boy

Thanks, JF

Waltz, I’ll corroborate that and add that you’ll be running into this sort of thing much more often in book 2. That’s another reason why this book takes more time to complete then book 1 did. But the good news is that the opposite sort of thing occurs from time to time too. You may finish a particularly challenging piece and find the next one in the book to be much simpler (it’s probably introducing something new that you will be seeing again in one of those “more challenging pieces” very soon).

Undone

Thanks Undone. Your rendition sounds much better than anything I've pulled off as of yet. This my fifth day of working on it (at around 2 hours per day). How long did it take you to reach that level of fluency for the recording?

I posted about La Bamba when I came across it. I agree about the leap in difficulty. It also resulted in painful hands so I pretty much abandoned both the piece and Alfred at that point. I had already extended my focus beyond Alfred so I wasn't short on pieces to play and there are plenty of theory resources. I dip into it once in a while, I do like Light and Blue for instance, but it is now very much a supplement on my shelf.

Waltz, I don’t remember exactly how long I spent on La Bamba (I could look it up in my practice log if I were at home right now, but I’m not), but I can say that I often spend three or more weeks working on a piece. That said, I don’t work on just one piece at a time. I usually have two or occasionally three Alfred pieces going along with one supplemental piece at any point in time. I just can’t bring myself to spend all my practice time, day after day, on one single piece of music.

Thanks for both replies and I agree that it is probably best to "move on" with the subsequent pieces. The hardest part (for me) is keeping the rhythm and sound level even. Certain parts elicit me to play faster (the inverted chord segments) and afterwards the entire tempo is off. Also, certain Chord transitions are difficult to make smoothly and the end result sounds "choppy". At least La Raspa seems easier (the next piece).

I came over from the Alfred book 1 thread to take a peek and admire what will be ahead for me. It was one month since I started book 1 and have now covered about 3/4. Had one year of lessons 20 years ago.

If I could play this great in one year from now with realy hard work... where do I sign?! My compliments Undone!

(BTW I am also enjoying my current level and progress )

Undone

Ok so I'm beginning to get to grips with the 16th notes . Did ok this week and teach let me go onto next song, just have to polish up the Musette a little.

It is sometimes frustrating how book #2 is not moving as fast (in my head) as book #1. Still, it's to be understood I guess since the pieces are much more advanced and involved..

I must get my noticeboard this weekend so I can pin up my mini repertoire (based almost all on Alfred) and begin to get more practice on those pieces in...