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Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 20
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OP
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Joined: Dec 2012
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Hi, I am hoping I can get some good 'honest' advice.
I am 60 yrs. old and now have the drive, determination and desire to learn to play.
I want to learn on my own accord and be proficient enough to play most popular songs for fun and entertainment. I don't want to learn by ear, I want to be able to read music. My question is this; I am looking at the eMedia 'piano and keyboard method' and the Alfred's teach yourself course. I am torn, as I see advantages to both.
Is there anyone who used either or both (especially the eMedia) that can advise me ?
Has anyone used the eMedia ? Is it as good as it sounds ?
I welcome all advice as I need to make a decision.
Thank you all
Vincent
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Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 4,048
4000 Post Club Member
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Joined: Feb 2012
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Vincent,
Do you want to accompany your own voice (faster and more flexible) or play the melody in one hand with the accompaniment in the other?
Alfred's is a well used course and is, I believe, one the the world's best selling methods. It will definitely take you where you want to go (with or without the CD/DVD etc.). About one third of the way in it will have shown you the chords of C, F and G7. At this point you have enough to accompany yourself, assuming you can sing in this key, in about half of all the songs ever written with a loose but not unreasonable backing.
The eMedia course, and I know nothing about it, is, I suspect, for people whose confidence has been shattered by not reaching Carnegie Hall or the Grand Ole Opry in six weeks using traditional methods.
Playing the piano is a very precise discipline compared with, say, guitar and needs a slower, more careful approach. By playing a little every day we make progress even if we ourselves can't see or hear it.
It is not about about being able to play song x or piece y for few of us are able to make much daily progress. It is about sitting at the piano every day doing a little of what we can but trying to do it a bit better, a little of what we can't but trying to get a bit closer, and a little of what we'd like to and trying to do a bit more of.
Many have commented on this forum that it's the journey not the destination. Lao Tseu said a thousand mile journey begins with a single step and Nike challenge us to just do it.
Get Alfred's, make the time each day, keep in touch on the forum and I guarantee this time time next year you will have made measurable and significant progress.
Good luck.
Richard
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Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 4,534
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4000 Post Club Member
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It seems most online courses give you some tools, but Alfred gives you the tools and the box...
If you want to read and play music, I'd recommend a teacher, especially in the very beginning, even if only for a couple of months. This will save you from developing bad habits that can set you back for a long time.
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Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 935
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500 Post Club Member
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Vincent,
Learning to play the piano is a very slow process. Any course will take you from A to B. Piano is a HUGE subject. If you get a teacher, they will keep you directed to your objective. The trouble with a course is that they assume you have a certain level and take you from A to B. If you have less knowledge, than they assume, you will have trouble and will get lost. A teacher always fills the gaps. Also, as a beginner, we read something in the course and may brush over something not realizing you should be perhaps spending weeks on the subject to learn it very, very well - where again you will have trouble and be lost. I hope you realize you must review everything you have learned in any course, etc. daily, day after day, week after week, month after month done slowly, very slowly and accurately and WITHOUT MISTAKES, else you are going TOO fast. Piano is not so much about method as there are many, it is about learning very slowly and without mistakes.
Piano is all about sittting on the piano bench for hours day after day. Age has nothing to do with it.
Another thing if you went to a piano store and bought book one on how to play the piano, it would take you a few years to be able to play popular songs because you learn a lot of stuff about timing and lots of stuff about bass clef and treble clef and playing hands together.
These courses gives you the meat and potatoes and skips stuff you don't necessarily need to play popular songs, using chords etc. I hope you understand the differences. Cheers, and good luck.
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Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 121
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Full Member
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 121 |
Here is my perspective, and I just started in December without any music back ground. I actually have both and find that the tools in Emedia are very good if you are willing to start at step one and work your way through. In two months I've spent at least an hour a day and never leave any of the lessons with out scoring 95 to 100% and then spend some time playing each piece at various tempos to where I can "score" evenly accross. I also bought The complete books of scales, chords,.... by Palmer, et all. Additionally I have maran illustrated piano online at my library, and of course Youtube. I record my lessons (Camera aimed at the keyboard) and play everyday (except one day of the week to give me a break).
I am only doing this because I wanted to know how music worked, but am finding that the combination of tools I've put together is working for me. I like the feed back and the ability to set the all of the parameters in the Emedia software but I also like a book to learn from so I don't have to use the computer each time. Learning how to use both hands, playing at the different tempos, play one hand softly, and moving the hands without looking is to say the least, very interesting. I know that I learn differently than most (I completed my BA degree in 2.5 years while working). For me the key is learning the way I want tempered by the advice I see here - the most difficult is play slow, and I've found that this is the most important part of learning new pieces and techniques. I can now quickly read notes - at least two octives and think that the Emedia software was worth the money just for that, let alone that I can "test" how well I'm doing. If you are going to teach your self remeber to record the music and I'd recommend doing a video of your hands each day to see that you are doing the correct form.
My only goal is to learn about music and play some broadway stuff, but I can see progress. Good luck in your journy.
Last edited by D7K; 02/12/13 12:50 PM.
Jeff Casio PX-5S Pro - my new adventure Yamaha p105 - gone but not forgotten
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Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 1
Junior Member
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Junior Member
Joined: Mar 2013
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I also bought emeia piano and keyboard method -- came last week. It is a great program both technically and pedagogically. I allow myself this opinion since I am retired mathematics and computer science professor, now 88, and planning to redeem myself with learning to play my keyborad, a Yamaha psr e433. My mother sent me to piamo lessons 80 years ago but I didn't learn anything. My short term goal is to learn to play fuer Elise, of which I can play the first page reasonably well.
I also signed up for a once a week lesson from a young master pianist who is also a good teacher. A book comes with the lesson plan. I don't plan to tell him about the emdia program, just let him admire my progress. Well, I hope for progress, and can see some already.
This is my first post here.
Louis Schmittroth Athabasca Alberta
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