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I can add that we are the students and have some say in this. It would be different if we the students wanted to skip a level and our teachers said no.

The other way around, we can choose to not skip material if we want to, unless the teacher can make a very compelling argument to the contrary.

But the main problem is this inverse relationship one has with ones teacher in that the more you trust your teacher the less likely you are to question his/her judgement about skipping material or taking on a new pathway or varying an existing pathway. Because of information asymmetry (our relative lack of information compared to our teacher) we would find it very difficult to make a 'rational' judgement on whether or not our teachers arguments are compelling enough. Our degree of trust in our teacher would naturally colour our judgement. Having a degree of healthy mistrust of the judgement of your teacher is possibly the best strategy one can adopt. Just like it is healthy to mistrust the opinion of your doctor and thus question it and seek a second and third opinion. This is not because one thinks that his doctor is evil but because one knows that the doctor is human and thus fallible.

I completely understand where you are coming from Mario.

This brings up an entirely separate topic that could be a thread in itsef: "Do you trust your piano teacher?".

Here is the way I see it. There is no doubt in either my wife's mind or mine that we have a top 5% teacher. The reason that I say this among other things is she is used to teaching as many adults as younger children. After 30 months of lessons she knows me inside and out, as I know her as well. I have my personality quirks, so does she.

We have come to an understanding that I pretty much dictate what I want to work on (and sometimes skip). At that point for each piece that I learn, she controls how I am supposed to play it, and more importantly, when I am done with it. Once in a while I may disagree as to how to interpret a piece; 75% of the time I do it her way. However, now that I have been composing for a year she hears me out a bit more on these matters.

I think once I finish up with Faber probably late next year, she will take more control over "what's next", as I have frankly no idea.

I agree with you both, it's a challenge, to be sure! My last teacher many years ago dropped the method book I was using but as we went forward, I learned almost no theory. I really had no idea of what I was playing and it became mostly memorization. This time around I wanted to make certain that I know all the theory I should, so I do want to stick to PA until there's no doubt that I know what I need to know to continue.

I've actually stopped lessons a few weeks ago. I think that having a teacher is great, and I definitely plan to get back to lessons, but I feel like I just have too much going on in my life at the moment to stick to a set schedule of progression. I was finding myself getting stressed out if I couldn't get through all the stuff I was supposed to work on, and that took a lot of joy out of my learning. Even though my teacher was fine with things, I came to realize that I wasn't, and that I felt too much pressure with lessons. So as it stands, she's told me that I should carry on with 3B and if I have any questions, to call her and ask. I think that I'll get through this level perfectly fine this summer, and then start back with her at level 4 in Sept. By then, my chaotic home life should be much more stable, and hopefully I won't be as stressed out.

I'd like to get to where you are, Brian, in my ability to express my needs and desires to a teacher. I do need to work on that so stress doesn't come into the equation again, firmly knowing that I am there on my own terms, and free to go as fast or slow as I want. But it's hard for me, it's my personality, I guess.

Mario, yep, we go about the same speed! That's very comforting, sometimes I feel like a turtle because I have so much else going on in my life.

Just want to share a few of my past week's experiences with two of the harder pieces in the Developing Artist Book 2.

The first piece, In The Garden by Gurlitt contains several sections where the left hand is playing one part of the melody, and the right hand was playing both the second part of the melody, with two other fingers providing the harmony, keeping in mind that all three voices are played at slightly different volumes. Well my teacher was amazed that after two weeks of practice I played it well enough to pass.

Then on Wednesday I was assigned The Happy Farmer by Schumann, which is step above the Gurlitt piece in terms of difficulty. After three days of hard work I can finally play all of the parts reasonably well.

My point here is, once again I see the wisdom of how Faber builds the various lessons books and the skills that are taught. Hopefully by June I will have finished the rest of the pieces including a four page sonatina by Beethoven. Then its back the level 4 PA.

Just wanting to keep this thread from falling back too far. I'm in the middle of 3B, just starting Hava Nagila. 3B has had some interesting pieces. Having fun!
Fred

Hava Nagila was a lot of fun to learn and play; it took me several weeks to master the repeating notes using different fingers, as well as getting it up to proper speed. Good luck!

On a separate note, after speaking to my teacher last night we have decided that once I finish Level 4 (hopefully by late this year) we will be moving away from the Faber method books (specifically Level 5). We will be using the Faber Developing Artist Book 3, as well as teacher-selected repertoire pieces.

Kinda hard to believe; seems like I just started Faber Level 1 last month.

Greetings!

I decided to join the club and will start Adult Piano Adventures Book 1, which should arrive this weekend. Also have a Roland FP30 arriving today. I'm excited to start!

Also, noticed most of you are already advanced past Book 1, and also have a teacher, but have any of you watched or used the new Faber video resources? It was just posted March 31, 2016, so these probably weren't available when many of you started Book 1. They also have one for their My First Piano Adventure Book A if you have any kids.

Faber Adult Piano Adventures Book 1 Videos

I don't plan on getting a teacher yet, but wondering if these videos are similar to how a teacher would teach? This could be really great for self-taught starters.

Welcome to the Faber club!

Until your post I did not know these video existed. They certainly did not exist in the Fall of 2013 when my wife started with Faber. I looked at the first couple; not bad at all.

Best of luck; keep us informed as to your progress.

They would have been a big help to me. Good luck with your piano adventure.

I downloaded the app to see what it was like, it's quite nice, but they don't have anything at my level. I wish they had CDs. I tried to order one for 3B but it's not completed yet, so no go. I'm starting Unit 3 in 3B, so you're just a hop ahead of me, Fred!

Brian, that's great news! Book 3 has some wonderful pieces in it. I'm working on Solfeggio in D by JCF Bach. It's so lovely! Harmony of the Angels is absolutely GORGEOUS, too. There's a few from Anna Mag. notebook that I played 20 years ago, lol, when I knew no theory. It will be really cool coming back to them from this different place I'm at. I'm also wondering if Level 5 is where I want to go. I might just do the theory book to make sure I have it all. I really want to get going with classical repertoire. I'll definitely do Level 4, but I think I also may just move on from there. I'm glad you mentioned this, as I wasn't sure, but I think I am now. So thanks for helping me make up my mind.

Welcome, yellowjello! PA is an excellent series. I still can't believe how much I learned this time around.

Carry on, everyone!

So after getting some input, I've decided to leave Faber entirely and move to the RCM curriculum. I found a teacher and am quite excited to be starting the curriculum in the fall! This summer I'll be working on Level 3 pieces and technical work so that I can show her what I'm capable of, and then she'll decide after evaluating me where best to place me, either level 3 or moving on to 4. I'm really happy to get this settled, as I've felt kind of rudderless lately, and it feels great to have a solid direction now. Just wanted to update you all!

Best of luck ebonykawai. We'll miss you

Just as an aside, I've cross-referenced my current pieces to the RCM curriculum publications, and at Faber Level 4 the pieces that exist on both lists seem to be concentrated at Grade 3, with a couple at Grade 4, and also a few at Grade 2.

LOL, I know, come with me!

Hi Ebony,

Sorry to see you leave. Will pay us an occasional visit and let us know how you are doing.

I am still stuck in the first unit of 3B; its been more than 5 weeks. The pieces are quite fast and I am taking ages for my playing to adapt to the speed. Hope to move to the next unit next week.

Regards

Mario

Hi Mario2015;

Level 3B is quite a step up from 3A, so don't get discouraged. It took me over a month just to get adjusted to the more advanced material. Believe me, keep plugging along and the subsequent units will fall a bit better in place.

I can also tell you that some of the suggested tempos in the 3B pieces and exercises are just too fast, both in the technical ability of the student and the overall feel of the pieces. My teacher was very good at determining what tempo was sufficient for passing the piece and moving on.

Is there there anything in particular in Unit 1 that has you stuck?

Hey everyone!

Sorry to hear so many are leaving the Piano Adventures train… but it's great that we've all progressed this far and that the folks that are leaving are doing so because the Faber books have taught them so much!

I've talked to my teacher about following the ABRSM syllabus and, maybe, later down the line, doing the grade 5 exam for real. I don't feel any need to prove myself (at 40 you really start to not care what other people think!), but it's nice to have a goal. I suggested that I was about a grade 2-3 level and he agreed and suggested maybe a 4, but I think that's pushing it… or maybe I don't have enough confidence. Either way, I'm behind on quite a lot of things like scales and all that other stuff, they can't be too hard to learn, right?

Anyway, I feel like I've got about as far as I can in the Piano Adventures books. I'm currently studying "The Spy" in Book 4, which is actually a lot of fun (even if I can't get my left and right hands to play nicely yet!). And I'll definitely be coming back to play the arrangement of the Jurassic Park theme in the Book 4 Popular Repertoire book.

I think I mentioned before that I was trying out some Scott Joplin? I think I got ahead of myself there. It was great fun to get to play some, but I was making such slow progress that it became a chore. I'll come back to those again in a few months.

Mario, I didn't do 3B, but if you're really struggling with a piece it's sometimes just worth moving on, and coming back later. Often your brain and fingers will just figure it out while you're not working on it. That's the case for me, anyway! Also, I often found that I struggled on particular styles of music, and that the next piece would be really easy in comparison. Finally, always the oldest and most obvious bit of advice that I forget, too: slow down and take it one bar at a time. You'll get over that hurdle soon enough, just keep at it.

For speed, what I've been doing is playing with the metronome at a speed that I can accomplish pretty easily. Then bump the speed up by a notch, stay there till I have it, then go up another notch. Really, it's that easy, it's a very gentle way to get to where you want to be, speed-wise. I'm doing this with the Bach piece I'm playing, you get used to it.

I think you are exactly right about this Trevor.

I will be very interested in how things go when I return to the second half of Level 4 in early July, after spending 8-10 weeks in repertoire material alone (and essentially finishing Faber Developing Artist Book 2).

As I have mentioned earlier, I plan to be finished Level 4 by the end of this year, and then go off in a different direction. It will be bitter-sweet, as by then I would have spent 40 months in Faber PA.

Once that happens, I'll figure out the "If I had to do it over again" stuff. Since everyone is different, my experience may not be applicable to anyone else.

Thanks for the encouraging statements Brian. Also thanks for the advise regarding the speed. I ended up recording at slightly lower speeds than the minimum recommended for some pieces and at the minimum for the others. Yes the upper limit of the speed did not seem to gel well with the feel of the tune.

I guess speed will come with time. Right now I am concentrating on getting the timing right as for example triplets sound horrible when the timing is off and it usually goes off when I try to play too fast.