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1. Did you start the course as a total beginner? If not, at which lesson did you find the course to begin being useful to you (assuming that you're happy with the lessons)?
I was pretty much a beginner when I started Duane's course.
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2. If necessary, can separate DVD's be purchased out-of-order? (ie - purchase DVD #3 first?) I'm pretty sure that the answer to this is NO.
I don't know. An email to Duane's office should answer that question. Even though Duane has recently passed away his lessons and material will still be available.
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3. What types of songs are used in the lessons? (Could someone perhaps provide an abbreviated listing?) Do you find them useful to "carry over" the skills you learn to other songs? ( I play mostly Great American Songbook and 70's/80's pop.)
I really only want to play mostly gospel songs, so I don't find the song selection in the course particularly inspiring. There are a lot of songs (several hundred) that you'll go through. Unfortunately, I don't have the time to make a list. Sorry.
However, I do feel everything I'm learning easily translates into the type of music I ultimately want to play.
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4. Right now I'm stuck on playing (somewhat competently) from full sheet music, but am interested in "freeing" myself from the written score. If any of you found yourself in the same place, did this course help you?
Reading music is the hardest thing for me. I don't know if I'll ever be good at it. This course is helping, but that's just one of several things being taught. Another is what you're interested in. How to arrange songs beyond what's written. Every lesson builds with different techniques and plenty of opportunities to develop them through the course.
I'm pretty sure everything I wrote is covered more extensively throughout this thread. If you haven't read through it from the beginning, you might consider it. This thread is what got me involved in Duane's course and is a wealth of great information regarding the 52 Week Crash Course.
If you do each lesson very carefully and thoroughly learn each skill well before moving to the next lesson, you will progress very nicely....The problem you run into, as in every other self-learning course, is that you have to provide the motivation and self-discipline to do the work and not get impatient to where you begin to skip through things before you have mastered them.
In my humble opinion, this is singularly the most important counsel given in this thread.
I think the real benefit of the course is that it is presented in a progressive, approachable manner - you just need to go through it, stick with it, and you will learn a lot. If you don't commit to spending the time and doing the work, it will be just one more item on the shelf.
Amen!
The progressive nature and systematic approach of this course really appeals to my temperament. I'm committed to finishing it, but I've ran into a problem the last two months with my work schedule and traveling. I've only clocked a few hours of practice in September. I'm really disappointed because it's thrown off my personal goal for how many hours I wanted to practice this year.
That being the case, the progressive nature of this course along with the repetitious structure has really ingrained within me what I've learned so far. That makes coming back to the piano after not practicing for weeks a lot easier.
Hopefully, by the end of October I can be back on track. This is the problem being an adult beginner. Adult situations arise.
It seems to me that what you learn in Duane Shinn's course you can learn for 1/10 of the price at the Steve Lungrin site and have more up to date videos to learn from.
Of course, there won't be a complete overlap, but Steve Lungrin has far more than 52 lessons and it will take me years to master it all. Not that I will master it all, of course.
It seems to me that what you learn in Duane Shinn's course you can learn for 1/10 of the price at the Steve Lungrin site and have more up to date videos to learn from.
Of course, there won't be a complete overlap, but Steve Lungrin has far more than 52 lessons and it will take me years to master it all. Not that I will master it all, of course.
Every video is a mine of information.
Sorry, not even close. I am not saying that the lessons you are promoting aren't good for what they are, but they don't look at all look like a well thought out curriculum the way Duane Shinn's course is. Instead, it is a large collection of lessons. There is a difference, whether you recognize it or not.
I know I need to develop the skills in this curriculum so I am making another run at it.
I am sharing my thoughts on it because others who have jumped in and then out may have the same problem with continuing the course.
The plan I have this time (LOL …. we always have a plan, don't we ?) is to print out every page from the Method book and Supplementary Songs book that are a part of a particular lesson (1,2,3,4,5, etc ….) put them into a folder and then when I practice this material, I just keep cycling around through those pages until I can play every single one of them. That keeps me focused on that lesson without thumbing around through those books and does not tempt me to be looking ahead and coming up with some reason to move on before I can play those pages.
When I can play those pages to the level I feel comfortable with …. I can put those away and start a new lesson and the cycle continues....
I think this will work as long as I do not allow myself to move on before mastering the present lesson.
It will take as long as it takes.
I will know more in 6 months.
Don
Kawai MP7SE, On Stage KS7350 keyboard stand, KRK Classic 5 powered monitors, SennHeiser HD 559 Headphones
That is exactly what I am doing Don, I feel like I am making real progress( slow but moving forward). I am currently on lesson 8 and it takes me 3 or 4 weeks before I move on.
That is exactly what I am doing Don, I feel like I am making real progress( slow but moving forward). I am currently on lesson 8 and it takes me 3 or 4 weeks before I move on.
Good luck
Keep forging ahead … a little at a time …. that seems to be the formula
Don
Kawai MP7SE, On Stage KS7350 keyboard stand, KRK Classic 5 powered monitors, SennHeiser HD 559 Headphones
Keep forging ahead … a little at a time …. that seems to be the formula
Amen!
Work and travel prevented me from moving forward with my lessons in September and October. Thankfully, starting tomorrow, I'm getting back on schedule. I'll be picking up in lesson 31 right where I left off.
I just ordered a new Mac Mini that should be here next week. Now I will have a dedicated computer to run my VSL CFX. My little work laptop was just not able to handle the load.
I'm really looking forward to the second half of this course. I'm going to take as much time as I need to finish this properly. Then it's on to Duane's Praise and Gospel series which is what I've really been longing for.
Here is a song from lesson 31 (Chiapanecas) don't ask me to pronounce that. This song is not arranged yet, only played as written. I'm going to start working on the arrangement today. I'm a little worried because in this lesson Duane doesn't breakdown very clearly everything he does. He just plays the song different ways while saying, "you can do this and you can do that," etc. I will have to pause the video every few seconds to see where he's putting his fingers and then figure out why it works.
This is a departure from previous lessons where he slowly tells you exactly what he is doing and why he's doing it. Hopefully the rest of the lessons aren't like this. Let's see how long it takes for me to get the arrangement down. The arrangement is going to be semi-custom because he gives several examples of what can be done with the song.
I finished lesson 31. Here is Chiapanecas arranged. It's not really polished, but I'm ready to put this song behind me. No new techniques were taught in this lesson. Just more arrangement examples. I'll play it as written and then arranged. I've started lesson 32 and it doesn't look like there is anything new in lesson 32 either. However, there is a Czerny exercise that seems to have a nice melody to it.
Thank you for posting your progress David, you do a wonderful job on these songs. I want you to know i Find great encouragement in your playing. I sometimes go through this thread and listen to some of your videos when my head tells me I can't do this. Listening to you has helped keep me going.
Man! I’m reading through this thread and I have to say that I’m impressed! The videos are demonstrating just what i want to be able to do, myonly issue is the price...yikes, thats a chunk of change.
Maybe goes down a little easier if thought of as $25/month over the 3 years it may take you to complete the course. (Various posts suggest that mastering a lesson per week is not realistic.)
I am SERIOUSLY impressed, David! And . . . you've provided a really nice musical interlude, to boot.
Amen! Part of the fun is figuring out how to arrange the songs. Even us beginners can be creative.
Originally Posted by dcupright
Thank you for posting your progress David, you do a wonderful job on these songs. I want you to know i Find great encouragement in your playing. I sometimes go through this thread and listen to some of your videos when my head tells me I can't do this. Listening to you has helped keep me going.
Your affirmation encourages my heart. I don't have any special aptitude for playing the piano. We just need to put the time in and we can all succeed in improving our ability to play. Duane (RIP) has put together a very practical series of lessons. We can be grateful for his contribution as an educator.
Originally Posted by PianoWVBob
Man! I’m reading through this thread and I have to say that I’m impressed! The videos are demonstrating just what i want to be able to do, myonly issue is the price...yikes, thats a chunk of change.
Yeah, it's definitely the more expensive material out there. However, you'd pay a lot more money for weekly lessons with a private instructor in one year. Also, take into consideration that the 52-week course is actually three years of material.
I had in interest free (for one year) credit card offer that I used to purchase the materials. I also purchased Duane's Praise and Gospel series and Pro Secrets at the same time with the 52-Week Crash Course. It took me about eight months to pay it all off. I also received a 200 dollar cash reward for using the credit card and spending 1000 dollars in the first 3 months. So I had an interest free loan and 200 discount on the materials. Not a bad deal.
I am SERIOUSLY impressed, David! And . . . you've provided a really nice musical interlude, to boot.
Amen! Part of the fun is figuring out how to arrange the songs. Even us beginners can be creative.
Originally Posted by dcupright
Thank you for posting your progress David, you do a wonderful job on these songs. I want you to know i Find great encouragement in your playing. I sometimes go through this thread and listen to some of your videos when my head tells me I can't do this. Listening to you has helped keep me going.
Your affirmation encourages my heart. I don't have any special aptitude for playing the piano. We just need to put the time in and we can all succeed in improving our ability to play. Duane (RIP) has put together a very practical series of lessons. We can be grateful for his contribution as an educator.
Originally Posted by PianoWVBob
Man! I’m reading through this thread and I have to say that I’m impressed! The videos are demonstrating just what i want to be able to do, myonly issue is the price...yikes, thats a chunk of change.
Yeah, it's definitely the more expensive material out there. However, you'd pay a lot more money for weekly lessons with a private instructor in one year. Also, take into consideration that the 52-week course is actually three years of material.
I had in interest free (for one year) credit card offer that I used to purchase the materials. I also purchased Duane's Praise and Gospel series and Pro Secrets at the same time with the 52-Week Crash Course. It took me about eight months to pay it all off. I also received a 200 dollar cash reward for using the credit card and spending 1000 dollars in the first 3 months. So I had an interest free loan and 200 discount on the materials. Not a bad deal.
This song is not arranged yet, only played as written. I'm going to start working on the arrangement today. I'm a little worried because in this lesson Duane doesn't breakdown very clearly everything he does. He just plays the song different ways while saying, "you can do this and you can do that," etc. I will have to pause the video every few seconds to see where he's putting his fingers and then figure out why it works. 
