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i have been using the Scott Houston Fake Book to apply the things I am learning in Duane's course. Everything is in the key of C, which is the only key that is taught in the first 8 lessons so it fits well. I like the songs and it helps me have a little variety. It takes me a lot longer to get through a lesson but that is ok, I am enjoying the journey wherever it takes me.

There are tons of easy Fake books out there just Google that and you will find plenty of options no matter what your musical taste is.

Thanks Doug, I did see that one on Amazon and thought it looked good.

Congrats on the purchase. I hope you enjoy the journey.




I'm not sure what "fake-books" are. Sorry for my ignorance. Keep in mind that there are eight books that come with the 52-week course. They include around 200 songs. I've found that to finish this course in any reasonable timeframe doesn't leave much room for extracurricular work. However, that just might be a quirk of mine. I tend to hyper-focus on stuff I get involved with. Please keep us updated on your progress once you start the course.

God Bless,
David

A fake book is a big book of songs that only shows the notes for the melody, with the chord names listed above. Sound familiar? You might like this one: https://www.amazon.com/Hymn-Fake-Bo...p;sr=8-1&keywords=the+hymn+fake+book


Oh, here's another one: https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Fak...words=the+ultimate+fake+book+5th+edition

Thanks! I will certainly do that.

I'm just a bit hyper when I start something, I tend to go overboard. I'd rather have more to read and study than less though I know I will be busy!

My DP comes today but the bench, stand and sustain pedal won't be here until tomorrow!!! arggg...

Well, im in lesson #1
Im 100% beginner, no previous experience. So far i can say that playing is harder than I thought it would be (with my dreams of grandeur).

I can see that it will take me more than a week for each lesson which is fine with me.

The only absolute requirement needed for eventual success is that you do not quit.

I spend about a month on each lesson

I'm not much of a quitter, I have a personality quirk that makes me steam ahead and not quit. Sometimes that's good and sometimes it's bad


I'm guessing that's what will happen with me. On a brighter note, the first few pieces were much easier after practicing a couple of days and sleeping on it.


One question not related to this particular topic; how do I see updates to this thread? I don't get emails when someone posts nor is there a "see your followed threads" button that I can see.

Wow. Actually, that's encouraging. I've started several; times, go as far as I can sight read, then say I can't do this, and quit. So maybe I'll try again in the new year. Meanwhile I have flute tunes to learn for December Sundays. Have a wonderful holiday season, all!

I finished lesson 32 and there was nothing really notable in this lesson, but I did have some fun arranging a little Czerny exercise called Melody In Thirds. It’s my arrangement using the techniques that I’ve learned in the course so far, i.e., chording, arpeggios, walkup/downs, and runs. It’s a nice tune to practice some of those earlier skills that Duane taught. I change the tempo and feel in the second half of the song. I do make mistakes playing it, but I’m ready to move on. I’ll play it once through as written and then arranged. The piano is my new Garritan CFX lite.



God Bless,
David

Nice job!

That helps me to look ahead at what's possible while I'm still on Lesson 1.

David - To say that I'm impressed with your progress would be a huge understatement! Well done.

Your posts and videos here are the best advertisement for this course, and I find myself considering the purchase more and more. The only thing holding me back at this point is the cost. To save me the effort of searching thru this long thread, could you answer a few questions for me? (PM me if you don't want to post answers here...)

1. Did you start the course as a complete beginner or did you have any experience with piano beforehand?

2. What key(s) are the lessons presented in?

3. At this point, do you also play from fake books/leadsheets from outside the course? If so, I'd love to see a video of that.

4. I can't really tell, but you don't seem to look at the score while playing. Do you memorize each song in its entirety, or is it a goal of yours not to depend on the sheet very much?

Thanks, and keep up the great progress!

Bless your heart.



I started playing two years prior to the Duane Shinn course, but I had no formal instruction and did not learn much. Pretty much everything that I can play right now I've learned from the 52 week course.



So far we've covered C Major, A minor, and G Major. I think we'll be moving to F Major soon. I don't know how many keys are covered, but probably not much more than that.



No. I have worked on a few hymns outside of the course using what I've learned from Duane to play beyond what's in the hymnal. However, this course takes my full attention.



I have to read the music to learn the songs but since the songs are so simple, they are easy to memorize. It just happens that way. Of course I don't remember songs from previous lessons so I would have to read the music to play those again. Reading music is the hardest part of this course for me. I don't know if I'll ever be proficient at it. I couldn't read at all before starting the course and I'm a little better at it now.



Thank you. I'm going to keep doing the best I can. I really look forward to these lessons and I wish I didn't dilly-dally for two years prior to this course. This course has helped feel like I'm actually beginning to learn how to play the piano.

God Bless,
David

David do you practice each song in the lesson individually before moving to the next song or do you work on them as a group? I am starting lesson 9 tonight, and have always played one song then the next. After learning them all as written I start adding in the few arrangement techniques I have learned so far. I am wondering if this is slowing me down.

I was thinking about only playing the first song in lesson 9 until I can play it fairly well before moving to song 2.

Since you are getting such great results I wondered if you would share the way you do things.

As a group while I'm learning the songs the way they are written in the book. Once I can play them as written in the book, I then work on them individually for the arrangement.



It's taken me two years to get to lesson 33. Slow and steady has been key for me. I haven't been focusing on anything else, only this course. I believe these lessons would benefit more advanced players and they could move at a faster pace. Nothing I've learned in this course has come easy. I would take as much time as necessary to learn what is being taught. It sounds like you're doing a good job. Keep it up.



That's what I generally do.

Keep in mind that there are some things that can only develop with time. We need to consider intelligently what an adequate level of performance is before we can move on. Some of the syncopated stuff (such as Jingle Bells) was really hard for me to learn, but I felt my brain needed to be wired for that before I moved on. Now the syncopation comes a litter easier.

Runs were really difficult for me at first, however, I feel like they are getting a little better now. If I would have waited for my runs to smooth out before moving on, I'd still be in lesson 17. That's the beauty of this course. There is ample opportunity to develop the techniques being taught throughout the course because of all the songs that are covered.

I've been taking a slower approach doing one song at a time like you suggested. It might be another two years before I finish this course because that's as fast as I'm capable of learning it to the degree I'm comfortable with. I did not think it was going to take this long when I started it. It is called a 1 year course. I wish I could learn these things faster, but my 45 year old brain doesn't have the plasticity it once did.

Thankfully, Duane makes this course very interesting and practical. He mentioned in the last lesson that we will be getting into chord substitutions soon and I'm really looking forward to that.

Hang in there. We shall bear fruit.

God Bless,
David

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions so throughly David. Nothing has come easy for me either, but I am loving the journey.

Here is a song from lesson 33 Liebestraum by Liszt. This is not arranged but played only as written in the lesson book (except for the lower octaves at the end that I added).

I'm tempted not to arrange this because Duane says the arrangement is more advanced, and I can tell I'm not going to be able to play it the way he does. He also mentions in the lesson not to worry if the arrangement is above our ability because the course has to reach a spectrum of skill levels.

I think I'll try the arrangement for a little while and if it proves to be too difficult then I'll move on. There are only two songs in this lesson and the other is a short Bach piece that is not arranged by Duane and I already learned that one. I'll give this Liszt song a shot, but it might be the first song in this course I skip over.

Here it is as written in the lesson book. It's a nice little song that I never heard before. The piano is my new VSL Steinway D. I've been spending a lot of time messing around with this Steinway to try and get the sound right.



God Bless,
David

Nicely done.

That was really nice. I didn't recognize it either. Thank you keeping this up, it's helpful.