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Just FWI I’m just another struggling pianist but I wanted to share what works for me. Let me know how it goes. 😽

Chili_Time, thank you! This is one of my favorite in 3A too!

pagirl, thank you and glad to hear good news from you! Hope Bill's condition will improve and the surgery will eventually not be needed! Is the song you are practicing from Faber book? Faber tends to use pedal to bridge the gap when hands need to make big jumps... and this is one of the reasons I like their arrangement: just enough pedal to cover the gap.

Hi Wish! No, the one I’m struggling with is the review of level 3 in Pianote. I think my biggest problem is my memory. I have to stop and think about my hand and finger placement, and it causes gaps in the song. I’m afraid stress hasn’t helped the situation. I did finish Viva La France from Faber, but decided not to record it as it is a really short piece, and it was mainly a review of what I’d already done. I started out using the pedal, on my problem song, but wasn’t getting the timing right and was coming up with that ‘muddy’ sound, so decided to wait till I could play it a little more smoothly before adding it back in. I have done one thing that may help a lot! I bought a pair of ‘piano’ glasses, same idea as ‘computer’ glasses, that I think are going to help a lot! It should also help my posture while playing! I was always scrunching down over the piano trying to see my music. They should be here next week. Sorry to run on about my problems... thank you so much for listening!!!

Fran...

I was just wondering what people think about going back over there older piano Adventure books ? I decided that its not all about making progress from a book and level , although i am up to level 3a I went back over some songs from level 2a and 2b, I find i can sight read most of the songs from start to finish which feels some what rewarding to do ,
But moving back over to the level 3 and i am up to the gypsy Camp , does anyone find the Gypsy Camp a hard piece to play or is it just me , The good news is i have made it over to the second page of the piece

I don’t do the Faber books but I tend to go through my method books twice.

I’m not sure if it’s a good thing to do but I’m always curious to how the pieces will feel the second time around.

It'll probably take me a couple of weeks to go through what initially took me months but I’m always concerned that there was something in a piece that I didn’t master.

Gypsy Camp is hard. The trills with the moving left hand made the opening hard for me, and the unexpected switching of keys in the second part I also found super hard.

I got past it, but I am still playing it because I feel like it is a piece that will help later on if you can nail it, particularly at or around tempo.

Finished Musetta's Waltz after a couple weeks. Hilariously, I can play it WAAAAY cleaner than Fiesta Espana. Slow, sad songs are clearly my thing. On to Nocturne. Once we finish Faber AIO Book 2, I'm gonna move on to repertoire books apparently. No more Faber level books for me, per my teacher.

I've started using my level 1 book as a warm-up/sight reading practice. If I have time, I do that before I dig into my current pieces.

way to go! I'd be interested to hear more progress from you after Faber AIO Book 2!

Hey Brian,

I did 3a/3b and have just started 4. Book 4 ends with Bachs Prelude in Major, to give you an idea how where that is at, i.e. approx RCM 2/3 I think.

I'm currently battling away with and arrangement of Maple Leaf Rag - ragtime sounds so good and is so hard to play, I thought I would never get past the opening 2 bars!

Book 3b had some good pieces, actually might have been my favourite, but we reduced ourselves to two pieces a week instead of three as I was struggling to get through them.

Cheers,
Steve.

Hi all,

I just wanted to thank the OP and the many responses on this thread. I'm just coming back into piano, and while I'm hoping to find an instructor once I move in a couple of weeks, I'm likely too late. Plus, I want one that doesn't focus mostly on kids - a tall order.

Anyway, the advice here and my research lead me to the sheet music room at my local piano store, after testing out and deciding on a new digital piano. Looking at the AIO spiral bound books, I decided on Faber book 2, as I've played sporadically for the last many years, but not really practiced or trained. I think Book 2 will be a great start. I also picked up the Popular Song Book 2 for additional pieces.

I got to the Royal Conservatory of Music (Canada) grade 6, so this seems a good place to start. Any advice?

And... hi, new to the forums!

Hi Ommoran, welcome!

RCM Grade 6 is a solid intermediate. You will likely fly through Faber AIO Book 2. It is closer to RCM Preparatory/Grade 1. Piano will come back to you quickly.

Curious why do you think it's too late to find a teacher? If you live in Vancouver, I think there will be many qualified teachers to help you on your renewed journey. Even though many don't focus exclusively on teaching adults, I think you will be able to find one that will fit with your learning style. Good luck and have fun!

Welcome @ommoran
Here is a link to the Faber Piano Adventures Correlation Chart
https://pianoadventures.com/wp-cont...9/Piano-Adventures-Correlation-Chart.pdf
Piano Adventures Level 5 is RCM Grade3, so you may move through the books rapidly as piano comes back to you. There are bound to be teachers out there that would love an adult student with your experience!

Thanks for the responses, and the welcome - it's appreciated!

To answer the question from @weaklefthand - too late, as in too late in the calendar year. Many, if not most, instruction seems to run the school year (which would be fine by me anyway). Because I'm going to be very tied up until the end of September, I'm just concerned that the teachers won't necessarily have any extra "slots" available for me as they will all be booked up through June. I won't really start looking for a few weeks, so perhaps I will get lucky in this COVID era.

I had no idea, none, that the RCM existed outside of Canada, and shame on me. Thank you for the chart. I looked at both the AIO 1 and the AIO 2 and thought that AIO 1 would be pretty straightforward, and AIO 2 would be at least a good start to go through. If I whip my way through 2 and build up my skills again, that would make me happy.

First, though, I'm negotiating on the new digital piano. I've made my choice, now the (minor) haggling for the whole package to see if he can put a price together - one where he makes money, and a new customer!

I am up to piano Adventures level 3 and i decided to try a book called" Simple Songs: The Easiest Easy Piano Hal Leonard , Well when i first opened the book i thought this looks quite easy compared to the level 3 book , they are less notes in the songs but i actually found it just as hard as the level 3 piano Adventure book , I think it was because there is more finger movement in places that i wasn't expecting . the book does have some finger placement numbers but still more movement than i normal expect and less free flowing , This is the first time i have tried a song book outside of the piano Adventure series so i don't know if this is normal it took me about 3 hours to play yesterday by the Beatles to a standard of 85% which seem way longer than i expect .

Hi Colette2, yes, it is absolutely normal. This is because the Faber series keeps finger movements easy and comfortable, nothing too out of the comfort zone. But you will notice, as you already have, that once you go outside of Faber, other composers’ focus is not to keep the fingering in the comfort zone. Fingering and hand movements can get very awkward actually. This is all good, and this is why I recommend using other books as well, outside of Faber, so you will have a better rounded experience.

If you are ever interested in playing classical music (not easy arrangements of them), the fingering for those are even more difficult/awkward, even at a very beginner level.

I realized this when I switched from Faber to RCM. It was quite unexpected and a bit shocking at first, and a bit deflating actually. Just make sure to play other stuff too.

Hi

I hope everyone is well

Im am very excited I have now completed Adult Piano Adventure Book 1 and now moving on to Book 2

Book 1 has taken me 11 months to complete and I'm pleased with progress and loved most of the journey. After a number of years with a couple of piano teachers I had got to the point where I felt I was not enjoying playing as getting really frustrated with not being able to play well. Particularly fluently and at fast tempos. My fingers were just not nimble enough.

At the time when going through my frustrations I discovered the Adult Piano Adventure books through this forum and after all the positive reviews thought it would be good for me to go back to basics using the Adult Piano Adventure books . I wanted to spend time getting my fingers more nimble on the simpler pieces and build up from there. At the same time I considered that as method books I could ensure that I had not missed anything along the way in terms of technique and theory. By self learning I could go through them at my own pace.

This I have done. I originally thought I would wiz through book one as a lot of it I thought I understood but I found that I have not. I have learnt a lot from book 1 and have found the pieces have helped consolidate my understanding of technique and theory and has helped develop the nimbleness in my fingers. This is why its taken as long at it has to complete book 1.

I have enjoyed the journey through book 1 and now feel ready to move to book 2. Im looking forward to it.

Hi Cognita, and congratulations!!! I knew you could do it!!! I am still traveling along at a slow speed, but am learning a lot. Am branching off into more new songs, will see if I’m ready for that as I try new things. I wish you all the luck in the world with Book 2!!!

Fran...

Thank you for your confidence in me and your congratulations and best wishes for Book 2 .

How are you doing with pianote? . Are you still using this or moved on to new sings from elsewhere? . Dont worry about how slow your are travelling as long as you feel you are progressing That is the main thing. Its good you are enjoying the journey.

How is you husband now?. I hope things are well, particurally in the current circumstanses .

Take care

I have signed up for a life membership on Pianote. Now I have committed to living long enough to make it pay off! 😂 Thank you for asking about Bill. They cancelled his surgery because they didn’t like something about the tests he had here locally, so he has to see a cardiologist in Bend first. Getting the appt set up is the first hurdle, then he’ll have to go through the battery of tests again. He seems to be doing ok though, he’s outside mowing the lawn right now!

I am really learning a lot, but was hung up for awhile on the final assignment of the 3rd level of Pianote, and I still have trouble staying on beat when moving from one chord to another when they are distant from one another, but that just takes a LOT of practice. Right now, in that exercise it’s taking me an extra beat to make the jump! But am improving. In the technique area, I am going into much more depth, and loving it! Just learned the fingering for the chromatic scale this morning, great fun!!!

Are you still working on your improvising? I tried playing around with the SPA lesson Lisa put up on YouTube, and it was fun, but I’m definitely not ready for much of that yet. I finished a couple of songs in PA, but nothing noteworthy. I may be taking on too much, but I want to do it all!

Fran...