Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Supplemental pieces with Alfred all in one level 2

Hello everyone,

I recently started Alfred level 2 and am currently on the piece - "Alexander's Ragtime Band".
Does anyone have any suggestions on supplemental pieces (classical pieces) to work with Alfred's level 2? I learnt the piece Minuet in G by Bach and loved it.

Also, is it ok for me to skip the blues pieces in Alfred's? I am not enjoying those pieces at all and feel they are hindering my progress. I do practice sight reading with these pieces but don't enjoy practicing/learning them.

(I am new to the forum here, so incase these questions have been addressed before, please direct me to those forums.)

Thanks so much!

Welcome to the forum Pikka

I know exactly what you mean about not liking some of the pieces in the book, and honestly if you are not enjoying them (and I wasn't) then it can be hard to stay motivated. My main complaint with Alfred's AIO is the lack of classical pieces, which eventually led me to leaving this method.

Since you liked the minuet in G, you may wish to get The Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach here. There is a mix of beginner and harder pieces here, so a great favourite for the early beginner.

My own opinion on Alfred's AIO is it a good method, but for those wishing to play classical pieces you might as well go straight into beginner classical pieces. There is plenty of free material at the site previously linked, however I liked books that came with CD's (though I think these days you download the tracks). My favourite after I left Alfred was this series.

Sure it's okay, especially if you play other pieces apart from Alfred's books. Earlofmar has given you excellent recommendations. You could also take a look at the RCM Celebration series. But I was a bit surprised by your thinking that the blues pieces hinder your progress. Do you mean that they take you a long time to learn, and therefore you are not progressing as fast? Obviously, there is something in these pieces that is more difficult for you to learn, and whatever that may be, you'll probably have to learn this one day. But no worry, skip those pieces that give you no joy, keep on playing, and everything you'll need to learn will present itself many times.

I’ve done a bit of the opposite- I cherry pick a few pieces from Alfred - such as cannon in D and a couple of others- and work from the absrm pieces. Also there’s a book of jazz pieces I’m slowly learning- again I cherry pick the pieces I like

Welcome to the forums, Pikka

The only two pieces I remember form book 2 that I play once in awhile would be Danny Boy and Musetta's Waltz. I supplemented Alfred's 2 with RCM pieces, and then ended up just following the RCM syllabus.

Thank you all for the warm welcome and responding to my question.

Thanks Earlofmar - I had heard about the The Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach, but wasn't sure if it is the right level for me. I will check it out. Any suggestions which level would be appropriate for me to start with the "Essential Piano Repertoire" - Preparatory or Level 1?

Same question for the RCM/ABRSM series - Which would be the appropriate level for me?
I also came across other series - "Exploring Piano Classics" series (again unsure about the level). Has anyone followed this one? Any feedback on how your experience was?

Animisha - Thanks for your input. What I mean is that I can sight read the blues pieces relatively at ease but the few days it takes for me to bring it to tempo and make it sound good are really painful. I don't enjoy how they sound at a slower tempo while I am learning the piece and that makes my whole practice session frustrating.

Without knowing everything you have learned, it's hard to say. You can find the RCM syllabus here. I'd take a look at some of the early levels and see what you would feel comfortable with or enjoy playing.

https://files.rcmusic.com//sites/default/files/files/RCM-Piano-Syllabus-2015.pdf

Considering you are on Alfred's book 2 preparatory level might feel like a step backwards, so I would go straight to level 1.

use this and this to search for pieces by grade.

Thanks so much for the wonderful sources advice!

I use several books with different pieces- I’m working through the absrm books but cherry pick pieces from Alfreds and a jazz for beginners with pieces such as “I wanna be like you” and “summertime”

Thank you so much for these links! I bought the Level 1 book to have some nice short original form pieces to play as supplements to Faber. Could not decide between level 1 and 2 but eventually decided to go with Level 1. If level 1 turns out to be easy no problem, I'll just learn these and then get the next book.