John Thompson Modern Course Grade 1

Sophia · 2024-12-06T01:55:48+00:00

I took a little break from both Alfred and the blues course to play through my old John Thompson book. And suddenly I found I was recording the entire book 🙂...

candela

Sophia Yes, I totally get that the series can be discouraging if you get stuck. The progression is fast. I don't know any other method that has level 8 pieces by book 5, but it's also not monotonically increasing in difficulty. There can be a piece that is very difficult for the book but then the next one can be easy, relatively speaking. It's also 100 % classical contrary to many contemporary methods that would also teach you other styles of music, accompaniment, lead sheets etc. That's why I find it good to not only play these books as they wouldn't produce a very well-rounded musician on their own.

Animisha

Are you aware that there is also a John Thompson Easiest Piano Course, that has a much slower progression?

Anyway, this thread and your video Sophia is quite inspiring to take my JT books and practise from them. But where to start?

candela

Animisha Are you aware that there is also a John Thompson Easiest Piano Course, that has a much slower progression?

I'm not sure who the question was aimed at. Yes, I'm aware of the Easiest Piano Course. Personally I don't think either slower or faster progression is generally better or worse. I see it as personal preference and choice depending on how much challenge or ease motivates you and fits your personality, prior music education etc. A faster progression method book can always be complemented with lots of easy music on the side for quantity, which is what I choose to do.

Animisha

candela Animisha Are you aware that there is also a John Thompson Easiest Piano Course, that has a much slower progression?

I'm not sure who the question was aimed at.

To those reading this thread and maybe not aware that there actually are JT books with a slower progression. 😎

Sophia

I wasn't aware of that, so thank you! I always thought that those books were primers. In fact some are available as a download, such as the Easiest Piano Course Part 1 and also Easiest Classics. But I never looked into further books, so I have no idea how the series progress 🙂

Actually the Modern Course complete series seems to be in public domain now, so you can download first grade - second grade - third grade - fourth grade - fifth grade freely. Of course I'm one of those fossils who prefers reading from paper copies, plus the newer additions seems to have been modernized <somewhat>... with less finger markings, more dynamics etc.

Edit: oops, those seem to require a subscription. Here is an absolutely free and accessible version of the first grade though!

Animisha

Sophia But I never looked into further books, so I have no idea how the series progress

I have books 1 to 8, digitally though. This is the beginning of the last piece of book 8, a lovely Barcarolle.

Played here:

It is hard to estimate the level, but Oh! How I would love to learn this!

Nightowl

Animisha I agree, that is a lovely piece and he plays it well. However, I found myself having the urge to remove that random sheet music and phone from the corner of the piano - but maybe that's just me having slight OCD tendencies! 😄

Sophia

Wow Animisha! That is indeed a lovely piece! I might have to rethink my future career as Eternal Beginner and become a Perpetual Method Book Follower instead. Because now I would like to learn that piece as well, someday 😁

candela

I was curious about how far The Easiest Piano Course compared to The Modern Piano Course. At the end of the eighth book of the Easiest Course there is a certificate saying that the student who completed the book is now ready for promotion to the Modern Course book 4.

hebele

@Sophia thanks for sharing this. Sounds great. I am about to finish my Faber 1 book. I think I will go over some of the John Thompson grade1 before moving on to Faber 2.

hebele

Just looking at the pdf link @Sophia posted above. Wow... you guys were not kidding about the fast progress. Look at the things page 8 casually introduces:

In comparison, at that point my Faber 1 book still has pictures of a piano and tries to teach finger numbers 🤣.
I don't think I would last half of this book if it was my first method book for self teaching. And before the second half, it already has stuff like key of A major 😱

Strangely enough, it has way too many finger numbers on the scores. Too distracting. But it will make a good a supplementary for me after I've scribbled over (some of) the finger numbers.

candela

hebele
Yes, already in book four there are pieces graded at level 8 by pianosyllabus!

I'm not sure how these books were initially intended to be used in terms of progression speed. The tagline is "Something New Every Lesson" which to me implies that the student wouldn't dwell extensively on any piece. There are 35 pieces in book 4, so if you assign one piece per week or two every second week etc, the book should take roughly a school year with some spare time built in. But a level 8 piece in one week for a fourth year student? The author comments also emphasize style and the importance of playing everything with great musicality and attention to detail. This doesn't quite add up in my brain. Either you stress fast progression and exposure to lots of different composers and styles, akin to the 40 pieces a year challenge, or you make sure the student really polishes the pieces. Expecting both is not realistic in my mind.

I've just kind of assumed that the books were supposed to take around a year each but have not been able to find any confirmation whether that was the author's intent. Anybody knows?

ETA: I also agree on the excessive fingerings, which also in my experience often are anatomically impossible unless you have large hands.

Animisha

candela The tagline is "Something New Every Lesson" which to me implies that the student wouldn't dwell extensively on any piece.

Actually, I don't see this implication. Quite to the contrary. "Something New Every Lesson" implies to me that the new thing needs to be learned very well, because in the next lesson, there is a new new thing to learn.

Sophia

The books that I purchased have done away with most of those finger markings, but I agree that it seems a little too fast paced. It also introduces hand independence almost from the first lesson, while Alfred still had us plunk down chords by the end of the first book.

I think it was written in the 1930s and obviously meant for children with a teacher, so probably in those days they were just expected to spend an hour each day diligently practicing or else.

Towards the end of the book there are pieces with 4 flats and it has you fly all over the keyboard... yet it doesn't introduce the pedal or finger crossings until well into the second book!

I think you'll enjoy it overall, @hebele 😊

candela

Sophia I think it was written in the 1930s and obviously meant for children with a teacher, so probably in those days they were just expected to spend an hour each day diligently practicing or else.

I still can't wrap my head around that they were supposed to learn level 8 pieces and thereabouts at such a rapid pace from the end of year four. Even an hour a day seems too little if you're supposed to get through a book of about 100 pages of stretch pieces per year.

By the way, didn't adults in the US learn to play back then if the family bought a piano? I know that when my grandparents bought a piano in the 1940s they had a piano teacher come and teach not only the children but also my grandmother.

Sophia

I am not sure 🙂 We watched an episode of Bewitched (1960s series) recently and the maestro was extremely condescending when Samantha said she wished to learn piano... "aren't you a bit OLD?" but of course that's a comedy so no idea if that represented how people lived their lives 😊

When I went through the first grade book, it quickly became more and more daunting. Now I realize that I went about it the wrong way, because instead of slowing down and going back to older/easier pieces, I tried to push forward with book 2 and actually lasted a few pieces into the book, until suddenly I found that I had painted myself into a corner and didn't know a way out.

That is why with Alfred 1 and 2 I spent quite some time zigzagging through the books - any time I found that it became difficult to move forward, I'd go back to (almost) the beginning... over and over again. It worked wonders and right now it seems moving forward steadily (but ever so slowly) is no longer impossible. Until it is, and then I'll know what to do...

Of course now there is no way I could go through any book that fast ever again - unless perhaps I'd decide to play through the Little Fingers book 1 - or anything else that starts with Cee - Cee - CeCeCeCe - Ceeee 😁

candela

Sophia Of course now there is no way I could go through any book that fast ever again

I bought a Christmas music book the same year I bought my digital piano. It's labeled as suitable for students who have played for a few years and with varying difficulty so that it should last the student a few years. Naturally, some of the pieces were very challenging in the first year, but after breaking it out every December it's an encouraging proof that I in fact have progressed quite a bit as I now find much of the book very easy. This is my fourth year. I played all 41 pieces over the past few days. Not extremely polished, but not terribly either.

candela

Sophia the maestro was extremely condescending when Samantha said she wished to learn piano... "aren't you a bit OLD?

From the preface of JT Modern book 5:
"Upon the successful completion of this book, the student may be said to have attained the stature of 'Young Artist'. "

Looking forward to being young again in what right now feels like a distant future 😂

Sophia

Haha yeah, the one that always makes me smile is The Chimes - where it tells me:

I feel like such a naughty rebel when I push that pedal down. I guess there is a bit of Mr Bean in all of us... "Nobody told me I could and I did it anyway"

candela

Sophia Well, there are quite a few opportunities to smile, shrug and think "Whatever, he's entitled to his opinion." or maybe to feel naughty about enjoying playing the "not very musical" style of boogie woogie which he writes about very condescendingly.

from Easiest Piano Course, book 6.

hebele

candela I had to search what "long-haired" type might mean 🙂. Here is an answer from quora:

The expression in English dates from LONG before rock music was even close to being a thing. It references particularly guys like Franz Liszt and Paganini, who were portrayed wearing their hair long. In the 1920s the term came to be applied to people who were generally intellectuals and aesthetes, like classical music enthusiasts, who didn’t have to conform to society’s views on hair length on men.

On the topic of the JT books, I am enjoying the old grade1 pdf now. I've deleted most the fingerings. The melodies are nicer than faber. Most also have lyrics on them. I caught myself singing & playing when nobody is around 🙂

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