Nightowl I'm not picking things up quickly now, and I can't imagine wanting to spend 100 hours to master a grade 5 piece

But that is actually not how it works 🙂 You're not picking new pieces up more quickly, true. But you're picking up MORE DIFFICULT pieces just as quickly as you picked up the easy pieces in your earlier days. That is the beauty of following a method book - it eases us into playing more and more complicated stuff gradually enough that it doesn't feel like progress.

If you picked up a grade 5 piece today, it would take you 100 hours to master. But once we gradually reach grade 5, it will take you just 2 or 3 weeks, same as a piece such as HN took you two weeks. If you had tried HN a year ago, you'd still be picking it out today - that is why we need to learn pieces at our own skill level. Something all the method books are good at 😃

Ok, that was me going into full lecture mode for once, lol. Back to regular 🤡 mode so you'll know me again 😂

As usual I am exaggerating. It will be fine. Whatever I'm playing - I am just trying not to massacre it completely. A bit of massacre is fine 🙂

    Fair point Sophia. But I still doubt that I will progress beyond grade 3(ish) level - I'm too much of a plodder and I think my brain doesn't operate fast enough to go beyond that. I speak slower than average - it takes me a bit of time to formulate my words and thoughts. Hence my belief that I won't ever be able to play fast tempo, complex pieces, because my brain doesn't "do" speed! It works OK, just not quickly enough for that.

    "Don't let's ask for the moon, we have the stars." (Final line from Now,Voyager, 1942)

    Nightowl I really don't think I'll progress further than grade 2 or 3

    I have had those thoughts as well, and I think I have spent years playing grade 3 pieces and etudes. But nowadays, most grade 3 pieces seem too easy to me! I don't know how it happened, but it did. 😎

    *
    ... feeling like the pianist on the Titanic ...

        Nightowl

        As you progress you will find that some pieces will be a bit more difficult. These will be the ones which teach harder concepts. The ones which repeat those concepts so they become ingrained will be easier.

        Not to start another round of "speed kills...," but if you want to get faster you must practice for speed and not accuracy. No auctioneer was born babbling their sales nonsense, they all needed to learn how and what to say and then say it faster. And, while not everyone can sling the lingo like an auctioneer can, that doesn't mean you have to live life in the slow lane chanting at a walking cadence either.

        Practice triplets. Practice full measures of 8ths and 16ths. Practice your scale and arpeggio runs. Push for speed, your fingers will fumble at first, but you will get faster. Then pull back from full throttle and concentrate on not hitting wrong keys or being out of sequence. You will be faster. Then push for more speed again and repeat the cycle.

        Now play something you know and which is extremely easy. Play it as fast as you can. Again. Again. Again!

        Now play it at tempo. And be amazed at how difficult it will be to slow down.

            Player1 And while not everyone can sling the lingo like an auctioneer can, that doesn't mean you have to live life in the slow lane chanting at a walking cadence either.

            Good point P1, maybe there is some middle ground to be found and if I don't try I'll never know. 🙂 I've not yet encountered a piece which includes 16ths, but I've worked on the chromatic scale and there are a couple of pieces in book 2 which feature nice chromatic runs. Those things can be included as part of my practice routine.

            I'm currently playing the BF Polka as a warm up piece each day, trying to pick up the speed a bit. When played by professionals those note runs sound quite impressive, and the piece is cheerful (helpful as we go into winter, when my mood dips).

            "Don't let's ask for the moon, we have the stars." (Final line from Now,Voyager, 1942)

                Animisha

                I have had those thoughts as well, and I think I have spent years playing grade 3 pieces and etudes. But nowadays, most grade 3 pieces seem too easy to me! I don't know how it happened, but it did. 😎

                Thanks Animisha, that's good to know. It seems that while progress is slow on the surface, somehow the brain gradually builds faster neural network connections. What grade is your current playing level?

                "Don't let's ask for the moon, we have the stars." (Final line from Now,Voyager, 1942)

                    While I agree with practicing at tempo well below one's own threshold does nothing little to help gaining speed, the real question is what is that threshold and where to play around that threshold.

                    In my limited experience, the speed thresholds is when I begin to make occasional mistakes. If I begin to make same mistake in repeated runs, or I feel I am losing control, then that's above the threshold - time to stop and reduce the tempo! Even at the threshold, where occasional mistake happens at random slip of mind/finger, I still find prioritizing accuracy (by a couple clicks down on my metronome) is much more effective. When practicing just below my threshold, accurately and in control, for a little while, I can usually raise the tempo back up a few clicks and achieve the new speed still accurately and in control. Rinse and repeat that, is what I find the most effective way to raise speed.

                    In addition, scales & arpeggios are different because there mistakes generally means wrong or missed note. When practicing pieces, occasion mistakes does not mean just wrong notes. Even after I can play through a piece at tempo, I have often had to slow down to get articulation, dynamics and pedaling right before adding speed back again.

                      Nightowl I've not yet encountered a piece which includes 16ths

                      Those will be introduced towards the end of the book. Luckily that is a piece that is SO slow, that it feels more like you are playing 8th notes 🙂 One gorgeous piece that makes very effective use of 16ths is Musetta's Waltz - but that too sounds gorgeous whether played slow or slightly faster. Alfred just never lets us down!

                      As usual I am exaggerating. It will be fine. Whatever I'm playing - I am just trying not to massacre it completely. A bit of massacre is fine 🙂

                        Nightowl It seems that while progress is slow on the surface, somehow the brain gradually builds faster neural network connections. What grade is your current playing level?

                        Quite right! Still, fast pieces are a challenge to me. I currently play pieces that are RCM 4-5.

                        *
                        ... feeling like the pianist on the Titanic ...

                            iternabe practicing at tempo well below one's own threshold does nothing to help gaining speed

                            I am also in the disagree camp, here. My current piece is a slow Blues and I practiced it very slowly. I got faster and faster from alone. I even did not want to speed up. Now it is too fast and I have to concentrate to keep my tempo slow during playing.

                            Edit: this 👆 is when practicing without metronome. With metronome you have indeed you increase the speed from time to time. But only when you can play it errorfree enough.

                              Animisha Thanks, that gives me hope that I might also reach that level of play. Currently I'm working on 3 pieces which all contain two part writing for the right hand, so they are all stretching my skills - especially the Chopin piece. I also dip into some pieces from the Alfred hits book 1, as a change from these tricky pieces. I'm making progress but book 2 is much more challenging than book 1 (which is understandable).

                              "Don't let's ask for the moon, we have the stars." (Final line from Now,Voyager, 1942)

                                5 days later

                                Appropriate piece in my book for the time of the year... Spoooooky story!

                                Background story: I was playing around with my new keyboard and the sounds. I thought that one would match the theme of this tune. And I also wanted to test the Yamaha Rec'n'Share app.

                                It's not very well played... but I had to abandon it to keep the peace in the family 😃 While I was recording this, my husband came in and declared it was the most awful thing he ever heard. I told him it's called Spooky Story - to which he replied "Sound like it! More like a Nightmare. When are you done with it?" (I will spare you the rest of his complaints, they were all in the same vain anyway) So yeah, I didn't dare any more takes after that. Even the cats stayed away! ^_^

                                Yes, I know, a headset would be the solution... but the song wasn't worth that much effort anyway...

                                Anyway, here it is.... Spooky Story (page 48) - never to be touched again.

                                As usual I am exaggerating. It will be fine. Whatever I'm playing - I am just trying not to massacre it completely. A bit of massacre is fine 🙂

                                  Sophia It made me smile although I guess I prefer to be in the audience.

                                    Sophia Anyway, here it is.... Spooky Story (page 48) - never to be touched again.

                                    Is that a promise? 😄🙃

                                    I'm with your husband on this one - something about that sound effect hurts my ears. Well played though.

                                    "Don't let's ask for the moon, we have the stars." (Final line from Now,Voyager, 1942)

                                        The sound reminded me on good ol "Ghost n Goblins" computer game. Ok, not the same sound and not the same tune, but the same mood. I liked it - well played! 👻👍

                                        One tip for future practice: Get a good pair of headphones. Or an attic. Whatever is cheaper.

                                          WieWaldi Get a good pair of headphones. Or an attic.

                                          Great suggestions! He is quite relieved you didn't come up with a third solution:

                                          Nightowl Is that a promise?

                                          You be careful what you wish for... now I'm quite tempted to pierce your ears with "Modern Sounds" in a bagpipes voice setting... 😆

                                          As usual I am exaggerating. It will be fine. Whatever I'm playing - I am just trying not to massacre it completely. A bit of massacre is fine 🙂

                                                OMG, please tell me you're joking and there's no bagpipes option on your new toy! What sort of sadist invented such an instrument of torture?!? 😬

                                                Funny you mentioned "Modern Sounds" - after listening to that piece and several other excuses for music from book 3 I've decided I'm probably not going to buy book 3. Playing awful pieces comes with the territory of being a beginner, but once I've finished book 2 I'll be done with Alfred's.

                                                I recently bought a book called Very Easy Classics which has several of the nicer pieces from book 3, and apparently they are all arranged for people playing at levels 1 to 3, so I'm hoping they will be manageable. I will start that book once I've gone further into book 2. I'm about to start work on Polovetsian Dance, which is quite a pretty piece.

                                                "Don't let's ask for the moon, we have the stars." (Final line from Now,Voyager, 1942)

                                                Hehe, yeah I simply knew that would definitely not be your taste

                                                I hear you on book 3. I'm not sure if I would have bothered if I hadn't purchased all three in one set. But now that I have it, I'd say that about one third of the pieces are quite nice or just plain fun to play... the rest are between meh and dreadful. I'd argue that the additional theory makes it worth it though.

                                                That said... the piece that I just started introduces arpeggios and I can already tell we're not going to be good friends. I understand the need to learn them, but they remind me of an opera singer in a warming up exercise... going up and down and up and down.

                                                Which gives me more time to taunt/haunt you with spooky toons

                                                As usual I am exaggerating. It will be fine. Whatever I'm playing - I am just trying not to massacre it completely. A bit of massacre is fine 🙂

                                                Sophia He is quite relieved you didn't come up with a third solution

                                                Earplugs?