Alfred Adult All-in-One Course Level 2 and 3

Sophia · 2024-05-28T02:50:57+00:00

Well, it seems that this forum is a nice refuge from another place that has too many ads and too much drama lately! I see we already have a nice Alfred 1 thr...

Sophia

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

WieWaldi

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

Earplugs?

Sophia

Sure! We'll leave it at that 😇

Nightowl

The kitties were conspicuous by their absence... good breeding shows. 😀 Cats have such sensitive ears, they could probably still hear the cacophony from a mile away - have pity on them Sophia!

Sophia

Can't argue any of that 😁😂🤣

Sophia

Well, after skipping some more awful (to my ears!) pieces and still polishing that arpeggios piece, I just started Adagio in A Major (Morovsky). Nightowl, I think that piece is right up your alley, it's absolutely lovely: gentle and lyrical! It would be a sacrilege to play THAT on my keyboard in a spooky voice 😂

It's also another stretch piece for me - quite literally as it turns out! At first I thought the book made mistakes in the fingering... those stretches couldn't possibly be played realistically. But after spending a few minutes with the first bars, it started to make sense. Now I'm quite enjoying this new challenge and probably found another piece to spend extra time with 😊

Nightowl

Well Sophia, you talk of it being a stretch piece, then say that after "spending a few minutes with the first bars" it starts to make sense. So... it's actually not that difficult for you, but remember the rest of us mere mortals might take an hour to achieve what you manage in a few minutes! 😬 So stop being so annoyingly blatant about your innate talent or I might have to throw a strop about how unfair it is! [Stamps feet and feels urge to throw something at Sophia.] If you weren't so annoyingly likeable this would be even more annoying than it already is!
Meanwhile I'm working on the Chopin Etude, but progress is painfully slow. I am just working on the first 8 bars, hands separate, and even that is pushing my mediocre ability. I have read comments online where people say they think this piece is more like grade 3/late intermediate level than grade 2, and I'm beginning to agree with them. Which is why I'll be content if I manage to play this section hands together this side of Christmas ~~2025~~.

Sophia

Nightowl ...after "spending a few minutes with the first bars" it starts to make sense. So... it's actually not that difficult for you

Heh, no. I wish, lol. I mean it makes sense that it's physically possible to play C# and A with thumb and index finger - something I had never even considered until now. It felt really awkward at first, but it can be done! Same with some other finger settings.

I can play the first two bars now, at about this speed but not quite as smoothly:

Edit: if it makes you feel any better, I still can't play that gorgeous Chopin piece smoothy either - there is something very, very difficult about it!

Spoiler alert: I actually planned on playing that Chopin piece for the first recital here on PT. There was no way I could learn it in that time, and settled on a later piece in the book that was actually a lot easier to play (Fascination). So you're making FASTER progress than me, you rascal!

Nightowl

Thanks Sophia. I take ~~small~~ comfort in knowing that you find Chopin difficult too. I've previously read the expression "There's no such thing as an easy Chopin piece" and I feel there's truth in those words. It's the unusual note combinations that are tricky, but those are exactly what makes the piece so hauntingly beautiful. <Not when I play it though, obviously.>
His sad music is even more poignant when you consider how young he was when he died - just 39 years old. This thought often pops into my brain when I hear his music.

Sophia

Yes, Chopin is very difficult. In fact the page mentions that the Morovsky piece is a preparation for the Chopin Prelude in A Major, which is in the "ambitious" section. Gorgeous piece, and probably one of his best known. But her hands are spread out like butterflies!

But is quite a ways off for me still.... first I have a few previous pieces to polish, this new one to learn AND a blues lesson to finish 😅

Nightowl

Yes, that's another lovely Chopin piece, and that pianist makes it look so easy. The whole video is just 1 minute long, but I think it could take me hours to learn that piece. I have taken a break from the Chopin Etude and moved on to Swingin' Sevenths, which I managed to pick up quite quickly. As a diversion I've started playing pieces from my Very Easy Classics book - including Fur Elise. It's manageable and has a certain charm, but apparently many piano teachers can't stand the sound of it, due to years of hearing beginners massacre the piece. 🙃 Understandable.
I wish I was at the stage where I could sight read these classic pieces and play them nicely after just two or three plays, but currently it requires more like two or three hundred plays to achieve that! Ah well, I have plenty of time and the gardening season is over, so I may as well plod on.
I don't think I will be submitting anything to the next recital, as nearly every piece I'm currently playing is either too tricky for me to play well at the right tempo, or is dull as ditch water. I'm in that piano limbo land where I'm moving so slowly I'm almost stationary, but I'm trying to be patient.

Sophia

Nightowl I'm in that piano limbo land where I'm moving so slowly I'm almost stationary, but I'm trying to be patient.

Yes! That's an awful stage of the piano journey. I'm not going to lie, that's the point where I gave up in the past. And gave up. And gave up. This is the FIRST time I managed to get past that point, and it feels so good! Remember that pot of gold that's just around the bend.....

It took me three attempts to get to the honey pot. And I just can't believe I gave up so close before the finish line (of that particular stage in the journey). Don't be me. Don't give up 😃

I hear you on Fur Elise though. It's in my book too but there is no way I am going to spend more time with than absolutely necessary. That and a few other pieces are played to death and I want no part of them 😁

Sophia

Can't believe our kittens are a year old already! We got them in March and they have ruled the roost ever since. They are incredibly insane, incredibly cute, incredibly intelligent, incredibly busy and incredibly rambunxious. Ok let me summarize that, they are incredibly incredible. So what does that have to do with the Alfred thread?

Well, this morning my mom started "nagging" me for a new piece. Of course she is almost exclusively into classical music, so I figured I might have polished the Adagio enough to record... not quite recital worthy, but "look mom, this is what I'm currently working on" level. Yeah, no. Sandy decided he needed some love, and he needed it NOW.

Gone was my concentration, gone was my ability to string two notes together correctly... so yeah. I gave up. At least until the kittens find something else to do 😂

Player1

Interesting technique you have for learning how to keep your hands and wrists up and steady while playing. 🤣

Nightowl

Player1 Yes, quite unique. Maybe this is something I should try... if only Sophia lived nearer I could ~~kitnap~~ borrow Sandy and see if my technique improves! 😄
I think the kittens deserve their own YT channel - they have star quality!

Sophia

Lol true! I always thought of them as the ultimate scapegoat to blame my most terrible mistakes on or at least distract from them, but I never realized their educational potential! Next they'll demand a salary on top of their star status...

Player1

Sophia Lol true! I always thought of them as the ultimate scapegoat to blame my most terrible mistakes on or at least distract from them, but I never realized their educational potential! Next they'll demand a salary on top of their star status...

They're also quite handy for getting views on your channel. My most popular video (by far) is the one where the cat sings duet in the background.

Apparently the internet loves cat videos, even the accidental ones.

Nightowl

Grow some catnip for them, then film them going into a frenzy as they destroy it! They're already rambunctious but catnip will take it to another level! 😄

Sophia

CATNIP???? I SHUDDER to think what that would turn them into... they don't need catnip... they are lunatics as is! Today's attempt... not gonna work either... Onwards to tomorrow's attempt!

Nightowl

Ah, Simba was sat there quietly looking forward to hearing some lovely music, then a kitten came along to sabotage things! No wonder he took a swipe at him! Maybe when the kitties mature they will appreciate classical music more, but in the meantime how about playing them a little bit of Mary Had a Little Lamb? 😄

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