I never did say I was completely blameless but I'm thinking it's maybe around 2%. Kind of like that milk that isn't really milk. So whatever blame is on me, isn't really any blame at all.
I did play again today. Just re-familiarizing myself with Wolf though, nothing from the lesson book.
Blame? Why are you all talking about blame??
It’s credit!! Kudos to Sophia for the awesome meowprovisation, riffing on top of the classic hokey pokey on such a fun innovative instrument!
I am honored that anyone thinks that I may have played a tiny part in any of this. Really I did nothing, it’s all Sophia with possibly an assist from Rubens.
Blame? Sheesh!!
Player1 Ha ha ha, "musical monster" indeed! 
Well, I guess Sophia has found her inner child and this is only going to get worse. The signs were there when she admitted to enjoying Little Brown Jug in book 1, and now she's picked the worst piece in book 2 to relentlessly torment us with - she truly is an incorrigible child!
That said, as @Rubens so brilliantly said above, it's Sophia's Choice, and however naughty she is we love her anyway. 
@rogerch - I'm not sure that you should be rewarding her bad behaviour with praise - it will only encourage her! 
[I'm off to find some earplugs before the next onslaught from naughty Sophia.]
"Don't let's ask for the moon, we have the stars." (Final line from Now,Voyager, 1942)
I love this forum 
Brains are funny things I have not exactly been stuck, but with the recital recording, the blues lessons and silly kitten keyboards, plus limited time at the piano, Alfred was pushed to the back burner for a few weeks.
Today for the first time I managed to play Salut d'amour without errors, though still in super slow motion. It is a real challenge with the three flats and all.
But then today I looked at the next piece (Mozart), another piece with 3 flats, and suddenly it seems almost "easy" in comparison. Suddenly all those flats seemed almost natural! (see what I did there? )
I like that phrase "super slow motion" - I think I might adopt that to describe my own performances. It sounds so much better than the word "slow" by itself - it makes it sound like playing very slowly is a super power that others only dream of!
"Don't let's ask for the moon, we have the stars." (Final line from Now,Voyager, 1942)
Well, I'm happy to announce that I finished the second book! I just started the third Alfred book, which in true Alfred tradition, starts with a few easy pieces to lull you into thinking playing piano isn't all that hard 
The first piece is A Super Special Song which is, well, not all that special really... but fun to play.
Then on page 3 or so it bursts out into a lot of theory mumbo jumbo, which thanks to some very kind forum participants now makes sense to me... at least why it is important
I will be going back to the second book quite a lot though. I have found in my piano journey that (at least to me) there simply is no direct, linear way to learning the pieces thoroughly. When I was in Alfred book 2 I played through book 1 quite a lot and every time the pieces went better and better. Now that I have started book 3, I plan to do the same with the second book. I guess I'm the zig zagging type, but it seems to work for me. As long as I don't feel that I'm hitting a solid brick wall, I'll continue on this path... forward a little, back a lot
So rather than starting yet another thread and abandoning this one, I have changed the title to include both book 2 and 3. I think right now @Nightowl and I are the only ones at this stage in our journey... everyone else is either way ahead of us, or following other books/methods.
I'm really excited that I made it this far! For reference:
I started the first book in January 2024. Because I was just catching up with previous skills, it only took me 6 weeks from start to finish (most of that time on the last pieces in fact). Mid February I started Alfred 2. It took me almost seven months to finish that. If that is the expected pattern, then Alfred 3 will take me about 2 years to finish
It's been so much fun to learn piano and I can't emphasize enough what a help and encouragement this forum has been throughout. I could kick myself for giving up so many times in the past, but I won't. This is now - and the future is full of endless possibilities. Learning blues... finishing the Alfred course.... continuing where I left off in the John Thompson method, playing duets, and then moving on to pieces of my own choice rather than just following a method book... improvising... I want it all
This piece puts a happy smile on my face... (second piece in the new book):
I think Simba likes it too! Though he was distracted when he heard a big bang somewhere...
A very nice piece played very nicely. Good tempo, too. You improved a lot. Looks like you reached the fun part of Alfreds.
Thank you! Yes, it seems that now Alfred thinks we are reaching the point where he can give us fun pieces
Side note: I also started lick #4 of lesson 9 and basically started to cry deep down inside, lol. It's hard! But I know it will come too
Variant 4 was indeed somewhat harder to learn. But it also sounds a bit better. Call it rewarding. I am done with learning all lines. Now it is time for practicing, making it error free and smooth. Problem is, if I play everything in a single take it is over 4 minutes long. Lots of room to mess it up.
Hmmm... if I play it faster, it will be less than 4 minutes... 
Sounds like a plan
Haha yes, but playing faster would also mean it takes 3 weeks longer to learn. There are no easy choices with piano!
Sophia, thanks for the detailed update on your progress - it gives the rest of us hope of brighter things to come, especially when listening to that Calypso piece - it's very upbeat and you play it well. 
Updating the thread title to include book 3 is a great idea, because it seems that many people end their Alfred's journey with book 2, so this provides an inclusive place for people using books 2 or 3 to compare notes as they move to the heady heights of playing intermediate level pieces. 
My progress is a lot slower than yours, but I am pleased to report that I am nearly half way through book 2 and I even braced myself to learn the HP (Hokey Pokey AKA Hideous Piece)! I will never love the piece, but felt it was useful to help with my sight reading and learning to play a different style from the slow, romantic pieces which I favour. The next piece is Hava Nagila and I seem to be actively avoiding it... I keep replaying other pieces from book 2, and sometimes work on That's Amore as a bit of a diversion, as it has an upbeat vibe and a pretty tune. HG is 4 pages long and I'm not quite ready to take it on yet. It would be great to hear from other Alfredos who are at a similar stage in their journey.
"Don't let's ask for the moon, we have the stars." (Final line from Now,Voyager, 1942)
Oh I can relate to stalling on the hard stuff... I think I played through both books about three times before I finally found the courage to tackle the pieces with three flats
So far I'm liking book 3. It has a lot more theory and a lot less hand holding on pieces. I'm a little nervous about self teaching now and I realize there might be a point where I will regret not having a teacher.
But then I just keep telling myself that it's only a hobby... the moon will not explode because I'm not doing something 100% correctly. As long as I keep making progress, I'll follow this path 
You know the saying "you don't know what you don't know" but the opposite is true too... "what you know, you know!" And I know I'm not stuck just yet
Well, I wanted to start the Classy Rag (page 32). I wanted to get the feel for it before even trying it (yeah, I know, I know...) so I listened to this version without even looking at the notes yet:
But something sounded strange... like she was in an unusual rush or something. Couldn't put my finger on it... but it just didn't sound right. So I compared it with Gale's version:
And there it was.... at the 10:29, 10:38, 10:47 10:51 mark he actually counts it out... and that was what was missing. She only kept those notes for two counts, not four (0:34, 0:37, 0:46 and 0;49 mark respectively)
Which just goes to show that we are all learners and have to be on our toes at all times no matter our skill level - because even the advanced players don't ALWAYS get it right
Sophia Good ear, and good find!
I have also found on more than one occasion YouTube video marked as “teacher demo” not playing exactly what’s written on the sheet music. And these are just my level one stuff which should be super simple to teachers. So the inattention to details is a bit baffling.
Gale is great, though. I think his former career as a technical writer really shows.
Yes, I really appreciate his teaching methods. I stopped following him for each piece, but any time I do go back to his explanations, I learn something new. I'm not very fond of the hamfisted way he plays some of the tunes, but he himself explained that he just plays the notes, because he wants to make sure the audio comes through... plus he usually plays with a metronome for us to play along, so there is little you can vary there. I remember his methods lead to some controversy in another forum once but honestly I can't fault anything he says usually.
