Oooooooohhhh but that is "prolonged beginner", perhaps even "eternal beginner" level... May I remind you...
Nightowl Some of those publishers should be sued under the Trades Descriptions Act!
Talk about misleading!
No, not saying sue Christian 
Because he didn't make that claim. In fact I don't think he said the word "beginner" at all in that lesson 
Yes - he didn't say the word beginner... you are right.
It is just... Ehrm.. It is just - he said, one can learn such a song in one week 
I am now done with the 1st 1/3 of the tune, still a lot of errors, timing very unsteady and slow, metronome goes horribly wrong after 10 bars. I am happy if I get this week a recording of the first third, and call it a day piece.
Believe me, this isn't for total beginners. This is real beginners stuff!
WieWaldi Believe me
Oh I believe you! Every time I get a new blues lesson (in the "bloody/lovely beginners" section), I always think when I start it that it seems so easy... pfft why even practice, just record it straight away. Then, two weeks later... my left hand still gets all stubborn when my right hand plays the tricky passage. I think he is just enjoying to be wicked 
I recorded my lesson.... because I want to move on now. I didn't enjoy that one as much (I think that will be obvious) and there are many mistakes, not so rock solid left hand, 3rd variation is only correct once, and the ending... oh boy. I'm so ashamed! It's a good thing the phone had a direct link to the keyboard because I didn't want a PG rating 
Sorry TC, first time I try to apply one of your endings and I completely, thoroughly, miserably butcher it. And then I'm putting it out in the open for all to see, because I just couldn't face spending another day with this lesson... 
On to lesson 16. That will be the last of the bloody/lovely beginners lessons! After that, I will finally join WieWaldi in the total beginner's rank! 
I can see why you grew tired of it - it's not exactly an inspiring piece and there are some really fiddly sections as the piece progresses.
The first minute went smoothly, then you seemed to lose concentration a bit, but if you're not enjoying the piece it's understandable why your brain might be desperate to wander off somewhere more pleasant! 
That's how I was at school, during maths lessons... my brain just refused to operate in such a dull situation! I think you did well to plough through a lesson that wasn't enjoyable, now you can move on and play something more enjoyable.
"Don't let's ask for the moon, we have the stars." (Final line from Now,Voyager, 1942)
Heh, yes, I felt like saying what all students always tell all their teachers: "I could play it so well at home!" (or off camera)
But in my case, even that would be a half lie because obviously it just wasn't my type of piece. Of course when Christian demonstrates the licks they sound gorgeous.... so I know that each lesson is a means to an end - and someday it'll all come together. But that day is not today
Hi Sophia
Firstly, well done.
My first reaction when you started playing was - this is slow. I think you'd find the LH easier if you played it all a bit faster. At that tempo it's quite difficult to keep the LH consistent. No doubt that is the tempo advised in the lesson, but if your RH can cope then I think speeding up a bit will help you. That LH pattern can be played and used at virtually any tempo with a variety of rhythmic subtleties.
Are you using music there, or playing from memory?
When I learnt to play the blues many decades ago as soon as I could I started trying to improvise around the blues scale, and that's what I'd advise you to start doing asap. If you know that blues scale in C (C Eb F F# G Bb C) and can keep the LH going start experimenting. What you don't want to do, is make all this effort, working through these exercises (written by someone far more talented than me I'm sure) and at the end of it only be able to play the exercises. That's a complete waste of time IMHO. I'm sure the improvisation aspect will appear in the course you're doing anyway, but if it isn't, that would be a big red flag for me.
The main thing is that you're enjoying it, having fun, and clearly making progress.
Cheers
Simon
All round average Jazz, Blues & Rock player.
Currently working towards ABRSM grade 8.
Thank you Simon! He didn't really indicate what tempo and his demonstrations are all over the place, but the lesson was called "slow blues" so I just picked a rhythm that I thought was sufficiently slow
WieWaldi would know a little more about how the course proceeds (he is further ahead than I am), but I definitely think that Christian's aim is to teach full autonomy 
But for this particular lesson, the improvisation is confined to "hit that note, double it, triple it, and make sure you don't miss your chord changes..." I also think he is working on hand independence and getting across what sounds bluesy and what doesn't, before he lets us loose on the real stuff. But that's just a guess.
I know, I moan a lot, but I really am enjoying the lessons and I'm sure I will get into full improvisation soon enough. I agree that I should probably get a little more adventurous and just do it. Less moaning, more improvising 
Simonb Are you using music there, or playing from memory?
I have the sheet music, but for these lessons I try to learn them as soon as I start the lesson. So playing from memory here.
Hi Sophia
As I probably said eons further back in the thread I strongly recommend practising the LH on its own; a lot! Get that LH 12 bar form down so you can do it without thinking about it. It won't happen overnight, it took me a long time, but surprisingly suddenly you'll realise you no longer have to think about your LH. It's like its on auto pilot. When this happens it will free up your RH to improvise.
For that reason I'd also advise you to practise the blues scale in RH alone, very robotically (to start with) if required, as well. Forget what is written in the course and start playing the scale C Eb F F# G Bb C. Experiment with it! You really can't hit any wrong notes if you stick to those notes. Virtually any order will work. That way you will start to find things yourself. Play them in groups of 2 or 3, slide from one to the other. Again almost anything will work. A bonus note for the blues scale is E (natural) and sliding from Eb to E gives you one of the classic sounds in the blues. Minor 3rd to major 3rd.
You really can't go wrong, after that it's all about rhythm!
Hope that helps.
Cheers
Simon
All round average Jazz, Blues & Rock player.
Currently working towards ABRSM grade 8.
Oh yes, I remember you said that... and believe it or not I have been doing that with other patterns. I just hate this plinke-plonke one so I tend to get it over with
But I know what you're saying. In fact one of the previous lessons was HUGELY enjoyable, and I spent a lot more time with it. It happened exactly as you mentioned: at some point I was wondering why I had stopped playing with my left hand... and a little puzzled too because it didn't sound any different. Turned out my left hand was doing its thing on fully automated mode!
But that has only happened once so far. It was quite the exhilarating experience... but then again I'm sure you know all about that ^_^
I love the blues scale, so I'll probably exchange my daily scale run with the blues one until further notice - much more fun and sounds better too 
Sophia You played with some really nice groove - loved it! And your metronome sounds way better than mine^^ Still, I would encourage you to play on the Yamaha instead. You know, hammer action and correct finger feeling and yada yada yada. Nothing wrong to play along the keyboard's rhythm as a metronome - can you let the keyboard doing the drums, and you do the lesson on the piano?
About the tempo - I liked it. It is this slow cool mood 
and your left hand plays very clean with very nice staccato. Actually, you had this good LH from the beginning of your Blues journey. Well - talent is talent.
About the ending: I always told you not to rush, and now you are venturing into Jazz improvisation - highly advanced!!! In this lesson the standard turnaround would maybe had fitted better, or one of TC3s ending:
But - no! You must rush into advanced Jazz territory!!! 
WieWaldi or one of TC3s ending:
But but but but! That WAS my attempt at one of TC's endings. Obviously butchered so very badly that it could not even be recognized 
It was not one of my better lessons, but it also wasn't a favourite. I may stick with lesson 16 for a while, because I can only be a lovely beginner once
Thanks for your very kind words, even though it feels a little undeserved this time 
WieWaldi I would encourage you to play on the Yamaha instead
I practised it on the Clavinova 
Just to record I switched to the E373. Not to provide excuses, but it was one reason I struggled, because the action is indeed so very different!
Here is my rendition of "At Last", from the final section of Alfred's Self Teaching Adult Piano Course (AKA book 1).
I skipped this piece the first time around, but recently I've been replaying everything in the book and I decided it was time to finally tackle this classic piece. My recording is not perfect, but I'm moving on from it before I kill my enjoyment of playing it, because sometimes you can have too much of a good thing. When I finally managed to get a passable recording, the title rang very true for me.
[
"Don't let's ask for the moon, we have the stars." (Final line from Now,Voyager, 1942)
Oh wow Nightowl, another jazzy blues piece from you, that was quite the surprise! See????????? Learning this style is contagious! You already joined the ranks of bloody (blues) beginner, you can only move upwards from here on
That was played with much confidence and pleasant schwung (this is a German word that the Dutch use too, and I'm not sure if there is a good English translation for it). I loved that tune and you did it justice. All your zealous practising is starting to pay off, well done!
More more!
Thanks Sophia! I made a mistake in the second half but carried on, because the piece is longer than anything else I've recorded and several times I had played it quite well throughout then made a complete mess of the last measure - totally maddening! 
I'd need to work on it for another week or two to manage a note perfect recording, but I'd had enough. It's an apt way to finally say goodbye to the first book before I focus on finishing book 2.
Blues music has grown on me over the past year. It helps that much of it is played at a slow tempo - in fact that piece has the instruction "Slowly, with feeling" - ideal for a slow coach like me! If anyone notices slight hesitations I can claim they were intentional, as I was "feeling" the emotion of the piece!
"Don't let's ask for the moon, we have the stars." (Final line from Now,Voyager, 1942)
Nightowl this was a very solid Blues. If the score says it must be played "Slowly, with feeling", then you must play slowly and with feeling. You succeeded. Yes, I could hear some feeling. Some bluesy feeling, to be precise. Well done - I could hear a lot of blue notes and some blue scales. And you played a 2:30 minute piece - which is a long ass of a thing. This makes the chance to get a proper recording so ultimatively much more difficult than a short one. Again - this is another time to give yourself a big clap on the shoulder.
Nightowl If anyone notices slight hesitations I can claim they were intentional, ....
I like this sentence! May I borrow it? I might be very useful in the future! No seriously, it is way better to hesitate and then play a right note. The people that do play a wrong note within the timing instead, tend to wire their brain wrong. You know, there is a very true sentence:
Practice does not make perfect - it makes permanent!
A few more steps like this and you can feel like 
(The Blues Brothers, wearing hats and sunglasses.But don't mix up with spies and men in black 
)
Sorry for the late reply, I was just waiting for the best occasion to add the 500th post in this thread! 
Gotcha! 
WieWaldi Thanks WieWie, your words really made me smile and the video you linked made me laugh - that man is one bad ass comedian! Some of the phrases he referred to are not used much here in the UK, they are much more prevalent in the States, but his observations were very clever.
500th post - yes, that's quite a landmark! Maybe I'll make the 1000th post - if I remember to get my ass in gear when the time comes! 
By the way, I was so sad to see the news about the attack in Magdeburg - just awful! I hope you and your loved ones stay safe, I fear that the repercussions of this incident might become widespread. Take care of yourself.
"Don't let's ask for the moon, we have the stars." (Final line from Now,Voyager, 1942)
Nightowl Thanks for your kind words. No - I am not in Magdeburg (Germany). I am in Bavaria (near Germany). Yes - it is dreadful. But this isn't the first time. I feels more like a déjà vu. Unfortunately it seems people get used to it - maybe some even want to have this. Otherwise I cannot explain why German voters are unwilling to change politics. But sorry - let's stop here. I don't want to rant about politics. This is a piano forum.
Well, I started lesson 16 today. Just four beautiful chords for now to prepare for some cool licks I think I will enjoy this lesson! But for now, I am just learning the left hand.
Funny enough I started my next Alfred piece (I will write a little more about that in the Alfred thread) and... it's a boogie! But a very interesting boogie in C# minor, with just one single chord pattern for the left hand throughout the entire piece. It's very hard to do (for me, so far), so that means that today my right hand had nothing more to do than scratch my nose. The left hand had to do all the work! Luckily I have two left hands, and they are both all thumbs 
WieWaldi I was just waiting for the best occasion to add the 500th post in this thread!
Whoooo hooooo! 
