Piano Books or Real pieces???

[csharp_minor]

Hi

I'm an adult learner (23) and have been learing the piano for about 9 months and have had 3 lessons so far. I have been going through John Thomson's Adult Prep Book on my own, and I must say it has been very useful and is good to get you going.

I am also perpearing for my grade 1 with my teacher so we are going through the AB grade one stuff.

However I have come to the decision that there is sooooooo much nice real music out there I want to learn and not much time. So I have decided maybe I sould not carry on with the John Thomson books, but buy myself the works from composers that are my level and progressively go through them.

The reason for this is I don't want to waste time by learning the pieces from the books but want to get straight into learning real pieces I love.

As for learning piano technique, if I come across a difficult part in the piece I could ask my teacher what techical exercise is best to get up to scratch to execute it.

I'm thinking of geting myself:

WTC book one

Greig Lyric pieces

Chopin's Preludes Op 28

Miscellanesous pieces by Beethoven

Some easy Sonatas or sonatians

I want to know is there any other adult learners or younger learners out there who are learing through this approach or are you going through a book? Is this a good way to learn
Or should I carry on with the books?

Could you recommend any real pieces ( not adapted ones though ) or volumes a beginner could go through??

Thanks!

[feddera]

I think this might be the book for you:

https://www.amazon.com/J-Bach-Selections-Magdalenas-Masterwork/dp/0882842625/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1227191907&sr=8-2

WTC is really not for beginners, but you could probably play some of the Grieg lyric pieces and Chopin preludes.

[csharp_minor]

Thanks for that I was thinking of puting that book on my wish list...
I only thought of geting the wtc because prelude one is easy and I thought there might be some other easy pieces in there, but the fugues look very hard! .

Is there a book of Beethoven's miscellanesous pieces like his folk songs and dances?? ( like the ones that are avilable on this website ) I don't know a great deal about at this stuff .

[feddera]

Actually that prelude is in the book i linked to.

A year ago I tried to play Bach invention nr.1, but I just couldn't memorize it or put the hands together. I began playing pieces from Anna Magdalena's notebook instead, and now the inventions are very manageable. I also liked that it came with a CD.

I have a book called "Beethoven: first book for pianists" which contains lots of easy Beethoven. They might have that one on amazon.com too, but I don't think those pieces are as good as the Bach, except for a few.

If you give me your email, I can send you the sheet music for an easy Beethoven piece I like. 

[csharp_minor]

Hi Feddara

Did you say that Anna Magdalena's notebook you have comes with a cd? thats useful, I guess I will need to look out for it. I found another version of it called:
'Selections from the notebook of Anna Magdalena Bach' I would think its the same just by another publisher.

I also really want to buy: Grieg Complete Lyric Pieces from Schrimer

So are you going through the pieces you want to learn, or are you working through a piano course book with pieces you might find boring? Have you been learning long?

Yeah ok I'll give you my email; I will PM you with it .

[revolutionaryetudein2]

Hello, I am also 23 and just beginning to learn the piano, so I am in the same boat as you. The method books are nice because they isolate useful concepts for you to learn and you can tackle them one by one--the complexity of encountering several new concepts in a real piece can be overwhelming. But the problem is, the pieces sound too simple (because they are simple!).

I have been doing basically what you are proposing. I'm using the Alfred Adult Learners series, and as I work out of it for general learning, I also find "real" pieces to work on--ones accessible to beginners. You can take a look at my blog to see what kind of stuff I've been learning.

As for the WTC, the preludes in there are definitely accessible to beginners; the fugues... not as much. You'll want a few inventions under you belt before attempting them (what the heck is an invention, anyway?). As someone else noted, you can also work out of the Anna Magdalena Notebook.

Keep me updated, I am also looking for music that is at my level to work on.

[feddera]

I have the book from amazon I linked to, and yes it came with a cd!

I also have the complete lyric pieces from Schrimer.  I think it's a good edition, my only complaint is that the book won't stay open easily.

When I was 12 I took a year of lessons, but I only had a crappy 61-key digital piano. I remember going trough two method books, but I hated playing those boring pieces and it made me quit piano.

Two years ago I suddenly got a new interest in piano, so I bought a real one and have practiced like crazy ever since. This time I just tried to play the pieces I wanted to play, at it made me progress so much faster. Mostly because you have the patience to struggle with harder stuff when you really want to play it. Still, the method books taught me how to read music so I guess they have their use.

So my advice would be to continue with the method books as long as you can enjoy them, then forget about them altogether and start working on reportoire.

[csharp_minor]

Hi revolutionary

I checked out your blog, its cool keep up the good work. I will see how you get on. Personally I'm not going to touch any of Chopin's Etudes for quite a few years! you are brave to give it ago, good luck!

I have learned the Bach prelude too that you had on your blog. But I need to learn the ending  .

Have you tried Chopin's Prelude 4 in Eminor Op 28? most of it isn't to bad to learn, but in bar 17 there is a turn, and I find it hard, and it speeds up. OMG

I suppose I will take yours and Feddras advice and just keep on doing what I am now, I will go through the piano course books, but also learn proper pieces so I have healthly diet of music , as learning only the made up tunes in the books can do your head in.

I also have the complete lyric pieces from Schrimer.   I think it's a good edition, my only complaint is that the book won't stay open easily.

Yeah I have Schrimer's Hanon the Virtoso Pianist and its a pain to keep open too, I have to hit it in the middle to make it stay open .

[pianowolfi]

My ideal of a "Piano book" (aka method book) is that all of the pieces in it are "real pieces".

[arumih]

Well if you're preparing for grade 1, I might put aside the WTC, except for the first prelude, and also the Chopin Preludes and any sonatas or sonatinas. Even though Op 28 no 4 and 6 and perhaps a few others may seem 'easy', they still might be a bit of a technical challenge, not to mention very musically challenging. The Bach preludes, I would disagree with them being accessible to a grade 1 pianist, and sonatinas, even clementi can be a challenge with some of the passages. Patience will get you a looonnnggg way in piano playing! Wait a couple of months and you could attempt some of those pieces as a good challenge which you can surpass.

I never used method books, but I did stick with grade pieces, they usually have some interesting pieces if you're lucky, perhaps look for some of the grade 1 books from previous years, or even have a peek at grade 2. A good book with some modern sounding, but really nice pieces is Solo Repertoire from the Bastien Older Beginner Piano Library...I know it's nothing from any of the great composers, but some of the pieces in there really are nice.

Revolutionary...the inventions are brilliant! Deceptively easy when you look at the music, and alright to play at slow speeds, but to bring them up to speed is a great challenge, but incredibly good technique wise. You could also have a look at Shostakovich's Children's Notebook, there's a really nice waltz in A minor I think in there.

[hyrst]

I would keep in mind that even though 23 feels like an old age to start - you do actually have a lot of time ahead of you, all going well.  It is best to get good foundations - and a good method will give you a system for developing technique and reading.  I would stick with these.

However, you are also an adult with intellectual ability far beyond what some of these systems present.  With that in mind, you will be restless to learn something that feels and sounds to you like 'real' music - basically this means that it comes from a recognised composer, when you work it all out, little more than that.  However, it is this motivation that drives us to learn and practice.

Don't bite off too much at once - fast track through your lesson books, but organise the pieces you want to learn.  These can also speed up your learning while you are laying foundations.  The WTC is pretty much grade 7 upwards - and you can get Prelude 1 for free.  So don't get this one yet.  The Anna Magdalena books have a few fairly simple and lovely pieces - and most of the pieces are quite pleasing.  They are between grades 1 and 4.  Try the Minuets.  They are nice and they are logical. 

I would suggest trying to get through this book and your method book/s in the next few months and then you might be ready for grade 3 pieces - which opens up more Beethoven Dances and other short Classical works.  But, listen to your teacher - they are there to help and guide you, and hopefully to fast track you as an adult.  Value the work you are doing now because it will make harder work more accessible sooner.

[tsagari]

I would keep in mind that even though 23 feels like an old age to start - you do actually have a lot of time ahead of you, all going well.  It is best to get good foundations - and a good method will give you a system for developing technique and reading.  I would stick with these.

However, you are also an adult with intellectual ability far beyond what some of these systems present.  With that in mind, you will be restless to learn something that feels and sounds to you like 'real' music - basically this means that it comes from a recognised composer, when you work it all out, little more than that.  However, it is this motivation that drives us to learn and practice.

Don't bite off too much at once - fast track through your lesson books, but organise the pieces you want to learn.  These can also speed up your learning while you are laying foundations.  The WTC is pretty much grade 7 upwards - and you can get Prelude 1 for free.  So don't get this one yet.  The Anna Magdalena books have a few fairly simple and lovely pieces - and most of the pieces are quite pleasing.  They are between grades 1 and 4.  Try the Minuets.  They are nice and they are logical. 

I would suggest trying to get through this book and your method book/s in the next few months and then you might be ready for grade 3 pieces - which opens up more Beethoven Dances and other short Classical works.  But, listen to your teacher - they are there to help and guide you, and hopefully to fast track you as an adult.  Value the work you are doing now because it will make harder work more accessible sooner.

I agree the most with hyrst
Take his advice very seriously. I am adult student too 41 not 23
I've started almost 4 years ago and I had the same thoughts with you. I wanted to play everything and I still want . My opinin, do not try Chopin preludes. There are not easy, just easy notes. The lesson I've learned these four years is that I have to wait till I am ready to play certain pieces and I have to trust my teacher.

[csharp_minor]

Thanks everyone for your replies!

However, you are also an adult with intellectual ability far beyond what some of these systems present.  With that in mind, you will be restless to learn something that feels and sounds to you like 'real' music - basically this means that it comes from a recognised composer, when you work it all out, little more than that.  However, it is this motivation that drives us to learn and practice.

Don't bite off too much at once - fast track through your lesson books, but organise the pieces you want to learn.  These can also speed up your learning while you are laying foundations.  The WTC is pretty much grade 7 upwards - and you can get Prelude 1 for free.  So don't get this one yet.  The Anna Magdalena books have a few fairly simple and lovely pieces - and most of the pieces are quite pleasing.  They are between grades 1 and 4.  Try the Minuets.  They are nice and they are logical. 

Hyrst

Yeah you got it right, I had just got too much of a taste for learning pieces by known composers and thought I should just stick with them. I will continue going through the John Thomson books, learning my grade pieces, and also buy that Anna Magdalena notebook
to keep things interesting. 

Actually quite a lot of the pieces in piano method books are quite nice.

I have learned the Bach prelude too that you had on your blog. But I need to learn the ending

I finished learning the ending yesterday! ...finally!

[bernhard]

Real pieces.

For every pedagogical rubbish found in a method book you will find an equivalent piece of high musical quality written by a superlative (and sometimes very obscure composer). It is really a matter of knowing repertory (an area in which, sadly, most piano teachers are lacking).

Time is short, no one knows how much of it we have left. Being 23 is no assurance you will make it to 300. Arriaga died at 19, Schubert at 31, Mozart at 34, Mendelssohn at 38 and Chopin at 39.

Start here:

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,2147.msg18098.html#msg18098
(Easiest piano piece ever written)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php?PHPSESSID=cf5798828dafc1a200f2dbf4c611b64e&topic=7008.msg69624#msg69624
(Beautiful music that is not hard to play)

https://pianoforum.net/smf/index.php/topic,4140.msg38111.html#msg38111
(True repertory for total beginners)

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[csharp_minor]

Thanks Bernhard

Those links are really useful esp (True repertory for total beginners) You wrote quite a list there!

Thanks!