Hi folks

I went back to having piano lessons in June, after a gap of at least a quarter of a century.

My piano teacher and I have since then worked our way through Waterman and Harewood's "Piano Time" book 2 with (on my part at any rate) grim determination. We are now making inroads into Book 3, and are in the depths of the second chapter.

And it's BORING! The tone of the narrative is patronising and irritating, the exercises are indigestible and the pieces are analysed to bits before you ever try playing them. I am beginning to really dislike the book (as if you couldn't guess).

I need to come up with an alternative idea for material to work from - my goal is to get Grade 5 sometime in 2006, but I have a lot of work to do to get there. Scales are more-or-less there (except minors in contrary motion), arpeggios also OK, and I can sight-read stuff without too much disaster, but my playing technique still leaves much to be desired

Any suggestions of alternative material to get me out of the doldrums and re-motivated greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Katyjay

Classics to Moderns series
Hours with the Masters
Short romantic pieces or Romantic Sketchbook
Keyboard Anthology

Any of these at the appropriate level.
Could add some lighter stuff like maybe Martha Miers Jazz Rags and Blues.

I'm not a piano teacher but I have found Bach 2 and 3 part Inventions and some of Haydn's earlier piano pieces quite accessible. Classics to Modern is also good, though I only have book 1. If that's not your taste there's also Pamela Wedgewood's 'Upgrade' series. Many moons ago I also did Beethoven's Sonata in G op 49 No.2.

I can second the recommendation of Classics to Moderns although unfortunately I don't know which book would be appropriate. But I have learned things from 1 2 and 3, and More Classics to Moderns 1 2 and 3, and there have been some really good things in it.

You may be beyond this by now, but my mum started the Carol Barrett adult tutor book, and when we saw them on sale we got books 2 and 3, I seem to recall that I found some fun pieces in book 3, even working through book two might be appropriate but you'd have to have a look yourself, I'm not sure!

I'm agog that you're aiming for grade 5 this year, katyjay! woah!! I'm impressed!

(I think I should practice more )

Hi katyjay!

Sorry, I'm not familiar with the Waterman book so I'm not sure what level you're at. These books come in various grades so I'm sure you'll find something suitable. In addition to Classics to Moderns, Short Romantic, Romantic Sketchbook, my students like the UpGrade series, Pam Wedgwood, Jazzin About (Wedgwood?) Micro Jazz, Norton and Step it up - Louise Chamberlain. Dances of the Dolls - Shostakovich and Dance Time are popular with grade 4 -5 students.
There's also a volume called 'Library of Piano Classics' which my students like. It costs about £17 - £18 so its a bit pricey, but fantastic value. There are nearly 100 well known classical pieces ranging from Grade 1 - above grade 8 standard. Composers include Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Debussy, Grieg, Mozart and Joplin.

Hope this helps!

How is your shoulder today?

I would recommend Spectrum 2 published by the Associated Board. I got it for Christmas and think it's great. It covers grades 1 to 6 and some of the pieces have been set in exams.

I would recommend something lighter along with the classical suggestions already given, like Pamela Wedgwood Jazzin' About, which is grade 4 standard, and Green Jazzin' about is about grade 5 - very popular with my pupils. Both have had pieces on the exam syllabus.

There are lots of good suggestions here, Katyjay - go and have a browse in a music shop (Britten's?). I would not think that with your background you would need a tutor book at this stage, and I would agree with you that the Waterman/Harewood books are particularly boring - and inconsistent in the way the material is presented in book 1 (don't know about the others).

Thank you everyone for the suggestions. Plenty of ideas for me to explore, and I really appreciate that.

One thing I have to do is bestir myself to go through the crate of piano music I brought back from my late grandfather-in-law's home. I rather think I've seen some Bach two-part inventions, a huge book of Beethoven sonatas and other goodies - so I may well be able to find something to get my teeth into without it being too far beyond my abilities.

And I will definitely start to explore the more jazzy repertoire people have suggested - although I'm absolutely certain there's nothing like that in the crate, so I'd better go visit the library!

Any other suggestions also very welcome, and thanks again!

Katyjay

Why not take a look at the Trinity Rockschool Popular Piano Grade 5 book (and CD).

Gives you a range of popular music styles including Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag. And you can take teh exam too if you get to like it.

Richard
Hong Kong

There were definitely some Classics to Moderns in there as well somewhere.

Christopher Norton's Microjazz series?
Or (and I'll check this at home) Clementi's Op 36 Sonatinas

I brought a bunch of music back from New Zealand when I was cleaning things up, I'll see if there's anything interesting and bring it to Egham.

Yep, I definitely agree with those, most of which I have the whole set for... unfortunate that Hours with the Masters don't go beyond Grade 6... Haven't actually heard of the 3rd suggestion.

'Hours with the Masters' are very good due to the number of pieces you get per book and the variety, and they all sound very tonal too, which is good! Yes, 'Classics to Modern' Series is also another one I recommend, in combination with 'More Classics to Modern'! Quite nice how they all have a Debussy song at the end! Keyboard Anthology gives a quite good idea of the standard of each grade, just they tend to have less songs than the other books previously mentioned. And why not some Scott Joplin books too?! And don't forget there are many piano books in the library too, like you could go for a book of Chopin Etudes, Scriabin Preludes, Debussy's Coin des Enfants (Children's Corner) and a book with waltzes in is quite good too, as waltzes are generally quite simple and still fun to play...

~Wobby~