UK Piano Page Piano Forum

Hi guys,

I need urgent advice re my adult pupils. They have been learning for about 8 months now from scratch, using Carol Barratt's book for adults. Most are two thirds of the way thro', able to read notes and moving on away from 5-finger position. The book from this point seems to jump in standard (ie the LH is very 'busy') and they are really struggling with hand co-ordination.

1) I am concerned that I am doing sthg wrong as progress seems to be too slow for 8 months and some are beginning to lose heart. I dont want them to give up and stop!! - how long should it take for adult beginners to start enjoying playing real little pieces??Ive got Bastien's Classic Themes by The Masters which I want to get them on to but even this is still stretching it for some of them!

2) Has anyone used this method book before and if so what do you think?

3) Most important, PLEASE could you recommend some pieces/books/exercises I can use for this transition stage - things they would enjoy but NOT HARD. Even basic stuff b4 Gd 1 level would be handy. I really need sthg to supplement this method book.

Any advice regarding adults in their first year of learning piano would be really appreciated. THANK YOU!

I constantly recommend The Complete Piano Player by Kenneth Baker as it uses songs they know (Abba, Elvis, Beatles, folk songs) and so they can pick up on mistakes quickly and feel a sense of achievement as they're playing something recognisable to them and to others. I hope Colin is reading this as he is a proper teacher and may be able to help you further.

Does the Kenneth Baker book go up in Grades?
Which one would be best for intermediate?

From distant memory, I think it finishes at about a grade 3 level, but the best thing to do is to go into a music shop and have a look.

Hello Octavia!

level 3

best regards,

Hello,

I started to learn to play the electric piano from March this year ( 2023) and in order to accelerate my learning of base clef which was completely new to me I discovered a 'completely unorthodox' method once I saw a visual pattern between base clef and treble clef.

Whilst playing, I converted all base clef notes by seeing its' treble clef equivalent and converting into base clef. For instance.

Start at base clef only. ( The capital letter is base clef note and lower case is its treble clef equivalent).

For all notes from b to the left of middle C for two octaves down to C the difference is two whole tones. Eg looking at the
top line is f in treble clef add 2 whole tones = A
mddle line is b in treble clef add 2 tones = D
2nd line g is B in base clef
and lowest line of base clef is e in treble clef = G


Sharps and flats are a played the same but a semi- tone lower or higher following the method above.

I have not worked out the notes below the two octaves as above but for 4 notes below C to F is 3 semi tones as I was playing Copin and his hands were much longer than mine and I can't reach some of the notes due to small hands which is a pain in the ass but thank gawd for Bach haha.

The funny thing about this is it also works in treble clef for the left hand too! I hope this helps and just to let you know I started learning by playing slowly at first and I am totally fluent with my left hand and playing different notes with both hands.
and clefs as well as crossover.

This method was created by myself and this is the first time I have shared it online I have done my best to explain as clear as possible and hope this helps.

I am playing The English Suite No.2 BWV 907 by Johanne Sebastian Bach right now which is a a wonderful piece of music to play.

I

Sorry I stand errected.

For notes C to F on the 3rd octave below middle C is 3 whole tones difference not semi tones I have semi tobes on my brain from my violin practice haha

I am replying to this very old post and question, but perhaps my post will help some others in future.

I started learning piano 3 years ago at 30+ years with no previous musical experience whatsoever and on my own. I would say that for a very average, even “non-musical” adult, all piano method books are hard EXCEPT “Piano Adventures” Book 1 and 2 for adults – which goes at such a slow pace – it is simply impossible not to have some progress. Everything, Barratt, It’s Never Too Late To Play Piano Method, etc. – they are too hard, get difficult quickly.

I tried 8 different method books – finished them all. The teacher in the original post says his adult students are disappointed with their progress at 8 months especially with their hand coordination. That's very normal, especially for adult students. My hand coordination only appeared at the level I am satisfied with (more or less) 2 years!!! into my self-study. That’s normal especially using Barratt method. If they want to play pop – possibly get only Alfred, it they want to play classical – highly recommend only "The Piano Adventures”. That’s “completely from scratch” methods. "The Piano Adventures" method is the SLOWEST & the MOST IN-DEPTH method there is. It is IMPOSSIBLE not to progress, even if the pupil is completely unmusical. Highly recommend.