Are The Book/DVD Good For An Adult Beginner?

Hi, I started learning piano 5 month ago, at the late age of 30 and I like it very much. I started as an absolute beginner and progress has been quite good I think. I am now working on grade 1 RCM pieces (Canada) and my teacher says we can move to grade 2 very soon. After watching several videos of Alan, including the DVD demo, I am really impressed with the level of detail and clarity of his explanations. The only reason I haven't bought the DVD yet is that I am concerned that most if it is too advanced for a player with my experience. On the other hand, why should I spend years of acquiring bad habits before learning the proper hand structure and movements? So, basically, my question is: are the DVD and book good for me? Zack

The answer is a resounding YES! I based a lot of the exercises on advanced repertoire because I did not want to turn off advanced pianists who can really use this approach. But the principles apply equally well to beginners and I am especially excited about the possibility of beginners "doing it right" from the beginning and avoiding having to 'fix' things later on. And I am not just trying to sell you a DVD! I speak from experience both personal - in my teaching - and from numerous beginners who have written to say how much they benefitted from the book and DVD. I wish you much enjoyment of The Craft of Piano Playing! AFF

Thanks! That's the answer I was hoping for. Just bought the DVD... can't wait to get it.

So did things work out as you expected? How is it going? AFF

Hi Alan, Thanks for asking. Things are pretty much as I expected, except it is MUCH slower , but I do get better over time. I practice mainly overholding and legato tai-chi walking at this stage. I can already play faster and more evenly than I used to, although there is a lot of room for imporvement, especially in the finger independence of the left hand. Even when I am not practicing specific excersices from the DVD I am much more concious of my phisycal movements. I never really swivelled in my scales, but I used to slightly swivel in some passages, especially when the thumb plays a black key. It was almost unnoticeable, but it was enough to make me feel tension in the hand after just a few repetions. Now that I am aware of swivelling and rotation/translation, I can feel this "swivelling tension" before it even begins and I correct my movement to avoid swivelling. I haven't had a chance to explore a lot of chords and octaves yet in my beginner repertoire, but I will get there soon. Time to start some pinky push ups now Zack

This is a great post because it is HONEST. Yes, it's happening much slower than you expected - but it's happening! From your descriptions about what you're doing, it sounds to me like you're doing fine. Onwards and upwards! AFF