3 Weeks and I'm Done!

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Richard
Posts: 31
Joined: Sat Apr 23, 2016 5:54 am

3 Weeks and I'm Done!

Post by Richard » Wed May 11, 2016 2:58 am

I started out on 23rd April and was hoping that I would be here for some while, but 3 weeks have passed and so has my time here.

This was overall a good starting point, an introduction to the ideas behind music and playing the piano. For me it was like a Wiki experience... just gives you enough to want to know more.

With the first sessions I moved from one to another hoping for support and progression, but mainly it was a bit of information and then a go at hitting the notes at the right time, to get a good enough score to get a tick and there is a lot of this stuff already out there on the net. This basic format didn't change and the exercises in the Advanced section didn't do anything to develop my understanding, or playing. The video information was good, but that was the end of each session.... such a shame!

This place has the potential to be so much more! It could build on this basic framework. What I needed was more support material to each lesson and additional tutorials on particular aspects of playing the piano.. and not just reading music ie, left and right hand exercises, patterns and riffs, progression exercises, beginnings, fillins and endings etc. A weekly input of new songs, or snipits and tips for the week.. something to get the place moving.... this I'm sure would improve the forum use too! I tried to have a bit of a say here, but if it wasn't for Draco... I wouldn't know anyone else was here! So thank you Draco!

Quincy got me here... as a big fan of a very talented man... I was hoping for a bit of Soul.. of Quincyness.. but sadly this was nowhere to be found.

I'm now going to give time to developing my ability to play each of the most common keys... C, G, D, A, F, Bb and Eb. The scale, chords and their inversions, right and left hand independence etc. I think a full week on each should get me started and while I'm doing that, I can check out my next step.. search online resources etc. So any ideas would be gratefull recieved!?

I've found a site that I think is very useful... Hooktheory.com.. good place to develop understanding of how music works.

I've enjoyed my time here, so thank you David for getting me started on my journey with the keyboard!

All the best to everyone else! Happy Playing!

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sw1tch73ch
Posts: 539
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2016 1:23 pm

Re: 3 Weeks and I'm Done!

Post by sw1tch73ch » Tue Nov 08, 2016 2:29 am

Richard hasn't been active since May this year, so I don't expect he'll reply, but I do have a question for the general populous here.

How common is it for people to complete this in three weeks?

I've been working on the Rookie Level for about three weeks and am only part way through the Rookie boot camp. I realize I don't spend huge amounts of time each day, as it sounds some do, I just practice until my hands get tired, or my brain. That usually works out to about 30 minutes for me, not all of which is actually counted by Playground Sessions. I have to give my mind time to absorb things. I do practice outside of Playground. I just find I can't absorb much more than thirty minutes of new lessons every day.

Also, I would think you'd want to stick around even after completing the various levels so that you could request and buy new songs and use Playground Sessions to practice those and to replay work you've previously completed to refresh the mental and muscle memory. I know I plan to keep popping in here (the program and the forum) well after I complete all the lessons, which at my rate could be a while.

I especially think sticking around is smart since the work continues to make Playground Sessions better.
== Just keep playing. Just keep playing. Just keep playing, playing, playing! ==

-- jbs --

Luck876
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Dec 20, 2016 9:30 pm

Re: 3 Weeks and I'm Done!

Post by Luck876 » Sat Dec 24, 2016 7:29 am

Hi Switch,

I don't think it's too common to complete the entire program in 3 weeks for someone that's just starting but I just joined on Monday. I've got 5 days of playing in for a total of around 11 hours. I'm at level 20 and about half way through the rookie tour.
I'm on vacation this week so I plan on spending a lot of time at the keyboard. I'm hoping to be at least 1/4 way through the intermediate tour by the end of my vacation.
I have absolutely no previous experience with a piano or anything to do with music.

ThomasTedsmall
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Dec 15, 2016 2:35 pm
Location: Belize
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3 Weeks and Im Done

Post by ThomasTedsmall » Sun Dec 25, 2016 11:31 pm

Ill be away for a couple of weeks and wont be able to moderate if any spammers get through. Although it has been pretty quiet so I dont expect any problems.
If Mark gets time he should be able to to sort things out, but just ignore anything and Ill sort it out when I get back.

"laters"

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sw1tch73ch
Posts: 539
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2016 1:23 pm

Re: 3 Weeks and I'm Done!

Post by sw1tch73ch » Tue Dec 27, 2016 12:54 pm

I'm the tortoise then... slow and steady. Well, slow anyway. I'm sure I'll get there eventually. I just ticked over level 19 a few moments ago, in the middle of "Girl Crush".
== Just keep playing. Just keep playing. Just keep playing, playing, playing! ==

-- jbs --

Luck876
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Dec 20, 2016 9:30 pm

Re: 3 Weeks and I'm Done!

Post by Luck876 » Thu Dec 29, 2016 9:35 am

Girl Crush was a tricky one for me.
I'm forcing myself to slow down now.
Are you using any other resources? I just received the Hal Leonard Adult Piano Method books 1 & 2 from Amazon. It's pretty good. It's helping me learn to read the sheet music better as I was relying too heavily on the finger numbers in Playground and not really learning the notes on the sheet.
Also waiting for Alfred's Basic Adult All-in-One Course.

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sw1tch73ch
Posts: 539
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2016 1:23 pm

Re: 3 Weeks and I'm Done!

Post by sw1tch73ch » Thu Dec 29, 2016 2:30 pm

I don't currently use any other learning resources. You can change the finger numbers to the note letters so you don't rely on the finger numbers so much. I've been thinking that's it's time for me to switch them off.

I have thought of getting some of the lesson books too, though.
== Just keep playing. Just keep playing. Just keep playing, playing, playing! ==

-- jbs --

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