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Rookie to Intermediate

Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2018 5:50 pm
by joe_hill
Right, this is prolly a numbskull question, but...

... so I basically picked up the study of piano so I could learn how to play the Beatles. Naturally enough, I'm dyin' to get going with "Imagine." Well, "Imagine" is available at several levels: rookie, intermediate, advanced.

So... if I learn the rookie version, is there any chance at all it will undermine learning the intermediate? The latter will build on the former, right? My (probably ridiculous) concern is that I'll learn the fingering one way, then have to entirely relearn the fingering a different way to take the next step up. That's a needless worry, right?

Also, anytime Playground wants to add, "Martha My Dear" or "Lady Madonna," y'know, I won't complain, I promise.

Re: Rookie to Intermediate

Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2018 7:50 pm
by andrewwegierski
Hi Joe,

There's no such thing as a dumb question here. That's a good question. You're right that the intermediate arrangements build on the rookie ones. I think what you're getting at is - it's not necessarily relearning, but, rookie songs will have simplified hand positions, and for intermediate, because there are added notes - "building on rookie," you'll have to learn new hand position changes.

But don't worry - it's not like it totally renders the rookie version irrelevant. The rookie songs are always a good foundation for learning the intermediate versions.

Re: Rookie to Intermediate

Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2018 7:59 pm
by Russ1409
I would add that down the road, you may want to play a song outside of Playground, and if you find music for it, the music may be tough to learn at first because it's too difficult. I've always bought all versions of Playground songs, and eventually you start to see the pattern that Andrew mentions, from beginner to advanced. This has really helped me "reverse engineer" some music I had on my shelf. I actually take the music down to the "beginner" level core...easy melody in the right hand and either one finger base chords or simple triad chords in my left hand. Then kind of add an "intermediate" level and eventually, maybe, get to the "advanced" level of playing the song.

So not only did I get to enjoy playing the Playground songs from beginner to intermediate (and sometimes advanced), it was a real music lesson to me. If you're interested in playing other pieces, I think it's a great learning tool.

Not all of the Playground sessions build directly like I've described, but many (most?) do.

Re: Rookie to Intermediate

Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2018 8:42 pm
by joe_hill
Glad to hear. Andrew, Russ, thanks for the intel.