Question:
I am an adult beginner, and have been studying piano for just over one year now. I enjoy it immensely, and am now able to play a couple of minuets out of Bach's "Notebook for Anna Magdalena". My teacher has also been teaching me some basic music theory and we've created some pleasing arrangements of "standards" from fake books.
While I am still quite a ways from being able to play Chopin, I am curious about what other adult beginners have been able to accomplish. Are there readers of this newsgroup who began studying piano as an adult and who have stayed with it for a while (say, more than five years)? If so, I'm curious to know what you are playing.
While I know that one is never to old to learn, are there any of you who began playing as adults and who have eventually progressed to "advanced" literature -- such as the Bach 48 (besides "prelude in C"), Beethoven sonatas (besides the easiest parts of "Moonlight") or almost anything by Chopin or Grieg?
Answer:
I just finished a course in piano pedagogy at ETSU. One of the things we discussed was what you are talking about. It may have been that your teacher was not aware of the adult series of piano studies that are available. One good source of adult beginning oiano literature is Alfred's Basic Adult Piano Course. This course is designed to help an adult beginner without insulting their intelligence. It is published by Alfred Publishing Company,Inc. 16380 Roscoe blvd. P.O. Box 10003, Van Nuys CA 91410-0003. It has three levels. You can go to a teacher and request this method be used or explore other companies that have adult specified material, such as Bastien or Music Tree.
