Circle of Fists' Beginner Song Playlist (w/ links)

Edit:

HI! In case you just joined us on this fine forum, just click on the link below for my recommend learning order of the beginner songs I've learned so far and have links to free music for:

https://afpa.hooxs.com/songs-f5/circle-of-fists-beginner-song-playlist-w-links-t1217-20.htm#12326


Otherwise, just follow along on this thread and see the order I learned these songs in.





Original Post Below:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi all. I started playing piano last week. I'm 33 and I think I might be one of the "old guys" here.

I've noticed that it's not always easy to know what to practice or what songs to learn - and then finding free versions of the recommended songs on the web is sometimes difficult as well.

So, as I accumulate new music, I'll add it to the list for beginners like me looking for stuff to play at the appropriate level. This is the first song I learned last night:


(Level 1) Mozart Allegro in F K. 1c

http://dme.mozarteum.at/DME/nma/nma_cont.php?vsep=201&gen=edition&l=1&p1=87

(the link above will take you to page 87, so click on the number 88 at the top or scroll to the next page, and the music will be at the top of the page with "55" next to it. I made a screen shot to print the music. It took me forever to find this for free on the web.)

You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRg-PZ1_z-A

Challenging to learn with both hands, but once I learned it isn't so bad to play. I played it for my son this morning, but he wasn't impressed.

After a second night of practicing the last song, I think I have it down pretty well.

Last night I also started on a new song:

(Level 1) Beethoven Ecossaise in G Major WoO 23

find it here:

Code:

http://imslp.org/wiki/Ecossaise,_WoO_23_(Beethoven,_Ludwig_van)

(ETA: you'll have to copy and paste the address above into your browser)

(click on "complete score" (near top), next page click on agreeing to the disclaimer, then you get to the music)

On You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckkzfdv7ltc

by a 5 year old: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLGnzV1c_j4&NR=1


I only managed to work thru the first section of this song last night. It seemed much more difficult than the first piece (original post), but after grinding through it for a while it seemed to click. I found it easier once I felt the groove with the left hand (dum bum bum bum, dum bum bum bum, etc...) and right hand just kind of finds the melody itself.

After grinding through that first part, I took a look at the second part and thought I might pass out. I decided it was time to go to bed!

Unfortunately I won't have much chance to practice this weekend. See you all next week!


ETA: I can't get the link for the sheet music to work without my message dissapearing, weird.

.

poof

nice playing alessio!

Great, another fancy song ! But how did you found these songs ? Surfing the web or do you have a list or something ?
And who assign the level to a song ?
Indeed the Ecossaise in G seems more difficult, but I still haven't tried it. Also this song seems very popular among 5-10 years old children on youtube

really nice playing alessio ^^.

Circle_of_Fists wrote:
Challenging to learn with both hands, but once I learned it isn't so bad to play. I played it for my son this morning, but he wasn't impressed.

Just keep it up. You will impress him just exercise ^^.

You just need to find a song book and then look for the names you're interesting at then look for it on web for midi or mp3 or even a tutorial of the song. ^^ But the best thing is look for your favorite songs.

Circle_of_Fists wrote:
On You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckkzfdv7ltc

by a 5 year old: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLGnzV1c_j4&NR=1

The first performance has some wrong notes etc., the 5 year old plays it much better

frank wrote:

Circle_of_Fists wrote:
On You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckkzfdv7ltc

by a 5 year old: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLGnzV1c_j4&NR=1

The first performance has some wrong notes etc., the 5 year old plays it much better

Here is mine from a year ago, one of the first pieces I learned On my, at the time, new digital piano

Thomandy wrote:
Here is mine from a year ago, one of the first pieces I learned On my, at the time, new digital piano

Nice

I've tried the sheet from http://imslp.org/wiki/Ecossaise,_WoO_23_(Beethoven,_Ludwig_van) , but the chords sounds wrong and they are different than the ones you are playing. The melody is really easy to learn, but the speed is a bit difficult and it doesn't sound good, if played too slowly. This is me playing the beginning, without chords:

http://www.frank-buss.de/tmp/ecossaise.mp3

PS: http://www.abrsm.org/resources/allViola0506.pdf says, that you could start with Ecossaise WoO 23 after 3-4 years of lessons.

Looking a again at the chords, it looks like they are right, but it's me playing it wrong. I'll post again in 3 years

alessio wrote:Great, another fancy song ! But how did you found these songs ? Surfing the web or do you have a list or something ?
And who assign the level to a song ?
Indeed the Ecossaise in G seems more difficult, but I still haven't tried it. Also this song seems very popular among 5-10 years old children on youtube

In a sticky in this forum is a link to songs and ratings:

http://www.pianoworld.com/Uploads/files/Graded_Pieces_Sorted_By_Difficulty.PDF

I just picked it out because it was level 1 and I could find the music online. It's definitely more difficult than the first song, but after 2 nights of practicing it I can finally get thru it all at a very slow speed.

I'm hoping after a couple of more nights I'll have it down. It's amazing how the brain works. I had such a hard time with the first one too, but now it's no problem at all. I'm expecting (hoping) that it will work the same for this piece as well.

Here is mine from a year ago, one of the first pieces I learned On my, at the time, new digital piano

Very nice! I hope to be able to play that smoothly as well!

frank wrote:

Circle_of_Fists wrote:
On You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckkzfdv7ltc

by a 5 year old: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLGnzV1c_j4&NR=1

The first performance has some wrong notes etc., the 5 year old plays it much better

I liked the 5 year old's version too. Learning the piano so far has been a very humbling experience. It's good motivation for me to see a 5 year old play something easily that I cannot!

And now for a break from the last, more difficult, piece. This one is a lot easier, but we'll throw in a twist to still make it a challenge. It was very rewarding for me to knock this one out.

Someone here posted a link to a how to play piano book:

http://books.google.com/books?id=t1cJrAFOqc8C&lpg=PP1&pg=PA175

In the little box near the top of the page, put in "175" and press enter. It will take you to page 175 and a little song called the Mountain Song by Ferdinand Beyer.

To me the music looked pretty simple, so to make it more of a challenge for myself I thought that I would try to learn this piece without hearing it first. Not only would I be able to add another song to my playlist, I would hopefully improve my sheet reading skills.

My wife was in the room with me when I first started trying to play this one. Man, did I sound pathetic. All fists, so to speak. It also didn't help that I didn't notice at first that they snuck in a treble clef on the left hand! Boy, did it sound wrong until I figured that one out!

It wasn't until she left and I had worked for a while that my hands would finally cooperate with each other. But after a lot of practice I think I finally got it.

I tried to find a video of the song so I could hear if I played it correctly or not, but I couldn't find one. So, if any beginners out there want to learn this one, you gotta do it by the sheet!

A great little song!

.

alessio wrote:Here's how I play the "Mountain Song"

Awesome! That is how mine sounds too, so I think we must be playing it correctly.

I've found this easy version of Chopin Op. 9 n. 2 that I'd like to learn http://www.megaupload.com/?d=E0JKH01W though it seems veery loong for my standards.

Thanks, I'll put that one next on the list. It does look a little long, but oh well. I like the challenges each piece brings.

I guess the Ecossaise in G Major WoO 23 is too difficult for me, I have to do some exercises on arpeggios.

I also thought it was extremely difficult at first. Somewhere said that it was a Level 1 song, so I just kept at it thinking "man, what is level 2 like?!?". But I eventually got my hands to work together, but it did take a while. It's a very fun piece to play now.

The next one on the list that I started on tonight is:

(Level 1) Minuet in C major by J.P. Rameau

A link to the sheet:

http://www.pianostreet.com/piano_sheet_music/Rameau-1257/Minuet-C-1-C-Major.html

(the only one I could find was on pianostreet, so you need an account (free) to see this page. Also, the sheet is blocked a little from their watermark, but I think the missing part is the same as the first 2 measures, so no problem)

Piano street also has a short snippet of what it is supposed to sound like.

This hasn't been one of my favorites (melody wise), but I like the challenge this one presents to me.

This one might take a few days to get down well.

Well, after practicing last night and briefly this morning, I'm coming along nicely on the last piece, so tonight it's time for a new one:

(Level 1) Beethoven Ecossaise in Eb major WoO 86

Find it here:

http://imslp.org/wiki/Ecossaise_WoO86_%28Beethoven%2C_Ludwig_van%29

click on complete score, next page click on agreeing to the disclaimer, then you get the music

Unfortunately I can't find any video for this one yet. We'll see how it goes without the help.

This might be my last new piece for a while. I've been learning these new songs lately and leaving little time for technical drills. So, before I learn any new ones after this one I really need to focus on drills for a while. We'll see how long that lasts.

Circle_of_Fists wrote:
(Level 1) Beethoven Ecossaise in Eb major WoO 86

Find it here:

http://imslp.org/wiki/Ecossaise_WoO86_%28Beethoven%2C_Ludwig_van%29

I can now successfully manage my way through this one at very slow speed.

I have to say that E flat major is a pretty messed up scale, though. It took some getting used to my fingers between those black keys, but they finally conquered their claustrophobia.

Circle_of_Fists wrote:Well, after practicing last night and briefly this morning, I'm coming along nicely on the last piece, so tonight it's time for a new one:

(Level 1) Beethoven Ecossaise in Eb major WoO 86

Find it here:

http://imslp.org/wiki/Ecossaise_WoO86_%28Beethoven%2C_Ludwig_van%29

click on complete score, next page click on agreeing to the disclaimer, then you get the music

Unfortunately I can't find any video for this one yet. We'll see how it goes without the help.

This might be my last new piece for a while. I've been learning these new songs lately and leaving little time for technical drills. So, before I learn any new ones after this one I really need to focus on drills for a while. We'll see how long that lasts.

I found a video of the Beethoven Ecossaise in Eb major WoO 86 thugh it's played by a beginner

I guess it's not the same song

Those lines above the treble cleff with the numbers "1." and "2." mean that one should hold down the right pedal (damper pedal) ?

He looks like a young Tom Hanks!

alessio wrote:
Those lines above the treble cleff with the numbers "1." and "2." mean that one should hold down the right pedal (damper pedal) ?

I would have never known what those darned things are if it weren't for one of Andrew's lessons. I think it was the Fur Elise one.

Anyway, the "1" measure is what you play the first time thru. Then you go back and repeat the section again, back to where you see the double measure line with some dots (to the beginning if you don't see them, but this one has it after the first two notes.)

The second time thru, you ignore the "1" measure and play the "2" measure instead.

So, this song repeats both the first part and second part, and at the end of each they vary slightly.

OK. Enough technical drills for now. Very useful, and have helped me improve. But very boring. I will continue to practice what I've learned, but I couldn't help but start on a new piece yesterday to spice things up again.

Apparently with my free piano street account there are 30 something or so free pieces. I just picked one, this:

(Level ? - 1?) Friedrich Burgmüller - Arabesque, opus 100 no 2

http://www.pianostreet.com/search/freesingle.php?id=911
(you need a piano street free account to access - it's worth doing. An mp3 is also available to hear it.)

And for motivation, here's some young girl playing it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtVGCBTeYpk

A very cool song to learn. Getting it up to proper tempo is gonna take some work, as will a few of the hangups I have at the moment.


A little info on the song:

Burgmüller's piano music is mainly intended for juvenile performers, and his opus 68, 76, 97, 100, and 105 etudes are widely used for piano teaching today. Etudes in opus 100, Twenty-Five Easy and Progressive Studies for Pianoforte, are used for piano lessons especially for juvenile learners with small hands because of the following reasons:

·There are no octave fingerings
·The widest range (interval) is the seventh
·Each piece has an unique title, and the pieces are pleasant (joyful)

This piece is very fast. Like a foliage (arabesque design), try to express brilliant sound movements. It is also basic practice for scales; playing 1,2,3,4, and 5 of the right hand (also left hand) with fast speed are difficult at the beginning levels because it usually comes up unevenly. Try to get rid of unevenness, listen to your sound carefully, and articulate clearly.

http://www.gate.net/~nnomoto/burgmuller/burgmull.htm

The one I'm starting on tonight is:

(Level 2) Bach - Minuet in G (BWV Anh. 114)

http://www.gmajormusictheory.org/Freebies/Intermediate/Bach/BachMinuAll.pdf

(this version leaves out some mordants I saw in other versions, which I wouldn't play anyway because they're distracting to me)

On youtube by some young dude playing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8GYXkDFcmE

The melody of this piece is very familiar to me as it's on the Baby Bach video by Baby Einstein. I've heard it a lot, but seen the video little since the video is only on during long car rides for the kids in the "bach" seat of the van (pun = groan .) I've seen these videos a couple of times, and they're pretty mesmerizing. They should have called them "Baby Crack". Anyway...

We'll see how the new-and-improved "Level 2" goes here. It doesn't sound difficult. But one never knows.

Tut, tut - he was playing with his elbows below the keyboard. Not a good idea - see Andrew's lesson 17. Other than that, he played it brilliantly. I wish I could do it half as well.