Piano Adventures? Alfred? Neither?

[bizgirl]

I have an adult student who is completely new to piano starting lessons in a couple weeks.  I've been looking into the various adult piano courses available and was wondering what you all thought about them.  The Alfred adult course seems most popular.  I like the Piano Adventures series for young students and I was curious to know if any of you have used the adult course and if you liked/disliked it.  I understand that method books are not the only option, and if you do something completely different I'd like to know about that too.  Thanks!

[goalevan]

piano adventures was really solid, but I've never used Alfreds.

[xvimbi]

I can recommend Faber's Adult Piano Adventures (2 books with or without CDs). They seem to me like a good general overview. Depending on the student, a more systematic approach might be better though, as the Faber books (and pretty much all general adult courses) touch on a little here and a little there, but not on each aspect in a more comprehensive way. I also like other Faber series, e.g. "Focus on Melody", "Let's sight play", and their techniques series. Using those books, it should be possible to come up with a tailored plan.

[bernhard]

I have an adult student who is completely new to piano starting lessons in a couple weeks.  I've been looking into the various adult piano courses available and was wondering what you all thought about them.  The Alfred adult course seems most popular.  I like the Piano Adventures series for young students and I was curious to know if any of you have used the adult course and if you liked/disliked it.  I understand that method books are not the only option, and if you do something completely different I'd like to know about that too.  Thanks!

I do not use methods.

I have nothing against them, but I have nothing in favour of them either. They can be very useful if you are starting to teach and do not quite know what to do. In this way they provide a structured and methodical system for one to follow.

The problem is that  - as with every system – when they are applicable they work wonders, but when they are not applicable it is a disaster. So as one’s experience grows, one tends to use less and less the method  - or modify it more and more – until one has one’s own method! Hence the proliferation of methods in the music shops.

Usually I disagree with most philosophies behind such methods, specifically the way they simplify things. Simplify one must, but most of the ways I’ve seen are not the best ways, or the ways that will lead to the fast learning.

On top of that, I find the selection of repertory on most method books dismal.

There is one method I came across that is very well thought out, and very applicable for adults (there may be others that I have not come across). If I had to use a method, I would probably use this one:

Jon George & Mary Gae George - Artistry at the piano (Warner)

For adult students – who usually are highly motivated and know exactly what they want, my approach is to ask them what pieces they would like to be playing eventually, and to tailor a course that will lead them to play these pieces (no matter how impossible it may seem at the beginning). Have a look here where I described in detail how I went about it in a specific case:

http://www.pianoforum.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=teac;action=display;num=1083060519

I hope this helps.

Best wishes,
Bernhard.