Level 1 – Repertoire, Course Lists & Discussion Space

Hi Ben, 

Thank you for reaching out. I really appreciate the organization of the Level System outlines, since I am self-teaching; the more detail, the better for me.  There are excellent lessons on ToneBase at the beginning level. I enjoy Roskell's warmup and the choreography series. The lessons on how to practice specific pieces are helpful, especially at the early level.  

I grew up playing violin, left music for a while, but wanted to return to music via the piano so as to jump into polyphony (and not need and ensemble to enjoy complete works of music). For me, the challenge is reading polyphonic scores, coordination of the two hands, and spending more time making bass-clef reading as automatic as treble clef. I also struggle to perform a harmonic analysis, and a musical analysis of pieces (and there is a good ToneBase lecture on interpretive analysis). 

I think a mix of technique, repertoire and harmonic analysis/applied keyboard harmony is helpful for me since I have good familiarity with classical music from my years in ensembles on the other instrument.  To organize daily practice and short-term goals, I am thinking that a selection of Bach and romantic era music would help with technique and reading, along with working through the scales/arpeggios and associated cadences in the keys for each piece. 

Any additional material at the beginner level repertoire and technique is, of course, welcome. Goal-setting at the beginning level is particularly challenging, but a video on ToneBase addresses this issue and is very encouraging.

Can we do multiple courses at the same time or should we focus on the course order you specified here?

Hello All, am I the only shocked to see that we're expected to play the scales looking at the staff notation from Level1 itself? I can't find introduction to the piano, posture, finger movement and basics like that. Am I missing something?

I agree, as a total newbie i love the idea of not just following the notes as in other piano apps and having a deep understanding about theory and technique instead. But i still feel that the total basic here for a person that never played any instrument is quite advanc :). And yes, the outline at the top of this discussion is a good start, but it is a still bit too much to digest. I would prefere to somehow mix them together into one learning path, so there is Short lesson about how to sit and hand position, then some practise of a song with few notes, then some bit of theory behind it, then maybe some fingering excercise, etc... Having these long "courses" with one specific focus is a bit counterproductive for total beginner.

I think Tonebase should point people to this resource as a matter of course. It's a great place for someone like me to start. I was assessed at L3 but knew that was wildly optimistic and based on a general but sketchy musical knowledge. I need the real deal basic stuff, such as the choreography course which is wonderful. Now I have a map to follow.

Hi Anyone at Level One

Is the Anyone here

I'm enjoying level one

I'm on UK Initial Grade level

I've had two good teachers for 3 years. One teacher was an examiner for Trinity I had her for two years.... She taught me a practice plan.... Which I'm fine tuning.

The other teacher is a composer I had for one year.

.... But I don't like teachers so I thought I'll try Tone base.  It's really good....

How you finding it.

Love to buddy up with someone as an accountability buddy...

I've got a friend who joined TONEBASE Voice... But she's struggling and doesn't communicate well.

I'm enjoying the Taubman method.

I've done Alexander tech for over 10 years

Feldenkris for over 10 years

Tai chi for over 10 years

I find the Taubman method complementary to my learning curve... I'm really enjoying it!

How you finding being at Tone base 

Love to hear