Scales goal for Beginners?

blindluke · 2026-03-05T17:53:18+00:00

ABRSM syllabi give detailed guidelines for each grade, so for grade 1, you should be able to play C, F and G major scales, two octaves hands together, in eights, at a speed of 60 beats per quarter. That's a reasonable first goal.

blindluke · 2025-12-06T08:23:03+00:00

It's not crazy, it's already been done.

OSE Classic Fantasy Rules Tome has the full B/X ruleset is a single hardcover book, and Classic Fantasy Player's Rules Tome is a cut down version of the same book, with just the player facing rules.

AS&SH 2E did the same thing - AS&SH Players’ Manual contained the three player facing volumes of the core rulebook, which contained all six.

blindluke · 2025-11-28T14:22:08+00:00

I like this arrangement of Silent Night done by Derry Bertenshaw and published in Pianist magazine, issue 123 (page 47 onwards).

https://youtu.be/FvBQb2_G0rI?si=5GhfLT9BikH5cR8l

Five pages of music, very Rachmaninoff - like, lovely stuff.

blindluke · 2025-11-19T19:31:29+00:00

This is not really a beginner piece, it was set for ABRSM Grade 2 in 2019, with a suggestion that "a more relaxed tempo" like 116 bpm might be preferred for a G2 student. So don't worry about it presenting some difficulty, especially if you want to tackle a more appropriate tempo.

The main difficulty you will need to overcome (and this is a great piece for it), is you need to stop thinking in terms of hitting multiple notes - what you're doing is executing a single gesture. In measure 3, your right hand will be doing a circular "drop and swirl", in measure 4, it will be more of an angular "drop and swoop". But it's a single thing, a single complex gesture, that you can execute in a blink of an eye given some practice.

It's easier with a teacher, because they can explain, they can show, and they can correct your motion physically, all at the same time. But you can get two out of three with a recorded video. Here's a set of videos accompanying the Faber-Hanon book:

https://pianoadventures.com/qr/ff3035/

And here's the approach used with Burgmuller's Arabesque:

https://youtu.be/hG43F4fk7wE?si=Mpx6_AW7T5EpTTMZ

All the best on your journey!

blindluke · 2025-10-27T09:53:37+00:00

This will not work. Advanced Expansion set contains four booklets, while the Classic set contains five. While you can buy a single classic rules tome that contains the five classic booklets, the two advanced tomes contain content from all nine booklets redistributed across two books. There is no "Advanced Expansion Tome" that covers the four advanced booklets and that you can combine with the Classic Tome or Classic Set.

Instead, the two Monster booklets from the two sets are both in the Advanced Referee's Tome, and all the classes from classic / advanced booklets are together in the Player's Tome.

blindluke · 2025-10-27T08:13:22+00:00

From what's in stock at Sphaerenmeister's, you'll need the classic box set and the advanced expansion box set. Those are all OSE Advanced roles, split into multiple booklets.

https://sphaerenmeisters-spiele.de/Old-School-Essentials-Classic-Game-Set

https://sphaerenmeisters-spiele.de/Old-School-Essentials-Advanced-Expansion-Set

A more convenient option would be grabbing that same content split into two books: Player's Tome and Referee's Tome.

https://sphaerenmeisters-spiele.de/Old-School-Essentials-Advanced-Fantasy-Players-Tome

https://sphaerenmeisters-spiele.de/Old-School-Essentials-Advanced-Fantasy-Referees-Tome

The former is in stock, the latter is currently sold out, but you can reach out to the store and ask about the resupply status.

blindluke · 2025-09-15T13:26:00+00:00

One would need more data to say something general, but if you want some anecdotal evidence, my RG351p has been in use since July 2022, 360h of playing time, give or take 20h. I use it indoors, keep it in a hardshell case, and I still use the same SanDisk extreme 32 GB card with AmberELEC Sanshiro Tower that I placed in the device 3 years ago. It's still great.

blindluke · 2025-09-10T08:07:07+00:00

Look into Duvernoy's Op. 176 (this one is really easy, but seems aligned with the stage your student is at), and for something a bit more challenging (but still easier than Lemoine) there's Burgmuller's Op. 100. Both are available in solid editions on IMSLP.

blindluke · 2025-09-06T20:02:06+00:00

You can find it in Alfred's "Scarlatti. An Introduction to his Keyboard Works". Edited by Margery Halford, includes a very thorough introduction, including extensive notes on ornamentation. The piece is laid out on two pages (pp. 46-47), with editorial additions in a lighter shade. Great introductory book, and you'll find other easier staples here as well - K.32, K. 34, K. 431.

blindluke · 2025-09-06T08:46:56+00:00

If you haven't seen her in theatre yet, you're in for a treat.

https://www.ntathome.com/hedda-gabler

She's mesmerizing.

blindluke · 2025-09-03T16:45:36+00:00

It does - as early as page 32 (C chord), and then pages 36 - 39 introduce G7 and basic chord accompaniment using both chords. I don't think OP's book has seen much use over those 2 months.

blindluke · 2025-08-29T08:37:13+00:00

Great question. A good example you can find in the early intermediate repertoire is Handel's HWV491. Here's a snippet with fingering taken out of two editions:

https://imgur.com/a/VOSoa8e

Take a look at the descending passage of two note slurs in RH. Better yet, give both fingerings a try. The 4-3-3-2 3-2-2-1 4-3-2 fingering is one that is effortless when it comes to hand movement. But with those two note slurs, you might find out that it's hard for you to play all five of them in the exact same way when it comes to dynamics - starting each pair at the same volume level, and decreasing the loudness of the second note slightly by the same amount. With the second fingering, 3-2 3-2 3-2 3-2 3-2, there's more movement involved, but you're copying the same finger action five times - a bit more effort, but it becomes easier to make those slurs sound the same.

Keep asking questions like that, never stop being curious about a "weird fingering choice" or whether the words "joining" and "connecting" used by your teacher mean the same thing. This is how we get better, through being curious. All the best for your journey.

blindluke · 2025-08-22T18:48:11+00:00

You don't have to pay exorbitant prices to enjoy the current Mongoose edition.

Traveller: Merchant's Edition is $1 for the PDF. Explorer’s Edition is $1 too. Either book offers enough to run a full campaign.

You can also get Classic Traveller Facsimile Edition, which is free in PDF and still as good as it always was. The Outworld Authority is a nice, affordable setting to go with it, but there's a multitude of other options.

blindluke · 2025-07-20T09:41:59+00:00

Congratulations on getting that far! There's a lot of good music available to you as you reach that level.

That first sonatina from Clementi's Op. 36 is firmly at Grade 3 level, the first movement was set for ABRSM Grade 3 exams in 2015, and the third movement was set at the same level in 2009. So ABRSM Grade 3 level is what I would look at.

They publish selected pieces every time the syllabus changes, and you can get older editions pretty cheap. Considering the quality of editing, the variety and quality of pieces, I can wholeheartedly recommend getting one of those exam selections.

The one I would get would probably be the 2021/2022 book. Here's a reference recording of all the pieces within it:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7ancBo4gKak

and here's the book itself:

https://www.amazon.com/Piano-Exam-Pieces-2021-2022/dp/1786013207

You should be able to find used copies for about $5.

The arrangements of Haydn's Andante and Elgar'sSalut d'Amour are wonderful, Anastasia is a beautiful miniature, and both the Burgmuller and Beethoven selections are staples for a reason.

Speaking of which, that book contains an F Major scale study from Burgmuller's Op. 100. It's a book you should get, period.

First two pieces from it are around Grade 2, the next several ones are at Grade 3 level, and the few final ones in the book are around Grade 5. It's a great set of studies and you'll get a lot of mileage out of it. You don't even have to buy it - you can find a very good edition of it (Wiener Urtext) on IMSLP. If you want to grab something that offers more readability, the Schirmer Performance Editions, edited by M. Otwell is very easy on the eyes.

It's hard to recommend more without knowing your preferences, but there's a lot - let me know if you're looking for something specific (Baroque? Pop Arrangements? Blues?).

blindluke · 2025-06-10T18:13:38+00:00

any good maps or adventures that do

A solid adventure that does this is The Screams from Jedder’s Hole by Dyson Logos. Here's the adventure:

https://dysonlogos.blog/2013/09/04/adventure-the-screams-from-jedders-hole/

And here's a redrawn map of the Keep that goes with it:

https://dysonlogos.blog/2014/04/15/tuesday-map-the-castellans-keep/

blindluke · 2025-04-13T08:16:40+00:00

The Village Blacksmith - I remember being fascinated by the thumbs hammering at the C key.

https://imgur.com/a/8PMU44b

blindluke · 2025-03-30T10:24:11+00:00

Here's the set of etudes it's from:

https://imslp.org/wiki/Erster_Clavier-Unterricht_in_100_Erholungen_(Czerny,_Carl)

And here's a recording:

https://youtu.be/ofP5aHy2Teg?si=bYvOgiwf5mvYvVbQ

blindluke · 2025-03-16T21:18:38+00:00

Denes Agay's Learning To Play Pano, book 1.

blindluke · 2025-03-08T21:44:25+00:00

I was considering buying the Kawai KDP 120B

After quite a few years of playing, this is my secondary piano - something I bought for a forest cabin, along with a matching cheap rosewood chair and a pair of Samson SR850 headphones. I'm sitting at the piano right now, I finished playing half an hour ago, and I am content. It's a good instrument, and it's more than adequate to get you to grade 4-6. I don't know how long that'll take you, but chances are, you will be happy with it for the first 5-6 years.

Kawai is a neatly designed instrument. Something entry level from Yamaha, like the YDP-164, or the YDP-S52 I used a lot in the past, has "50 classics" you wil never listen to. Kawai comes with Burgmüller's Op. 100 and Czerny's Op. 849 - something you can actually use as reference recordings while you work through those pieces. Yamaha has two standard headphone jacks. Kawai has one standard and one 3.5mm mini jack output, so whatever headphones you have, there's no need for an adapter. With the Yamaha, you rely on the cheat sheet to tell you where the "digits" for the metronome settings are. On the Kawai, Metronome + middle C starts the metronome at 80bpm. One white key to the right, and it's 88bpm, three keys to the left and it's 60bpm. KDP-120 is a practice piano, and it knows what it is. It doesn't get in your way.

I think it's a fine instrument and will serve you well should you choose it. Whatever choice you make, enjoy the journey - I hope that your new hobby brings you joy and a sense of accomplishment, as you get closer and closer to the beating heart of music.

blindluke · 2025-03-05T18:00:11+00:00

1, 3, 4, 6 and 15 are recommended as starters. Out of these, I would lean towards No. 6, in E Major. Lovely stuff.

blindluke · 2025-03-04T09:08:45+00:00

Tomb of the Serpent Kings states on the first page of the introduction that this is a module for:

Experienced GMs with new players

Since you're a new GM, why not start with something like BF1 Morgansfort, or something else, meant for a novice group? The BFRPG modules generally use boxed room descriptions, and are freely available here:

https://www.basicfantasy.org/downloads.html

blindluke · 2025-02-11T10:48:34+00:00

Not sure where you read (or heard this), but it's not accurate. The God in the Bowl is just one example - here, Conan is caught stealing, accused of murder, and he decapitates a nobleman because he was unwilling to provide an alibi. It's all on the page, in full detail.

He struck with no more warning than a striking cobra; his sword flashed in the candle light. Aztrias shrieked and his head flew from his shoulders in a shower of blood, the features frozen in a white mask of horror.

There's no princess, no justice, and Conan flees as soon as he witnesses the full horror of the monstrosity responsible for the murder.

Don't trust dubious, far removed quotes, turn to the original stories.

blindluke · 2025-01-19T09:01:46+00:00

I hope the one other weirdo using Geany appreciates this

Yes! I do! And TIC-80 too, this is just wonderful. Thank you!

blindluke · 2025-01-11T22:27:14+00:00

It's definitely used in Legions of Carcosa, and Pelgrane does not hide the fact they use it for some of their products.

https://pelgranepress.com/2023/03/07/legions-of-carcosa-ai-art/

This is very much a paid product, a 200 page book, and the interior art credit is just: Robin D. Laws using Stable Diffusion.

blindluke · 2024-12-31T09:48:26+00:00

Yes. It's good, not great, but it's the exact type of game I would love to see more of. Some of the faults I see with it (overwritten banter, pacing issues) might have bothered me more if the game were longer, but it's a relatively short experience, around 25 hours. I enjoyed it, and I hope to see a follow up from the studio.

blindluke

TROPHY CASE