Customer Reviews

Adult Piano Adventures: A Comprehensive Piano Course, Book 1 - All-in-One Lesson Book: Solos, Technique, Theory

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
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I have used this book for teaching several adults. The selection of songs are very appropriate.The book covers a useful concept just about every page which helps with the lesson and teaching. The concepts are introduced at the right time too and go well with the pieces that accompany. I also hear good things about the CD. It's a nice well-organized compilation. You won't have to buy several books - technique, theory, and music are all in here.

This book teaches piano for the complete beginner, with no musical background, in the way I wish I had been taught at first. I began taking beginning piano lessons at age 45 but soon became frustrated with the Bastien series of books that my instructor was using: too much time spent perfecting technique on practice pieces I didn't find interesting, and music theory presented in ways that were simple to understand but that didn't encourage me to apply what I was learning outside the context of lessons. I should say that my previous musical "training" consisted of a few years of guitar lessons as a teenager, junior high chorus, and then years of playing folk music mainly "by ear" on various instruments, both alone and in small ensembles. My goals in learning piano are to become a better sight reader, to gain a better working knowledge of music theory, and ultimately, to be able to improvise accompaniment by reading chord charts or by ear. This book's system of teaching is going to take me there. I'm almost through book 1 and am preparing to order book 2. I haven't needed to use the CDs at all (yet), but I think they'd be very helpful to someone with no prior musical background. The lessons are manageable, lend themselves well to self-instruction, and progress smoothly from one to the next without big "jumps." The practice tunes are interesting without being overwhelming. The order in which fingering, notes, timing, scales, intervals, chords, and inversions are introduced and taught makes sense intuitively as well as rationally; these authors have clearly thought a lot about what people need to know in order to feel "at home" with the piano. I can't say enough good things about this book.

This is a fantastic book. I am not musically inclined, but wanted to learn piano on my own. Within 10 minutes of reading this book, I was able to play Amazing Grace. The style of teaching piano is very encouraging. No need to master reading keys at once. You quickly build up to it in a pretty enjoyable way. And for the large part, the songs are ones you know and are enjoyable, which make it easier and more fun to learn. The CD was a bit of a surprise. It's accompaniment music that is a bit different. My guess is I'll enjoy using it as I get better at piano. I highly recommend this book.

This book is easy to follow, well organized and has step by step instructions. The music arrangements in this book do aid the process of making your fingers more agile. However, I think your piano teacher plays a significant role in motivating and educating you about the different theories. I would recommend incorporating this book in your regular piano lessons. The CDs accompanied in this book are helpful to get a better sense of the melody and beats since western classical music traditionally began with the composition of various dances (minuet, gavotte etc). All in all, I would recommend this book to piano beginners. Of course, not to mention lots of practice and reinforcement which are a must for every pianist. Have fun!

This is just the book I wanted. I had borrowed a copy from my piano teacher but I wanted one that I could write in and I love it.