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The Complete Idiot's Guide to Playing Piano (2nd Edition)
 
 
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The Complete Idiot's Guide to Playing Piano (2nd Edition) [Paperback]

Brad Hill (Author)
3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)


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Paperback $14.93  
Paperback, August 17, 2001 --  
There is a newer edition of this item:
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Playing Piano, 3rd Edition The Complete Idiot's Guide to Playing Piano, 3rd Edition 3.8 out of 5 stars (11)
$14.93
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Book Description

0028641558 978-0028641553 August 17, 2001 2
Whether you are an aspiring concert pianist or just want to play keyboards in your own band, The Complete Idiot's Guide(R) to Playing Piano and Electronic Keyboards, Second Edition will give you just what you need to know. From reading music and learning chords, to understanding music notation or buying an instrument, expert author Brad Hill tells gets you started. With more music and expanded practice sessions, the new edition of this already popular book will be a necessity for the beginner. Learn posture, positionings, fingerings, notations, drills, and advice from the masters. Also, learn how to fake your way through accompaniment, stay motivated to practice and advance to the intermediate level.


Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Brad Hill is a seasoned piano performer, teacher, and writer. He has written dozens of books on keyboard playing and MIDI, and has recorded several albums of original keyboard music. His newest book, Going Digital: A Musician's Guide to Technology, was published in December 2000 by Schirmer Books. He is based in Princeton, NJ.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Alpha; 2 edition (August 17, 2001)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0028641558
  • ISBN-13: 978-0028641553
  • Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.5 x 0.7 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,361,142 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm a nonfiction writer. In a typical year I write about a half-million words for publication in various media and genres. My book authorship is mostly of the how-to variety; I've penned (word-processed, actually) several "...For Dummies" titles, one "Complete Idiots Guide to..." book, and a number of non-series titles. Over the years I've written hundreds of columns and articles for magazines and Web publications. Currently I'm a lead blogger at Weblogs, Inc, where I manage a small writing staff and oversee several blogs. I have posted well over 3,000 blog entries at Weblogs, Inc. (Even I find that hard to fathom). At the time of this writing, my most recently completed book is "Blogging For Dummies," which will be out in January, 2006.

A typical day consists of ... well, writing. I sit down, check e-mail and IM messages, and start out blogging for a couple of hours to sharpen my brain for the day. If a book is in progress, chances are good that a ferocious deadline is nipping at my heels; most of my books are written in short, concentrated bursts (weeks, not months). When two or more projects collide I am reminded of the motto at an espresso bar near my home: "Sleep is for the weak."

 

Customer Reviews

11 Reviews
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4 star:
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3 star:
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Average Customer Review
3.8 out of 5 stars (11 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

61 of 61 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Well-written, but poorly proofread!, January 26, 2002
This review is from: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Playing Piano (2nd Edition) (Paperback)
THE VERDICT: Although otherwise well-written, the 2002 edition has errors. Perhaps a corrected edition (or at least a page of addenda & corrections) will be published soon?

This book is very informative, and written in a style that is accessible to the beginner. The main body of the text explains things clearly and directly, and the background information is mostly presented in sidebars so that it is possible to read the text without getting bogged down in tangential details, but those details are there if you want them. It's an enjoyable, fun book.

UNFORTUNATELY, the actual musical notation is full of errors! The book has text explaining music and the piano, and this text is accompanied by music in the familiar form of notes on the musical staff. But the staff has errors, either in the notation or in that it depicts a different song than is described in the text! For example, on page 97, "Here Comes The Bride" has dotted-quarter notes that should be dotted-eigth notes. On page 116, the text describes the song "My Favorite Things", but the song depicted on the staff is "Greensleeves". There are other errors as well.

If you have some musical background already, you can recover from these errors and figure out what is supposed to be happening, but this book might cause excessive confusion in a younger student who is already not quite so enthusiastic with their piano lessons! :-)

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars sigh, August 26, 2007
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Aggressively unhelpful; meandering, rambling style with terrible jokes, terrible prose, and worst of all, a dearth of actual practice lessons. The majority of the book is taken up with third-rate 'scholarship' about the history of piano-related instruments, or with minutiae about electronic keyboards. Avoid at all costs.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The Complete Idiot's Guide to Playing Piano (2nd Edition), November 5, 2006
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This review is from: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Playing Piano (2nd Edition) (Paperback)
The book is great!!! I have limited musical knowledge (what I learned in grammar school) and this book helped me regain what I had previously learned and allowed me to build on it by creating a fun, relaxed atmosphere and always with humour. Thanks.
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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
If you are reading this page (and something tells me you are), you may have recently decided to start playing the piano. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
piano maintenance, concert benches, home keyboards, counting half steps, key one half step, digital pianos, professional keyboards, tone modules, digital keyboards, sustain pedal, bass clef notes, double staff, classical piano music, sostenuto pedal, piano action, bass clef staff, pedal markings, music staff, treble clef staff, keyboard pedals, piano hammers, software sequencers, minor intervals, real pianos, accompaniment style
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Music Speak, Key Thought, Grace Notes, The Least You Need, Give Yourself, Musical Mouthful, Master Class, Bringing It Home, Learning the Right-Hand Notes, Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans, Practice Session Time, Claude Debussy, Scott Joplin, Billy Joel, Keith Jarrett, Maurice Ravel, The Twelve Days of Christmas
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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