Customer Reviews

The Complete Piano Player Book 2

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

After having been a musician in school many years ago, I decided to buy an electronic keyboard and learn to play the piano. Browsing the beginning piano lesson books, I found too many that were too basic (what is a note?) to too advanced. I then stumbled across this gem and decided to buy it. What a great decision!

The early chapters do present some basic music theory which I quickly browsed through. Later chapters though provided me with enough challenge to push me. When the pieces were mastered I moved to the next. I really felt my skills at the keyboard increase.

What makes this book so good are the arrangements. The songs are, for the most part, pieces I know and like and range from traditional to popular to classical. The structure of the arrangements provides a pleasing sound yet aren't terribly difficult to master. Even though I have moved beyond this book, I still return to it on occasion to replay pieces that I really enjoy ("This Nearly Was Mine" still gives me chills when I play it).

I highly recommend this book to the older person who has some musical training, however rusty, and would like to extend it to playing the piano.

I think this book is absolutely wonderful. I have been wanting to learn to play the piano, but hven't got a chance to take lessons. This book takes you step by step, from the extreme basics of piano upto a level where you can play some popular songs. It is a must-buy for all aspiring piano players.

I began learning the piano at the age of 5 and stopped at 10 to give time to the clarinet. Since then I have lost my coordination between my left and right hand. This book recomposes a lot of familiar, old classics (ob di la was my favorite and brought back so much memories!) in varying skill progressions so that each new lesson is a build up of a previous lesson. In just a month, I am already in book 4 and loving how the book guides one through a bit at a time. I have observed improvement in the coordination of my 2 hands and relearning how to be more familiar in reading the keys in treble clef again. I have been going through this book so fast because I can recognize each song and thus find enjoyable to play -- I have to say, I have a bit of a knack for sight reading though.

Some of the pieces I thought were strangely composed though; but perhaps it is just my lack of appreciation of the esoteric beauty of la musique.

I have been a beginning piano teacher for many years, and I have found this book to be a perfect choice for my adult beginners who have little or no musical background. It goes at the perfect pace - not too fast, not too slow - and it uses familiar songs, which is so helpful. Most of my adult students have very busy lives and don't have a lot of time to invest. They just want to be able to enjoy playing the instrument as quickly as possible. This book helps them do just that within the very first lesson. All of my adult beginners love using this book, and I have yet to find anything I would switch to.

I taught myself to play piano with a book for children and this one was only intended as revision but I was impressed at how well it was presented. I'm sure it would have been equally simple to follow if I had been a complete beginner.

The delivery of this book was extremely positive and fast.
I love this book and it is in excellent condition. I teach piano
and I would not recommend it for a beginner, nor a younger student,
but if you have had piano lessons in the past or know anything
about music theory, this book is a must have. I highly
recommend this book 110 percent plus.
Thank you, thank you,Sandi.
Warmest regards,
Patricia
Piano Teacher Order No. 002-91 10006-2797023

My husband and I were both wanting to learn how to play the piano and this book is great!It is a step by step for beginers even someone that has never played the piano. Has pictures and all:) Great book if you are interested in learning to play:)

As other reviewers have said, this is a great book for an older student. My background: I'm 46, male, just started playing seriously last year after Christmas (my wife gave me a keyboard) and love the material. I have wanted to play piano for many, many years so I am highly motivated.

There are many, many positives to this book and goes through various learning stages. Rather than repeat what has been positively said, and they are all true. I would like to focus on what is missing. By no means should this be taken as a negative, the book is very good. If these elements were in it I would have easily given it a five. If the author of the book reads this review and you take my suggestions, I would easily buy another copy.

A CD with the accompanying music from the book would have been very helpful. A DVD more so with the camera aimed on the keyboard so not only can I emulate the song, I can emulate the movements which is critical for someone such as myself to speed up learning. Even though I know a lot of the music contained in the book, I don't know all the songs - yes I should be able to read the music and figure it out - which brings me to my next comment. (I've resorted to searches on YouTube for videos of the songs and have been able to satisfy this requirement on some of the songs)

Some of the notations used on the music is difficult to figure out - for a beginner such as my self and admittedly am having some problems... can anyone tell me what the line is that is drawn above a note - and I'm not talking about the ledger line? There are a few songs that have this notation and I have had difficulty locating the symbol on-line and learning to read music material. Unfortunately, other than a lot of the basics these areas are skimmed over which makes it difficult to play. The primer at the beginning and scale explanations on a lot of the songs are extremely helpful, but there are those songs that are leads to questions. Obviously, the author did not pen the music, but an analysis of some of the notes that haven't been seen to date would be helpful when learning.

The book is great.It is my favorite on learning how to play and I have found this to be incredibly useful.

I had to buy a book that would normally be 30$ new. I look on amazon and found it used for 6$. When it came in the mail it was in practically new condition. Great buy for anyone taking beginning piano.

This is the book the local college uses and I can see why. After using a few others it I find that it covers things in a more logical way. I highly recommend it.