Easy Piano Favorites: The Library of Series [Plastic Comb]

Hal Leonard Corp. (Creator)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1997 | Series: Library of Series

A collection of the world's finest classical and popular music for the developing pianist. Masterpieces of every musical era in rewarding piano arrangements that are easy to play. Includes favorite piano solos by Bach, Chopin, Scott Joplin, George Gershwin and many more.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Founded in 1947, Hal Leonard Corporation has become the worlds largest print music publisher, representing some of the greatest songwriters and artists of all time. We are proud to publish titles of interest to all musicians as well as music lovers, from songbooks and instructional titles to artist biographies and instrument price guides to books about the music industry and all the performing arts.

Product Details

• Plastic Comb: 244 pages
• Publisher: Music Sales America (December 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 082561483X
• ISBN-13: 978-0825614835
• Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 9.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #391,685 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Are they really easy? I think they are "easier.", October 18, 2005

By 

Ronald E. Parsons "Ancient Reader" (Fredericksburg, Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Easy Piano Favorites: The Library of Series (Plastic Comb)

This AMSCO Publications product (1998) contains some of the same

compositions found in their Library of Piano Classics book (1987); but the latter has 350 pgs of unaltered (I think) classical music, while the former

has 239 pgs of simplified classics and light standards.

Both books contain Debussy's Le Petit Negre in the same form. Therefore I suppose that the publisher considers the real composition easy enough to include it unaltered in Easy Piano Favorites. But other classical

compositions common to both books are indeed simplified. This is

accomplished by using fewer notes, rewriting in "easier" keys, and shortening

the original compositions so as to leave out hard parts. For instance, Liszt's

Liebestraum in the "hard" book is six pgs. long and is written in the key of

A flat (4 flats). In the Easy Piano Favorites book it is two pages long and is

presented in the key of F (1 flat). Beethoven's Fur Elise, generally considered

to be easy enough (key of C, etc) that generations of piano teachers have

taught it to generations of students, is 4 pgs in the original. In Easy Piano

Favorites it remains in the key of C, but has a different (easier?) bass and takes

up only one page.

Your reviewer, who once played reasonably well in his youth in his own

living room, has forgotten most of his piano skills in his old age. But I can play much that is in Easy Piano Favorites, and expect to be able to play most of it

in the foreseeabe future. I'll never be able to say that about the contents of

the more difficult Favorite Piano Classics.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good book, not for beginners, July 16, 2007

By 

Todd "Todd" (San Mateo, CA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Easy Piano Favorites: The Library of Series (Plastic Comb)

I have been playing for about 10 months and enjoy this book, but most of it's too hard for me. The advantages - LOTS of music, a good variety, not just classical like in some books (though there's nothing remotely modern in here - no pop or rock or anything). But as one reviewer said, it's not "easy", just easier, and it's not for beginners. For example, most beginner books have most or all the music in C, F or G or their minors (either no or one sharp or flat), in this book, a lot is in keys with 2 or more sharps or flats. The two isn't so bad, but the "or more" is a challenge. Also, the music requires a lot of playing both hands simultaneously (as opposed to beginner books that have more playing mainly chords and close half or quarter notes on the left hand, so that the amount of simultaneous movement is reduced).

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Book for All Levels, January 24, 2005

By 

Deborah L. Tedeschi "music teacher" (New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Easy Piano Favorites: The Library of Series (Plastic Comb)

What a nice surprise to open a book with almost 150 of the world's best classics in easy to play arrangements! This book contains 237 pages of music from the early composers such as Bach, Handel, Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms, Chopin, Grieg, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Schumann, Tchaikovsky, etc. It also contains music of such great composers like John Philip Sousa, George Gershwin, George M. Cohan, Gonoud, Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, etc . This book is beautifully bound with a sturdy, plastic comb making the pages easy to turn on the piano. The pages are quite legible and bright. This book is highly recommended for all ages. My students love it. It is a spectacular collection and quite a bargain for this amount of repertoire.