Customer Reviews

Easy Piano Favorites: The Library of Series

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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).

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.

A great book for first or second year piano players. Covers classical as well as favorites. The spiral binding helps to keep the book open. Both my daughter and I are enjoying this book.

This book has very good arrangements for the late beginner to early-intermediate level pianist, especially adults who play for enjoyment and have little aspiration (or, like me, too little talent) to become serious musicians. About 75 percent of the pieces are classical. Serious, developing, musicians should probably look elsewhere, as most of the arrangements here are simplified and/or condensed.

I bought this book and EASY PIANO CLASSICS (both in the same series) at the same time, and a comparison may be helpful for some of you. I like this one (EASY PIANO FAVORITES) more and have been using it a lot more than the other book. On average, EASY FAVORITES is somewhat easier than EASY CLASSICS. Oddly enough, the print size of the scores in EASY CLASSICS is ridiculously large, while it is just about ideal (for me) in EASY FAVORITES. This helps minimize the need for page turning in EASY FAVORITES, whereas EASY CLASSICS often requires it. The pieces in these two "BIG EASY" books overlap by around 20 percent--i.e., several of the most famous pieces appear in both books. However, where overlap occurs, the arrangements are often quite different and often in different keys. EASY FAVORITES actually includes a greater variety of keys (which for me is a plus), even though it typically has somewhat easier arrangements. Get both of these books if you can afford to, but I'd consider this one first.

Recently I purchased a Korg keyboard and about a dozen piano and organ books before coming across this one in November. It was exactly what I'd been looking for. The music it contains is not too difficult, yet the arrangements are pleasing and never juvenile. In addition the book is bound in such a way that every selection stays flat. No more clothespins!

My only regret is that I didn't find this collection earlier. There would have been no need to purchase the other sheet music. The book is excellent and will provide enjoyment for beginning through intermediate players for many years. I recommend it highly!

I love this music book, but it's most definitely not all "easy" as the title indicates. Many songs are for intermediate players, but there are still plenty of truly easy pieces to play.

There are selections of different levels of difficulty within this book but it helps me to improve.

I like the spiral binding, easy to keep the pages flat, you get a large number of music pieces, many well known, nice variety. The only problem is they are not exactly easy for a beginner and I found one piece (so far) where the note just does not fit, it sounds off comparing to what I remembered, however that may be just me.

I bought this book, based on my daughter's comments about the PIANO FAVORITES book being too hard. She is a decent piano player, who has to practice in order to play several of the PIANO FAVORITES pieces.

But after receiving this "easy" one, I believe the simplification utilized for an "easy piano piece" reduced and/or killed the loveliness of several pieces I played when I first got the "big easy".

So being a violin player w/ minimal piano playing skills, I probably should have bought the PIANO FAVORITES book, and just focused on one or two pieces, and learned/memorized them well. And not look at the book as one which I could play any/all pieces.