Customer Reviews

Music Reading For Keyboard: The Complete Method (Essential Concepts)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have recently started using this book. I also have the sight reading secrets book by Richman, which I have reviewed separately.

I was trying to decide between both these books when buying originally. While the other book contains some very good tips, this book is more comprehensive and is widely used as a text book for musicians.

It is very well organised, and well written in the style of a sight reading course, and has good rhythm and sight reading exercises to work on before doing the specific examples which are done in a variety of contemporary styles including rock bebop and Latin Jazz. The examples are interesting and not too complicated. As with many things, the more you practice, the more you improve to the point where you are naturally better.

I consider this better than the Richman book, although that book really helped me with breaking down more complicated rhythms, and I do recommend both books.

I hope you find this review helpful.

Trying to find a book on sightreading for the keyboardist in the contemporary music vein, was very difficult. This book approaches reading contemporary music in an easy to follow, practical approach. I would recommend this book to any one wanting to get to grips with their sightreading - from people who 'play by ear' to the classically trained pianist who wants to learn to read and play rock/pop/funk etc. music properly. It is opening up a world of music that, up until now, only brought much frustration.

I absolutely love this book. I am a pretty accomplished pianist and this still helped me a lot. I would recommend this book for anyone wanting to learn more on sight-reading. I am already 50% better at sight-reading. This book is definately a must have for the pianist.

As a former organist who after a twenty year hiatus decided to become a self-taught pianist, I bought this book to help me get back to reading music quickly and easily. The church music that I played was largely a treble clef melody line with chord names written above it, leaving my bass clef reading, slow, laborious, and highly dubious. ("It's a 'D', no, C! Wait...B") Once I got hold of some piano music, I found that I just couldn't keep the left hand going and couldn't decipher the notes fast enough to play much of anything. This book promised to help in that area, and I have used it as a supplement to a number of other books to help my overall playing. (Check out my other reviews.) So far, I have found this helpful in improving my note reading ability. Keep in mind, I already knew how to read notes in treble and bass clef, just needed to brush it up, so I'm not sure how useful this book would be for a raw beginner. The random note exercises are something entirely different for me, and they provide a good challenge and excellent sight reading practice. I don't think the rhythm exercises are terribly useful without having somebody on hand to tell you if you have the right rhythm or not (I suppose a metronome would help), but I didn't really buy the book for that aspect. I haven't gotten far enough in the book yet to tell if it is going to help me as much as I want in the ledger lines area above and below the normal clefs, but if it continues to perform in the later lessons as well as it has in the early lessons, I'm sure I will gain a lot from this manual.

I want to learn how to sight-read, and perhaps its not a goal that I can accomplish with just a book and no teacher. I have an idea that for a person who has played an instrument in the past, or has a fundamental understanding of notation, this book is just fine. However, if you're like me, just starting, the book reads like a school textbook that the teacher is going to use in class, and then quiz you on next week! I'm going to keep it because I'm taking piano lessons, and the book might actually mean something in a few weeks/months.

I just got this book 1 week ago, and its helping me read the maple leaf rag with ease! The book offers a good workbook style work out. The author does not write long paragraphs about piano, the author just tells you what piano is and how to play it. The book will truly help you play the piano better.

I like this instructional book. It's great for practice. If you have'nt played for a while it will help you get back to the fun of music.

It's a great sight reading material, albeit not suited for a beginner. It starts with basic note reading, but quickly jumps to more advanced sight reading exercises, some of which might make beginner's head hurt. For me, a pretty advanced sight reader already, it's a great resource to not let go of my chops.

Reading music may be difficult at first-hand, but when you're getting assistance from Berklee, you know it's worth it. So take advantage of the best composers and their teachings and receive it and apply it to creativity.