The Music Tree: Time To Begin: A Plan for Musical Growth at the Piano, Revised [Audio CD]

Frances Clark (Author), Louise Goss (Author), Sam Holland (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 19, 2000

A most exciting addition to the classic Music Tree -- digitally mastered accompaniments for much of the repertoire. This new technology complements and enhances the music and provides a whole new dimension of incentive for practice. Artfully arranged by Sam Holland, each orchestral accompaniment has its own style. Some are improvisatory in feel using jazz and blues idioms, while others use sound effects to add humor. These imaginative new sounds will add adventure to home practice. Each title is played twice. The first time, the student part is played with the teacher accompaniment. The second time the accompaniment is played alone, allowing the student to play along.

Product Details

• Audio CD: 1 pages
• Publisher: Summy-Birchard Music (May 19, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0874879671
• ISBN-13: 978-0874879674
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 4.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,405,890 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best for any young beginner, May 11, 2009

By 

L. Stevenson (Draper, UT, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Music Tree: A Plan for Musical Growth at the Piano : Time to Begin (Frances Clark Library for Piano Students) (Paperback)

As a piano teacher, I've been using and recommending the Music Tree method for the past two years. I especially like how 'Time to Begin' and the corresponding 'Activities' book are geared toward beginning readers. Even students who can't read have no trouble practicing with these books.
I also like how intuitive the lessons are. Musical ideas are learned one at a time, in a way that is easy for beginners with no previous musical experience to understand. For example, concepts like 8va, moving up and down the keyboard in octaves, is introduced very early. This helps the students get comfortable with more of the keyboard and is easy for them to do, as they recognize the black/white patterns. Other method books like Bastian and Alfred keep the student in one 'hand position' for many pages/lessons, and students don't move around the piano until later levels.
The lesson pieces almost always include a teacher duet. These duets introduce 'contemporary' time signatures and harmonies; even though the student may not know what they are hearing, it is excellent ear training and a welcome change from other method books which only stay in 4/4 or 3/4, and always use 'traditional' phrasing and candences.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best way to learn piano, February 15, 2009

By 

C. Vetter - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Music Tree: A Plan for Musical Growth at the Piano : Time to Begin (Frances Clark Library for Piano Students) (Paperback)

As a music teacher, I am constantly trying to find different piano books and series. The Music Tree books are the series that I return to each time I try something new.

This book requires diligent teaching and learning. It is not the simplest piano method, but it is definitely the best. The kids learn notes, rhythms, and how to move on the piano from the very beginning.

It is an outstanding way to begin to learn piano. My piano professor, the head of the music and fine arts department at the college, highly recommends this series and uses it for his young students.

"There is no other series that better teaches kids how to move on the piano."

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Step by step but can be confusing, September 20, 2007

By 

Bethany (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Music Tree: A Plan for Musical Growth at the Piano : Time to Begin (Frances Clark Library for Piano Students) (Paperback)

I had this recommended to me as a good tool to teach beginning note-reading and I've found the book is indeed step-by-step, i.e. it spends a lot of time teaching higher and lower, and then steps and skips on the staff.

What I don't like is that it introduces an incomplete staff to start, and students are expected to read only steps and skips, going up and down. For a long time students are reading notes on one, two, or three lines, before the entire 5-line staff is shown. There is no correlation to the treble or bass clefs, the beginning note is indicated afresh for each song. I've found this to be confusing for some beginners. What is more, the actual music in this book sounds chintzy and simplistic because it revolves so much around two and three notes.

I prefer the Hal Leonard series for teaching note-reading; in presenting the clef at once it is actually simpler to read, their pages are colorful but less distracting, and Hal Leonard does a great job of using good-quality music. I think having children play a good-sounding tune is inspiring for them and keeps them more motivated than playing ditties revolving around two or three notes, as they feel they are playing actual music.