Customer Reviews

The Music Tree Student's Book: Part 1 (Music Tree (Summy))

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As a piano teacher, I have been on the lookout for the perfect piano series for a long time.

The Music Tree has been the series I constantly return to. I have tried "Piano Adventures" and other books, but I find that the way this book teaches notes and rhythms helps students like no other.

Learning the songs in these books take effort, but kids learn their piano very well. The president of the college I take piano lessons from uses this series and highly recommends it.

Use the Music Tree. You will be grateful that you did.

My son uses the series. This is the second book. It is easy to understand and he can play the songs on it.

I used these piano books as a pre-teen. If you are a serious student who wants to make serious progress, DON'T use this series of books. My piano teacher insisted on this series. I feel they are the worst instructional piano books out there. You will progress at an EXTREMELY slow rate. After using these books for a year, I was far behind my peers using a different system. They had already moved on to Beethoven and Chopin while I was still playing very basic melodies and harmonies. After two years of these books, I quit out of frustration at my lack of progress and not being able to tackle more difficult pieces. I was a dedicated student who practiced at least half hour to hour 5 days a week. It was heart breaking.
A year later I found another teacher who used a different system, and my sight reading and ability to master more difficult pieces was 50 times faster that these Clark and Goss books. Presently, I have two kids who have used the Thompson and the Alfred books. Both are better. My children are able to sight read and work through challenging songs.
As a mother, I warn any other parents to beware of this series of books. You will be wasting both your money and your time.