Customer Reviews

Note by Note: A Celebration of the Piano Lesson

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It wasn't long into Tricia Tunstall's new book, "Note by Note", that I found myself nodding again and again in agreement regarding her experiences as a piano teacher, vis-a-vis mine. We are almost exactly the same age, have taught piano for years and came from similar piano backgrounds...that is, classical music only and nothing EVER popular. So it was with good fortune that I could readily identify with her approach, student interaction and all the things that are associated with piano lessons.

By "all the things" I mean that a central point in Tunstall's book is that quite often a piano teacher does more than just teach piano. We are "psychologists" (one mother told me I was cheaper than a shrink), comforters, encouragers, enforcers, and yes, teachers. This is a generational book, I think, and one that can be best appreciated by those around our age (mid-fifties), but certainly not to the exclusion of other generations. Tunstall writes with great narrative style, and with a self-deprecating sense of humor. She covers the essentials of what is to be expected of a student....emergence, mastery, recital, etc. but she offers insight into culture that helps shape her students' (and her own) choice of pieces. The "Lure of Elise" chapter is accurate...every recital seems to have a "Fur Elise" player, and her mild bewilderment of popular music's incursion into traditional teaching mirrors mine. Perhaps we are appendices of the Madame Dmitrieff era...the days when Hanon ruled... but we've learned that jellybeans and The Beatles are often required.

Tunstall does include some musically technical points, but they never get in the way of the story. For the reader who has no knowledge of music in general or piano specifically, don't worry. Reading about poor Pia's "hydraulic lift" approach to pedaling.....a laugh out loud moment... will rescue you from any talk of half steps. It would be nice, however, if Tunstall had offered some of her experiences on how she acquires students, how she sets her rates, what she does with students who don't work out, (all of the students in the book seem to have some degree of success) and does she have any former students who come back to visit her years after lessons are over. But given the parameters of what she is trying to accomplish....the focus on the lesson, itself... it is understandable that she needs to keep things as she has presented them.

The author ends with a poignant chapter, giving us a final and most personal look at her. One can only gather that it would be wise, beneficial and very good to have Ms. Tunstall as your piano teacher. This is a terrific book and I highly recommend it.

I just finished reading this book. I thought that it was a wonderful illustration and celebration of the piano lesson. I love how the last chapter introduced a new side of the author, and also introduced us to a more intimate manner of her life. I loved her witty language and cleaver references to pieces I remember fonding playing as a I learned how to play the piano. It was amazing how she was able to only use a sentence or two to explain the magic of some of the pieces referenced in her book and still give readers a good understanding of what makes these pieces amazing. My only concern for potential readers is that some sections of the book require some basic music theory knowledge. You will probably be able to understand what the author intends but the beauty of what Tunstall is trying to convey, I believe is better achieved by musicians. In general, I felt this was a wonderfully written book. It in fact has been one of the only books in my life that I actually felt compiled to read in only three days. Thank you Tricia Tunstall for writing this great book.

I am fifty-one and about to start my fifth year of piano lessons. I'm slogging in the early - middle intermediate stage. I am also the father of there teenage girls who have studied piano five years, eight years and ten years.
This book covers the entire child (or new adult, like me) piano training process from beginning, age seven, to graduating high school, it lays out all the steps.
So I am highly recommending this book to parents, who are trying to figure out where the lessons are going and where they will lead, and to intermediate adult students, like me, who are trying to figure out how one becomes an advanced student. The advanced students "are in this because of an attraction to the act of playing that is compelling, deep and inarguable." The "difficult passages must be broken down into their smallest part and played over and over and over." So, for me there is no more skimming and going off for a ham sandwich (playing with my laptop) when my Scarlatti is hard.
Sadly, maybe, for parents this desire to master the piano "comes entirely from within". I am not sure my older daughters will ever be advanced, they don't "feel an internal necessity to play".
The book was written to adults (I knew every Beatles song and can't imagine playing a duet of American Pie, front to back), and while I think teenage students would certainly sympathize with the Recital chapter, most of the reflections on learning would probably be lost on them.
Thank you Tricia Tunstall for sharing your life and explaining the process to us, and for telling me to work harder.

This book is poignant, tender and funny. The author, a piano teacher, describes the wonderful relationships she has built with her students, how they progress and what she learns from them. The book also harks back to the author's own piano teachers, and finally (and most movingly) to her last piano teacher, who was her husband. Anyone would love this book, whether they have any piano experience or not. It is really about the dimensions of personal growth and how they are enhanced by a student-teacher experience, no matter what realm that relationship takes place in. And it's about the something unusual in our world today: a slow, gradual process.

Tricia and I were best friends in high school, and I loved listening to her play the piano. I fumbled on the guitar. We spent hours playing and singing music. It is such a joy to read her beautifully written memoir and meditation on the piano lesson. For anyone who has had a lesson, or wished they had, this is a delightful and touching book.

I picked up the book by accident in my neighborhood used book store because I (an adult) just started to learn the piano.

I bought the book because it is written with so much love: for the music and the piano, yes, but mainly for the piano students. What and how the author, Tricia Tunstall, writes about her students, their actions and reactions to the music, the teacher, the piano, their struggles and triumphs, is kind, humorous, and -- in the end -- heart rending.

This book is, under the surface, not so much about music lessons, but a meditation on who we (humanity, that is) are, how we live, how we treat ourselves, how we can discover ourselves, and, really, how we *should* do all these things: namely with deep respect of who we (and the other people around us) are.

Although it helps you understand some of the details if you play the piano or any other musical instrument, you do not have to be a musician to be moved by this book.

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Remark: A great present for anybody interested in people and/or music. (I can already think of three people I want to give this book to.) And they might even read it!

This is the first review I have written for Amazon. This book is worthy of that effort. Although I am a violinist, I love the piano, and have been taking piano lessons off and on for years. Although I teach a differenbt instrument, so much of what Tricia Tunstall writes applies to the study and teaching of any instrument. The writing is so fresh and original, the examples so intriguing, and there is so much respect for music in general, and for the young souls who are struggling to learn, that I ordered copies for myself and for gifts. I know I'll read this book again and again.
I was fascinatred by the many specific references to pop music. THe book motivates me to explore these artists and groups. The lucky students of this author will appreciate their experiences with her even more as they grow older. I am grateful she generously shared her methods of teaching with a wider audience.

"Note by Note" is my revisit to early childhood piano lessons. Feet didn't touch the pedals and I can't remember the number of recitals plus Mother offering me to play at her many church meetings. Then there were times of stopping in the middle of a piece and wondering where I was on the page. Was that stage fright or a lack of concentration? I, too, would ask my teacher, Sister Dominic, if she would teach me to play popular music.
"Learning the classics gives you the ability to play any kind of music," was her reply. Though she was very kind, we never approached the music of that era.

One does not have to had piano lessons to realize Tricia Tunstall's enjoyment with her students and the ability to relate them to her readers.

I am the mother of a talented twelve-year-old musician. His piano teacher's style is in some ways similar to the author's and in some ways very different. The book helped me understand more of what occurs in the piano studio and thus I think has helped me as a piano parent. But the book itself is so engaging, and so beautifully written, that I was simultaneously caught up on the stories of her students and her own musical journey. I was particularly fascinated by what the author had to say about pop music. To Ms. Tunstall: thank you for such a wonderful read.

It sounds a little goofy or melodramatic, but my criteria of a good book or a good movie is whether it made me a better person. Well, this book absolutely made me a better person! It helped connect so many disperate parts of who I am -- why I love music -- why do I spend so many hours practicing -- what is the passion I feel -- what is the meaning of life ....

Learning about music is medium, but love of life is the subject ...

And, now, I am thinking .... wouldn't it be great to be piano teacher myself?

So, I am checking out Masters of Music of programs ....

Thanks Tricia!