Customer Reviews

How to Play Piano Despite Years of Lessons: What Music Is and How to Make It at Home

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Many of those who have reviewed this book here mention that it is a book on music theory. Yes there is some theory in this book and some of it is hard to find in other beginning piano books. I find the section on harmonic progression particularly enlightening. But rather than a book on theory, this is a cookbook with recipes for creating full sounding music out the vocal lines of sheet music, lead sheets, and "fake books".

One criticism I have seen of this book is that the style of playing is only suitable for playing old standards, like those by Cole Porter or Rogers and Hart. This is partially true, but if you enjoy the kind of music that is the background in so many movies, particularly Woody Allen films, this book is a gold mine.

If you have taken lessons, you will find it fairly easy to pick up on the method here, even if you can't sit down an play anything right now. A lot of it will come back quickly. If you are a rank beginner, this will be a lot of work. Even so, if you put the effort in learning this method that you would put into getting through an adult beginning piano book, you will come away with so much more. That said, I will recommend that you also invest in a beginning piano book and work through that at the same time.

There is, or was, a companion VHS video for the book. It is extremely entertaining and allows you to see and hear examples of the methods taught in the book. It is about two hours long and very well done. I haven't seen it around lately, but if you get this book, try to find the video also. Same title as the book.

I just got an older copy of this book (1976) and was looking for more stuff made by these authors. I was hoping to see a newer version of this book that included a CD.

Anyway I wanted to "ditto" the sentiments expressed by many other reviewers. This book explains music in a manner I've never seen done so thoroughly and yet simply. Its *perfect* if you have some music background, but never really got past intermediate phase. Rank beginners will have a more difficult time with the musical notation. However, this book is *so* good that I'd still recommend it to beginners as well... you can learn a lot about making music - some will be applied later than sooner, but its better to already have this book than risk going on for years and having forgotten about it. It will become a reference and guide as you get better.

The issue of unfamiliar songs is not a problem - they refer to old "standards" which you can easily find mp3 on the net. I'm also unfamiliar with these songs, and having started to listen to the "standards" has opened up a whole new genre of music for me which I really enjoy.

The issue of humor is deserved. These guys try to be funny but the puns make me gag more than guffaw. Its getting to point that its funny because its so not funny. But the great content makes up for this.

This book has opened up a whole new understanding of music for me. I now see patterns in music I never knew existed (circle of fifths). And it has explained some little things I've always half-wondered about but never could articulate. Like for example, why some notes of a melody will clash with the harmony... should I create chords for these notes? Or do I just let them clash? Exactly how do they relate to the current chordal structure? Which notes should I make chords for? How do I design my bass cleff arrangement? How do I fill in treble cleff harmony with the melody? Etc. etc.

These guys rock! (Or at least they do the fox-trot and the swing! Oh god.. that's the same kind of bad puns they use throughout the whole book... now I'M starting to do it!)

This book has changed my life! I struggled at the piano forever until I discovered this wonderful book! While it clearly will not be for everyone wanting to learn piano, it was perfect for me. As a youth, I hated piano lessons because of the mechanical approach to learning songs that I didn't even like. I felt like I was a human playback machine. Know what I mean? Whereas, it seemed my guitar-playing friends were having all the fun. When they wanted to learn a new song, they would just start asking what the chords were. Then, they would just practice playing the chord progression at home. Later, when they got really comfortable with that, they would start getting really creative, adding interesting little frills and things and MAKING A LOT OF COOL MUSIC knowing, really, just a little bit of actual information about the song + having musical ideas of their own. So, how come piano lessons were always so different? You don't have to be jealous of your guitar-playing friends anymore. This is the book my friend's guitar teacher would have written, if he played piano. You learn a song by playing its chords. Once you're comfortable just playing the chords, you add melody. It can be easy and it can be difficult, it depends on the song, how quickly the chords change, how complicated the melody is, and how much "extra" of your own you want to add. It's a very flexible approach to playing. I highly recommend it. Best of all, unlike boring piano lessons, nobody is going to make you practice music you don't like. You can use this method on any sheet music which has a) a key signature b) a meter c) chords spelled and d) a one note melody line. Fake books are best, because all extraneous stuff is removed, but you could use this method with any sheet music meeting those minimum requirements. And, you will play these songs using only four reversible chords, an amazing but real time saver, key to the success of this "fake" method!

After reading this book, I would have to say that there are some very good things about it, but also some not-so-good things. First the good stuff: good basic approach to explaining things like chord construction, progressions, sheet music, and how music is made. There are excellent illustrations, with many examples. There is particular emphasis on the circle of fifths and chromaticism and how it relates to chord progressions. Unfortunately, the book lacks a lot of music theory that would probably be important to the beginner(like me). I would have liked to see more treatment of scales and how to use them to improvise, as well as more information on voicings and altered chords. The book is focused on playing out of fake books, (i.e., play chords with one hand, melody with the other, which is a good approach, if that's what you're interested in.) But this piecemeal "playing songs" approach is pretty restrictive. The author relies a little too much on "skelton" bass-chord playing with the left hand, with block chords in the right. It's probably not the book for someone who wants to learn improvisation, or jazz. The book takes a very comical, almost flippant approach to music theory in general, which is good in some ways, but can also can be counter-productive. The humor certainly makes the learning easier, but the book continually says, "if it sounds good, play it," Which I see as a little skimpy in the "why" department of music. It seems too much like he's saying, "Well, you can do this, but if you don't like how it sounds, don't do it." A better method would be to say why it might not sound good, and what alternatives you can do instead. But this is still a good book, actually an excellent book, if you want to be able to play your favorite songs from fake books, and is probably a good stepping stone to more advanced music theory(which boggles my mind most of the time anyways).

This is simply a wonderful book. It is marvelous instruction material no matter what instrument you intend to play (guitar in my case, not piano). Even if you have no intention of learning to play any musical instrument, it is good instruction about musical theory generally - in simple to understand terms, comprehensible to the non-cognoscenti.

I am 48, with no previous musical education or experience. Decided to take up the guitar about a month ago. Realized I needed to learn something about musical theory. Noticed the comments on this book (here on Amazon) & decided to buy a copy. Doubtless the best investment in musical theory education I could have made. Now I understand the different components that go to make up music - I understand the make-up of the orchestra - and the rock band - the functional roles that the different instruments are performing in relation to the music as a whole.

This is a well written, well organized, simple to understand explanation of essential musical concepts - a book of much broader usefulness than its quirky title would suggest.

Explains how music works and how to make music in a way that is easy to understand but also pretty thorough. Although primarily about piano, the information is easily applicable to other instruments or groups of instruments. This book is easily the best book about music I have ever read. I think with enough practice and patience, just about anyone could learn to play piano very well from this book. My only complaints are (1) alot of the songs used as examples are unfamiliar to me, and (2) too much attempt at humor. These may not be considered weaknesses by others, and both are easily offset by the quantity and quality of information in the book -- information that I've never seen in such a clear form anywhere else.

Before purchasing this book I floundered around for a few years. Learning a few pieces, slowing working on sight reading....all the while wondering how music is created, how harmony worked, how people play "by ear". This book shows gives you so many tools, and explains so simply how it all fits. I can't say enough good things about it. Even if you don't play piano but want to learn about music this is your book.

I hope the authors realize how much good they have done here. This book needs to find it's way into as many hands as possible.

If you're a complete beginner it may be a little slower going but still very much worth the investment. If you've expended mental effort trying to make sense of "music" this will be your holy grail!

Being a person that fits the title rather well, I was browsing through amazon for some good books to get started playing piano/keyboard again. Since I didn't know what to get, I ordered a bunch of them (I looked at my local music store, but they carried mostly classical sheet music and guitar stuff).

If judged as a textbook, it certainly doesn't deserve 5 stars. You will want another book. What it does deserve the high rating for, is that it helps unmystify so many seemingly difficult things, and in the process helped me remove so many roadblocks, that I now just want to sit down at the piano and have fun. After reading it in one long session, I could sit down at the piano, and start reharmonizing simple children tunes I played by ear, adding fancy cocktail-piano type arrangement (and I only knew how to pick the melody before I got the book).

If that's not impressive, I don't know what is. Earlier I used to think chords were mostly set in stone, except for jazz musicians, but they are too clever for their own good, so that doesn't apply to me. Ok, it still doesn't sound fantastic, they are still simple children tunes, and since my playing sucks, I have to practice a lot to get to the point where someone would want to listen, but it's a start! And since I can now have fun doing it, I chances are that I will start to get better at it.

For what it is, the book gave me a lot of new ideas, and a lot of ideas for what to start practicing. But don't start with this book alone, get another (more boring) book, to teach you all the boring stuff. This, however, is the book that will set you free, and make practicing the piano fun again! Take the book as a light supplement to whatever else you read and practice with, and I'll guarantee you that you'll be positively surprised.

I had always wondered how some people could sit at a piano and play almost anything, without music. Now I know. This book and 10,000 hours of practice and you too can sound like Oscar Peterson. It covers the structure of harmony with a deft touch so that you follow it without effort. Its humour will appeal to any age group. I happened upon it after not touching a piano for over forty years and it sparked an explosion of interest, which will last as long as I do. It is a truly remarkable book and I heartily endorse the sentiments of the previous reviewer. Incidentally, I tried everything I could think of to get a copy in the UK but finally gave up. I was delighted to see it readily available from Amazon.

A useful book if you want to learn how to play keyboard from a "fake book" (meaning: not with a grand staff notation, but with the melody in G-staff and chord letters). But beware, there's also a lot of nonsense... It all starts with how to play a "skeleton" in 4/4 or 3/4, with the left hand playing chords, and alternating the bass in root and fifth in OCTAVES. Now this doesn't sound very pleasant, and it's also difficult to do except on an full 88-key piano. Next, the message is that you always have to play four note chords (7ths and 6ths) instead of the three note majors and minors. This is all right if you only play the old, jazzy "standards", which are the kind of songs that are considered popular music in this book (why are these old songs standard? Personally I like them, but how many people know them? Anyone under eighty humming 'Some Enchanted Evening' these days?) but those 7ths and 6ths can sound downright ugly if you play the not-at-all-jazzy pop from the sixties up to now. Furthermore, the author makes its sound like there's nothing to it: playing 10th chords? Only children can't do it! Yeah, right. Try and play any stretched-out 10th with one hand and practice all you want, if you can't do it the first time you won't be able to do it ever, except maybe in a excruciatingly slow piece (maybe C major won't daunt you, but try Eb major, for example). Furthermore this book pretends that music is for morons and that you can learn to play anything with a few weeks of practice--it generally underestimates the technical (fingering) difficulty of what is presented. This is misleading and can be discouraging, because it IS difficult (for anyone with a day job). On the other hand, a lot is learned just by reading this book. But then again, maybe you'll learn a lot more from a traditional piano teacher, representing everything that is ridiculed in this book (playing scales, learning how to use your fingers...). Playing the piano "on sight" from a fake book can be very difficult, don't kid yourself, it takes years to do it well, just like anything worthwile. Conclusion: at times very instructional and a nice addition to your music library, but definitely not the book to start out with after buying a keyboard.