Customer Reviews

How to Play Popular Piano in 10 Easy Lessons: The Fastest, Easiest Way to Learn to Play from Sheet Music or by Ear

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

For the beginner, this book is excellent. I have looked at many piano books when I first began playing, and most of them were usually too complicated, or too simplistic. This book, however, was one that fell right in the middle and helped me understand all kinds of important ideas in music, such as harmony and melody, building chords and scales (and understanding HOW), reading music, how to understand progressions, and how to play by ear and improvise. It is certainly geared toward getting you "up and playing" in the simplest, fastest way, at a moderate pace, with a good depth of information that does not get overwhelming. Because of this, this book is probably suited much more for the person who has no music experience and wants to learn the basics of how to play out of fake books and begin improvising. It is probably not good for those who want in-depth and more advanced theory of music, but it is an excellent book to use as a stepping stone toward more adva! nced piano study. This is a must have book for any beginnger.

There seem to be two main ways of teaching the piano. In the first, one grinds along like a junior typist learning which keys to strike in response to printed music. The sheet music starts easy and gets harder. One's brain and fingers get better at working together. When one is pretty good at pounding out notes in pretty hard compositions, one is considered a pretty good piano player.

The other way of teaching focuses on learning chords and music theory. The idea here seems to be that, if one has the theory, one can figure out where to place one's fingers. So, one learns a melody and then, using music theory or a fake books adds chords. After a little practice, the devotees of this method argue, one can actually make music, i.e. play tunes that you like and make them sound good, though not necessarily the way they are written on sheet music.

Both approaches have problems. The first is drudgery, and if one really wants to make music, you have to engage in this drudgery for years. The second requires, but doesn't teach or encourage, a great deal of facility hitting the right keys. It's very fun to know how music is put together and how one might play it. Yet it is very frustrating not to have developed the physical coordination to actually do it.

The Monath book uses the second approach. It is a delightful introduction to music theory, chords, scales, and how music is put together. Like many of the books that follow the second approach, the style verges on the messianic. Yes, one starts playing songs almost immediately. Unfortunately, without a good deal of practice, those first songs might take an hour or so to pick through.

If you have some facility on the keyboard, this might be a very helpful book. If you don't, you won't instantly become adept by reading this book, though reading the book will certainly be interesting, worthwhile, and edifying.

I must also say that, if you are considering this book, you might want to take a look at the Cannell and Marx book - "How To Play The Piano Despite Years of Lessons." Cannell and Marx follow the same approach, but describe some things differently and emphasize slightly different things. The Cannell book provides a much more detailed (and mechanical) pattern for actually playing songs - a big advantage.

Having taught piano the "traditional" way for 20 years, I bought this book for a student who already played by music but wanted to learn to play off a chord sheet (used a great deal by Christian Praise Bands). Mr. Monath uses very clear terms to describe how to play on the piano basic chords found in most fake books. I have too often found that the pianist who learns by using a traditional piano course method, can't play basic chords or play by ear. This book gives examples of songs to try to play using the right hand melody line and chords. I wouldn't recommend this book for someone who doesn't read music at all, but for anyone who's had traditional piano lessons and can play basic right hand melodies, it's a great way to learn to play chords and fill in from fake books or praise music.

I'm a 30 year old man and I started playing the piano 3 months ago and decided to teach myself with books. I started with Russell Baker's books (1-5) which are great to get you started if you know absolutely nothing about music - like me. I progressed to buy some sheet music and the lights just went out. There were so many notes and I could not process them quickly enough, particularly co-ordinating the right and left hand.

I saw this book and read it, and within 2 weeks was playing a tune by Oasis that I could hardly read before. The key (no pun intended) is in the use of chords which are based upon mathematical rules. Once you understand the (simple) rules, you only have to find one note in the bass and develop the chord from there. This takes care of so much mental effort and also helps you to understand the form, structure and tone of the music. I feel so much more accomplished and learning the chords comes very quickly indeed.

So it's very good, the only proviso being that you need to be able to read the notes of the melody and know what each key is to extract maximum benefit. The book does cover this in more detail towards the end, but rather raced through some bits.

My advice to all those adults coming to the piano and music for the very first time is to find a good, simple "Welcome to your first piano" book and practice the simple tunes therein. Build confidence. When you can read the melody and know the names of the notes, you just have to buy this. Perhaps some purists may think of it as "cheating" but the author gives a very clear statement of intent and makes no apologies for the methods.

I love the clear, concise and lively prose the book contains. It makes reading it all the more fun. I do wish, however, that ANY book which is designed to read in front of, or in conjunction with, a piano, is RING-BOUND and does not have a fixed spine. Otherwise this forces you to break the spine to hold the book flat, which is not good at all.

Norman Monath's book is the most practical music self-instruction book, for intelligent adults, that I've ever seen. It is clearly geared for folks who want to do what the title says, play popular piano, versus becoming serious pianists. You won't learn much about treble clef, finger position, or proper technique here. But you also won't spend months repeating "Tommy the Turtle" and "Camptown Races" (or more likely give up the whole thing in discouragement). The basic idea is to learn how chords work (it's not as complicated as I thought!), and then start playing in a simple but effective style: melody with the right hand, block chords with the left. At age 44, I could read music but not play piano. Within days, literally, of reading Monath's book, I had bought a fake book and begun using it. This is not an overnight system that will turn you into a professional pianist -- but it is a legitimate alternative. I like it!

This was the fourth "beginners" book on piano I had tried, but it was by far the very best!! In fact, I could have skipped the first three and been much better off.

Monath's style was easy to understand and he included just the right combination of examples and explanation to make it worthwhile.

I liked his book so much that I just ordered his guitar book. Not bad for someone who couldn't even find middle "C" just six months ago!!

I'd highly recommend this book for the true beginner. You'll be playing songs in no time and with this book you'll learn enough to quickly pick up a music book and give the songs in there a try.

I got a piano for Christmas and lessons are $65/mo for a half hour class a week! Glad I bought this book instead! It explains in a logical, non-technical way how to read music, find chords, and by the end how to augment and diminish chords, write music, play by ear, or transpose a song into another key for singing accompnament. I was playing "Silent Night" like a pro my first day. Give it a try!

I am an associate professor with San Diego Community College Continuing Education. For 10 yrs. I have taught music classes for older adults. I am using "How to Play Popular Piano in 10 Easy Lessons" as a text, along with a fake book entitled, "Your First Fake Book". Most of my students are seniors and don't want to spend the 5-7 years it takes to learn to play a moderately easy piece of sheet music. Monath's book doesn't even require learning bass clef. Instead it teaches chord theory. With this approach, there is only a melody line with chord symbols. My students learn left-hand accompaniment patterns, using chords, rather than what some arranger has provided in the bass clef. They also learn how to provide harmony in the right hand using the chord symbols provided in a fake book.

This is the fourth textbook I have used and I will probably never try another as Monath's book allows me to meet all of my course objectives--and in one semester.

Hal Jellison, PnD

At first a true beginner would be suckered into thinking he/she would be able to play popular very quickly with this book, but that isn't true. A beginner should not use a book to learn how to play piano. A teacher is what you need. The problem with learning through this book is that it doesn't tell you when you need to practice or how to play specifically and the fact that it goes right into chords and songs that use a lot of black keys. The first 50 pages or so are easy enough but after that it is frustrating. The melodies given are in some ridiculous keys for a beginner. And with no references to what fingers to use someone with no experience would end up with a mess. Still it is a good read but not a teaching manual. 3 stars for a beginner.. on the OTHER HAND

For an intermediate player with a grasp of most scales and able to read notes and not spend 3 seconds pondering where to press, this book is an efficent book. An intermediate player would chuck out the first part since they know it and go right into the chord guide and beyond; gaining knowlege. An intermidiate player would know when and how to practice and be able to play with correct fingering, play different keys without too much trouble. At the end of the day improve their piano skills without too much frustration. 4.5 stars for an intermediate player interested in playing popular styles.

I do not recommend this book for learning the piano but as a reference book for beginners. Useful for an intermediate player though. An advanced player would be beyond this book.

While this title is somewhat dated (1984) it represents one of the best pop piano tutorials presently in print. The author clarifies early on the purpose of the book and delivers the rudiments of treble clef plus chord playing styles. As the author properly notes, this book will do nothing toward developing a classical repertoire but will allow the student (assuming the requisite practice) to play numerous pop/jazz standards from fakebooks or sheet music.

Authors of this genre tend to avoid music theory like the plague and this book is no exception. By including just a little more information on note/finger selection Mr. Monath could have put the student in a much better position to avoid the often alluded to "bad habits" critics of these books are quick to mention. However, it's still a very good and accesible book that will have the student playing with confidence by the end of Chapter 3.

I would also recommend purchasing a book such as "Total Piano" by Terry Burrows. Not only does this book fill in some of the theory/technique missing from "..Play Pop Piano in 10 Lessons..", but it does so along with easy classical pieces and historical information that is entertaining in a much more polished package. Buy both!