Customer Reviews

Playing the Piano for Pleasure

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I read this book 15 years ago. I have been looking for the book, as I believe it is the best an adult learner may find. Not only does Playing Piano for Pleasure give clear guidance for learning to play the piano, but it also suggests pieces one might play. These pieces are presented in sequential manner, that is, from easy to difficult. I have not played for a while and remember, Cooke writing somewhere in the text, "The saddest thing one can say is that 'I used to play the piano'." Unfortunately, that is where I am with my piano playing. Cooke's Playing Piano for Pleasure will help me pick it up again. Some of the topics covered include, GOALS: The place of Music in the Life od the Amateur, Climbing Higher on the Ladder of Piano Literature; MEANS: The Pleasant Necessity of Practising; REPERTOIRE: Transforming the Weakest passages into the Strongest, Memorizing, Interpretation, Retention; TECHNIQUE; and SIGHT READING. A must read for all piano enthusiasts.

A wonderful book for any classical pianist. Cooke's ideas are useful, his writing is entertaining, and his enthusiasm is infectious.

One caution: Ignore the chapter on polyrhythms. Cooke advocates the "least common multiple" method, which only works for simple cases and tends to produce choppy jigsaw-puzzle playing even then. For a polyrhythm such as 7 against 8, the method is a fiasco -- unless you really want to count out 56 mini-beats and position one note exactly 4/7 of the way between two others.

Overall, however, the book is a gem. I've never met a pianist who didn't enjoy it.

I am completely thrilled that they reprinted this book. I have an original 1941 edition that I have been reading and rereading ever since I got it. It's not just for the beginner, the novice, or the person who used to play the piano. Anyone who counts themselves as a hobby pianist, or has some problems with enjoying their practicing as much as playing "finished" pieces will garner a lot from this book. And anyone who enjoys piano at all will probably enjoy reading Cooke as he extolls on his beloved hobby. For those who are working seriously at their piano he offers concrete practicing tidbits on everything from how to divide your practice time, to memorizing. His lists of suggested music at different levels are a great place to start if you don't know where to look for your next piece of music. A wonderful, wonderful book.

I first read this book years ago, when I wasn't a serious pianist, and it helped me to become serious. Mr. Cooke very well conveys his joy and enthusiasm, plus his seriousness about music and the piano despite being an amateur -- and these qualities are nicely contagious. Also he gives many specific suggestions that may be useful to some pianists. For example, I gained from his suggestions for fixing tricky passages, which he calls "fractures." He likens the process to the healing of a bone fracture, which, as he explains, becomes the strongest portion of the bone when healed.

However, the book is anachronistic in two seemingly contradictory respects. On one hand, there is a casualness and inefficiency of expression that we would rarely if ever find nowadays in a published book -- I guess the word is "quaint." I don't mean in any way that it is "rambling," but with the benefit of word processing, I'm sure Mr. Cooke would have deleted, condensed, or re-phrased much of the material. But despite the casualness, while he begins by saying how personal the book is and expressing merely the hope that his thoughts might be helpful to some people, he writes most of the book as though the recommended practices MUST be followed -- or else! Both of these things -- the casualness and yet the harsh didacticism -- reflect the era, and they mark the book as the period piece that it is. But, take it for what it is, and you can only gain from it.

I benefited from other specific suggestions too, such as for the practicing of cross-rhythms. But I disagree with a number of the other dictums; at least they wouldn't be good for ME. For example, I don't agree that it is crucial or even necessarily good to practice at least an hour each and every day no matter what, and I don't agree that it's necessarily bad to let yourself "forget" pieces that you're learned. In fact, I have found that sometimes it is only by "forgetting" a piece that you can later bring good new perspectives to it.

Nevertheless, this book is "5 stars." We can quibble about some of the specifics, and we can quibble with aspects of the author's approach. And if you're looking for an instructional and inspirational book on piano playing, there are other, far superior books, particularly Seymour Bernstein's "With Your Own Two Hands." But Mr. Cooke's book has much to say in its own right, and you might literally LOVE it. But please don't necessarily take everything in it too seriously, and don't feel guilty if you don't follow everything the author says!

This is a wonderful book for any dedicated amateur pianist. It contains great, detailed advice for planning practice sessions--more practical detail than I've seen in any other piano book. Moreover, the writing is delightful. Mr. Cooke was a journalist for the New Yorker in the 30's and 40's and obviously really knew his craft. While most of the book is devoted to improving piano skills, he does drop a hew hilarious anecdotes. One priceless one involves his use of a silent keyboard and how he manages to drive James Thurber crazy with all the mysterious tapping.

I've incorporated many of his suggestions for improving practice into my own daily routine. His suggestions are practical, spot-on, well documented and easy to understand. Some bits of the book are somewhat dated. I take personal exception to his recommendation of Hanon. But, all in all. if you're a dedicated amateur pianist, this book should be on your shelf.

This book is written in the 1930s but none of the concepts presented is dated at all (ok, maybe except recommending Hanon). It is inpirational and a fully enjoyable read. It contains advice on how to practice and memorise. The author also shared his own repertoire (75 pieces in total, iirc), and it has given me some new ideas on what to play next.

I've been looking for exactly what's in this book. I began taking piano lessons several years ago and was pretty old then. I made progress but always knew I was missing something important.

Right from the first few paragraphs I began to see what was wrong and carefully followed Cooke's advice beginning with repairing fractures. Good grief - the improvement was obvious and immediate. I'm following each item as it comes up and I think I can memorize pieces that I never thought possible.

His respect for Hanon bothered me (and an earlier reviewer) but I'm going to dig the old consolidated edition out and use it. I'm a pretty good sight reader and those Hanon exercises may be the reason. If that's not true, there's nothing really lost.

Cooke loves the piano as much as Noah Adams (in whose book I found the reference to this book) and the author of "The Piano Shop on the Left Bank and me.

This book will be invaluable to the amateur pianist at any level beyond absolute beginner. It does not explain music. Rather, it explains how to LEARN and PRACTICE piano music. The ideas, tips and tricks in this book made me a better pianist practically overnight. I have never seen this kind of information in other method books.

For me, the most valuable sections are on how to learn difficult passages- what he calls "fractures". The aim of his method is to make these passages the strongest part of the performance. He gives detailed instruction on how to isolate, break down, analyze, and practice these sections, then how to integrate them back into the piece. I have used this method countless times, and it has allowed me to play pieces that I had previously deemed too "difficult" or "scary".

For some reason, my piano teachers never taught this kind of information. They just gave me the music and said "Learn this". So, as well as amateur pianists, I think every piano teacher should read this book so they can teach their students an intelligent approach to practicing and learning a new piece at home.

This is not the typical dry and humorless "method" book. The author's writing style is very lighthearted and amusing, and the book is a joy to read.

As I mentioned above, this book is NOT for beginning pianists. You need to know how to read music and play the notes. However, once you can sight read and are at the point of learning entire songs, please read this book! It will teach you how to learn and practice your new songs in a very effective and satisfying way.

Well written classic. A must have inspiration tool. I purchased this book after reading a friends Ph.d. thesis where he mentioned the books influence on his personal growth.

This is an excellent book squarely aimed at those, like myself, who once studied piano for a time and now want to get back to it on more or less a hobby basis. I felt the main thrust of the book is that it provides a wealth of information that greatly aids one's ability to improve as a player. The book is in the category of being the next best thing to actually having a teacher as long as one already has a fairly extensive musical background and aptitude.