47 of 47 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A technical godsend, November 22, 2007
This review is from: Practical Method for Beginners, Op. 599: Piano Technique (Paperback)
This method is very limited in scope and not for everybody, but it is just what I need, at least so far. It's about training the hands and getting a spacial (sic) awareness of the keyboard. Unlike Hanon,it does not take zen-like attention to relax the hands while doing the exercises. Also, it trains the fingers in chord shapes. I am an accomplished musician (trumpet, bass, vocals) who never learned to play piano properly. My ears and stylistic senses are fine: I can play some Bach inventions, a bit of Chopin etc, but each piece takes me a long time to learn (I wind up memorizing them before I can play them accurately). I also can lift many rock and pop tunes I hear in my cd collection and off the radio (example: Prelude to Angry Young Man by Billy Joel - no easy piece) with plenty of gusto and authenticity but I get tired quickly. I also cannot sight read effectively (esp when chord are involved) - I know the notes and can hear it but my fingers do not automatically obey.
One negative review was accurate in that the musical content is, to say the least, not inspiring. But neither are drills for learning to dribble a basketball, swinging a baseball bat or any form of physical competence. The first page of this book is ridiculously easy musically, but due to the fingering alternations, I have spent days on it, and can feel myself building awareness of my fingers, spacing and developing the neuronal connections that are crucial to good habits. I anticipate eventually being able to look at a piece of music and unconsciously being able to play it. Yes, the musical content is not exciting (this should not be your only form of musical expression or practice!), but getting the true physical fundamentals down is worth it.
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3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
fantastic for beginners, February 5, 2010
This review is from: Practical Method for Beginners, Op. 599: Piano Technique (Paperback)
My granddaughter loves to learn piano. This book helped her a lot and she has a lot of fun playing the lovely studies. They are quite simple but beautiful.
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5 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A nice reading book, May 12, 2007
This review is from: Practical Method for Beginners, Op. 599: Piano Technique (Paperback)
My son has been playing piano for 5 years. He uses this book for his reading exercises. It works out pretty well, except he had to skip the first few pages which were way too easy.
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