Customer Reviews

Ultimate Christmas: 100 Seasonal Favorites: Easy Piano

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm an older player/learner who practices in spurts around many activities. I wanted something that would not get me too frustrated, but would also allow me to have some sense of accomplishment. I'm not a good pianist, play for myself and not others, and cannot be a good judge of the musical accuracy or sophistication of this music. I've read that this editor in other easy piano books makes mistakes with notation. Better musicians have complained that the editor sometimes makes original tunes seem unrecognizable. To my weak ears, this collection and its arrangements are just about right. I'm also very pleased with the traditional selections--and the price was right.

This is an awesome collection of Christmas music for all ages. Mostly easy arrangement and a few challenging ones.

This book has a large selection of easy-to-play Christmas music. Great for the beginning piano player or the advanced player who just wants to play some uncomplicated music.

I love this book! If you want to play Christmas music and you're not an accomplished pianist this book is for you. If you are an accomplished pianist you might want to look elsewhere - or use this book as a "fake book" since the chords are given. There's a nice mix of standard carols and popular seasonal music. I especially like "Christmas Time is Here" (as played in the Charlie Brown Christmas Video) and "Merry Christmas, Darling" of which I have a recording sung by Karen Carpenter.
In the few weeks since I've had this book I've been playing out of it almost every day. It's nice to able to play Christmas music with a minimum amount of time needed for practice!

This song book is great. The songs are easy enough that no matter who comes to visit, they can pick up the book and 'pluck out a tune.' This has been great fun when relatives come to visit who 'haven't touched the piano in 20 years' and they are able to play a tune after a few tries. The tunes are rich enough to ring true to the tune and be enjoyable for all. Highly recommend as easy to play, yet enjoyable for all.

An excellent book for level 1 & 2 piano players. The editing of the songs imparts lovely chording and neat introductions such that it makes the music sound winderful. Great book!

I bought this book a few months ago to start playing so to be ready for the holidays. I really love it. There are enough songs in it to not get sick of playing the same thing over and over again. There are a couple more challenging songs, like Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy that I'm still working on, but most of the other songs I can just open up and play now. I don't think that Christmas carols should be really difficult when you're just playing for the joy of hearing the melody and having people join in singing sometimes. Great buy, totally worth ever penny.

I like this book. It has plenty of Christmas songs that a beginner can learn to play. The songs are fun to learn. The songs sound good too.

Surely there are hundreds of Christmas carol books. I've encountered perhaps 70 to 100 of 'em. A few, such as the carols in the legendary "Fireside Folk Song Book" are splendid: easy to play yet with musically attractive arrangements, printed so the pianist isn't squinting, and in a singable key. I was looking for a gift for a beginner, and, through luck and the helpfulness of Amazon custom-reviews, I found it!

The "Ultimate Christmas: 100 Easy Seasonal Favorites" is an all-time best, in my experience.

Among its virtues: large print and excellent contrast for visibility, arrangements simple enough for the first year pianist yet easy to augment for the more experienced, choice of key signatures where many voices sound good, neither too high nor too low, and, mirable dictu---easy guitar chords.

Further, only two keys are used throughout so the book is gloriously free of the bane of enthusiastic but not highly skilled friends-and-family singing: a different key signature for just about every song. Piano, guitar, and voices sound wonderful in these arrangements without rehearsals, first time around.

True, highly skilled, professional musicians may wish for more complex, elaborated arrangements with more harmony indicated for the voices.

If, however, you are looking for a family-friend book of carols for piano, guitar, voices----this may be it!

Now let me praise the selection: almost all the traditional songs are here, as well as the newer classics from movies and popular music. The price is excellent for the completeness, the musicial choices, and the quality of paper and binding. I'll go to this title again (and probably again) as gifts for first-second year pianists and guitar players, and I'll get another copy too, for myself, arranged in the key of perfect.

This book does have a lot of great songs in it, but I have a feeling that I'm going to be making changes to their notation. While I haven't played the piano regularly for about 15 years, I have played the violin in several different orchestral groups. Their arranger used a lot of dissident chords in odd places that really breaks the flow of the song.