Alfred's Basic Adult All-In-One Piano Course : Lesson, Theory, Technic

This is a great product for beginner piano players. Easy to follow.

A little background before I get into the real review: My 14 y/o trumpet player daughter has been wanting to learn the piano for years. Because she has C.P. we had been putting it off thinking that trying to coordinate both hands at once and read music would be too frustrating for her. Her trumpet teacher disagreed and recommended she start with the Suzuki method as she has and incredibly good ear and quite a bit of natural musical talent. From my understanding of Suzuki, there is quite a bit of parent involvement required. This is a problem for me given I have limited experience playing an instrument (flute. I really should have listened when my mom said I'd regret giving it up) and absolutely none with the piano. I bought this book to help rectify that, knowing that I'll be sitting in on her weekly lessons and absorbing a lot of information there.Having only had the book a couple of days, I love it already. The book assumes you are coming to the piano with no prior musical experience and starts from the very beginning. It introduces the musical alphabet and shows where each note falls on the keyboard. When reading from the staff is introduced, the note names are printed right in the note so your eyes are traveling along the staff instead of looking elsewhere. With each lesson on theory you are given exercises and practice tunes that reinforce the lesson. There are also written exercises to really help make those connections solid. You move along fairly quickly, playing simple melodies with each hand separately to playing with both hands. Once harmonic intervals are introduced (pg.26) and you start playing the melody with one hand and harmonics with the other, you really feel like you're making music! It's pretty exciting to go from not knowing where middle C is located to playing Jingle Bells with a bit of harmony in 2 days! I can't wait to continue to grow with this book.I do plan on adding scales and such to my practice sessions, as these are truly the things that will help you progress and give you a more fundamental understanding of how music is put together. Playing scales and arpeggios are just as important to a musician as stretching is to a runner. They may not be the most fun, but they are essential, which my daughter hates to hear.Some have said that the song selection leaves a bit to be desired. While I don't disagree that songs like "Tisket, A Tasket", "Lightly Row", and "Aunt Rhody" are juvenile, (these are the songs all young musicians start with. The Good Lord knows I've sat through many a squeaky beginning band performance of them!) they are the type of song that build that foundation for the great things to come. By the time you finish this book you should be able to play songs like "Over the Rainbow" and "Singin' in the Rain". You can also find loads of simple piano music online for free and there's always the option of purchasing books of beginner music if you find that you're board by the selections provided.Also be aware that this book does not come with the c.d. Not really a problem as there are loads of nice folks who have uploaded videos to youtube of all the songs. Just search for Alfred's Basic Adult Piano and you'll have your pick.All in all, I really am enjoying learning with this book. I feel like I'm able to grasp the concepts that are introduced and will be able to help my daughter along once her lessons start in a couple of weeks. I'm looking forward to finishing this book, which I hope will come sooner rather than later, and starting on the next one.

This book was really great! I had piano lessons as a child, and hadn't played for 25 years. I decided that this would be my starting point. The book is very easy to understand, teaching everything from the ground up, how to sit, how to hold your hands, warm ups, identifying and naming notes, to music theory on scales and chords, what the words and symbols mean on sheet music, etc. I don't think you'd have to know anything at all about the piano to learn this way. Some of the pages are worksheets that you can fill in the blanks to help you learn, I liked that a lot.All of the songs are performed on YouTube by the way, so you can hear what it should sound like! It's a great reference, since there's no CD any more.I thought it was so good that bought the rest of the series (2 & 3) after finishing this first book. Very much looking forward to starting Level 2 tonight!

I really enjoy this book and feel that I've learned a lot so far, although I'm only halfway through. It would be ideal for beginner students or those needing a brush up, especially if they are working with a professional on the side. I'm in my mid-30s, doing it through self-study and find it relatively easy to do. I'm hoping to get a proper acoustic piano eventually and would love to know how to play well first. I've never had musical training, but have played off and on by ear--meaning, I didn't know most chords, notes, or proper hand positions, and I certainly couldn't read music. That's certainly changing! Right now, I'm just seeing how far I can get with it and may take lessons later when I can afford it. I'm currently using a 61-key keyboard at the moment, but plan on getting one that's 88-key with properly weighted keys for advanced lessons to tie me over for a couple more years until I can get an acoustic.While it's certainly possible to learn on your own (this far, anyway!), I definitely recommend looking up instructional videos to help with hand positions and posture. I found several on YouTube, such as one called "The 5 Basic Elements of a Correct Posture," by an English-speaking Russian instructor. I also suggest getting the CD combo package to help with tempo (hint: if it's under $10, you are likely not buying the combo). I mistakenly bought the one without the CD and you will definitely want it, and the combination package is less expensive than buying separately. If you wind up getting the book without the CD, you can find demos on Youtube as well; it's just a little more tedious. So far, I've located all but one (at the beginning of the book) and I'm just a little beyond page 50. This will come in handy for songs that are unfamiliar to you or are a little more difficult to play.Once you get to p. 50 or so, things kind of take an abrupt leap in advancement (position change) and the book kind of loses its clarity at that point to some degree, but it's not impossible and demos definitely help. Just make sure to do those little assignments and practice loads. Because I play by ear and tend to memorize things well, I always go back to songs, even if I've previously played them before. That way, I make sure I'm reading the notes rather than sounding them out.All in all, I really enjoy it and I'm pretty amazed that I'm actually reading music, even if it's with difficulty at times as I progress in the book. Because I tend to be my biggest nag, I will likely get the adult self-study version, too, but it was recommended by reviewers to start with this one. I also plan to get the eMedia Piano and Keyboard Method software program. I hadn't seen it until after I purchased this book, but I feel that it will help me more with tempo and what not. I'm also visual, so that may help as well.