Piano Adventures Primer Level Lesson Book – 2nd Edition

My daughter loves this piano book! The lessons are easy to follow, and the songs keep her excited to practice. It’s been amazing to see her confidence grow each week. A great choice for young beginners!

I ordered this lesson book, along with the Primer Level Technique and Artistry, Theory, Writing Book, Performance and Popular Repertoire books for my five and six year olds, to start them out on the piano. I am teaching them myself and decided on this curriculum because of its great reviews. I am enormously pleased that I did.Within the first few lessons my children were playing songs independently on the piano, and when I play the teacher's accompaniment along with them, and sing along with the provided lyrics, my kids feel like accomplished musicians. They are proud of themselves and eager to learn more.I really like how this curriculum is set up to teach musicianship in a holistic sense, right from the start. The first few lessons get them acquainted with the patterns on the keyboard, and exploring the different sounds it can make. The first ten pages or so have the students playing exclusively on the black keys, which are easier for the children to identify (they are not expected to know the names of the notes at first; once they know the number of each finger and LH/RH, a picture is provided to help them find the right positions, and they are only expected to use two or three fingers on each hand). The only tricky part about this is that I had to play the teacher's accompaniment in keys with five or six flats, which I haven't done in more years than I care to say, so sometimes I was the one making all the mistakes. But the kids flew right through those lessons and mastered them easily.They are next introduced to the names of the white keys, and it is not until half way through the book that they are introduced to reading music on staffs. I use the Lesson Book as my primary resource, but include the similar-skill pages from the other books I purchased to enhance their learning. My kids love the written activities that support their work on the keyboard, which are appropriate and fun for kids this age.I really appreciate how musicianship skills are incorporated right from the beginning: we are only a third of the way through the Primer Level, and my kids already have a musical vocabulary that includes piano (soft), forte (loud), quarter note, half note, whole note, repeat sign. There are exercises that teach sight reading, ear training, dexterity and strength training, and even composition. My kids feel empowered by the skills they are learning through this curriculum and I am confident they are getting a solid introduction to musicianship in general, not just piano playing.This curriculum gets five stars from me.

The three goals of the book: learn finger numbers, learn to find notes on piano, learn beginning notation.It starts with finger number exercises on black keys, and simple songs that kids can do easily with a little guidance. I find I have to remind students to remember to look at the page, as it is easy to memorize the pattern and never meet the goal of connecting the numbers to the fingers mentally.Next, it introduces notes on the keys by working with the two sets of keys: C, D, E, first; then F, G, A, B second. That approach seems sensible and effective. The letter names appear in the note-heads, as quarter note and half note rhythms are introduced.Finally, we start putting notes on the staff. This is where some students struggle. Notation does seem to be a hurdle for some kids. We teachers can use additional aids to help with learning/connecting the staff to the keyboard.I recommend this book for young learners. Older students may benefit as well, but they'll need to move pretty quickly through it, so they don't get bored or annoyed by the whimsical kid-oriented drawings.

My daughter’s piano teacher recommended this book. The teacher likes the way the book progresses through lessons. It comes with a link to videos to help students play along with a track.

I am a piano teacher and I grew up playing the Alfred series. When I started teaching, I used the Alfred series. As I expanded my knowledge of resources out there, I came across this book. In comparison to the Alfred Level 1A book, this one works much better for young beginners. The introduction of notes on the staff is gradual and gives students a chance to absorb 1-3 notes at a time before introducing others (the Alfred book shows all 5 notes in C Position at once and only gives you 1 song for each hand before students are expected to read the grand staff with 5 notes on each staff. For many young beginners, this is overwhelming and they end up struggling with note reading).This book also emphasizes the difference between steps and skips - while you come across a couple 5ths here and there, they are not formally labeled as 5ths. This allows students the chance to get comfortable understanding the staff and the difference between steps and skips before overwhelming them with intervals galore.The first half(ish) of the book is all pre-reading - no staff, just lettered notes and rhythms. I love having the option to use all these pages for younger beginners who need more time to understand the connections between rhythm, the letters of the keys, and their hands. However, for fast learners or some 8-9 year old beginners, we skip some of these songs.Lastly, there are many teacher duets in this book, which are great for (1) spicing up some otherwise bland songs (what can you expect when you only know 2 notes?), (2) helping kids develop their sense of rhythm (we have to count together to stay together!), and (3) allowing beginners to have fun. Almost all my students love playing duets.My students do better when they start with this book rather than the Alfred 1A book. If you have an older beginner, or one with some experience reading music, this book will probably be too easy for them and they'll race right through. But for beginning kids 8-9 and younger, this works like a charm.