Learn How To Play Piano

Review by Herbert:

For the beginner, this book is exceptional. I have looked at many piano books when I first started playing, and most of them were usually too complicated, or too simplistic. This book, but, was one that fell right in the middle and helped me know all kinds of vital thoughts in music, such as harmony and melody, building chords and scales (and understanding HOW), reading music, how to know progressions, and how to play by ear and improvise. It is certainly geared toward getting you “up and playing” in the simplest, fastest way, at a moderate pace, with a excellent depth of information that does not get overwhelming. Because of this, this book is probably suited much more for the person who has no music experience and wants to gather the basics of how to play out of fake books and start improvising. It is probably not excellent for those who want in-depth and more advanced theory of music, but it is an exceptional book to use as a stepping stone toward more adva! nced piano study. This is a must have book for any beginnger.

Review by :

There seem to be two main ways of teaching the piano. In the first, one grinds along like a junior typist learning which keys to strike in response to printed music. The sheet music starts simple and gets harder. One’s brain and fingers get better at working together. When one is pretty excellent at beating out clarification in pretty hard compositions, one is considered a pretty excellent piano player.The other way of teaching focuses on learning chords and music theory. The thought here seems to be that, if one has the theory, one can figure out where to place one’s fingers. So, one learns a melody and then, using music theory or a fake books adds chords. After a small practice, the devotees of this method contend, one can really make music, i.e. play tunes that you like and make them sound excellent, though not necessarily the way they are written on sheet music. Both approaches have problems. The first is hard work, and if one really wants to make music, you have to engage in this hard work for years. The second requires, but doesn’t teach or encourage, a fantastic deal of facility hitting the right keys. It’s very fun to know how music is place together and how one might play it. Yet it is very frustrating not to have developed the physical coordination to really do it. The Monath book uses the second approach. It is a delightful introduction to music theory, chords, scales, and how music is place together. Like many of the books that follow the second approach, the style verges on the messianic. Yes, one starts playing songs nearly immediately. Unfortunately, without a excellent deal of practice, those first songs might take an hour or so to pick through. If you have some facility on the keyboard, this might be a very helpful book. If you don’t, you won’t instantly become adept by reading this book, though reading the book will certainly be fascinating, worthwhile, and edifying.I must also say that, if you are considering this book, you might want to take a look at the Cannell and Marx book – “How To Play The Piano Despite Years of Lessons.” Cannell and Marx follow the same approach, but describe some things differently and emphasize slightly different things. The Cannell book provides a much more detailed (and mechanical) pattern for really playing songs – a huge advantage.

Review by A. Ganster:

This is a fantastic video for those who want to gather the playing techniques for gospel. Most gospel online courses teach what chords to play but give you small in the way of playing them for a gospel sound. Many gospel videos give you 1-1/2 hours of how to form chords, from beginning to intermediate, and maybe 15 minutes of advanced demonstration. This doesn’t help either the beginner or the advanced player.

Though the songs start out simply and a beginner could get a start with them, most of the video is for the honestly proficient player who wants to get some rhythm and licks to gospelize music. This gospel piano is much like boogie woogie piano and is a lot of fun.

The written booklets are helpful and clearly written. They just take practice.

I do wish that Dr. Ethel Caffie-Austin would place out a CD of her piano music. She’s fantastic.

Review by vallerino:

Ethel Caffie-Austin is a fabulous pianist and she breaks it down easily so that players new to this style can know the how and the why. A song is presented in its simplest form first, and then in increasingly ornamented versions with alternate harmonies, so in the end, you can figure out which version you want to make your signature version.

This set is for intermediate to advanced players, and the only criticism I have of this set is that it isn’t indicated anywhere on the packaging (or in promotion that I’ve seen), but that doesn’t detract from the 5 stars it very richly deserves. A beginning pianist would probably not be ready to play the pieces in this set, but what they hey, if you are a beginner, buy it anyway, watch it and PRACTICE like mad to get up to the level to play this. This set will INSPIRE you to get your chops together! You will need to be able to play in octaves, and to play full chords across an octave in each hand. It is also recommended that you be familiar with at least seventh chords.

Review by Joe Waters:

I am an adult who used fake books extensively as a teenager when I played an accordion in a small combo. Now, (much, much later), I am trying to gather how to play an electronic keyboard competently – with both hands, and Blake Neely’s book has become a very valuable addition to my library. I knew how to use a fake book and play melodies with my right hand, but how to play a tune and have it sound nice on a piano (or in my case, a Yamaha PSR540 keyboard)??? In this book, I found the answer. It starts out with a very unadorned left hand accompaniment – just play the root of the chord. It then continues to build up competence, step-by-step: add a fifth to the root; next gather the composition of a major chord and play the whole chord; gather about chord inversions and how to play them; gather minor chords and their inversions; gather how to easily switch from one chord to another without having to jump all over the keyboard; gather left-hand options that extend beyond simply playing the full block chord, that is, use a two-part chord, alternate the root and fifth in playing the two-part chord, play the chord as an arpeggio. Throughout all these lessons, songs are provided to try things out and the chosen songs do, to be sure, sound fantastic using the technique clarified in the lessons. While learning to play from a single line of music, the songs will show both the treble and bass clef so you can see what your left-hand should be doing. It then will provide some songs with just the treble clef to see if you can do it yourself. Of course, you, the student, have to take the time to gather these chords. The book shows you what they are, but you have to do your homework — it will take a fantastic deal of practice for most players to see a chord and instantly be able to finger that chord on the keyboard.I haven’t completed this book yet — I am still in the process of mastering all the major and minor chords so I can play them instantly. But all of the above was covered in the first 27 pages of this 88-page book (including 20 songs to illustrate the lessons). Coming up are seventh chords, augmented and diminshed chords, variations on the seventh chord, ninths and elevenths — and 40 more songs to illustrate the chords and techniques discussed in each of the lessons. I am looking forward to devouring each lesson and loving each minute of it. After all, with a fake book, one has hundreds of pieces with which to practice the techniques being taught in this book. I heartily recommend this book to anyone who wants to play well from the many fake books available in today’s market.

Review by L. R. Travis:

I took piano lessons for 5+ years and in elementary/junior high. I never had the least thought how to make any chord, except by reading the clarification. I never knew why one chord was called a G and another was a C7. (Maybe my teachers tried to tell me, and I was not paying attention — I wasn’t the most attentive student.) I ongoing recently trying to play keyboard and I bought one of those small books that shows each chord and its inversions. Very time consuming to look up and try to memorize each chord! But after reading this book and “How to Play the Piano Despite Years of Lessons” I can really sit down and play any major chord, and figure out any minor, diminished, augmented, and 7th. There is really a rhyme and reason behind it all! Who knew?! I’m having a lot of fun with these books, although I can’t say I’m ready to play for an audience.

Review by Lorenzo F. Gonzalez:

This really is the best of the few decent books in this category – and one of only a small handful that don’t treat you like an idiot. Concomitantly, if you ARE in idiot, this book won’t work for you. As other reviewers have noted, the pace is certainly quick compared to the ‘graded’ lesson books commonly used by piano teachers. But using the CD, and involved each exercise until you really know it – you WILL go far, and quick, with this one. I’ve carefully checked each other “teach yourself piano” title I’ve seen in the local supplies, and even bought and returned a few. This one, but, is a keeper. By the end of the book, you’ll be playing some honestly impressive classical pieces (more than enough to impress your friends – unless they’re veteran pianists!). Along the way, you get a very nice background in piano history (fantastic photos an illustrations!), and you’ll gain a excellent, solid understanding of reading music. (hm – except for all those british musical terms. Feh. Luckily, American-style is included as well.)Generally, you really, really should try to get a teacher. But if you just can’t afford it, this book is the next best thing. Combine it with a few videos/DVDs (like the “Van Cliburn competition” – YES!, or even buy “The Pianist” or “Shine” right here on Amazon) so you can get an thought of how pianists hold and go their hands. (not that you’ll go like these people for a long while!).There is a crazy typographical error in my edition of the book, where an entire paragraph is repeated! This is only a small sad, because the space could have been place to use for more of the author’s fantastic information. It’s not enough to drop my rating! The binding (at least in my edition) is spiral – a VERY SMART go, as it sits nicely on the music desk. I have to make photo copies to use the sheet music in other books!This one has got my full recommendation. And better yet, if you have any musical background at all, or have had some piano lessons (even in your distant past) this book will have you flying along in no time.

Review by Midwest Book Review:

The Piano Handbook: A Complete Guide For Mastering Piano by pianist, composers, and music journalist Carl Humphries is a straightforward, “user friendly” tutorial for mastering the art of piano playing. An erudite text (illustrated with both black-and-white and color photographs) deftly detail various styles of play ranging from romantic, to classical, to jazz, rock, blues, and more, as well as technological matters such as hand positions, pedaling, tonal balance, chord progressions, etc. The Piano Handbook is enhanced with an accompanying music CD which has tracks relating to 69 different exercises. Highly recommended to piano players of all skill and experience levels seeking to improve, The Piano Handbook is designed in a spiral bound format which will conveniently lay open flat while involved music.