Product Description

"Anyone who can dial a telephone can learn to play popular piano quickly and easily." So says Norman Monath, author of How to Play Popular Piano in 10 Easy Lessons. His no-frills, no-drills method will have you playing simple tunes within 30 minutes -- even if you don't know one note from another. The secret? Learning the basic chords and how to adapt them. With lots of clearly illustrated chord examples, keyboard diagrams and practice pieces ranging from "Silent Night" to "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," Monath teaches you: * the basic structure of music * how to alter the basic chords for creative accompaniment * how to read tunes from sheet music * how to improvise * how to play by ear * how to create your own playing style -- whether you lean toward pop, blues, jazz or rock For everyone from rank beginner to experienced virtuoso, this step-by-step, uncomplicated guidebook makes learning to play popular piano the easy and enjoyable experience it should be.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5460 in Books
• Published on: 1984-11-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 141 pages

Customer Reviews

Excellent book for beginners
For the beginner, this book is excellent. I have looked at many piano books when I first began playing, and most of them were usually too complicated, or too simplistic. This book, however, was one that fell right in the middle and helped me understand all kinds of important ideas in music, such as harmony and melody, building chords and scales (and understanding HOW), reading music, how to understand 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 good 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 learn the basics of how to play out of fake books and begin improvising. It is probably not good for those who want in-depth and more advanced theory of music, but it is an excellent book to use as a stepping stone toward more adva! nced piano study. This is a must have book for any beginnger.

For aspiring pianist? No -- piano players, yes!
Norman Monath's book is the most practical music self-instruction book, for intelligent adults, that I've ever seen. It is clearly geared for folks who want to do what the title says, play popular piano, versus becoming serious pianists. You won't learn much about treble clef, finger position, or proper technique here. But you also won't spend months repeating "Tommy the Turtle" and "Camptown Races" (or more likely give up the whole thing in discouragement). The basic idea is to learn how chords work (it's not as complicated as I thought!), and then start playing in a simple but effective style: melody with the right hand, block chords with the left. At age 44, I could read music but not play piano. Within days, literally, of reading Monath's book, I had bought a fake book and begun using it. This is not an overnight system that will turn you into a professional pianist -- but it is a legitimate alternative. I like it!

Great introduction to Harmony and Piano Basics
This is a great book for the beginning piano player. It starts from zero ("where's middle C?") and develops to the point where you can read a melodic line and chord structures. When I first started learning piano I was mystified by how chords are formed that would "go with" a particular melody. This book has an excellent and simple explanation covering major, minor, dominant, etc. chords.Author Norman Monath has a friendly and casual writing style and he provides lots of good material for practice.While the lessons are "easy", playing piano is a skill that can only be mastered by practice ... but this book can "show you the way".