Product Description

This three part classic piano course is now available in one useful volume. Whether you're starting from scratch, or starting again, this course has been dsigned to guide you gently into playing simple tunes from day one. Containing familiar favourites from the classical repertoire, themes from opera and ballet, folk-songs and blues plus music by contemporary classical composers. Including items of musical history and biography, an easy-to-follow introduction to the theory of music, and suggested listening to enhance your musical appreciation. A free dummy keyboard is included for silent practice group tuitition and theory work.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #35167 in Books
• Published on: 2002-04-15
• Binding: Paperback
• 128 pages

Customer Reviews

classic piano course 1-3: not recommended
I am extremely dissatisfied. The combined books have been printed on half sized paper making it near impossible to sight read. Added to this the book is tightly bound so the pages will not sit open - even after bending the spine several times. Yes the combined books 1-3 are much cheaper than the individual books but these are useable. Think twice before buying this version - in my experience it is a false economy. The individual books are the better option.

Comes to the point a lot quicker than most other courses.
How did I get to 5 stars, if I still have some negative things to say? This whole course, including three books, is compared to others, the best one I have seen so far. Other books spend up to 20 pages at the start on teaching the reader how to read music. This is very annoying for anybody who can already read music or even play an instrument. In this course you learn to associate the printed notes with the right keys on the piano. You acquire the names of the notes as you go along, so experienced musicians, as well as unexperienced musicians to be, will enjoy this course. This second book deals wiht the major scale, tied quavers and semi quavers. It also, just like book 1 did, explains many useful musical terms and gives practical hints on the right posture and fingering. You will however need all three books to be able to play satisfactory at the end of the course. Furthermore the exercise pieces are very easy and classical pieces are usually shortened and adapted. This however has the advantage that the reader can, from the very start on, play decent sounding melodies. I would still recommend to buy an additional book of classical pieces and practice them independently in order to make a proper progress. This book is very easy to understand and the exercises are kept simple. I personally would like something a little bit more challenging, but as I mentioned above, other piano courses are far worse when it comes to the skill level. This is an excellent book for both, the autodidact reader who will either be happy to leave his/her skills at the level this book provides and also for somebody who wishes to play in a more professional way and is willing to put some extra effort, independent study and self initiative into his/her work.

Very good, though a little challenging for self study
I very much respect the choices of music in this book - the author has provided classical, folk, ragtime music etc., simplified where necessary, rather than having you play nursery rhymes, which can be infuriating for an adult beginner.

The only fault I can draw is that is proving a little challenging for self-study (which is how I am using it) - it moves quite swiftly, and provides only relatively limited explanations of some of the concepts it introduces, which might be a problem for those who lack the temperament for a bit of an uphill struggle.

I cannot mark it down for this, however, since it appears to be intended for use as a textbook, yet is still my preferred book in my attempts to self-teach.