Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com
Summary:
These 142 pieces by the masters of piano literature date from the second half of the 17th century to the present.
Customer Reviews:
Average Customer Rating:
Fabulous for Teen and Adult Beginners
Customer Rating:
I bought this book over 35 years ago when I started to teach myself piano. As a young teen I would have been bored by the "Twinkle, twinkle" type music books. Within weeks I was able to play recognizable classical melodies, and yet the pieces were challenging enough that I could work in this book for a couple of years. Found it again after decades in storage; falling apart, but still precious. The fingering guides are excellent.
Great for practice if you can play pretty well already
Customer Rating:
This is a great piano exercise book that is good for intermediate and "advanced" beginners. If you have never touched a piano before, and cannot read notes, you are better off getting something like Alfred's All in One volume 1. This is NOT a just "starting to learn beginner" book.
My only gripe with this book is that it does not come spiral bound. Once you get a few pages into the book, it is near impossible to lay it flat on the piano and read it without wanting to bend it.
I decided to take it to fedex and have it spiral bounded for about $6. I suggest anyone do the same as it will make your life easier when you try learning from it.
Unsatisfied
Customer Rating:
My main complaint about books edited by denes agay is that they do not lay flat. I sure wish music publishers would publish music book s with comb binding or something similar so the books will open and stay open so you're not constantly fiddling with them and cussing when they close on you while you are playing the music. Is this too much to ask for? And why doesn't Amazon inform us of the type of binding in the details of the book?
Bribing the young to play!
Customer Rating:
My young daughter was stuck on playing disney or nursery songs, and it was like pulling teeth to get her to just "try" one of the classics, 'you might like it!' After much goading, she finally "tried" a bonafide classical piece from this volume; some of it was challenging, some were easy. Ok, now we fight about who gets to play which classical piece first! :-D
Beautiful melodies
Customer Rating:
I thought this book was great when I was young and learning to play the piano and I STILL like going back and playing some of them. They are not just "easy" pieces, they are pieces that are beautiful in and of themselves regardless of the difficulty. Perhaps they are beautiful because of their simplicity. Now I'm greatly looking forward to my daughter learning the pieces. She's just starting her first piece from the book today.
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