Piano Lesson Book: Complete Level 1, for the Later Beginner – Illustrated Author: Amanda Vick Lethco | Language: English | ISBN:
0882848178 | Format: PDF
Piano Lesson Book: Complete Level 1, for the Later Beginner – Illustrated Description
- Paperback: 71 pages
- Publisher: Alfred Music; 3 edition (May 4, 2006)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0882848178
- ISBN-13: 978-0882848174
- Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 8.9 x 0.2 inches
- Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
I have been playing piano for a few years now, and am what you would probably call an 'advanced player'. I can play some pretty big pieces, but even so, I STILL come back to this book once in a while an play a tune or two from it! I have tried several other piano books, but this is the best beginner book I have ever found, and the one that taught me how to play. Take note: I had NO prior experience playing piano before I tried this book, unless you want to count tinkering around once in a while on a tiny, 20 key keyboard.
It all started when my brother began taking piano lessons in primary school. He had a fantastic teacher and she assigned this book to him for starters, because she had faith that he could learn fast, and because it's something she's been using for years (that teacher later left and the new teacher also used the Alfred books). I wanted to learn piano too but didn't really want to take lessons, so I listened to what my brother learned from the tutor, but mostly, I looked through the book, practised, and learned to play better than I ever had just by reading through the book and taking my time mastering each song (a little friendly competition between me and my brother didn't hurt either ;) ). Before I knew it, we were through the book, could play every single song perfectly, and could even read notes. We eagerly pushed on to Alfred's Basic Complete Level 2/3 (also highly recommended), which is more challenging, has even more fun songs, and is overall an even better book that we both learned an enormous amount from. I still have never had a single formal piano lesson, but have progressed to level 5, and am planning on getting level 6 (the final book) as soon as possible. The wonderful piano teachers who used this have also had great success with their students.
I have been a piano teacher for about 30 years. I am familiar with John W. Schaum as that is what I had grown up with, along with John Thompson. When I first started teaching, I used the Bastein series, but was unimpressed with the songs. Another piano teacher turned me on to the Alfred's series, and I have used it ever since. I loved it and more importantly, my students love it. They go home from their very first lesson, able to play a couple of songs. It starts them off on the black keys to get them use to looking at the sets of 2 and 3 black keys. This helps them later when they begin learning to locate the different white keys. They always return the next week very excited. Parents are always impressed by our end-of-the-year recital by the songs they hear the kids playing from the beginners to the advanced students.
I was curious as to why some people rated this book/series 3 stars and below. Someone thought that you could learn everything from just this book, and you could, but you don't get enough practice with the new concepts that are being taught. We use all 4 books: Lesson, Technic, Theory, Recital. When they say "complete" what they mean is that it has combined level 1a and 1b into one book. For young children, ages 5-7 you would want to use these books. Some thought the words to the songs were silly, but I have never heard my students complain about that in all the years that I have taught. Students who have come to me from other teachers, using other methods, are thrilled when I switched them over to this series. They said that they actually enjoyed practicing. The songs are fun, lively, and pages colorful. Level two gets even better as well as each level that they will progress through.
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