Adult All-in-One Course: Lesson, Theory, Technique Level 1 (Alfred's Basic Adult Piano Course)

I just got it today and burned through first 4 chapters. For full disclosure - I played a piano for like 6 months when I was a kid and I have basics in music reading, but even if I didn't have these essentials, this book literally delivers new concepts with such ease, that my only regret is not discovering it sooner!I am trying to find the access to the videos which go along the book, as CD nowadays is unfortunately useless - I have no CD player, nor the laptop, nor the desctop has one.There is one review comment here which downmarks this book and learning system because the terminology in American English. I am sorry but that's ridiculous, especially in this day and age with all the tech around. I was 25 when I came to the UK nearly 22 years ago, and I could barely string a sentence in English, and without curent tech I had to rely on huge paper dictionaries. If I, a foreigner, for whom English is a 3rd language managing to understand the US terninology, with the help of Google, then I am struggling to understand how a native English speaker cannot survive without Alfred's text books 'translated' from English language to English language - all you have to do, if it is confusing to you, is to pencil in the meaning in UK terminology in the book, or make flashcard dictionary to later refer to. For example when learning about time signatures a word 'measure' came up. So taking into consideration that the author spoke about the total number of beat in 1 measure I deduced that the measure is a bar in UK's terms, and Googled confirmed this. Despite trying many different techniques over the years I was unable to move from the Do-Re-Mi system to C-D-E no matter how much I tried (I do-re-mi'ed from the age of 6 for 10 years of 3 rehearsals per week 2.5 hours per rehearsal. So Do-Re-Mi is like my native mother tongue which is inbeded at the deepest level. What I do to deal with it, is by translating the notes. So if there are people who are not happy about crocthet being called a quarter, which what it actually is, please remember that there are some who have to translate not just notes, but also chords, various scales etc. Actually I have to translate most of this book, because the language in the book is subject specific, and I welcome the challenge - the very reason I decided to play was to challenge myself, and it would be equally challenging had I had the UK English version of this same book!

As a child, many moons and summers ago, I wanted to play piano, but was very impatient and gave up. Now when I see people playing beautiful music on public pianos, I admire them and wish to be able to do that. I stopped wishing, and started planning, and got myself a piano teacher. They were good for the first 8 weeks, but I felt I wasn't being taught in the way I needed to learn. I decided to get this book instead and focus on teaching myself, plus it was more cost effective. In the 3 times I've opened this book, I have learnt more than i did with a teacher, in terms of reading sheet music and being able to play with both hands while reading the sheet. I'm grateful for the tutorials on video sharing sites that allow me to hear what the music is supposed to sound like to make sure im doing it right . But apart from that, I am glad I got this book and decided to learn from it. I only see myself getting better, and I am already looking to get the 2nd and 3rd book. The only thing I would add are the major, minor and other scales in colourful diagrams to make learning easier. Apart from that I'm very happy and would definitely recommend.

The main issue I have with it is that it doesn't even mention that the UK and the US use totally different musical terms and the British terms are not given in this book, whereas every British book I have at least mentions the difference so beginners are aware of it. Consequently, a lot of very happy British beginners have given 5-star reviews, apparently with no idea that they have learned entirely incorrect terminology. Whereas we in Britain use 'crotchet' and 'minim' etc., this book refers only to 'quarter note' and 'half note'. More annoyingly still, a note - the kind you play as opposed to the written kind - is referred to as a 'tone'. In the UK, a 'tone' is a distance between 2 notes. So the pattern for all major scales is Tone-Tone-Semitone-Tone-Tone-Tone-Semitone. A semitone is half a tone. This will be very confusing later on if you have learned to refer to individual notes as tones. The Americans call a tone a 'step' and a semitone a 'half step'.If you are using other repertoire or teaching material for beginners, this book won't be compatible with most of them as a lot of methods teach starting with both thumbs on middle C and the fingers moving outwards from there. This book starts with the right thumb on middle C. But the left hand starts on the C below, with the little finger on C below middle C. This means a lot of the fingering you have learned for early tunes in other books won't apply here.I got this book as a more adult supplement to my main beginner's method, which is aimed at children, with the aim of expanding my repertoire. In this respect, it'll be fine. It starts at the beginning with each hand and teaches you how to read notes from scratch too. There's a sizeable amount of theory included and a good range of pieces, as well as some decent material on chords. The spiral-bound edition lays nice and flat but does not include the CD, not that you really need it. If you want to hear the pieces, most of them are on YouTube now.

Spent a great year or so learning piano at my own pace by working through different youtube excersizes, learning some songs from music books, and working through a different self help book.It's clear why Alfred's gets it's name for being a classic and a staple for home learning. It covers a wide range of topics in an ejoyable way that makes you keep wanting to turn to the next page, while teaching it at a pace that sinks in. Highly recommend. Regret not getting this on day one.

This book was really great! I had piano lessons as a child, and hadn't played for 25 years. I decided that this would be my starting point. The book is very easy to understand, teaching everything from the ground up, how to sit, how to hold your hands, warm ups, identifying and naming notes, to music theory on scales and chords, what the words and symbols mean on sheet music, etc. I don't think you'd have to know anything at all about the piano to learn this way. Some of the pages are worksheets that you can fill in the blanks to help you learn, I liked that a lot.All of the songs are performed on YouTube by the way, so you can hear what it should sound like! It's a great reference, since there's no CD any more.I thought it was so good that bought the rest of the series (2 & 3) after finishing this first book. Very much looking forward to starting Level 2 tonight!

La calidad del material del libro nos agradó!. Los alumnos pueden usar fácilmente el libro por los arillos

Comecei a estudar música (teoria) e piano há poucos meses. Já havia pensando em iniciar os estudos antes e esse livro me chamou a atenção pelas inúmeras avaliações positivas. Nunca (nun-ca) havia tido contato com um piano antes em toda a minha vida e meu único contato com a música havia sido participar de grupo de canto coral sem entender lhufas de nada. Devo dizer que quando comprei o livro já havia iniciado aulas de teoria, o que certamente tem me ajudado, mas em contrapartida a didática deste livro, que para mim é excelente, tem me ajudado a compreender melhor as aulas teóricas, talvez até pelo fato de que as expressões em inglês fazem muito mais sentido do que as em português (bequadro x natural, ligadura x tied notes, etc.). Mas o mais bacana para mim desse livro são os arranjos, que permitem que a gente toque músicas bem bonitinhas com apenas 5 notas e sem usar as teclas pretas, deixando o aprendizado menos maçante. A progressão entre as lições é muito bem estruturada. Há muitas aulas gratuitas no Youtube baseadas neste livro (assisti algumas e depois encontrei uma professora brasileira que segue o método). Ainda estou no começo dos estudos, mas contente com meu progresso e já pensando em quando poderei iniciar os outros livros do mesmo método. A impressão é clara, papel de qualidade e fontes grandes (alegria do presbíope). Recomendo fortemente.

It's a great system to learn piano. I am very satisfied with its simplicity, it's conciseness and scope. It leaves no holes in learning and while you won't be a piano master at the end of it, you will move from stage to stage in a manner that's smooth.Only advice is that you should ALSO buy other books to practice with. This book is heavy on chords, so buy a book of beginner classical piano, jazz, blues, and so on as you wish to expand your knowledge. This book is the base. The other books are the supplements.

I'm really happy with this self-study piano book. It's easy to use. I highly recommend it! Plus, you can find helpful YouTube lessons for almost every page. After this I am definitely buying the next level 2 book!