Beginner Classical Piano Music

I've always wanted to learn piano or to teach it to my children someday. This book has a very straight forward explanation and lots of visuals to help those who are more visual in their learning capabilities (such as myself). Not only are there pictures for me to follow and reference, but there are videos also, which help me out a lot. I also like that I can view this on any device, especially iPad since I can prop it up on the music sheet holder to see the instructions directly in front of me. Damon Ferrante's writing and speaking are very clear and simple, so it makes understanding the exercises very easy. While watching the videos, I almost feel silly for thinking playing piano is something too difficult to do! Each chapter is broken down in easily digestible lessons so I don't feel overwhelmed while practicing and can revisit them when needed. I also have never tried kindle before and am definitely liking having a musicbook on an app as they are usually very large and bulky. As the videos are on youtube, you will need an internet connection to view them. I also plan to use this once my infants get older so they too can learn and I can also help them along as they practice.

Damon Ferrante’s Beginner Classical Piano Music is a great way for an aspiring pianist to learn the fundamentals of the piano. The book starts with basic finger exercises that allow the student to get familiar with correct hand positioning and posture. In the process, the students will become familiar with simple time signatures, intervals, and the location of the musical notes on the piano. The book then progresses into an in-depth lesson on the interworkings of musical notation and its correspondence with the musical staff. While learning the basics of musical theory for the piano, the student will also perform exercises with a metronome to strengthen his or her fingers and keep a steady timing. These basics will fully prepare the student for the familiar musical scores that lie ahead. I am a fan of the use of real piano pieces throughout the course of the book to keep the students interest. Who wouldn’t want to play pieces including Pachelbel’s Canon, Beethoven's Fur Elise, or Tchaikovsky’s Dance of the Mirlitons from the Nutcracker? I also like the amount of detail for each used in each lesson every step of the way. The videos are the biggest bonus as I am a fan of visual learning, and I feel if a student gets stuck or doesn’t fully understand how to interpret a passage at first, they can look to the video for advice and direction. With this added feature, it feels as if my piano teacher is sitting next to me. I feel the purchaser of this book will find the same enjoyment for piano as I did, as they embark on a fine journey into the world of music.

Wonderful beginner piano book for beginners or those that are returning to the piano. Many recognizable tunes including Beethoven's Ode to Joy and Bach's Minuet in G minor and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Simple versions that sound really good. Many of the songs start with a lesson using one hand or the other then advice on how to play both hands together. My husband took a few years of piano when he was much younger and he is confidently makin his way through these classical favorites.

Pros: I believe the pieces/arrangements each focus on different technical areas. Some seem relatively easy while others take quite a while to get down. The pieces are short excerpts of the actual pieces, which provides the experience while not having to stay on one piece for a long time. The songs are one to two pages long. Cons: 1st, There is no mention of pedaling for any of the pieces. 2nd, There are no additional learning tips such as adding scales, arpeggios etc... to the practice routine. 3rd, I find the videos useless and the audio is not broken out by song. I haven’t used the audio much, but it seems the tempos to be slower than they should be. General: The first 30 pages are about notes, time signatures etc... If you have a basic understanding of music, you’ll skip this section. I’ve been using this book for, I guess, about six months and am on page 70 (40 pages into the songs). Overall, I think this is a good learning tool and some of my criticisms are not unique to this book. There just doesn’t seem to be a one stop shop course for the self taught student. I’ve augmented this with a book on scales/arpeggios, sight reading and YouTube videos. I’ve found the Dorthy Taubman/Edna Golansky videos very helpful for technique. Oh, many reviews complain about the binding. I took it to Fed Ex and had it spiral bound for $6.

I have been playing piano for many years now, but was interested in using this book as a reference to some easy classics and additional teaching techniques for some of my current piano students. The videos included in the eBook make it super easy to read the information and then see the demonstration. I was glad to see Damon's focus on identifying and practicing patterns in music to assist in learning more quickly. For those who learn best by reading, he includes many tidbits about the history of the pieces and the meanings of some of the terms used in musical notation. For those who prefer learning by doing (kinetically) the videos are a great way to learn the techniques. And for those who learn through listening, many of the pieces have recorded files of the end result. Overall I think it is a great resource to work through with an instructor or by yourself for a very self-motivated person who wants to learn. It is a great value, as this book, if used for lessons could fill a student's curriculum for years. Beginner Classical Piano Music: Teach Yourself How to Play Famous Piano Pieces by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven & the Great Composers (Book, Streaming Videos & MP3 Audio)

I really enjoyed this eBook for beginner’s piano, and would recommend this book to anyone learning how to play! All of the photos and video accompaniments really helped me to learn because instead of just being a more abstract concept with just words, the book allows you to actually visualize and practice along. This book also teaches you valuable acronyms to remember notes, and information about correct hand position and why it is so important. They really focus on starting with the basics, which gives you a good foundation for learning how to play music. As a trumpet player, I already learned the basics of time signatures, but I really wish I had this book back when I was learning because I like how simple they make it. I also appreciate how they break down the different time signatures and encourage you to clap along with the downbeat of each measure. Overall, this eBook has a wonderful presentation – simple but packed with words, pictures, diagrams, and videos. Even while having all of this information, you are not overloaded and the pages look very nice. The video instruction is easy to understand and is not full of jargon that a beginner wouldn’t be able to comprehend.

I played as a child, then not again for 30 years. I did other musical activities so still remembered notes and reading music, etc. I did NOT know theory. I started back into my piano journey using Alfred's All-In-One. It is doing well, and I have learned a good deal of theory as a result. I bought this as a supplement, and I'm very glad that's all I bought it for. 1-The binding makes it difficult for piano use. I use a clip to hold pages out of the way 2-It starts out like a book for small children then jumps into advanced dynamics without explanation and melody on both hands within the same song, slurs, staccatos, eighth notes with broken rhythms, and accidentals. It skips a good 1-6 months, depending on the student's learning speed. For me it was at least a month, but I had played before and knew music from other sources. 3-There is no theory. While it does mention intervals, there are not arpeggios or chord progression, etc. They mention arpeggios, but it's nothing more than a broken scale (3 notes), not the actual arpeggio, and doesn't explain the full arpeggio, etc. 4-The songs are overly difficult in some areas, such as the dynamics I mentioned (it literally goes from mf on ONE note to p or f on the nest note, then back to mf or another dynamic on the very next note. This is difficult for advanced players, and most certainly for beginners. 5-The chords are all over instead of the typical beginning chord structure of moving the notes around to make the same chord an easier way (I'm sure there's a name for that, but I can't remember). For example, moving finger 1 and 3 up one note up each and keeping finger 5 in the same place to play chord iv instead of moving the whole hand up 4 notes. 6-The notes go up a scale beyond an octave in one stretch, making it difficult for the true beginner, ON THE FIRST 2 SONGS!! (forcing you to cross with finger 4 instead of 3 or cross twice in one go - which in and of itself is expected of a player, but NOT a beginner) I do NOT recommend this book to anyone, EXCEPT as a supplement, and even then I would give it great consideration. I gave it 3 stars instead of 2 because I am not an instructor and could be missing something.

I've taken piano for quite some time, but one thing that I've always struggled with when teaching children is how to get them engaged. Introductory piano books can sometimes seem so out of touch with the music that older children hear. The lessons, while useful, don't do much to create long-term interest in the summer courses that I am an aide of. That's why this book will be especially useful. Going through some of the exercises, the combination of theory with popular and recognizable tunes made the experience of skimming this piano book for content not only easier but actually enjoyable. I was rusty, so I skipped to the back of the book and felt actually challenged by some of the later pieces. It's a great book that I think will really help answer the question for the students I teach about, "so, why do these exercises even matter?" The video guides also serve as a great option for those who want to teach themselves or can't afford lessons. All in all, a good, beginner piano book.

I'm 59 and decided to learn to play an instrument. I watched several youtube videos and learned to play short bits of various tunes and then got frustrated with "You don't need to learn to read music, you just need to learn chords and you can play any music!", followed by "Pay $29 a month on our website and we will teach you how!". I needed some structure and can definitely see the advantage in knowing how to read music which would mean being able to get any sheet music and working it out slowly yourself rather than having to play, pause, rewind....repeat youtube videos. The cost of this book is very cheap in comparison to continuous subscriptions on a website. I really like the way it slowly introduces short practice sessions and bits of information. After a week I feel I could take some basic sheet music and slowly work out for myself how to play the tune - but there is a lot more to come and I am really looking forward to it!

A first class introduction for beginners wanting to play classical pieces. A clear step by step approach with videos to enable you to understand how a piece should be played. The enlarged print is very helpful. I already can play a number of the pieces.

A very good piano music book, especially if you are a classical piano music lover. In my opinion, this book is not for piano beginners. You mast be at least past level two and familiar with many theoretical musical concepts and playing technic.

Nice book for piano Lerner

Well-suited to the beginner who wants to start out with classical piano.