Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

No single book will take you from piano newbie to concert level performer. No single one hour practice session, not even a week of piano lessons from the best teacher in the world teaching 24/7. Just not possible and really not what learning piano or any instrument is about. It's not a contest. People have different reasons for and expectations from learning piano and books should try to match those reasons/expectations with what they offer, but really a good piano teacher is the best guide. I'm not a piano teacher but if I were recommending the book I'd say it is well suited to new players who wish to delve into performing popular music (e.g. Christmas tunes, Billy Joel, Elton John, etc.) more so than those seeking a 'classical' piano education- but there's nothing wrong with that or the approach in general. In fact, I think it's a great way to motivate new players who will come across familiar tunes that have pretty simplified arrangements. One big bonus in the book is having a CD accompaniment. I of the camp that believes knowing what a piece should sound like helps new students. I've read critiques that say the book is strong on C position fingering which is completely false. It covers other major and minor scales. Some also state it is weak on theory but for it's size it actually covers quite a bit without being too overwhelming. All in all I think it's a great starter book for most learners HOWEVER there are a couple of weaknesses. One weakness is it's lack of discussing the circle of fifths. It's nice to be spoonfed a couple of easy keys but it wouldn't hurt to cover this very important concept early on. I can understand it's exclusion as being the kind of thing that seems to raise more questions than answers but that's probably not a bad thing in a self-instruction book. Another weakness is the lack of discussing standard scale fingerings for one and two octave runs. You run into them eventually and it's so much easier to begin using them off the bat than to learn them later. The last weakness is the sparse examples and practice material. I'm not deducting anything from this book for a lack of including a hundred plus pieces of sheet music but the fact is that some concepts in piano require a lot of practice and examples to fully sink in. Take music reading for example. Which reader is going to be more proficient- the one who has read fifty 4/4 bass and treble bars worth of examples or the student who has read 300 completely filled pages of varying sheet music? Every example, every single example in the book should be practiced many many times in a variety of ways. That's how you learn the instrument and that can be a fun journey. At the very least I would hope any instruction book have a supplement or point to further sources of practice material- this book doesn't which is it's Achilles heel. I don't knock it because it's not the only one (most don't), but students who buy it should be aware of that and have something or someone to point the way to practice. Perhaps book 2 in the series does that. That said, great book, lots of fun, could be better but a good starter. If I would add any advice to students who buy it: 1. learn circle of fifths, key signatures, Major/Minor Scale, Every scale pattern (visually) and proper fingerings for each scale. 2. Check out sheet music books from the library to practice reading music. 3. Download Major/Minor/7ths chord fingering chart and learn them. 4. Practice a few 'easy piano' classical pieces but be sure to listen to how they sound first, especially if you're completely new to the piece. Look in the library for free material and match it to free sheet music from the library. 5. Practice smart, network with other players and have fun. :-) 6. Remember, it's not a race.