Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I read many of the reviews here and wasn't sure if this book was what I was looking for. Would it be "too easy"? "Too hard"? "Too short?" "Too simplified"? Or, as many said, perfect for his/ her level. Fortunately, for me it turned out to be just what I was looking for. But I do understand how difficult choosing the right level could be. This says it's a "Beginner's" book--not an "Intermediate's"--and I think that's right. You should be able to read music two octaves up from middle "C" and one octave below, but the base is simple--usually one or two notes at a time, many slow selections and almost every song is in the key of C or F. Even as someone who doesn't sight read well, I can play the pieces from the beginning with both hands--slowly. This is a good level for me--feels very "doable" but also a challenge as my practices begin rather haltingly. I feel my sight reading is improving because the notation doesn't overwhelm a beginner with too many notes at a time. Some people were frustrated that the pieces were short excerpts of classics--1-3 pages of music. (The notes are nice and large, by the way, which I found very helpful) For me, I really liked the shortness of the pieces because the easiest ones made good warmups and, since I don't sight read well, I appreciated the variety of options. Three pieces I recommend that I enjoyed and feel are among the easier ones are: "Chopin's Nocturne in E flat" (arranged to be in C ). It has part of the accompaniment in the treble clef and part with bass so, while its simple bass and melody lines, it's good "thinking exercise" to switch between them as you play. Plus, it's a slow, pretty piece, nice to warmup with. Another good one for beginners (like me) is "Brahms Lullaby". And I liked "The Waltz of the Sugar Plum Fairy", too. Nice variety--9 from Bach, 8 from Beethoven, 7 Chopin, 9 Mozart, 8 Tchaikovsky plus 1 or 2 each from Bartok, Brahms, Clementi, Debussy, Dvorak, Foster, Gluck, Grieg, Handel, Haydn, Liszt, MacDowell, Mendelsohn, Moussorgsky, Paderewski, Rameau, Rachmaninoff, Rubinstein, Saint-Saens, Satie, Scarlatti, Schubert, Schumann, Scriabin, Sibelius, Strauss,Verdi, Vivaldi, and Wagner. A very nice variety--good as a refresher (many were familiar but not by name and someI -should- have known, but didn't). There are also little "factoids" above each piece--a few sentences of interesting information about the music or the composer. Fingering suggestions are also included. I found this a very motivating and enjoyable book at my beginning level and great for warmups/improving sight reading in a pleasurable way.