Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 13
 An interesting read September 1, 2010
Wendy
Arrived on time and packaged well. I am really enjoying this book. You need to read a lot before even playing but it gives a really good grounding on understanding music and learning how to read it. It creates stories around the things to remember which help you to easily recall those things. It is a grown up book giving understanding and background.
Piano for Dukkies July 13, 2010
John D. Harman (Chigwell UK)
Purchased some time ago for m,y wife, have not had a lot of feed back.
Not a bad start June 25, 2010
Clagg
Some boks are very hard to get into bu this book starts off quite light. It goes into the history of piano's and their origins then goes into the right kind of keyboard to get. no point in learning on a ekyboard that is not going to do the job.
Nice book, with lots to keep a learner very happy. Light hearted and fun this book will keep you interested long enough for you to progres nicely.
 Pitched a little low - even for dummies like me June 7, 2010
sixtondog (London)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I was searching for an introduction to piano for adults, and on the back of several other `dummies' titles decided to give this a try. Unfortunately, I found it inconsistent and slightly irritating in a number of different areas. For example, 90% of the music is in one key, so you are only learning a very limited amount. Often the pieces which follow the explanations don't match. A piece which introduces the fingering positions for one range of notes, for example, is followed by a piece which starts in a different area of the keyboard with no explanation of the correct fingering to use. The CD is slightly irritating too - clearly recorded from a cheap electronic keyboard and not from the various instruments it claims to be in the associated pages of the book. All in all, rather disappointing.
 Better than just "basics" March 16, 2010
Tom Holt (Sidmouth, England)
13 out of 13 found this review helpful
First, credentials - such as they are. When I was a kid, I had piano lessons for a couple of years and hated it. As a teen, I learnt enough violin to play buried in my local orchestra. I later tried guitar and clarinet with reasonable success. Thirty years on, I bought a keyboard and a couple of books. I still hated piano! Then, I tried "Piano for Dummies". It's great! The trick to all instruments is to learn to play scales well, and to keep practising them to maintain your technique. Then you can go on to higher things. This book makes you appreciate this, but you also enjoy learning how to do it. It takes real skill to make scales fun! It has much more detail than many readers seem to realise. It is not just basics, but includes a wealth of technical tips and invaluable music theory that, on a first read, you are too impatient to master. Like all the "for Dummies" series, the book is infested with tedious jokes. But, you don't have to read them! My advice is, go through the book, taking several months to do it properly. Make sure you listen to the CD as indicated, practising until you have the sound right. It makes sense to record yourself and compare the CD with your recordings. That's the advantage of a formal teacher - they force you to do it right at each stage. And then go through the book again - mastering any extras that take your fancy. Then, buy an advanced book on your favoured piano style, you'll sail through it!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 13
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