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!

I'm in my 60's, and decided to take up my dream hobby, learn to play the piano and keep my brain active with a challenge (you're never too old to try new things). I've recently started this book. It gives clear instructions and I'm doing well with it. I will ensure I keep going 😁. (He also has accompanying videos on YouTube).

5 stars for the book, 2-3 stars for the CD. Good book for a beginner to get started, no need to know any theory to get going (I did though). Good range of exercises, and reasonable progression. I can't fault it. The CD is possibly an afterthought, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was the idea of a marketing exec rather than the authors and contracted out. The tracks are backing/accompaniments rather than being useful demonstrations. There is no instruction on how to time your playing with what you will hear, except the count in at the start of the track which is unhelpful at beginner level and too advanced. I would have preferred (given that most of the tracks are on CD1) that all tracks were demonstrations and then there were a few bonus accompaniment ones in the space on CD2 to give extra practice, perhaps with some guidance on how to play with the backing tracks. Also the quality of the tracks in terms of sound is poor and amateurish sounding keyboard or midi. You can of course use a free music program to enter the tracks for your own personal use, but the point of paying extra for a CD is to save this hassle. Thus overall it loses a star.

I'm old now, but in my teens I played flute to grade 3 and keyboard had become a recognised instrument around the time, and I did my grade 1. Meanwhile 30 years passes with no interest in any instrument or need to read music, hence my starting point is having some understanding of reading music but am very, very rusty. Plus, predominantly being used to flute, where you only play one note at a time from the treble clef, looking at the grand staff is very disorienting. I've had this book a few days and it's been quite good overall. A good mix of introducing a concept or chord, then putting it into a bit of practice with a very short piece, small chunks of music theory with some audience participation (you're asked to write in the book to help reinforce and remember concepts), rinse and repeat. I quite like the pacing of it overall, but it does feel a little chaotic. The issues I have with it are that I hate the "finger number" system used, it's completely slowing down learning to sight read and I feel it's a bad habit forming, even though I understand it exists as you do need strategies for where to position your hands on the keys - I just wish it would tell you the hand position at the very start and nowhere else as it's such a massive crutch and a block to learning properly. Another minor grumble is common with most books, in that the music pieces are old stuffy (presumably copyright free) pieces of music that feel quite juvenile, though at least they're not nursery rhymes or anything that bad. I still give 5 stars for this because it's affordable for what you get, there does seem to be method to the madness, and I'm sure going through the book and jumping backwards to try and make knowledge stick (particularly with chords) when you feel you're not quite ready to progress will work in the long term. I have reached a sticking point where suddenly I can't play the piece, but overall the pacing has been good. I would recommend, but I have also recently ordered the "piano adventures" book 1 to supplement this.

Muy útil y práctico para las clases de piano, llega en buenas condiciones. El contenido bastante completo. Obviamente viene todo en Inglés.

This course book has been the perfect way to start learning as an adult. My tutor guided me through it, it is very well laid out and easy to follow. Makes learning as an adult more accessible!

Ho provato diversi libri per lo studio del pianoforte, tra cui lo Stark, Pianorama e James Bastien, ma questo è assolutamente il migliore. La musica è come una lingua straniera, va ascoltata oltre che suonata e per quasi ogni brano c'è un CD (o youtube, un sacco di pianisti hanno riproposto i brani) che riproduce gli spartiti. Lo consiglio

J'utilise cette méthode en parallèle de mes cours en école de musique. Elle m'est très utile car elle me permets de travailler progressivement : exercices des doigts, apprentissage des accords, enchaînement des accords. Tout cela avec des morceaux simples et progressifs en parallèle des exercices.

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!