The Advanced Pianist, Bk 2 (Faber Edition: Piano Trainer Series, Bk 2)

About me: I'm just a self-taught late beginner (finishing up RCM level 2). So I'm getting way ahead of myself, but I was excited about what the rest of my piano journey would look like.Including this review because of the very uninformative table of contents/sample pgs.I don't think the pieces in this book are well chosen. It says on the cover that it's supposed to be for grades 7-8, which I take to be GCSE 7-8, but there's just such a huge range. Of the ones that I could find a grade for:Les barricades mysterieuses by Couperin is AMEB 8.Prelude and Fugue in Bb major BWV 866/21 by Bach is RCM 10, LCM 11, ABRSM 8, GCSE 8.Sarabande from French Suite No. 1 is RCM 6.Sonata in D No. 6 Op. 25 Un poco andante by Clementi is GCSE 5.Danza de la Rosa by Granados is ABRSM 6, GCSE 6 and AMEB 5/6, although it's included as a sight-reading piece.Solfeggio in F, KV.393 No. 2 by Mozart is GCSE 4, Trinity 4.Sonata in G K283 by Mozart is RCM 9, ABRSM 7, Trinity 7, GCSE 7, AMEB 7, RIAM 7/8.The Ghost in the Chimney by Kullak is Trinity 4, NZMEB 5, meant as a technical exercise.Op. 46 Andantino by Heller is RCM(t) 6, AMEB 4, although this is included for sight-reading.Bagatelle No. 9, Op. 119 by Beethoven is ABRSM 3.Bagatelle No. 11, Op. 119 by Beethoven is AMEB 5.Sonata in A Major 1st Mvt No. 28, Op 101 by Beethoven is RCM 11, LCM 11, ABRSM 11.Duetto No. 6, Op. 38 by Mendelssohn is GCSE 9.Waltz in Eb KK IVb No. 10 by Chopin is GCSE 5, AMEB PFL 3.Nocturne in C# minor Op. posth. by Chopin is AMEB PFL 8, RCM 9, GCSE 9, ABRSM 7.Nalada No. 139, Op 41 by Fibich is Trinity 7.Melody in the Mist by Bartok is GCSE 4, although it's meant as a technical activity.Prelude No. 4, Op. 11 by Scriabin is RCM 10, GCSE 5, AMEB 6/7, RIAM 7, NZMEB 6.Sacro-Monte No. 5 from Cinco danzas gitanas Op. 55 by Turina is RCM 9, GCSE 8, AMEB 8.Page d'album by Debussy is RCM 8, ABRSM 6, LCM 6, GCSE 5, Trinity 5, AMEB 6, RIAM 6.So you can see it's all over the place. Some pieces are way too low for the stated grade level on the cover; others are too difficult, which is only going to waste the student's time, frustrating them and perhaps even injure them.It says in the intro that the book consists of "5 chps that can be studied over several months". Does that mean that the whole book can be studied over several months, or each chp can be studied over several months? Given the difficulty of the pieces and number of them, I don't think either interpretation is realistically feasible. Don't people usually spend weeks/months of a piece at this level? That's what I heard. I wouldn't know. I'm just a self-taught beginner.It's 88 pgs long. On the bottom of the intro pg its says that the pieces include "editorial changes and additions to original editions", which was a real disappointment. However it seems to me that this was kept to a minimum. I just wish they would tell you where and what the changes are, but they don't.These are the rest of the pieces, which I couldn't find grade level info for:Little Fantasy by CPE Bach.A Maske by Giles Farnaby.Bach to the Future (A Jazz Invention) by Mark Tanner.Bourree I from the English Suites by Bach.To Alexis by Hummel.Bagatelle No. 10, Op. 119 by Beethoven2nd Promenade from Pictures at an Exhibition by Mussorgsky for sight reading.At First Light by Mark Tanner, meant to be a jazz improv exercise.Sound Waves by Karen Marshall, meant to be a technical exercise.Danse de travers No. 2 by Satie meant to be a sight reading piece.Pour invoquer Pan, dieu du vent d'ete from Epigraphes Antiques by Debussy.So about 40 songs in all, plus 4 trill, acciaccatura, turn, and repeated note/finger change exercises.Very little theory. Half a pg on figured bass and the 6/4 chord. Half a pg on chromatic harmony: common chords. 2 pgs on polyrhythms with short exercises. A pg on a little summary of jazz theory. A 6 bar accompaniment improv exercise. That's about it.Most of the rest of the book consists of commentary and worksheet-type activities that center on technical/interpretation/musicianship and music appreciation type of concerns, including Western classical music history and composer bios and style analyses.Overall, I'm really not sure if this is the kind of book a self-taught learner would be interested in, which I think is the only demographic that would realistically be interested in this kind of book. By this level, it seems that no one is interested in having the guidance and reliability of a method book unless they're teaching themselves. Piano teachers seem to shun method books as early as they can, from everything I've read from frequenting piano forums. I don't think the authors realized this. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if they included lots of video supplementation for the series at this level, especially given the emphasis on developing the student into a concert pianist, but they don't.This is a new and rather obscure series, so I really don't want to shoot down the authors with a low review, especially since my review is the first real review they're getting on Amazon, and I also feel that perhaps I'm not really qualified to give a review given my low level, but it really shakes my confidence in the book when so many of the pieces are either too low or too high for the stated 7-8 level. I would have also appreciated seeing more theory. Therefore, I'm going to have to give the book 3 stars.

very well worth exploring