Beginner Classical Piano Music

Damon Ferrante’s Beginner Classical Piano Music is a great way for an aspiring pianist to learn the fundamentals of the piano. The book starts with basic finger exercises that allow the student to get familiar with correct hand positioning and posture. In the process, the students will become familiar with simple time signatures, intervals, and the location of the musical notes on the piano. The book then progresses into an in-depth lesson on the interworkings of musical notation and its correspondence with the musical staff. While learning the basics of musical theory for the piano, the student will also perform exercises with a metronome to strengthen his or her fingers and keep a steady timing. These basics will fully prepare the student for the familiar musical scores that lie ahead. I am a fan of the use of real piano pieces throughout the course of the book to keep the students interest. Who wouldn’t want to play pieces including Pachelbel’s Canon, Beethoven's Fur Elise, or Tchaikovsky’s Dance of the Mirlitons from the Nutcracker? I also like the amount of detail for each used in each lesson every step of the way. The videos are the biggest bonus as I am a fan of visual learning, and I feel if a student gets stuck or doesn’t fully understand how to interpret a passage at first, they can look to the video for advice and direction. With this added feature, it feels as if my piano teacher is sitting next to me. I feel the purchaser of this book will find the same enjoyment for piano as I did, as they embark on a fine journey into the world of music.

Wonderful beginner piano book for beginners or those that are returning to the piano. Many recognizable tunes including Beethoven's Ode to Joy and Bach's Minuet in G minor and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Simple versions that sound really good. Many of the songs start with a lesson using one hand or the other then advice on how to play both hands together. My husband took a few years of piano when he was much younger and he is confidently makin his way through these classical favorites.

I've always wanted to learn piano or to teach it to my children someday. This book has a very straight forward explanation and lots of visuals to help those who are more visual in their learning capabilities (such as myself). Not only are there pictures for me to follow and reference, but there are videos also, which help me out a lot. I also like that I can view this on any device, especially iPad since I can prop it up on the music sheet holder to see the instructions directly in front of me. Damon Ferrante's writing and speaking are very clear and simple, so it makes understanding the exercises very easy. While watching the videos, I almost feel silly for thinking playing piano is something too difficult to do! Each chapter is broken down in easily digestible lessons so I don't feel overwhelmed while practicing and can revisit them when needed. I also have never tried kindle before and am definitely liking having a musicbook on an app as they are usually very large and bulky. As the videos are on youtube, you will need an internet connection to view them. I also plan to use this once my infants get older so they too can learn and I can also help them along as they practice.

Pros: I believe the pieces/arrangements each focus on different technical areas. Some seem relatively easy while others take quite a while to get down. The pieces are short excerpts of the actual pieces, which provides the experience while not having to stay on one piece for a long time. The songs are one to two pages long. Cons: 1st, There is no mention of pedaling for any of the pieces. 2nd, There are no additional learning tips such as adding scales, arpeggios etc... to the practice routine. 3rd, I find the videos useless and the audio is not broken out by song. I haven’t used the audio much, but it seems the tempos to be slower than they should be. General: The first 30 pages are about notes, time signatures etc... If you have a basic understanding of music, you’ll skip this section. I’ve been using this book for, I guess, about six months and am on page 70 (40 pages into the songs). Overall, I think this is a good learning tool and some of my criticisms are not unique to this book. There just doesn’t seem to be a one stop shop course for the self taught student. I’ve augmented this with a book on scales/arpeggios, sight reading and YouTube videos. I’ve found the Dorthy Taubman/Edna Golansky videos very helpful for technique. Oh, many reviews complain about the binding. I took it to Fed Ex and had it spiral bound for $6.

I have been playing piano for many years now, but was interested in using this book as a reference to some easy classics and additional teaching techniques for some of my current piano students. The videos included in the eBook make it super easy to read the information and then see the demonstration. I was glad to see Damon's focus on identifying and practicing patterns in music to assist in learning more quickly. For those who learn best by reading, he includes many tidbits about the history of the pieces and the meanings of some of the terms used in musical notation. For those who prefer learning by doing (kinetically) the videos are a great way to learn the techniques. And for those who learn through listening, many of the pieces have recorded files of the end result. Overall I think it is a great resource to work through with an instructor or by yourself for a very self-motivated person who wants to learn. It is a great value, as this book, if used for lessons could fill a student's curriculum for years. Beginner Classical Piano Music: Teach Yourself How to Play Famous Piano Pieces by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven & the Great Composers (Book, Streaming Videos & MP3 Audio)

I'm 59 and decided to learn to play an instrument. I watched several youtube videos and learned to play short bits of various tunes and then got frustrated with "You don't need to learn to read music, you just need to learn chords and you can play any music!", followed by "Pay $29 a month on our website and we will teach you how!". I needed some structure and can definitely see the advantage in knowing how to read music which would mean being able to get any sheet music and working it out slowly yourself rather than having to play, pause, rewind....repeat youtube videos. The cost of this book is very cheap in comparison to continuous subscriptions on a website. I really like the way it slowly introduces short practice sessions and bits of information. After a week I feel I could take some basic sheet music and slowly work out for myself how to play the tune - but there is a lot more to come and I am really looking forward to it!

A first class introduction for beginners wanting to play classical pieces. A clear step by step approach with videos to enable you to understand how a piece should be played. The enlarged print is very helpful. I already can play a number of the pieces.

A very good piano music book, especially if you are a classical piano music lover. In my opinion, this book is not for piano beginners. You mast be at least past level two and familiar with many theoretical musical concepts and playing technic.

Nice book for piano Lerner

Well-suited to the beginner who wants to start out with classical piano.