Adult All-in-One Course: Lesson, Theory, Technique Level 1 (Alfred's Basic Adult Piano Course)

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.

Arrived promptly, before the due date. The book is good value for money and easy to follow. It starts very simply but soon moved it on so you started to play a little tune very early on. I could read music already, but could not play the piano at all, and I found that I got through the first 30 pages or so quite quickly. I have had it now for about a month and am now on page 80 where it is starting to get a bit more difficult, so I try to do a double page per session, and go back and revisit earlier tunes as a recap. I quite like the little tunes that are in the book and I have found it motivating, a good level of challenge, and easy to follow. Highly recommended.

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.

This is a review of the version ISBN 0-88284-816-6. I've made that clear because there are different versions about, with or without a CD and with different numbers of pages.This version does not have a CD (not needed in my opinion) and is 159 pages long.Before starting this book, I'd played guitar using tab, but could not play piano or read sheet music. I'm now up to page 117, so feel that I can review this through my own experience.With some determination, I have learned entirely from reading this book and have not taken any piano lessons. This book has given me all I needed in terms of knowledge and confidence.The plastic comb spine is great as the pages spread easily. The lessons are designed for adults to learn without a tutor. It's worked for me so far.The only downside is that a lot of the songs are cheesy (eg: Kum-Ba-Yah, Michael Row The Boat Ashore). However, they are OK because each song has something in it - a new challenge - that made me forget the cheesiness and focus on trying to play it properly.Helpful Hints:1. Make sure you fully understand every bit before moving on to the next page. Take your time.2. Learning takes effort. It's about the journey, rather than getting to any finish line. It's not a race!3. Make the effort to figure out how to play pieces where you don't know the tune, without help from external sources, because this really embeds the knowledge. It has done with me anyway! Then hear how it should be done by going to YouTube (see point 4), and you'll be so proud that you figured it out for yourself.4. There is a man who has made a lesson on YouTube for every tune in this version of the book. Although he seems rather weary at times, I've grown to love what he has done. If you really get stuck, seek him out.5. You don't need a CD because of point 4 above :)In conclusion:I definitely recommend this book. Hope my review helps your buying decision!

I bought this and Smallwood's Piano Tutor. The two complement each other - see Smallwood's for that review. This Adult All-in-One Course is outstandingly good. I'm a bit of a weird one really. About 5 years ago I could only play one tune. It was the whole of Moonlight Sonata! I taught myself note by note by asking someone to write the names of the notes on the sheet music and basically learning it one note at a time via a 'keyboard indicator'. It took me a year to learn the whole thing which I think took about 15 mins to play. The only reason I could attempt it was the left hand doesn't do too much on the twiddly diddly front. I got to the point where I could play the whole thing from memory and made a darn good job of it, even though I say so myself, and even being able to keep in time with recordings (Alfred Brendel!!). What a hoot! Talk about a party trick, which given I couldn't play a single other tune, even Chopsticks, was no mean feat. I should have been on Britain's Got Talent! Anyway, the piano became ill and had to get rid. Five years on and I can only remember a few bars of it, which is very disappointing. I will learn it again, I'm determined! Anyway, so much for the preamble. I bought an electric piano a couple of months ago (fabulous, no-one can hear it cry!) and thought I'd try and learn from scratch properly rather than the other ludicrous home-spun method I invented. I bought 'the complete piano player' series and have struggled big time with that. It just seemed to me to be an unhelpful way of learning. I have just bought the All in One Course and immediately sense a difference. What was lacking in the Complete book was making a connection between where the note is on the music and where the note is on the piano! Sounds a bit of a basic oversight if you ask me, but the exercises in the all in one book have really started to help me nail this. Before, I was having to go 'egbdf' and 'face' each time in my head (on the treble clef - didn't even start on the bass!) so striking each correct note meant having to recite this first and it was slow and laborious. I don't supposed I've explained this very well but the exercises in the all in one book make total sense, are in a logical order and just make it much easier to remember which note is which. I reckon in about a year's time I might be able to go back to Moonlight Sonata, the sheet music, and instead of working it out note by blinking note, I might have a stab at playing it. I'm hoping it will all come back to me. The good thing is that Moonlight Sonata is played on a loop in my GP surgery (very badly) on a sort of 'doctors hits album to drown out patient's screams' sort of an album, along with that tune that used to be on a well known cigar advert in the 1970s. Anyway, every time I'm sitting there waiting my turn to see the quack I think 'I used to be able to play that (Moonlight Sonata not the cigar tune) and better than this version'. Hilarious or what. With any luck I'll at least be able to play Silent Night by Christmas!

As a child, many moons and summers ago, I wanted to play piano, but was very impatient and gave up. Now when I see people playing beautiful music on public pianos, I admire them and wish to be able to do that. I stopped wishing, and started planning, and got myself a piano teacher. They were good for the first 8 weeks, but I felt I wasn't being taught in the way I needed to learn. I decided to get this book instead and focus on teaching myself, plus it was more cost effective. In the 3 times I've opened this book, I have learnt more than i did with a teacher, in terms of reading sheet music and being able to play with both hands while reading the sheet. I'm grateful for the tutorials on video sharing sites that allow me to hear what the music is supposed to sound like to make sure im doing it right . But apart from that, I am glad I got this book and decided to learn from it. I only see myself getting better, and I am already looking to get the 2nd and 3rd book. The only thing I would add are the major, minor and other scales in colourful diagrams to make learning easier. Apart from that I'm very happy and would definitely recommend.

I am a teacher and order this book and the Hal Leonard Adult piano method as well. I went through both books and like the latter much more for the following reasons:- there's a logical progression of concepts - from 2 black keys, 3 black keys, CDE keys, FGAB keys, note values,- modern sounding accompaniments- the focus is on quality rather than quantityI do think liking a book or not has much to do with personal preferences and personality too.

I started to learn how to play piano around 5 months ago and this was the book my teacher asked me to buy so we could have lessons based on it. I did not know anything about piano.Even though I have been having lessons with a teacher, this book could easily be used by an autodidact as it is really easy to follow. I usually work on the book by myself as it is very clear and self-explanatory.If you already have where to practice piano, I highly recommend this book.There is theory, exercises to do, and songs to practice what was taught so you can put the theory into practice.It is really rewarding the feeling of improvement when the songs get more complex and have a better melody. I intend to buy the next volume when I finish this one. I cannot wait!

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!

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!

Amazing how timeless this book is, I was shocked to find it was as old as it is, and is still relevant and very helpful. I am 22 and haven't touched a musical instrument since elementary school. I was skeptical if I could learn an instrument as well as a younger child can (spoiler: that's a total myth). The book includes hand exercises, posture, hand massage techniques to prevent arthritis, worksheets, and of course comprehensible music theory lessons, and classic/familiar music to play. I'm blown away by how confident this book has made me feel, and all the lessons in it are great to go back and study, so you get multiple uses out of one lesson. Really enjoying myself so far. Highly recommended to the absolute beginner, or someone who has stepped away from piano for many years and wants to review the basics. Will be getting the other lessons for sure!