Piano The Books

Gordon's "History of Keyboard Literature" sits next to Grout/Palisca's "History of Western Music" on my shelf. As a student studying piano and a future educator, I have found the book to be a great resource. One who sits at the either the piano, organ, or harpsichord must be familiar with the vast history and repertoire written for keyboard instruments. The book is organized chronilogically. It begins with a very satisfying history of the development and construction of early keyboard instruments as well as a thourough overview of the role of the keyboard up to the end of the Renaissance. After this it takes a composer by composer approach chronilogically starting with Bach and Handel. Published in 1996, this book is very up to date and provides many names, especially twentieth century composers. Like any history book, this is not the final word on the subject of keyboard music, but it is an excellent first stop for whatever research one is up to. A must for any pianists shelf.

David Rowland provides the historian and piano enthusiast with much needed research into an important, but often neglected, area of musical performance practice. In this concise but powerful book, the author traces the transition in preferred musical instruments from the harpsichord to the clavichord to the piano in the 18th century. Documentary evidence of Mozart and his contemporaries is offered, as well as chapters on pedaling by 18th century and early 19th century piano tutors. The appendix contains translations of methods by J. P. Milchneyer (1797),Louis Adams (1804) and Daniel Steibelt (1809). Since early pedal markings are often confusing or nonexitent, this work provides much needed guidance for the pianist, teacher or historical researcher.

You, too, can play more than just "Chopsticks" when friends are gathered around the piano, maybe in a nostalgic mood. This playbook of Hoagy Carmichael tunes will coach you to play 25 old favorites. Most kids were familiar with "Heart & Soul" in the early 50's & could team up with a friend playing "Chopsticks" ~ what a hoot! Harmony & beat equaled homegrown talent then, and a bit of knowledge about ragtime & jazz today is sure to impress folks.

Hoagy said about the days of the 2nd World War: "There was little I could do but give the world something to hum!" With this 'songbook' you can hum your heart away, & you'll have the wonderful lyrics, too. You really can't miss; Hoagy's son "Hoagy Bix" (named for Bix Beiderbecke, called "the first great white jazzman" & influential in Hoagy's early development as a composer) wrote a special foreword for this publication in 2001. For Reviewer mcHAIKU it is truly exciting to share this discovery.

The product arrived when promised in excellent shape. Couldn't ask for more.


mcs

I read most of this book at my sister-in-law's place: she is also a piano teacher. The author, Cynthia Richards, has several children of her own, and managed to help most of them to learn to play various instruments, as well as conducting a busy piano studio.

She makes some great points in her book, and while I will give you a few of her hints here, you will find it well worth your while to read the whole shebang. And it's as cheap as chips!

Mrs Richards alerts her readers to these stumbling blocks:
1 Indifferent home environment
2 Faulty teacher-child relationslip
3 Lack of maturity and commitment in the child
4 The wrong instrument
5 Unfavourable practice conditions
6 Bad memories
7 Peer pressure not to practise
8 Not proficient enough to be competitive
9 Too many conflicting interests
10 Sibling rivalry
11 Competitive feelings with a parent
12 Communications

She also suggests some ways to overcome these problems:
1 Start early
2 Practise with your child every day
3 Set up family rules for practising
4 Use incentives when needed
5 Handle conflicts by
a avoiding emotional involvement
b being friendly
c being matter of fact
d not giving in
6 Enjoy your children's music
7 Praise them for their successes
8 Look for stumbling blocks and do your best to remove them
9 Focus your efforts on getting your child hooked on music

I highly recommend this book. If you follow the advice of a successful mother and music teacher, your child may not become a little Mozart; but you will be a better parent, your child will be a happier child and together you will enjoy some great musical experiences.

This book is extremely helpful for anyone learning to play the piano. It begins with easier songs like "Mary had a little Lamb" and then moves on to more difficult songs. It also has many Christmas songs that anyone who can even hum them would be able to play them almost instantaneously. It took me a few practice runs befor I could play some of the tougher songs but still the book is worth checking out.

If you can only own one pedagogy text, this is the one to buy. Dr. Bastien gives one of the best explanations of the four basic approaches to piano teaching (middle C, landmark/interval, gradual multikey, intensive multikey) I've seen. He then reviews a number of piano courses using the criteria he develops in the text. Most of the courses are older, and a few are even out of print. That is an advantage if this is used as the basal text for a pedagogy course, as the instructor can have the students write reviews of the courses in current use.

Dr. Bastien's bias towards the gradual multikey approach is evident throughout the book, and the multikey approach forms the basis for the year-by-year descriptions in the center chapters of the text. I personally believe in an approach that blends the landmark/interval approach with the multikey approach, and hence found the year-by-year material to be of tremendous value. If every teacher in America taught piano the way Bastien recommends, we would greatly improve the quality of teaching of the average teacher.

The lists of recomeended supplemental materials alone justify the purchase of this book. There is also a wonderful chapter explaining which editions of classical masterworks are the best to purchase. That chapter has become my personal shopping list.

The only weakness of this book (and also a weakness in the Bastien courses) is the fact that the author doesn't offer a useful strategy for learning the notes or for decoding an unknown note. Bastien simply states that drill is often needed into the second and even third year of lessons. In my experience, if an effective strategy (such as landmarks) is used, the extensive drill is not needed.

If a teacher wants to develop a library of pedagogy texts, this is the one I would recommend buying and reading first.

I have been using fake books for 30+ years and Ann Collins gives just about the best I've seen in showing new users the ropes.

I have over a thousand dollars worth of fake books and despite the fact the I have been using them for so long already - Ann still gave insights that were new to me!

Don't miss out - snag this book!

From the moment I put this CD in my player, I was mesmerized!
I have never heard duets so perfectly performed, two players so perfectly matched, with such talent! It is a true pleasure to listen to these recordings.

Beautiful piano solos that intertwine hymns with classical favorites. Titles: Amazing Grace (In the setting of Grieg's Morning Mood, Peer Gynt Suite No. 1) Come, Thou Fount (In the setting of Tchaikovsky's Concerto, Op. 23) Crown Him with Many Crowns (In the setting of J.S. Bach's Prelude in D Major) Great is Thy Faithfulness (In the setting of Liszt's Liebestraum) Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah (In the setting of J.S. Bach's Fugue No. 2, from the Well-tempered Clavier, Vol. 1) I Surrender All (In the setting of Beethoven's "Pathetique" Sonata, Adagio Cantabile) It is Well with My Soul (In the setting of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata) Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee (In the setting of J.S. Bach's Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring) Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee (In the setting of Handel's Prelude in G) Moment by Moment (In the setting of Saint-Saëns' Le Cygne) The Lord's My Shepherd (In the setting of Handel's Largo)
Level: moderate difficulty. (Piano grade 4-5)