Piano The Books

This is an amazing song book with songs from all the Disney movies from Snow White up to 1979. Classics I loved to play and sing from this book include: "Drip, Drip, drop, little April Showers" from Bambi, "I can fly!" from Peter Pan, "A Dream is a wish your heart makes" from Cinderella, "Heigh Ho" and "Whistle while you work" from Snow White. I loved this book as a child, and enjoy sharing it now with my daughter. Has most of the songs you remember from the Disney classic movies. Highly recommend it!

I have used this book for many of my piano students... It has the perfect arrangements for transitioning them from simple "lesson" songs to something they really feel proud of and can use for performances. I would reccomend this book for anyone wanting to change from short, basic songs to longer, more beautiful pieces.

Good footnotes, good fingering. Spread out well on the page (not squished like other editions). Would recommend for students. Great collection to own, as well. Print of high-quality.

I have a new favorite composer for Sunday morning preludes! These are nice pieces that have a "Mark Hayes" kindof feel to them.

This book contains all the guitar chords, guitar tabulature and piano notes for all the songs. The talent of the Amy and Emily duo never ceases to amaze me. They continue to develop new ways to be creative, adding new instruments and sounds to their works. And, as usual, the words to the songs contain strong messages about social and political issues. I have just begun to learn the guitar and have been very influenced by their work.

SONGS INCLUDE: Blood And Fire; Center Stage; Closer To Fine; History Of Us; Kid Fears; Land Of Canaan; Love's Recovery; Prince Of Darkness; Secure Yourself; Tried To Be True

As a piano teacher myself, I give this book and audio cd/cassette high marks for combining fun on the piano, with very professional background on the tape. The book is extremely well-written and easy to follow. Musical fundamentals are not compromised. I use this tape with my own students and they also have one at home for practice. There are lots of book/CD music-learning books out there, that are far too difficult for all beginners and even for intermediate students. This one is the best I've seen for those who like to learn to play blues and good musical theory at the same time.

I have bought stacks of books over the years to try and learn what this book has taught me. I attended a music camp for another instrument and decided to jump in on the piano workshop that Peter Barnes was teaching. It was the most valuable class I ended up taking. I ordered his book directly from him after finding his website "Canis Publishing". Even though I have played classical music since I was a kid, every book seemed so heavily into music theory, and I have had that my whole life. I needed something to teach me how to be casual and have fun with other musicians. This book teaches you exactly how to play along with other musicans, with only a chord chart, so you are not glued to sheet music. It teaches you creative changes, runs, and it does it in a memorable way. The book also has an incredible sense of humor, as the author is very eclectic and witty. Simply put, it just tells you what to do so you can sit down and have fun with other musicians. Definitely get this book, even if you are not necessarily into contra-dance, it fits with a variety of styles. This is a jewel of a book that needs to be better known.

I'm a sightreader brought up in standard piano lesson books and classical music, and wanted to branch out, and to get a feel for how music is actually made (as opposed to repeated from a set musical piece). This book provides some useful music theory (not "this is a quarter note" stuff that everyone already knows, but things like how chords work within a key, and how you can create some to go with a melody), and also has some truly delightful jazz numbers that are worth the price of the book all by themselves. The book provides a good launch point from which to begin experimenting with jazz piano. The CD plays the piano parts of certain pieces, then the piano with a backing band, then just the band so you can play with it.

If you are tired of the usual Alberti bass fare, this could be refreshing.

As usual, Alfred Publishers do a good job. Most of the pieces are in 2-voice counterpoint, and none are longer than 4 pages. The staffs are large and widely spaces, making the pages easy to read.

A complete performance of this book takes a little less than a half hour.