Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum What are the best method book for adult beginner?

Pardon if there is similar topic already existing!

I'm looking for book teaching piano for adult beginner, self teaching. I went around Amazon and the responses for Alfred's Adult Basic are not very good, but some recommended Thompson's. My goal is to play classical pieces well, of course not too advanced but I don't want to learn 'shortcut' methods. I want to learn the proper methods.

Suggestions are highly appreciated!

Sincerely,
thelullaby99

Alfred's Adult Basic is actually highly recommended here. I'm a beginner and I found it to be excellent.

Do you mean Adult Basic Adult or All-in-one Course? The only one I'm seeing around here is All-in-one. Are they the same?

They are essentially the same.

I recommend the All-in-One over the Basic, however.

It is a good series for self-teaching.

Others include Bastien, Faber's Piano Adventures, Hal Leonard: all in adult versions, as well as the 'childrens' series (not that they are any easier! same material, different presentation).

There are also children methods: Music Tree (the one I use to teach, but does require a teacher pretty much), Piano Town, Alfred's Premier (stay away from the basic library!)...

So many really. And not a single one of them is 'the best.'

It depends on the student and what they want to learn, and how much they're willing to spend. Each method has its strengths.

I used Alfred's and highly recommend it but I haven't tried others. The good thing about Alfred's is there are threads here for each level so you can get some support/help/feedback. There are also youtube videos for most of the pieces so you can hear how it's supposed to sound and see it played. that was a help for me.

If your being self taught, Alfred's all in one is the best in my opinion. There's really no best method I've come to realize. It's all one mans opinion from another and they all pretty much teach the same thing minus the repertoire.

Another one to check out is Fundamental Keys by Rachel Jimenez. I'm very much a newbie, and have been using it for about a month and so far I feel like I'm making progress. You order the book through Lulu, and there's a web site with videos you can purchase that clarify things well.

Thanks everyone, I have thought about which books to use and decided to go with Alfred's All-in-one book level 1.

Marvelle: Thanks for the recommendation! I read your e-mail and was glad that you took the time to respond. However the book in question is not available in Amazon (my preferred online store) and I don't want to use video lessons for many reasons. Once again, thanks!

You're welcome. The popularity of Alfred's with so many folks here indicate you made a good choice. Best of luck!

I use "The Piano Handbook: A Complete Guide for Mastering Piano" by Carl Humphries, plus Hanon as method book. You might want to read the reviews on Amazon, where people are comparing it with Alfred's all-in-one.

I actually would not recommend this. The Piano Handbook is great, but it is NOT an instructional book - more like a reference or quick summary.

Hanon is also not a method, but a series of finger exercises.

Would Alfred's all-in-one be good method book, or you recommend any other books? cheers,

Guys, I'm steering myself into doing ABRSM exam pieces according to grade. Like, I'll 'study' the pieces from grade 1 etc....by buying the music sheets. Good idea?

I'm just a beginner myself, so I don't feel qualified to make claims about the best, great, or even good. And I'm still in the early stages with my method book, so again, I don't know how good it is.

But my method book is software from eMedia. It seems like a logical step in the progression of teaching (especially self-teaching) methods. Books and videos offer zero feedback. But, thanks to MIDI, this software can point out what I did wrong.

It still cannot monitor my posture and is not able to measure dynamics like ppp-fff, so I plan on finding a teacher when I have the cash.

Cheechako: I also have eMedia software. It is actually pretty good. My only two observations so far.

1) all the books/learning material I have been using previous had me learning with teh left hand one octave lower. This program has you starting with Middle C with both hands...sort of had to "unlearn" everything to make it feel right.

2) If the music score is more than one page, the program advances to the next page too fast. If you haven't read ahead by two or three measures, it advances and you are stuck.

Cheesako and Cobra: does this software require hooking up with a digital piano? I also want some feedback if possible, but my practice piano is an acoustic.

Yes, unfortunately, it requires a USB hook up (digital Piano/Keyboard). Sorry.

The version I have will let you use a mic to monitor your playing. However, since that is not a direct connection, I have no idea of the accuracy. I've never tested it, of course - I have no need for that feature.

To be honest, without the MIDI feedback, I would go with one of the popular method books. While popular doesn't equal instant feedback, it increases the odds that you can get feedback, advice, and tips from the forums, etc.

I'm not a teacher but I wouldn't either. It's a handbook.

Yes, AIO would be a good book, but as I mentioned earlier, any book will do, really.



No, that's actually not a good idea. The ABRSM grade pieces do not give enough preparation for the next level - the jumps are too steep. Not to mention, Grade 1 in ABRSM assumes that the student has been studying for several years.

I would suggest a book of simple classics instead, or maybe a repertoire series. That will be far more beneficial and logical.