Choosing Piano Books
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Some people are talented enough to teach themselves to play an instrument like the piano. Those gifted musicians usually can teach themselves without the use of instruction books. Others, especially younger people, need piano books to grasp the technique required to learn how to play.
Instructional materials for learning the instrument come in a variety of styles, levels and formats. Typically if you are taking lessons, a teacher may recommend specific piano books. Using the recommended materials may become monotonous, depending on what kind of music you want to learn. Given a flexible teacher or self-teaching environment, books available can range from classical to modern pieces, technique, and workbooks, all with varying levels of difficulty. The choice is yours.
Once you’ve become something of a pianist you’ll want to consider looking at song books. Some that are available typically include old musical favorites as well as current hits. There is always more to learn so you might want to consider piano books whose focus is warm up routines, others provide workbook exercises to build technique or teach some extent of music theory.
When choosing what to purchase, it is important to keep your overall goal in mind. Determine the type of learning that you want to focus on and use that to guide your purchase of materials. If you would like to learn to play standards like “Chopsticks,” or “Heart and Soul,” try to avoid buying piano books with a great amount of technique in them. If music theory or learning to read music is where your focus is, purchase books that are rich in lessons explaining how to read music, keep time, pedal usage and so forth.
For the experienced player who might want to join a band or group of friends who play other instruments, there are piano books geared towards that. These books make it possible for piano players to play along with another instrument, such as the flute or violin, using the same tune. This method tends to add depth to the piece of music.
Once you have decided on what will work for you, it is best to look online for the most popular of your chosen style. At this point you will want to look for reviews and even copies of books online. Some piano books are sold new, while others are sold used. Exercise care when buying gently used books, as both instructors and learners are likely to markup the pages with notes that apply to them. Adding your own can make reading confusing which may slow your success.
There are a variety of styles and formats of piano books available to accommodate every type of learner. Books are also created to teach anyone who is instructor-led or self-taught to play popular pieces and identify techniques and theory. Success is almost guaranteed if your choice of piano books is well researched and geared towards what you would like to learn.
