Music by the Masters [Paperback] Review

I used this book about 20 years ago as a student.Now, I use this book with my students. It is a great book full of short classical studies by prolific composers of the Baroque-Romantic Eras.This book contains a wide variety of music selections that teach various and sundry musical techniques and articulations.Great for the young pianist who is trying to bridge the gap into the Classical literature.

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Product Description:
This consistent top-seller includes 65 works by these famous composers: C. P. E. Bach, J. S. Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Grieg, Handel, Haydn, Mendelssohn, Schubert , Schumann and Tchaikovsky. Excellent, motivating literature for the intermediate pianist.

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The Young Pianist, Opus 823, Complete (Alfred Masterwork Edition) [Paperback] Review

I think the other negative review here misses the point. The work is titled "The Young Pianist," and includes simple pieces intended for beginners. I'm an adult trying to improve my sight reading, and I need lots of tuneful material that's easy enough for me to sight read fluently with confidence. I don't want a lot of counterpoint, harmonic complexity, tricky work for the left hand, or anything else that makes the music harder to play. I think this book will take you over time from wherever you are to a point of greater mastery. If you want more challenging material, there's plenty to pick from. If you're in the early stages of your development and want enjoyable music you can play and learn with, I think this is ideal.

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Product Description:
Carl Czerny, a student of Ludwig van Beethoven, who then taught Franz Liszt, combined his ability to analyze technique with his years of teaching experience to create exercises that increase the technical ability of the piano student. In this 80-page edition, his pieces systematically introduce notes of various time-values and other musical principles in similar order. The book's many exercises are preceded by invaluable reference materials. In the second half of this volume, the exercises move into a more difficult study of such things as turns, trills, arpeggios, phrasing and more.

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Progressive Rock Keyboard: Hal Leonard Keyboard Style Series [Paperback] Review

I don't why anyone has'nt written a review for this book yet. Its perfect, and the accompanying CD is so helpful to help learn the rhythms of progressive rock keyboard. I would greatly recommend this book if you are sick of playing yankee doodle or any other book with boring sheet music. Contained in the book is an adequate description of the genre and presents perfect examples that you can learn. I found this book very satisfying and not too hard. I also have the rock keyboard and find that one great as well. So do buy these books.

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Product Description:
From the classic sounds of the '70s to modern progressive stylings, this book/CD provides you with the theory and technique to play and compose in a multitude of prog rock styles. You'll learn how soloing techniques, form, rhythmic and metrical devices, harmony, and counterpoint all come together to make this style of rock the unique and exciting genre it is. Also included is an introduction to classic and contemporary keyboard instruments and sounds, and how they can be used in different combinations to produce authentic-sounding keyboard parts. The accompanying CD features many of the examples covered in the book, as well as six complete progressive rock songs recorded by a real band.

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Intermediate Blues Keyboard: The Complete Blues Keyboard Method [Paperback] Review

This little book has distilled quite a bit of blues music history and style into an easy-to-understand format.It's really directed at quickly playing blues concepts with just enough explanation and practice exercises.I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly I could play the material and use it in my more traditional jazz playing

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Product Description:
This book is great for keyboardists who have learned the basics of blues improvisation and composing. Beginning with a review of concepts and skills covered in Beginning Blues Keyboard, this book explores further into topics such as chord extensions, blues techniques, building basslines, playing in the key, ii-V substitutions and slow blues.Blues forms such as the twelve-bar blues and the eight-bar blues are explored. Packed with sample licks and songs, this book is essential for any keyboardist serious about learning the blues.

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Mozart 21 of His Most Popular Pieces: Alfred Masterwork Edition [Paperback] Review

The Alfred Masterworks Editions are my favorite piano music books. I've been playing the piano for about 20 years, and these are the best series of books I've used. They have very good, clear notations, the arrangements are really well presented and put together, the fingering recommendations are the best I've seen (with the little numbers by the notes), and the biographical information and performance recommendations are a nice touch.

I only wish they had more books in the series.

This Mozart book is a good starter for someone who hasn't played Mozart before, and is looking to get better acquainted with his music.

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Product Description:
Some of Mozart's most popular works are contained in this volume, including the "Fantasia in D Minor," the "Sonata in C Major" (first movement) and the "Turkish March" from the Sonata in A Major. Other selections include intermediate-level transcriptions from operas and orchestral works. Arranged in the order of difficulty, each piece is prefaced by a short description. A biographical sketch of the composer is also provided.

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Beginning Jazz Keyboard (Book & CD) [Paperback] Review

This book is a great investment if you are new to piano and love jazz or are stuck in major/minor boredom and want to look into more exotic chords and scales. I am a drummer/guitarist who wanted to learn more about theory, finally go beyond the "hunt-and-peck" stage on my keyboard, and understand the world beyond the pentatonic scale on my guitar. I feel very enlightened, and especially love the tables that summarize all the key info, and a CD is always a bonus. Enjoy!

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Product Description:
Anyone with basic keyboard skills (equivalent to Alfred's Basic Piano, Lesson Book 2) can dig right in and begin learning jazz right away. Spanning from the major scale and basic triad theory all the way through 7th chords, pentatonic scales and modulating chord progressions, this book features a full etude or tune demonstrating every new concept introduced. Beginning Jazz keyboard breaks the age-old tradition of dry, intimidating and confusing jazz books, and provides an actual step-by-step and enjoyable method for learning to play in this style. The CD demonstrates examples and offers opportunity to play along.

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The School of Velocity, Opus 299: Complete (Alfred Masterwork Edition) [Paperback] Review

If this is too intimidating for you, I would start with Czerny -- Practical Method, Op. 599 (Complete) (Alfred Masterwork Edition), which is thinner and simpler than this.

If THAT'S too difficult for you, I would fall back to Preliminary School of Dexterity, Op. 636, which is about as low as you can go and still be playing authentic Czerny that hasn't been watered down.(I don't know why Amazon doesn't have a picture of it:it's certainly not rare or out of print.)

Only after finishing that should you go for the mother lode, the School of Velocity.

All of these Alfred editions are the best:carefully edited and handsomely presented.Palmer didn't simply run those old galleys again:everything's been recomposited and -- importantly for me -- the notes have been made larger where possible.At any rate, it's certainly more readable than that old yellow version everyone seems to own.

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Product Description:
This popular volume offers practical training in well-articulated pianistic passage work, particularly in playing the virtuoso music of the romantic period. In addition to this, each study is a complete music composition, demanding attention to dynamics and phrasing. Students who master Opus 299 have indeed progressed a long way in the "school of velocity." Available in a 112-page complete volume or in two separate books.

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Piano for Kids (Jewel Case) Review

This is a first-stage beginner's program with an excellent presentation.The cute characters provide a very good education about piano basics and how to play the piano.For the software version, screen animations provide a level of interest for kids.Recommended for age 6+, but I believe it could start younger for those that can read a little.The software version features printable sheet music, tempo adjustments, puzzles, games, and an option to download other free MIDI songs (but on Windows Vista with a broadband (cable internet) connection, this option did not work).SelectSoft/ArcMedia's website also did not produce a listing for free MIDI music downloads.If the download MIDI songs function works for you, this would be an excellent choice for long-term teaching.Piano for Kids (Jewel Case)Piano for Kids

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Product Description:
Meet Professor Rhythm and his staff: five cheeky characters who will open up the world of music and make playing the piano as easy as pie-ano. Children learn to readand play music with the help of an amazing magic piano that shows which notes to hit and when.
Features:

Adjust the tempo bar to match learning speed.
Left and right hand movements taught separately and together.
Watch the ladybug follow the notes as the tune is played back.
Look up musical terms in the glossary.
Well-known, recognizable tunes plus printable sheet music with finger positions and notes that kids can color.
Introduction to the basics of general music theory.
Puzzles, games and drag & drop exercises with fun sounds and animations to support the lessons.
The unique touch & click piano helps kids learn where the notes are onthe piano keyboard and the staff.

System Requirements for Windows

Windows 98, Me, XP
Pentium PC or faster
32 MB RAM (48 MB recommended)
100 MB free hard disk space
800x600monitor, 16-bit color
Windows-compatible sound card & speakers
2X CD-ROM drive (4X recommended)

System Requirements for Macintosh

Mac OS 7.5-9.2, OS X Classic mode
PowerMac or faster
32 MB RAM (48 MB recommended)
100 MB free hard disk space
800x600 monitor, thousands of colors
2X CD-ROM drive (4X recommended)

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