Review (PDF) Piano And Keyboard All-in-One For Dummies
The go-to reference for aspiring pianists and keyboard players Piano & Keyboard All-in-One For Dummies makes it easier and more fun than ever to make music! If you don't know how to read music, this book explains in friendly, uncomplicated language all the basics of music theory, and applies it to playing the piano and keyboard. And if you've been playing for awhile—or took lessons when you were a child but haven't played since—you can pick up some valuable tips to improve your playing, or use the book as a refresher course. This indispensible resource combines the best of For Dummies books, including Piano For Dummies, Keyboard For Dummies, Music Theory For Dummies, and Piano Exercises For Dummies to get you up and running in no time. The handy reference helps you to master the traditional black-and-white keys and gives you an understanding of the possibilities that unfold when those black-and-whites are connected to state-of-the-art music technology. Discover the secrets for becoming a master on the piano and keyboard Improve your skills with a wealth of easy-to-apply piano exercises Tap into your creativity and get the lowdown on composing an original song Find out how to use keyboards anywhere using external speakers, amps, home stereos, computers, and tablets Dive right in! This comprehensive book offers the most complete learning experience for aspiring pianists, keyboard enthusiasts, and students of music.
Series: For Dummies
Paperback: 648 pages
Publisher: For Dummies; 1 edition (April 28, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1118837428
ISBN-13: 978-1118837429
Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 1.2 x 9.3 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #52,735 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #12 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Sheet Music & Scores > Instrumentation > Keyboard #248 in Books > Arts & Photography > Music > Instruments > Piano #293 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Sheet Music & Scores > Instrumentation > Piano
I will preface this review by saying I am a piano teacher, and I know a thing or two about teaching and about pianos and keyboards. This book is packed with info. There is also online tools that can be accessed with the URLs throughout the book next to a symbol for "Play This." The online tracks and clips have audio related to the teaching topic.There are also some online articles and cheat sheets available.The first part of the book is about keyboards, purchasing, learning features, posture, and the mechanics of playing.The second part features beginning music lessons that covers the technical stuff that is part of reading sheet music. Counting note values, learning the letter names of notes, and getting to know the layout of sheet music is important. Some beginners may be hoping to play actual music sooner and may get frustrated with the pace. This is a very complete summary of music theory. Where this differs from traditional piano lesson methods is that it gives all of the theory up front and the student must study it almost like one would school homework. In traditional lessons, we would cover these concepts gradually, along with learning to play notes on the piano at the same time. It's more satisfying for most students to play keys sooner rather than later.The third part of the book begins to teach how to play. If a student can remember the notes learned in the other part of the book, he or she can begin to play from the music notes in this part. However, it may take a lot of flipping back and forth between this and the previous section to put it all together. It moves quickly through different hand positions, where traditional lessons would camp out for a few weeks on one position before introducing a new one.
As a musician of varying sorts for over forty years, including a church organist, rock keyboardist, and now would-be jazz pianist, my experience with keyboards in general and pianos in specific is intermediate to advanced. Still, I'm always eager to learn more and having only played piano for seven years now, that is usually where I focus my energies of late, both studying piano music, and playing and performing on the piano. For that reason and as luck would have it, not only have I read three of the four books contained in this one, I still have two of them in my possession. That made it easy for me to compare this "4 in 1" book with the originals and size it up in what is (I hope) a meaningful manner.The first thing I noticed is although this book claims to be four books in one, the publishers did not simply combine the existing books using their individual volume formats. A serious attempt to edit and consolidate was made with this book, making it flow very smoothly while also making it much more comprehensive and useful. While it is true that the bulk of the material is more or less re-printed as is, nearly all of the material has revamped titles and overlapping material has been shortened or eliminated. Since I could not refer to all the originals (and indeed, had not read the music theory volume until I got this book), I can't say for sure how much of each book made it into this compendium, but I can say that the material is very well-organized now, and does not rely on any one book (or two) at the expense of the others. Overall, the information is stacked and dense, but it remains cleverly laid out, marked with various "dummies" icons, and maintains all the usefulness these books are known for.
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