Piano Lesson Books – A Top List
Piano lesson books have been around for a while and new books are being released. Which ones will suit your needs? Let’s look at some of the piano books that are on my list.
The Piano Manual: A Complete Guide to Mastering the Piano by Carl Humphries. This covers just about everything you need to know about the piano. Pretty solid overall, but there is a downside. The information is packed, so the pace is somewhat fast. With a somewhat basic understanding of the piano this could be valuable. However, for complete beginners it may not be the best option.
How to Play Popular Piano in 10 Easy Lessons: The Quickest and Easiest Way to Learn to Play with Sheet Music or by Ear by Norman Monath. This is pretty good for a beginner. Avoid the trap of being too complicated. It covers the important areas, including chord creation, melody, harmony, and a handful of other elements. This works at a moderate pace, but doesn’t get too detailed about advanced areas of music theory.
How to Play the Piano: Everything You Need to Know to Play the Piano by Roger Evans. Playing the piano with both hands happens pretty quickly in this book. This might make it a bit difficult at first, but it can also be to your advantage to learn to use both hands early on. It focuses more on piano playing itself, so other critical areas such as reading music are left out. This may not be the best option unless you have prior knowledge and the ability to read music. Other than that, the rest of the content is good and basic.
Virtuoso Pianist in 60 Exercises: Complete by CL Hanon. This can be used in conjunction with other books. It’s a bit different from the others, but it’s worth being listed here. The highlight of this book is within the exercises. The exercises can help strengthen the fingers that need it, get comfortable with the piano, and improve your overall piano playing ability.
These books can give you a good start when it comes to learning to play the piano. They each have their strengths and weaknesses, and the last mentioned book is a good companion because of the exercises and benefits to be gained from them. Of course, proper practice and action is also necessary. Keep up with the necessary practice and the results will begin to show and improve over time.