Piano book review: adult beginners (listen to repertoire samples)

Thank you for taking the time to compile this, your efforts don't go unappreciated. I would love an intermediate-advanced book suggestion in the future.

Thank you for this review! I am a retired linguist, and I see lots of parallels to the teaching of foreign languages (having taught myself several) -- you could use much of the same rubric. I am glad to have a systematic review rather than just someone's gut feelings.

I really appreciate this thoughtful review.

Awesome video - thank you! I am going back into teaching and was so unsure as to what books to get for my adult students. This was so useful!

You have such a pretty face 😊

I have never been more convinced of anything in my life :D wow, what a great video! I am so happy I found this channel. Thank you.

@PTP: I read many of the comments and you definitely have a great following. Although I am being self-taught I wouldn't mind having you as my teacher. My caveat is that I won't do recitals!

I am 77 yo and bought the Alfred Book 1 for adults and totally agree with this teacher. I do not have a teacher but use my wife occasionally since she played for 15 years before she met me. Also I bought the Thompson (red book) Level one. I did not use it because it was confusing me and had already passed many of the elementary concepts. USE THE ALFRED OR FABER BOOKS and you will progress rapidly. BTW, I've only been playing 3 months and am learning the Donkey on p. 32.
I highly recommend the Alfred "Finger Aerobics" Book 1 to develop strength and agility of your fingers. Also I bought the Alfred "Basic Adult Theory Piano Book." These three books complement each other.
More Advice: 1) Buy a metronome; 2. Learn scales. Your teacher will be impressed.

Just buy both of the Alfred and Faber, and they are inexpensive.

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This video is perfect. Thanks Dr. Janci!

I am a senior student. I used Alfred for a year when I was a young girl. I am now using Faber Piano Adventure book 1. I like Faber because it is of slower pace, and it has more classical music which I heard frequently from the radio.

Your comments about Alfred's using red to highlight important information immediately caught my attention. I'm red/green colorblind, so red highlights had me worried. (I once had to ask my supervisor at work to stop using pink highlighters because they were INVISIBLE to me.) Looking at the Alfred's book, they're not too bad. The color is dark enough so that it doesn't 'disappear', it just appears as a pink/gray. I might consider Piano Adventures with it's yellow highlighting as an alternative, although Alfred's content sounds like it might be better.

Hi as a Kenyan, I had a dream to be a classical pianist today I have learnt from you the way to go I first started with individual finger exercises from Hanon and was almost starting the Alfred's

As a complete beginner, I have this book (alfred adult all-in-one). I'm just wondering, how will I know when to progress to the next topic/page?

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So comprehensive! Thanks!

"Bestselling" doesn't mean anything except it's the one a lot of people buy. Read reviews on most of those "bestsellers" on Amazon - very few are effective tools for beginners, including the books included in this advertisement for books. Strange how that works, isn't it?

I have early childhood experience in piano, but have dyslexia. I have visual memory. I'm starting as a beginner after so many years. Many people like Faber, but a piano teacher recommended "Hal Leonard Adult Beginner". What would be your recommendation?

What’s your opinion of Daman Farrante’s Beginning Classical book? How long is reasonable to get through it? I’m using it and supplemented it with a scales/arpeggios book. No pedaling shown in this book either, but figuring it out on my own. I’ve been at this about seven months and working on Gynopedie, but still not perfect on previous songs, so still working on those as well.

I am using both the Faber and Alfred's to learn. Personally I find learning and practicing from the Faber book to be so enjoyable. The Alfred's is a chore to work through. I drag my feet as the material is very dry and the pieces are boring to play.

It is such a pleasure learning from. So wishing had you when I embarked on learning piano. As a retiree learning for overcome years I consider myself still a beginner. What would you suggestvto improve my practice? I still struggle with left hand. Thank you.

Best review.❤
I bought both Faber and Alfred.

I am committed to Alfred although I also use a Faber classical book for a supplement. I like the piano, but in the process of downsizing don't have room for even my professional upright so have gone digital.

It's such an amazing review :) You must have put a lot of work into it so I really appreciate it ♡ I just discovered your channel today, but I can already see that there will be a lot of quality content that I can learn from. I already have Alfred books, learning from the 1st book for now, but I'm always curious about the Faber books also since they are so popular. And I have to say I really enjoyed your interpretations of the pieces that you showed us. It's so amazing to hear professional pianist play them ♡ Can't wait to learn Somewhere over the rainbow after hearing your reendition^^

Go ahead if you want to spend $1498, flowkey is cheaper.

Hi,thank you so much for the reviews as I was looking for a user friendly book.Actually I’ve been taking private lessons since May starting from 40 minutes lessons to 30 minutes for the last few weeks.They’re using Alfred’s lessons book level 1B and I’m in the middle of level 2 .I really need to understand the basics before switching full time on the internet

This video is so well put together. Love the rubric. Thankyou ❤️

Very informative, thanks so much for the valuable advice👍🙏

I took lessons in my late thirties for about 8 months before life took over and I gave up piano. My teacher taught directly out of Alfred, and I never felt like I mastered the pieces or the concepts before she moved on to new material. In my seventies now, I'm trying again without a teacher, using the Faber book. Having a great time, and I like the pieces in Faber much better than those in Alfred.
**** One aspect of the Faber book that I have found to be enormously helpful is that for each piece or complex drill there is a QR code at the bottom of that page that, with your smart phone, takes you to a short video of a pianist playing that piece so you know exactly how it should sound. If you are self-teaching, that is huge. I didn't hear this presenter mention it, but I checked my book and most recent publication was this year (2022) so maybe that feature was added to my book, but was not in the book she used since it was an older publication.

Your explanations and comparisons are very clear and helpful. I appreciate your chart for comparison of the books’ contents. That was very helpful to me as I teach mostly young beginners. Please continue to share your expertise. I’ll look for more of your lessons. ❤

Superbly methodical comparison! Thanks. I’d already decided to go with Adventures, and luckily that method rated well!

Do you have any suggestions — methods/supplements, or other types of piano-learning suggestions — for adults who already have a strong musical background, but just not specifically on piano? In my particular case, I have played viola, bassoon, classical guitar, classical saxophones, and have taken the usual (college) Freshman and Sophomores Theory and Ear-Training classes, but haven’t really done a whole lot on piano specifically.

Very helpful, thank you. You have yourself a new subscriber. BTW, beautiful neck! :)

One thing I find confusing i s that bass clef notes are written on different parts of the staff on different books,which is right?

Thank you-very helpful indeed!

Would you recommend Alfred Adult All in One for a 13 year old beginner (fast learner, who doesn't seem interested in learning classical music) Thank you!

A tremendous professional review! Thanks!

Thanks for this review, the best I have seen for helping us beginners to decide. I have already bought Faber's, and I love it. I might get Alfred's too, just because... why not? 🙂

great video

This video rocks!

My god, what an amazing review. Thank you so much!

Thank you this is so valuable! Subscribed and following along through all of your videos 🙌

I like that the Alfred's book has the CD to listen to and play along with and that the Faber method has online videos you can watch. What I've done with the accompaniment is recorded the melody and play accompany that when I want a bit more of a challenge.
Thanks for your videos.

One thing I ran into as an older student was very limited flexibility and finger independence for chords. Not sure if it was an old injury or what but I simply could not just jump into them with the Alfred book. In the Faber book, by the time chords began to be a regular part of the lessons, my hands had started to get some of that finger independence and strength they lacked initially. Love the Faber repertoire.

I've used the Alfred book 1 and 2 and played every piece many times (I'm a slow learner) . The Piano Marvel app has all pieces in there so you can track you note and tempo accuracy using a digital piano and midi cable. However it can't track pedal , dynamics , note duration, rubato etc.

It's great for self learners

Thanks for this good review - I will post it in my Sheet Music group on Facebook.

Absolutely the most intelligent review I've seen. I have both Alfred's and the Faber's work. I'm going to double my efforts.