Piano for Dummies by Blake Neely
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Book Reviews of Piano for Dummies
Book Review: very little mention of correct technique
Summary: 3 Stars
First, I have not read the entire book. I was in a music store and read a few pages in the front of the book that were dedicated to proper piano technique.
The author makes absolutely no mention of playing with the least amount of effort let alone how to achieve that. There are concrete ways to see if you are playing with the least amount of effort; I call it the 'fly away wrist' test. If you place the non playing hand under the playing hand\wrist you should be able to flick the playing wrist away from the keyboard while it is playing. If the playing hand is locked in place, you are playing incorrectly. See a teacher.
Like I said, there are concrete ways to accomplish this. The author does mention hand position but he leaves out a lot of important things. At any rate, if I were to write a book on piano playing, I would have written much more on correct piano technique - several chapters, not several pages.
For me, this has a very personal meaning. I am 54 years old and am a professional player. I only learned how to play correctly at the advanced age of 28. No teacher in high school or college ever made any worth while mention of how I was supposed to physically approach the keyboard. I took about 10 lessons from a concert pianist when I was 28 and he showed me in several lessons how to correctly approach the keyboard.
To properly study the piano, you need a real person sitting next to you. You can teach yourself how to read, you can teach yourself music theory, but the actual playing of a piano has to be guided with a real person.
I'm sure the rest of the book is just fine. You want to play the piano, get a teacher. Save the book for a vacation.
Book Review: the dummy and idiot market is insatiable
Summary: 3 Stars
We've learned in the past few years that there are many more dummies in the world than we had reckoned on and that the dummies are much more ambitious than we had supposed. They want to be taught to do everything. In any case, this is a serviceable work for persons of average intelligence (or so), but of course there are many other general method books available, many of them much better (and there are piano teachers as well.) I particularly recommend PENTATONIC SCALES FOR THE JAZZ-ROCK KEYBOARDIST by Jeff Burns.Book Review: Lacking exercises.
Summary: 3 Stars
The two problems with the book are the lack of exercises and not setting a time frame for the available ones. It's divided into chapters and theories just follow eachother. The author doesn't stop and tell you to start practicing a certain piece, for how long and what else you can do.Book Review: Not helpful for a beginner
Summary: 2 Stars
I bought this book a few years ago before taking formal lessons. My idea was to gain some basics on reading music and piano-playing before engaging a tutor. The book started out o.k. and rather helpful but went totally downhill after something like Chapter 3. When I reached page 80, I couldn't continue reading because the chapters become totally disorganized, the lessons difficult to grasp and not suited for a beginner (especially if you have no one to guide you). The author explains something, presents a short music sheet exercise for you to play and then moves on to another lesson. If you're totally new, you won't be able to tell if you're playing the exercise given correctly (e.g. how to ensure smooth/non-"chopping" playing, observing the correct tempo, counting correctly, etc.). Not having a teacher means there's no one to correct your mistakes. The accompanying CD is not of much help if you have an untrained ear.
I was glad I "dumped" this book because it isn't worth the bother to finish. My advice if you are serious about wanting to learn the piano is to get a good and dedicated piano teacher IMMEDIATELY. No amount of reading could substitute having a real teacher. And your teacher will be able to recommend suitable reading materials. I'm into Grade 4 now (and my 2nd piano tutor whom I find a real gem) and when I think back to Blake Neely's "Piano for Dummies", I realize what a waste of time reading this book had been. What annoyed me most was that Neely tried so hard to be funny... peppering (and wasting) the pages with jokes... when the space could have been used for more useful lessons on playing the instrument.
Overall, I do not recommend this book. There are certainly better guide books in the market as I have discovered. If you're a beginner, it's perhaps useful to start with the trusted Alfred Library/Bastian/John Thompson book-series on piano theory and practice. Good luck!
Book Review: Awful CD
Summary: 2 Stars
The book is an okay way to learn about the piano - but I would go with the Idiot's Guide to Music Theory or the zillion other books on music theory. The CD that comes with the book (along with the examples IN the book) are no more complex than the built-in songs that come with most low-end keyboards. IN FACT, most of the songs sound like they've been produced by some $39 Casio keyboard made in 1987. I would look for books that teach theory and back them up with longer and more complex classical pieces or at least better produced music. You'll come away with knowing more than "Little Brown Jug".