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Enhanced by an audio CD of selected examples and pieces, a course in playing all major styles of piano covers a history of the instrument and offers progressive instruction in all areas of technique, including posture, fingering, pedalling, scales, and exercises.
"The Piano Improvisation Handbook" offers a comprehensive overview of the practical skills and theoretical issues involved in mastering all forms of piano improvisation. It explores a wide range of styles, including classical, jazz, rock and blues. Whereas other books on improvisation typically offer little more than models for imitation and exercises for practising, this one adopts an approach specifically designed to encourage and enable independent creative exploration. The book contains a series of graded tutorial sections with musical examples on CD, as well as an extensive introductory section detailing the history of keyboard and piano improvisation, an appendix listing useful scales, chords, voicings and progressions across all keys, a bibliography and a discography. In addition to sections outlining how melody, harmony, rhythm, texture and form work in improvised piano music, there are sections devoted to explaining how ideas can be developed into continuous music and to exploring the process of finding a personal style. A key feature is the distinctive stress the author puts on the interconnectedness of jazz and classical music where improvisation is concerned. This book is best suited to those with at least some prior experience of learning the piano. However, the rudiments of both music theory and piano technique are covered in such a way that it can also serve as an effective basis for a self-sufficient course in creative piano playing.
Lots of piano books offer either in-depth analysis or quick gimmicks that don’t really teach music theory. But The Only Basic Piano Instruction Book You’ll Ever Need is different. For students who want to learn the basics and dive right into playing, this book skips all the unnecessary trivia on the history of pianos and avoids lengthy digressions on classical and contemporary musicians. Instead, it focuses specifically on piano instruction and includes: The basics of musical terms, definitions, note-reading structure, and time and key signatures The foundations for chords and more complicated note constructs Exercises and sample pieces of music that range from playing simple notes to combining harmony and melody Perfect even for those starting from scratch, The Only Basic Piano Book You’ll Ever Need makes learning to play a cinch.
"[Student will learn the following:] open a fake book/sheet music with chord symbols and play a tune, accompany vocalist/instrumentalist on any type of tune, get a solo piano/vocal gig, use the piano as a helpful tool to practice vocal improvisation, analyze the chord changes to a song and understand the function of each chord within the progression, double-check published leads-sheets for accuracy, improve composition skills by being able to play and hear the tunes, improve improvisation skills by understanding the harmonic construction of a song."--Page 2
(Faber Piano Adventures ). Playing 5-finger scales has significant value for early-level pianists. This innovative book helps students chart progress through all major and minor 5-finger scales, cross-hand arpeggios, and primary chords. Engaging teacher duets for each key are used for scale exercises. Students also enjoy improvisation activities for each key with creative prompts to inspire imagery, character, and tempo.
(Educational Piano Library). This handy and thorough guide is designed to help the independent piano teacher in all aspects of running his/her own studio. Whether it be business practices such as payment plans, taxes, and marketing, or teaching tips involving technique, composition, or sight reading, this all-inclusive manual has it all! Topics include: Developing and Maintaining a Professional Studio, Finances, Establishing Lessons, Studio Recitals, Tuition and Payment Plans, Composition and Improvisation, Marketing, Communications with Parents, Make-up Policies, Zoning and Business Licenses, Teaching Materials and Learning Styles, The Art of Practice, Arts Funding, and many more!
(Faber Piano Adventures ). Written for ages 5 and 6, My First Piano Adventure captures the child's playful spirit. Fun-filled songs, rhythm games and technique activities develop beginning keyboard skills. Three distinguishing features of the Lesson Book A make it unique and effective for the young 5-6 year old beginner. 1. A strong focus on technique embedded in the book through playful technique games, chants, and carefully-composed pieces that gently lead the child into pianistic motions. 2. An outstanding CD for the young student to listen, sing, tap, and play along with at the piano. The orchestrated songs on the CD feature children singing the lyrics, which has great appeal to the 5-6 year old beginner. The CD becomes a ready-made practice partner that guides the student and parent for all the pieces and activities in the books. 3. The fanciful art features five multi-cultural children who are also learning to play. These friends at the piano introduce basic rhythms, white key names, and a variety of white and black-key songs that span classical, folk, and blues. Young students will listen, sing, create, and play more musically with Nancy and Randall Faber s My First Piano Adventure, Lesson Book A. The Lesson Book introduces directional pre-reading, elementary music theory and technique with engaging songs, games, and creative discovery at the keyboard. Young students will enjoy the multi-cultural "friends at the piano" who introduce white-key names, basic rhythms, and a variety of songs which span classical, folk, and blues. Ear-training and eye-training are also part of the curriculum. The Fabers' instructional theory "ACE" - Analysis, Creativity, and Expression, guides the pedagogy of My First Piano Adventure. Analysis leads to understanding, creativity leads to self-discovery, and expression develops personal artistry. The CD for this book offers a unique listening experience with outstanding orchestrations and vocals. The recordings demonstrate a key principle of the course: when children listen, sing, tap, and move to their piano music, they play more musically. View Helpful Introductory Videos Here
A beautifully illustrated, totally engrossing celebration of the piano, and the composers and performers who have made it their own. With honed sensitivity and unquestioned expertise, Stuart Isacoff—pianist, critic, teacher, and author of Temperament: How Music Became a Battleground for the Great Minds of Western Civilization—unfolds the ongoing history and evolution of the piano and all its myriad wonders: how its very sound provides the basis for emotional expression and individual style, and why it has so powerfully entertained generation upon generation of listeners. He illuminates the groundbreaking music of Mozart, Beethoven, Liszt, Schumann, and Debussy. He analyzes the breathtaking techniques of Glenn Gould, Oscar Peterson, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Arthur Rubinstein, and Van Cliburn, and he gives musicians including Alfred Brendel, Murray Perahia, Menahem Pressler, and Vladimir Horowitz the opportunity to discuss their approaches. Isacoff delineates how classical music and jazz influenced each other as the uniquely American art form progressed from ragtime, novelty, stride, boogie, bebop, and beyond, through Scott Joplin, Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, Bill Evans, Thelonious Monk, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Cecil Taylor, and Bill Charlap. A Natural History of the Piano distills a lifetime of research and passion into one brilliant narrative. We witness Mozart unveiling his monumental concertos in Vienna’s coffeehouses, using a special piano with one keyboard for the hands and another for the feet; European virtuoso Henri Herz entertaining rowdy miners during the California gold rush; Beethoven at his piano, conjuring healing angels to console a grieving mother who had lost her child; Liszt fainting in the arms of a page turner to spark an entire hall into hysterics. Here is the instrument in all its complexity and beauty. We learn of the incredible craftsmanship of a modern Steinway, the peculiarity of specialty pianos built for the Victorian household, the continuing innovation in keyboards including electronic ones. And most of all, we hear the music of the masters, from centuries ago and in our own age, brilliantly evoked and as marvelous as its most recent performance. With this wide-ranging volume, Isacoff gives us a must-have for music lovers, pianists, and the armchair musician.
Each unit in this highly popular series contains a balance of theory, technique, sight-reading, repertoire, harmonization, improvisation and ensemble activities. Updated for the 2nd edition of Alfred's Group Piano for Adults, the Teacher's Guide includes:new repertoire preparation and analysis suggestions, recommended examinations teaching tips, lesson plans and answer keys, improvisation exercises and two new sections: Reading Focus and Planning Group Lessons.
