Best Adult Piano Books For Beginners
If you’re looking for the best adult piano books for beginners, look no further than the Alfred series. These comprehensive course books provide a step-by-step progression through various levels of difficulty, including chords and intervals. They focus on sight-reading exercises, as well as other important piano techniques and theory. This is a great option for adults who don’t have previous musical training, but want to improve their playing technique.
A spiral-bound book makes learning easier, and it’s more comfortable to keep open. Duets are a great way to develop your playing skills, and this is especially true of book 1, which starts with a few simple duets. These books have a good mix of meter and are perfect for practicing duets with your teacher. This beginner’s course will help you learn different playing styles, and you’ll be able to master a wide range of pieces quickly.
The Alfred Piano series contains a range of classical and contemporary pieces that you can play at any level. This is an excellent option for beginners, but it’s important to remember that this series focuses on playing pieces rather than other aspects of the piano. In addition to learning to play the basics, this book will also help you master theory. Besides teaching you to read music, it will also teach you to master the fundamentals of theory.
The Older Beginner Piano Course Level 1
James Bastien
Length: 96 pages
This classic piano method by famous piano educator James Bastien was created with older beginners in mind. The book is smartly laid out, with clear instructions and illustrations. The units contain music theory lessons, warm-up exercises, and songs chosen to reinforce the new concepts youve learned. Each unit ends with a review.
Adult reviewers on Amazon, including a self-taught 73-year-old, note that this book has helped them improve their piano-playing abilities within a short period of time.
Accelerated Piano Adventures For The Older Beginner Lesson Book 1
Nancy Faber, Randall Faber
Length: 96 pages
Other books in this series: This series consists of two lesson books and some supplementary books , which you can purchase as a set here.
This accelerated learning series is perfect for adults who are teaching themselves piano and are serious about progressing more quickly. One adult student commented on Amazon that the lessons are just the right balance of easy and challenging.
With simple and clear tutorials starting with the very basics, the first volume is accessible for complete beginners. Reviewers describe the pieces as beautiful-sounding and fun to play, more so than in many other beginner piano lesson books.
Also Check: How To Play Home Sweet Home On Piano
Ideal Books For Young Learners
Kicking things off, were going to begin with a few titles that are ideally suited for children, using either bright colours, characters, games and tunes that are best suited to keep the learning experience fun, rewarding and engaging from start to finish.
Lang Lang: The Lang Lang Piano Method Level 1
Lang Lang has single handedly inspired countless children to take up the piano or be keen to develop their skills, despite being a classically trained pianist, this book offers and incredibly accessible and fun way to learn that depicts the musician as a superhero on a piano adventure with The Lang Lang Piano Method Level 1. Level 1 introduces complete beginners to: different five-finger positions, note reading, moving around the keyboard, developing both hands equally right from the start.
Part of a 5 book series, The Lang Lang Piano Method provides a unique and imaginative way for complete beginners to learn the piano whilst introducing musicianship and theory through fun engaging characters and pieces ideally suited for children.
Jennifer Linn: Hal Leonard Piano for Kids
Bringing forth popular pieces that kids love such as Let It Go, Beauty and the Beast, Over the Rainbow, Heart and Soul, We Will Rock You and more famous tunes to keep young learners motivated, Piano for Kids is a fun, easy course that teaches children to play piano or keyboard faster than ever before.
Piano Time Series: Pauline Hall
Teaching Little Fingers To Play By John Thompson
This piano book was written for early beginners.
The melodies and songs in the book are carefully written so that beginners can play them quite easily, even young children.
If you want to give your child a first piano experience, this is the book for you!
Piano books for beginners : Teaching Little Fingers to Play.
Recommended Reading: Ode To Joy Beginner Piano
How To Play Piano And Keyboard By Alan Brown
With an emphasis on keyboards useful for those of us who cant fit a piano in our homes this book breaks down how to tackle playing, with diagrams for anyone who prefers a more visual learning style. Its also spiral-bound, and as someone whos had several perfect-bound books spring out of the holders and fall on her mid-tune, I cannot emphasise how useful that is.
Fabers Adult Piano Adventures All
If you are looking for a complete refresher starting from the most basics, then Fabers Adult Piano Adventures series is the perfect option for you. This comprehensive book covers all of the essential skills and topics that you need to succeed as a pianist, including lessons, theory, technique, and pieces.
Fabers Adult Piano Adventures All-In-One
With a great selection of songs from a wide range of musical styles, this book will help make practicing more enjoyable and engaging. Whether you are new to piano lessons or simply looking to brush up on your skills, this book is an ideal choice.
So if you feel like your knowledge of piano fundamentals has gotten a bit rusty over time, give Fabers Adult Piano Adventures All-In-One a try you wont be disappointed!
Recommended Reading: How To Play Chords On Piano
Engaging Books For Teenagers And Young Adults
When it comes to learning, those who have outgrown the childishness of the younger book series, but still need a little encouragement than those that titles aimed at adults receive are often left out in the cold. However, thankfully, especially as the piano continues to grow in popularity across the worlds of social media and in schools, more and more of these titles are coming to fruition. The following titles are ideally aimed at keeping teenagers and young adults intrigued in learning the piano by providing supportive, relevant and modern engaging titles that mean something to the student.
Jennifer Linn: Hal Leonard Piano for Teens Method
Following on from her book for young learners mentioned above, Jennifer Linn is back and this time has applied the same model to a teenage audience. The main change here is not in the layout, still utilising slick and clean layouts that make learning easy, but instead by adapting the song list to include modern chart popular songs that teenagers and young adults engage with: All of Me, Hallelujah, Hello, Roar, Shake It Off, We Will Rock You and classical favourites like Beethoven’s Für Elise all include clear instruction allowing students to progress and play each new song with confidence.
Hot Keys Piano – For Secondary & Adult Starters
Is A Book Helpful When Learning The Piano
Of course, a book will help you when learning the piano. A piano method book will allow you to learn playing the piano spending less time and less effort. As you can learn the piano at your own place, it will give you more flexibility. Besides, a piano method book will surely save your time and money.
Don’t Miss: Kohler And Campbell Piano Upright Prices
Piano For The Young Beginner
A best of list for books on learning piano is incomplete without the famous name Bastien. This piano primer helps children five years or older learn to play. It takes them through the basics, including pre-staff notation. Eventually, theyll be comfortable reading music on the grand staff.
The songs are popular, and their stunning illustrations keep little ones engaged.
If your child enjoys the book, the brand has many more on playing piano for beginners. Add them to your collection, so your little Mozart can keep learning.
Have you tried one of our top piano books for beginners? Or maybe you could help us add to our book suggestions. Our community would love to hear your feedback!
Want to get a head start? Check out a blog post or two on beginner piano techniques.
Alfreds Group Piano For Adult Students Book 1
If youre a teacher looking for great group piano material, this book by Alfred is the way to go. Its a massive book with a great layout so that all of the content is easy to read and digest. There are over 500 compositions in this book, so its something you can stick with for years.
You often see this book taught in universities to novice pianists and beginners, but its also a nice method to get for private use. To go along with that are accompaniments to play along with which helps with developing ensemble and balance.
Overall there are 26 units through 360 pages of text. The units range from the basics of playing, rhythm, and navigating your way around the instrument. Heres a breakdown of how most of the book goes.
The first Unit covers keyboard basics. This includes how to sit at the piano, note values, counting rhythms, whole steps and half steps, note names and even the chromatic scale. That might seem like a lot to cover in one unit, and youre exactly right. This book is written for college use, but if youre looking for something that gets to the good stuff quickly its just for you.
The next three units go over intervallic reading, dynamics, and basic five-finger patterns. At this point, a few short repertoire selections are introduced, and each unit ends with a worksheet.
Recommended Reading: Howls Moving Castle Piano Music
The Faber Music Easy Piano Anthology
Faber has already released numerous successful piano anthologies, covering Christmas music, Contemporary music, Jazz piano, and Soundtracks.
This Easy Piano Anthology is aimed at players around Grade 5-7, more suited to the late-beginner/lower-intermediate level pianist. It’s an ideal book for those that are bordering on being ready to make the leap to intermediate level.
There are 51 pieces drawn from pop, jazz, film, folk and classical genres. Ranging in length from one to eight pages, there are only a handful of chords requiring octave stretches, making the pieces accessible to those with smaller hands.
Hanon: The Virtuoso Pianist
Hanon is without a doubt one of the most important piano technique books ever written. First published in 1873, it has been an indispensable resource for pianists of all skill levels, from beginners to advanced players.
Hanon: The Virtuoso Pianist
Unlike other popular piano technique books such as A Dozen A Day, Hanon exercises are longer and more intense, aimed at developing truly virtuosic playing skills. I have been practicing Hanon exercises since I was a child, and they have always been instrumental in helping me overcome any technical challenges I faced in my playing.
Despite its reputation as a challenging and rigorous resource, Hanon can also be used in a variety of different ways. While you may often hear people recommend that you work through one exercise at a time from start to finish, this book actually provides exercises for every aspect of technique for both beginner and advanced players alike. Whether you need help with articulation, control, or accurate fingering, there is sure to be an exercise in Hanon that can guide you on your path to flawless technique and performance excellence!
Recommended Reading: The Black Parade Piano Notes
Music Theory Staff Paper By Malia Jade Roberson
This book is designed more as a practical tool than as a collection of piano lessons.
It was originally written especially for music students and composers.
Its primary originality is that it allows to merge classical music notation on staves with spaces dedicated to annotation. This is very practical when writing music.
It includes another more theoretical part with a study guide, graphs and scales.
Music Theory Staff Paper: a good piano book for all the beginners.
What Should A Piano Beginner Learn First
The best way to begin is with the major scale, followed by the natural minor, harmonic minor, and melodic minor scales. Once youve mastered those scales, youll be able to work on chromatic scales, blues scales, pentatonic scales, and whole tone scales.
This lesson will provide you with an understanding of piano notes and how to play them. In addition to finger numbering and proper hand positioning, well cover finger printing. In Part 2, we will look at the C major scale. C, D, E, F, G, A, B, and C are the eight notes in the C major scale, and you must decide which note to play with which fingers in order to begin playing pieces. Here are a few pointers on how to get started with arranging the notes. As a result, you now have the C major scale in your hand. As you progress through this, you will need to add the notes F, G, A, B, and C. Here is the best way to play F: your thumb. If you can gain more confidence, it is a good idea to speed up the process.
Also Check: How To Play Next Episode On Piano
Piano Book For Adult Beginners
The Piano Book for Adult Beginners is written by Damon Ferrante and guides students with step-by-step lessons. It is designed to be interactive, engaging and fun for adults that have no prior piano experience. The gradual introduction to the staff and note recognition helps with those that have no music reading experience, and its supplemental 20 streaming video lessons are a great add on.
This book is specifically meant to expand a students repertoire of piano songs rather than a focus on technique or playing skills. It explains a simple breakdown of chord progressions, finger patterns and technique, but does so through the song progression in the book. It begins with left hand songs, moves on to right hand songs before putting them together.
While the piano book may not be the most holistic introduction to piano, it is meant to help students improve their technique and enhance their understanding of music. It is written for adult beginners looking for a fair paced piano course, but it can also serve as a refresher course for any adult that is looking to pick up their previously abandoned piano skills.
Hal Leonard Piano For Teens Method
The Hal Leonard Piano for Teens Method is an easy to follow course specifically designed for young adults who are looking to learn how to play the piano or keyboard fast. Its clear instructions allow students to play each new song with confidence and progress at their own pace with strength. Each new concept is clearly laid out with the clean and simple page layouts so it is easy to understand and engage with the new concepts while learning the songs.
The best part of the Hal Leonard Piano for Teens Method is its use of popular songs to teach the new skills and keep the teens attention. The book includes songs such as Hallelujah, Shake It Off by Taylor Swift, and We Will Rock You by Queen. In addition there are the classical piano songs that every students wants to learn such as Beethovens Fur Elise to keep the students interested.
However, through its use of only popular songs, students may find it hard to transfer to other courses or external sheet music. Popular songs can teach some skills, but they are not too complicated to play making this book perfect for beginners trying to engage in piano, but difficult for those looking to develop the foundation needed to advance their skills afterward.
Recommended Reading: Tyler The Creator Piano Sheet Music
The Classical Piano Method Book 1
This method book was put together by Hans Gunter Heumann and is published under Schott. Its 96 pages of structured piano lessons that cover every important area of playing. From C major 5 note patterns to exercises focused on pedaling, its well put together.
Each lesson unit has a breakdown of what concept is being taught and detailed diagrams to go along with it. At the end of each unit is a Theory check section where pianists can answer questions about what they learned throughout that unit. Each unit builds on material from the last, so this method book does not feel like its all over the place.
As far as difficulty is concerned, the pieces are taken up a notch once you reach lesson 10. By that point, eighth notes, phrasing, articulations, and more should be polished. The music is actually written really well and much of it is very lyrical. Each of the pieces has a unique name that caters to the style of the music.
Intervals are introduced in lesson 12 and its taught using lines and spaces along with visuals of the distance between keys. This is especially helpful when counting music with tiny print is difficult. The last portion of the book has an answer key so you can check your answers to make sure everything is correct.
Grab your copy of the method book at thislink.
The Advantage Of This Book
The pieces in this book are modal and do not sound childlike. Although it can be used with children, the song selection is appealing to adults. Stylistically Mikrokosmos reflects the folk music influence on Bartoks life. The rhythms and harmonies sound modern even though they were written a long time ago.
Recommended Reading: Megan’s Piano Sheet Music
