Again, this series is designed for children at the very beginning of their piano journey. It contains, as you would expect, colourful illustrations and a fresh, bright presentation to keep a child interested. However, one remark I would have to make is that this series is a little drier than the others I’ve mentioned. This is presumably due to the fact that it is a bit older. Suitable for children aged 5 years and over, this book facilitates a seamless transition from pre-stave reading onto stave reading, leading effortlessly into the highly acclaimed Get Set! Piano Tutor Book 1. Daddy, Gilbert, Leo, Clementine, Sarah, Emma and Miss Martin all appeared in the book. But Grandma doesn't appear, so Caillou has to play the piano all alone now! The books are designed to introduce young children (from the age of around five) to the piano and music-making through ‘fun activities, rhymes, songs and pieces.’ The author writes:

First Piano Lessons for Kids - Easiest Way to Learn the Notes First Piano Lessons for Kids - Easiest Way to Learn the Notes

Although music is written on the stave and is divided by barlines, no time signatures are included; To accompany the first book, My First Piano Pieces, Puzzles & Activities both follows and supplements this. It provides a range of additional pieces, puzzles and activities for students from around the age of five. Overall, it is designed to reinforce the material in My First Piano Book. My First Piano Book introduces young children to the piano and music-making through fun activities, rhymes, songs and pieces. It does a very good job of explaining concepts such as sight-reading and theory, and putting them into practice by providing good exercises to practice what the student has learned. However, my main concern with this book is that it is overwhelmingly focused on sight-reading, which while being a key skill a student should learn, is not the only aspect of playing piano, and I would have liked to see more actual pieces that the student would be able to learn.New here? Make sure you visit our Introduction to First Piano Lessons before you start! First Piano Lessons Animal Memory Game Rhythmic values include crotchets, minims and semibreves, with quavers introduced later in the book; The last one is B for BEAR– repeat the process, and all the notes have been named, as we have reached C again! Memorising

Review: Get Set! Piano - My First Piano Book - David Barton Music

Just remember that what works for one student, does not necessarily work for another, and you need to be flexible and adaptable when it comes to the learning needs of your students. You'll be playing music in no time with Caillou! This all-in-one keyboard and music book is the perfect introduction to reading and playing music--it even sounds like a real piano. Children learn their first notes by following the simple diagram: Each note is represented with a color that can be found on the corresponding key. Straightforward instructions with illustrations and a touch keyboard make it easy for even very young children to learn and practice some of their favorite songs, including Old MacDonald Had a Farm, the Alphabet Song and Caillou's own theme!" Trivia The fact remains, however, that the Alfred series is a staple of piano teachers in the US and around the world, and will remain so because it does what it does very well. What I particularly like about the Alfred series is how comprehensive it is. I’ve referred to the prep course here, however, there are four separate series for beginners produced by Alfred. What I particularly like about this series is that it comes as four separate books; performance, theory, technic and piano. The idea is that the “piano” book is what you work from. On occasion, this book will call on one of the other books for a particular exercise, so you use that particular book and then return to the “piano” book.Karen Marshall must be one of the few people who has inspired as many teachers as she has students. It is always a pleasure to review her publications because they have clearly been tried and tested in practice. My First Piano Book is no exception. What I also enjoy about this particular book is that it takes the time to teach the student better rhythmic accuracy and a more thorough explanation of the various components of playing the piano than most other instruction methods. This is probably one of the best books I’ve come across for teaching note reading. So many of the beginner piano courses that I’ve used leave note-reading as a supplemental concept, and don’t introduce it until the student has a firm grasp of other basic concepts.