The Classic Piano Course

Book excerpt: (Music Sales America). You can take up the piano at any age with this complete, user-friendly course by Carol Barratt. Whether you're starting from scratch, or starting again, this course has been designed to guide you gently into playing simple tunes from day one. Containing familiar favorites from the classical repertoire, themes from opera and ballet, folksongs and blues, plus music by contemporary classical composers. Including fascinating items of musical history and biography, an easy-to-follow introduction to the theory of music, and suggested listening to enhance your musical appreciation. Free dummy keyboard included for silent practice, group teaching, and theory work. Book 1: Starting to Play-You'll soon be playing more than 40 piano pieces and exercises. Book 1 introduces the keyboard, the musical alphabet, terms and signs, as well as note values and time signatures. Book 2: Building Your Skills - More than 20 piano pieces for you to play, ranging from "The Entertainer" to "The Blue Danube," plus more information on music theory, expression marks, and terms and signs. Book 3: Making Music - You will play over 20 piano pieces, including music by Verdi, Chopin, Grieg, Handel, Saint-Saens, and Tchaikovsky. More theory points are incorporated, and you'll be playing the blues!