beginner books

[Tash]

ok i'm in the process of attempting to choose what books to use when i start teaching beginners in the next few weeks. so i've just been looking at what i already have, and reading various posts here and just have a few questions regarding certain books i've looked. personally i'd probably prefer to invent my own except i don't think i'm remotely experienced enough to do so yet so i think i'll stick to the lovely books for now!
i used to go by the Alfred books, but looking at them now it takes like 1 1/2 books to get your hands together which is freakishly slow. Alfred was originally probably going to be my choice but now i'm not so sure. my teacher uses the Edna Mae Burnam Ministeps books except they're even slower than Alfred so i'm not keen on that.
however for some reason i have a stash of Leila Fletcher books, my sis must've used them. but i'm quite liking the look of them, except the excessive amount of writing the fingering for every single note. does anyone have any knowledge about whether they're decent to use? 
also i have a couple from the Bastien series, which i borrowed from a friend like 10 years ago and never gave back! they look ok, i know my friend was a good pianist when she was playing, if that reflects anything on the books, probably more on the teacher and her own natural talent. the Faber & Faber books also seem to be recommended here? i haven't looked at them but i'll go check them out sometime this week...
so yeah any comments on those books (don't repeat yourself if there's already stuff in this forum on them, i'm working my way through the posts ), particularly the leila fletcher ones, since i can't seem to find much on them here, would be super!

[pianonut]

i tend to like bastien and haven't tried other methods.  am curious to hear about leila fletcher's method.  what i like about bastien is that they've been around enough to have books for note spelling, theory, sight-reading, etc. at each level.  i don't always buy all the books at each level, but suggest a few and then supplement with stuff i might already have.

as you get into teaching, you find out about sales that music stores have and you go and buy stuff and try it out.  that's the best way to find out if you like it (after looking).

the bastiens are quite a musical family (several generations) and i like the large print in their books.  many books have such small print.  it is sometimes a hinderance to younger students trying hard to just read the notes.  i like the fun approach, too, and the word-rhythm ideas.

[abell88]

I have a fondness for Leila Fletcher, simply because that's what I learned from. I also find them very tuneful. That being said, I haven't used them for several years...mainly because I think I got tired of them from using so often. You can always white-out the excessive fingering.  I usually found with beginners that they would get through the first eight or so (can't remember exactly) songs without any trouble, then bog down when it got harder.  Maybe it would be good to supplement Fletcher with something else...if your student has trouble, that is...otherwise proceed through the book, making sure your students learn their notes really well.

[jeremyjchilds]

I don't know about Leila Fletcher, you know, every time I use it for a child, he blazes through the first few songs, and then gets stuck on the confusing pieces, The middle c position is sometimes harder to read than c position.

WIth my students, I use two methods, (Neither new or exciting) I use bastien if I think a student will be more interested in classical, and alfred if the student has expressed avid interest in jazz, pop, etc. Alfred has the chord symbols over a lot of the music and that is a good takeoff point for little improv sessions.

I used leila Fletcher as a student too, and I grevitated towards it because I hate the stupid (Play by number) notes at the beginning of the mentioned books without staff lines, but it was a little too confusing.

Anyone know a good method that has no (play by number prep section?)

[janice]

Tash,
I used Leila Fletcher with my first teacher (started when I was 7)!  Good books, but I would have to try to dig them out of storage, if they are even still around!  Then I could compare them to say, Bastien.  Personally, I LOVE Bastien, and used to use him alot n my teaching of beginners.  It's a very thorough, very well planned series.  Plus attractive to the kids!  How old are your beginners?  The age of the beginners is a HUGE deciding factor on which series to use, if not THE deciding factor, imo.

[dveej]

I am this year dealing with the realization that I don't have to do every single song in the method book with my students. This is significant to me because I tend to want to do every thing in whatever method book I am using, and as Tash pointed out, it can take a long time to get anywhere if you insist on perfection or even a pretty good standard.

So I'm trying to give myself permission to skip judiciously if I think the student is moving too slowly. (But I worry about a student feeling scared by skipping songs...)

I am going to check out Fletcher, based on all the recommendations. I personally always prefer Piano Adventures or Alfred; but I have used John Thompson, Frances Clark's Music Tree, Noona, Bastien, and Suzuki in the past. Having notespellers and theory books is a big plus, so Alfred and Bastien win in that regard.

[Tash]

excellent thanks all you've given some good info for me to think about!

[Jacey1973]

I quite like the Fanny Waterman beginners books.

[llamaman]

Piano Adventures are good. I used to use them. They go from really low, like Ode to Joy (simple) to Ballade by Burgmuller.

[Appenato]

yeah, Piano Adventures. kids love the pieces they get to play in those books. half of the primer book is pre-staff notation... playing first on black keys then moving to white. for older beginners, you could get the "older beginner" books. moves a bit quicker than the primer and has the student reading on staff after a couple of lessons. supplement with the  performance books. the pieces in those books are always a hit.

one of the thing about the faber books is that they're not heavily positional and a lot of the pieces begin using a different fingering so students aren't stuck expeciting thumb to always be on middle c... 2nd finger on d or b.. and so on...

good luck.

[point of grace]

you know where i can find the Bastien Method in internet for free? thanks you   
have a nice weekend