Faber & Faber

[becca91]

Does anyone use the Faber&Faber piano books? They were recommended by another piano teacher, but I haven't looked at them yet.

[pianoannie]

I use a lot of their materials.  I believe their Piano Adventures series is now the best-selling method in the US.  I consider it an excellent series, particularly the Technique books.  You can learn more about it at www.pianoteaching.com, a site run by the Fabers.  There is an active message board there.

[keyofc]

I think Faber's is very good too - I use them with some students.  I like for every student to have their technique book regardless of the method book I have them in.

They are pretty consistent - in applying the next concept shown to the next piece.

It's frustrating when a book teaches a new concept and doesn't use it in the piece.

[radmila]

These are good teaching books and kids love them. The songs are moving all around the keyboard and they are very interesting (comparing to Bastien which is pretty boring). There are two problems with this method: it is slow and therefore takes a while to get to certain concepts; also, I think levels 4 and 5 are pretty meaningles. Teachers should supplement teaching with other, more classical repertoire. But overall I love it and use it all the time.

[mattgreenecomposer]

Funny,    Im in America and we say "Does anybody know anyone who DOESN'T use Faber for kids?"

[becca91]

lol.. i'm in America, too

I looked at them, but they didn't seem all that much different than the Alfred's and Bastien that I use now.

[pizno]

I haven't been all that impressed with the transfer students I get who have been strictly in Faber.  They seem to be frozen in middle C position and uncomfortable moving anywhere else on the keyboard.  I know some of the Faber books does stress this a little more, so maybe they just weren't using those.  Also, they aren't particularly good readers.  Perhaps its the teachers - but I've just been unimpressed by these kids.  That said, I use it to supplement some other methods that I use. In the early books,  the melodies are easy to figure out so it gives a pretty immediate sense of satisfaction.

Pizno

[chocolatedog]

I always found Alfred and Bastien particularly bad for getting students "stuck" in hand positions - ie C position and G position........whereas the Faber & Faber books I used seemed mush less "stuck" as they regularly had to place thumbs on notes other than middle C right from the word go.....having said that, I really don't use often, and one of my pupils got quite confused with the ever-changing hand positions in the early stages. Plus it moves quite slowly overall. I have used the adult version though to get adults started, especially those with no prior musical knowledge at all, and find it is pretty thorough

[jinfiesto]

I mostly use alfred premiere, but I also use faber a lot. I supplement alfred material with faber pieces. I find that students like them a lot more. They're also better recital pieces for beginning students.