Help for beginners

[Ecthelion]

Hello,

a friend of me is going to buy a cheap piano and he wants to learn to play. But he doesn't know at all the whole theory of notes and stuff. I only have 2 books from myself when I startet to play a lot of years ago but I don't know what's good too to give a person like him. Does Bach have good pieces for "piano" starters? Or does it give good starter books with easy pieces AND the fundamental theory together?

Thanks for help,

regards, Ecthelion

[bernhard]

Depending on the age of your friend (which really means his capacity for following intructions from a book), and his interests the following may be helpful (there are many others):

1. Terry Burrows - How to read music (Sevenoaks). This will cover most of the theory he will need in the beginning and comes with an interactive tutorial CD.

2. Ward Cannel and Fred Marx - How to play the piano despite years of lessons. (Chappell). This is a really interesting book (although with a strong bias towards pop) in that he teaches the theory form the point of vies of chords and harmony. Highly recommended.

As for Bach, his intruction books (written for his childern and wife) are just collections of pieces, they do not have any explanation or instruction. The easiest is the "Little notebook of Anna Magdalen Bach". Most of the pieces in it are not by Bach himself.

The next one is the collection of "Little preludes". Again not all of the pieces in it are by Bach (some are though).

Both collections are pretty difficult for a total beginner, so I would probably not start with them, unless the student is so much in love with the pieces that he cannot bear not to play them.

Best wishes,
Bernhard.