Piano method books? [Bob asks]

[Bob]

Can we start a list of piano method books?

Anything you like or dislike about them?

There's  Bastien, Alfred, Faber & Faber....

[kulahola]

Already plenty of threads about the topic. Anyway could you please try to broaden you horizon. There is nothing good about the "methods" you are mentioning simply because they do not contain music. I avoid teaching with any particular method but use lots of pieces included in Nikolaieva (the RUssian method) and Mylich (the Ukrainian).

[Bob]

Kulohola,

Do you have any order to these pieces?  How are they ordered so that the student has continual attainable challenges?   (ie I'm looking for some type of piano curriculum)   Tell me more about these Russian pieces.

[pianoannie]

There is nothing good about the "methods" you are mentioning simply because they do not contain music.

[Swan]

I've used all three methods you've referred to so far.

Alfreds spend an awful lot of time on 'hand position' as does Bastien and the accompaniments are usually triad chords.  Sometimes the melodies are just chords as well, be they harmononic or melodic.  The music in them to the most part are pretty uninspirational.   A huge effort has gone into Bastien's visual content.  Great fun pictures for the kids to relate to and if you make the students buy ALL the books in the range - Technics, Repertoire, Theory and the course book, then they get a fair coverage of what's needed to play the piano sufficiently.  I don't use Bastien or Alfreds anymore.

I've tried Faber and Faber, and their use of duets with nearly every piece makes their pieces a little more interesting for the student and teaches rhythm control etc and alleviates that lonely feeling that can come with playing the piano (as opposed to a band instrument where you can at least play with others at school).   The Piano Adventures are now very popular and I think they'll probably replace Bastiens and Alfreds.

I don't like John Thompson's Easiest Piano Course.  Agh!  The music is awful, the kids learn by numbers instead of notes and the page is way too busy with reminders everywhere.

I don't mind his "Teaching Little Fingers to Play," although once again, he insists on numbering practically every note!  But it's set out very well, the pieces are very short and progressive and is ideal for the very young beginner.  (I've made up a musical accompaniment to go with all the songs - and yes, they are songs, because they all have words - and for the very young singing is a very important part of their musical training.)
I like Denes Agay's Joy of First Year Piano.  There are no pictures, so it's not very stimulating for the younger beginner, but it doesn't emphasis chords (although they are included), you get to play notes with different fingerings.  There are some duets, and the music isn't too bad.  It also is a good book for a teacher who actually knows what they're doing, as the book doesn't introduce new concepts to the student the way the other books do, so it's left to the teacher to work out how to do this.  

A good method for a young beginner and someone new to teaching is Carol Barratt's Chester's Easiest Piano Course.  It's very interactive and the young kids I've tried it with really enjoy the pictures, answering the questions, and playing the music.  Again the pieces are not overwhelmingly inspirational, but once again I've made accompaniments and this makes learning and practising a lot of fun.

[reinvent]

Bastien, Alfred, Faber, and Music Tree were all the top-selling brands at least 2 years ago.  Not sure if the rank has changed at all.
   Of the four, I favor Alfred, and Music Tree.  Music Tree because of the intervallic approach in teaching.  I am not crazy about their music, but I supplement it with other.  
   I like Alfred - they do not miss anything.  They are a little slow in introducing new concepts, but they are sticklers for review.
  I also like Michael Aaron - I think their music is very diverse - and explains things more simply.  One disadvantage: they do no offer CDs.