Rating: 
Summary: Great intro to music theory incl. keys and chords.
Review: Contains a wealth of music theory for the beginner, and as such it's a valuable addition to the beginning student's resources. However, it's not a really good exercise book. The CD included with the book contains blurbs of the music examples in the book, but I don't know WHERE they got the performances, which are of uneven quality and are not particularly good for the listener trying to hear a good piano line.
Rating: 
Summary: very little mention of correct technique
Review: First, I have not read the entire book. I was in a music store and read a few pages in the front of the book that were dedicated to proper piano technique.
The author makes absolutely no mention of playing with the least amount of effort let alone how to achieve that. There are concrete ways to see if you are playing with the least amount of effort; I call it the 'fly away wrist' test. If you place the non playing hand under the playing hand\wrist you should be able to flick the playing wrist away from the keyboard while it is playing. If the playing hand is locked in place, you are playing incorrectly. See a teacher.
Like I said, there are concrete ways to accomplish this. The author does mention hand position but he leaves out a lot of important things. At any rate, if I were to write a book on piano playing, I would have written much more on correct piano technique - several chapters, not several pages.
For me, this has a very personal meaning. I am 54 years old and am a professional player. I only learned how to play correctly at the advanced age of 28. No teacher in high school or college ever made any worth while mention of how I was supposed to physically approach the keyboard. I took about 10 lessons from a concert pianist when I was 28 and he showed me in several lessons how to correctly approach the keyboard.
To properly study the piano, you need a real person sitting next to you. You can teach yourself how to read, you can teach yourself music theory, but the actual playing of a piano has to be guided with a real person.
I'm sure the rest of the book is just fine. You want to play the piano, get a teacher. Save the book for a vacation.
Rating: 
Summary: I feel like a dummy for buying this book
Review: I bought several books on learning the piano at the same time. I found this book to be the least useful. As several other reviewers mentioned, the author's sense of humor is pathetic and he tries to throw in a "zinger" every other paragraph. "Thats's right, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, pengiums and parakeets...". Believe me. I not exaggerating on this. I cringed at almost every one of the author's attempts to be humorous. However, this was not enough to discourage me from continuing to read the book. That occurred after having to read over 50 pages before the author presented the first exercise. An excercise that it does not use a middle C hand position, requires you to move your hand, does not indicate which fingers to use for which keys, etc. After looking at this first exercise, I decided not to continue. I suspect that the author has never taught a single piano lession. I also picked up two books called "Total Piano" and "Alfred's Basic Adult Piano Course" both of which I've found quite good so far. If you have a digital piano with a MIDI interface, check out "Teach Me Piano". I've been using it for a few days now, I can't say enough good things about this piece of software.
Rating:
Summary: Now I can play
Review: I bought the book the other day and breezed right thru it. It's great in that you can skip around the book to the sections you NEED to read (or refresh yourself on). I keep it handy because I often refer to it. It is thorough in explaining various aspects of reading music, playing, etc. The humor interspersed makes it enjoyable to read rather than boring but the humor doesn't detract from the content and lesson. Glad I bought it and you should buy it, too, if you want to teach yourself how to play!
Rating:
Summary: Now I can play
Review: I bought the book the other day and breezed right thru it. It's great in that you can skip around the book to the sections you NEED to read (or refresh yourself on). I keep it handy because I often refer to it. It is thorough in explaining various aspects of reading music, playing, etc. The humor interspersed makes it enjoyable to read rather than boring but the humor doesn't detract from the content and lesson. Glad I bought it and you should buy it, too, if you want to teach yourself how to play!
Rating:
Summary: Not for DUMMIES!; Great way to begin!
Review: I bought this book 2 months ago and started practicing an hour from it daily. The results were shockingly great and speedy. After a week of practice I would go back and shoot through the preliminary songs as if they were child's play! My one problem with it is the way you're presented with practice material. It's never specified how long or often you should practice something before moving on. Just be patient and ONLY MOVE ON ONCE YOU'RE COMFORTABLE WITH A PIECE. Do that and this minor problem won't affect you at all. I really like the play along cd. It does help alot. Also, the humorous way in which you're presented with all of the material this book contains will have you learning great amounts of theory and technique without even realizing it. This book is great as a reference book as well. So, although it's challenging (sight-reading in particular), you'll soon learn that with a little consistence and assiduity you'll be on your way to "tickling the ivories with the best of 'em"!
Rating: 
Summary: Not helpful for a beginner
Review: I bought this book a few years ago before taking formal lessons. My idea was to gain some basics on reading music and piano-playing before engaging a tutor. The book started out o.k. and rather helpful but went totally downhill after something like Chapter 3. When I reached page 80, I couldn't continue reading because the chapters become totally disorganized, the lessons difficult to grasp and not suited for a beginner (especially if you have no one to guide you). The author explains something, presents a short music sheet exercise for you to play and then moves on to another lesson. If you're totally new, you won't be able to tell if you're playing the exercise given correctly (e.g. how to ensure smooth/non-"chopping" playing, observing the correct tempo, counting correctly, etc.). Not having a teacher means there's no one to correct your mistakes. The accompanying CD is not of much help if you have an untrained ear.
I was glad I "dumped" this book because it isn't worth the bother to finish. My advice if you are serious about wanting to learn the piano is to get a good and dedicated piano teacher IMMEDIATELY. No amount of reading could substitute having a real teacher. And your teacher will be able to recommend suitable reading materials. I'm into Grade 4 now (and my 2nd piano tutor whom I find a real gem) and when I think back to Blake Neely's "Piano for Dummies", I realize what a waste of time reading this book had been. What annoyed me most was that Neely tried so hard to be funny... peppering (and wasting) the pages with jokes... when the space could have been used for more useful lessons on playing the instrument.
Overall, I do not recommend this book. There are certainly better guide books in the market as I have discovered. If you're a beginner, it's perhaps useful to start with the trusted Alfred Library/Bastian/John Thompson book-series on piano theory and practice. Good luck!
Rating:
Summary: Good on the Fundamentals
Review: I enjoyed this book. It's written in the breezy, irreverant style of the Dummies series, which can annoy or ease depending on the author; in this case ease. It filled in many of the holes in my musical education (I was taught by computer). Still, I would say not to expect miracles. A book (or a computer) is no substitute for a qualified human instructor. It is only an aid, but a good one.
Rating: 
Summary: Could not put this book down!
Review: I have been playing for only 6 months and am taking lessons and found this book a great help in learning about the piano. It is fun to read and has slot of very useful information and ways to remember things about the piano. Some interesting history behind the piano and ways to buy and maintain the piano. I have more pages in the book dog eared than any other piano book I have. You must get this book and the CD that comes with the book is a real help in learning timing and the way a song is to sound.
Rating:
Summary: Good reference for ppl with music knowledge..not for dummies
Review: I have some basic knowledge on Indian classical music. I wanted to learn Electronic Keyboard and hence chose the dummies book. The first few pages were great to learn the basics. Once I crossed chapter 4 I was lost. The important thing I wanted to know was the fingerings. There is no mentioning of extending the fingerings from the basic position. I would rather prefer a lesson & practice approach. When it comes to Music (instruments), the approach must be "build one block over other". Precisely a strong foundation. The Author must emphasise more on practice sessions and most importantly the recommended No. of hours for an average beginner to get hold of the piece. I am sure the book will be really useful if I know the basics of (piano) music or if I'm a student in a music school. Last word, very nice to learn basics, misses important aspect....Fingerings....
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