Rating: 
Summary: Be careful of duplication!!
Review: As I wrote in my review of "All the tunes you've ever wanted to play", if you already own that book, you do not need this one. They are the same books, with the same selections, with the same arrangements. However, the pages in this book are larger, thus the notes are easier to read.
Rating:
Summary: Be careful of duplication!!
Review: As I wrote in my review of "All the tunes you've ever wanted to play", if you already own that book, you do not need this one. They are the same books, with the same selections, with the same arrangements. However, the pages in this book are larger, thus the notes are easier to read.
Rating: 
Summary: A motivating beginner book
Review: I am trying to teach myself to play piano, and this book is great. After spending time playing songs from kindergarden, it's really nice to sit down and play something that gives you a lot of pleasure and really makes you want to play more.This book has really motivated me to practice more and concentrate harder in the time I do spend at the piano. Also, it's a great bargain - it's a huge book and a LOT of songs for the price. Usually you spend 12-15 dollars on a thin book with just a few songs.
Rating:
Summary: An instant favorite!
Review: I received this book as a gift and it instantly became my all-time favorite compilation. Although I am an advanced pianist who loves to play the original versions of many of these songs, I still turn to this book again and again for pure listening and playing enjoyment. Like the other reviewers, I appreciate the quality of the selections and the spiral binding. But what I love most about this book is how cleverly the pieces have been simplified. They are easy enough for an advanced student to sight read, yet somehow they retain all the essence of the originals, so they don't sound like the watered-down kiddie versions I remember playing in my "lesson books." They would definitely provide enough challenge for a beginning or intermediate student building a repertoire. I feel the reviewer who stated that the arrangements were "needlessly simplified or altered" completely missed the point of this book. Imagine learning to play the "Moonlight Sonata" or Schubert's "Serenade" in a few weeks or even a single sitting! The pieces are condensed, but when you are playing just for fun, it makes sense to play only the parts that people recognize and admire. And what a great idea to transpose Chopin's "Etude in E" into the key of F so that it is actually possible to enjoy its lyrical beauty without going mad trying to remember all those sharps. Since composers tend to be men with large hands, I've had to chop notes out of their four-fingered chords all my life, so why not have the publishers do it for me? In short, this book does all the right things to make these songs a joy to play. Whether you are a beginning student looking for recital pieces, an intermediate student wanting to learn sight-reading, or an advanced student who just needs a welcome break from months of laboring over the originals, this book has something for everyone. I would recommend it as an addition to any home with a piano.
Rating:
Summary: Good variety of music
Review: I think this book has a good variety of songs by different composers and from different time periods. A word of warning: this book is too heavy to put in an already-full piano bench.
Rating:
Summary: The best collection of favorites
Review: I've purchased several collections of classics and this one is the best. It contains without a doubt every song you can imagine wanting to learn to play - everything from Fuer Elise to Moonlight Sonata, from the Carman theme to the Danube Waltz. Easy to read notes, and written at a level that even I, with only 1 year of lessons under my belt, can attempt to play some of my favorites. It's spiral-ring bound, so lies flat during playing, a definite advantage. My piano teacher likes it so much that she's asked me to order 2 more for her other students.
Rating: 
Summary: GREAT selections... Poor arrangements...
Review: The good: This book contains essential pieces that everypianist should know. It has 300 pages, and since it's spiral-bound itfits easily on your music rack. The notes are big and clear on high-quality paper. The bad: A lot of these pieces have been needlessly simplified or altered. I personally would rather spend the extra time to learn the ENTIRE compositions, and I was extremely disappointed to find how incomplete these are. But at least it offers some good practice. Also, anyone about to buy this book should realize that the word "Easy" in the title is misleading. This book is bordering intermediate-level. END
Rating:
Summary: An excellent value
Review: This book contains some of the very familiar melodies from my favorite composers. There are Bach preludes and minuets,Beethoven symphonic themes and concertos, Brahms Hungarian Dances, Chopin preludes and waltzes, dances by Handel and Haydn, over 10 works by Mozart, and dozens of other masterpieces by several other composers. They even have the simpler versions of The Maple Leaf Rag and Entertainer by Scott Joplin. This book is bound with a durable white plastic comb which will last for years. All of the arrangements are well written in simpler keys so that a student playing only about three years can master the entire book. There are selections for all musical preferences and abilities. This book makes an excellent gift and should be part of every musician's library.
Rating:
Summary: Good for Beginners, but Use With CAUTION!
Review: This book is a good deal for the money and has a good selection of classical music in it. If you are a beginner or want to play for fun, I recommend the book.
If you are a beginner but you plan to become a good piano player, look elsewhere. The pieces are all simplified which is what I expected. Unfortunately, I found some of the pieces were harmonically inaccurate. For example, Grieg's Morning Song does not follow the chord progression of the actual piece. It uses a different chord progression (resulting in a slightly altered sound than the original) and this throws you off when playing it.
If you're beginning in music but want to go far, buy another (more expensive) beginner's classical music book. If you're playing just for the fun of it and want to be able to play some of those difficult classical piano pieces, then by all means buy this book.
Rating:
Summary: One of my favorites
Review: This book is one of my favorites for hours of piano playing fun. In fact, both my mother and my sister ordered their own copies of this book after they saw mine. The selections are wonderful and I really like the physical construction as well - nice heavy paper and a spiral binding make it easier to turn pages. The arrangements are simplied versions of well known "classics". As another reviewer said, the word "easy" in the title can be misleading. They are easier than the original compositions, but I think many of them will still challenge the intermediate piano player. Of course, a serious piano student might want to get something closer to the original compositions, but I think these arrangements do a nice job of capturing the spirit of the piece without over-taxing those of us who are just playing for fun.
| 
