Rating: 
Summary: Get. This. Book. NOW...
Review: There are some books that are so good, that you can't help but sound like a brainless, gushing idiot when praising them. This book is one of them.Now what's the secret of How to Play Piano Despite Years of Lessons? Why does it get so many rave reviews here at Amazon and other places? Because it works. And it works by completely demystifying the music-making process in a completely irreverent and casual style, in stark contrast to the humorless, frowning, and stern music teachers we all may have had once or twice in our lives. In other words, it takes the mystery out of making music and says, "Hey-- don't sweat it. You can do it. It's not as hard or tedious or agonizing as you think-- honest. Don't listen to all those shnooks who made you feel that it was all esoteric and as hard to crack as the Rosetta Stone." This approach is perfect for those who were always the type who felt that playing instruments was only the property of the Talented Few, or that they were so hopelessly inept that they could never hope to understand how music works. If read, it will quickly dispell these feelings of ineptitude by the 2nd chapter. Trust me-- by the time you are halfway through the book, even if you skim through it, you will have gained more musical know-how than the average piano student who is forced to do scales over and over again to the dead tick tick tick of a metronome. Even better, you will find musical instruments suddenly being "opened" to you as if you had been given a magical key to unlock them. An example of this is with my learning the guitar. I had originally picked up this book to learn piano. But out of curiousity I also started picking up the guitar and found, to my surprise, that I found it easy to learn precisely because of what I had learned in this book. So, yes, folks, this book is that good. No matter what instrument you are trying to learn-- guitar, piano, flute, what-have-you, it is imperative that you pick this one up. It will give you a solid grounding in music theory and a feeling of greater musical competence. You can't go wrong with this one. Five stars from me.
Rating: 
Summary: A GOD-SEND
Review: This book is a must-have for any aspiring pianist whose joy for the instrument was crippled years ago by a screeching, hair-bunned old biddy who constantly yowled, "Once more with feeling!" It is literally a God-send; even better--it's actually funny. Thankfully, the authors presented the material in an irreverent, smart-alecky style guaranteed to not only inform, but amuse. You'll not only learn, you'll guffaw; but by no means take this book lightly--no music book before it or since will top the invaluable information within it.
Rating:
Summary: very useful and unique for those who know a little piano
Review: This book is the most unique and pragmatic approach to learning piano I've ever seen. I had a few years of formal/classical piano lessons when I was young and forgot almost everything. But it felt like this book was written with people like me in mind. I'm still in the middle of reading the book, and it's already opened my eyes to how music in general is put together. It demystifies what I've seen a lot of classical composers do while also giving me confidence to go ahead and start making music on my own. The only criticism that I have about this book is that the music samples are really old. It was published back in the 70's and uses pieces that are copyrighted anywhere between the 1920's to 1950's. So if you want to try out some of the techniques that this book talks about, you should have some idea of what types of songs you'd like to try out on your own (unless you're familiar with the samples of music in the book). I personally was interested in learning church praise songs on piano and had my own resources of songs (w/ chords) to choose from, so this book worked out for me. Also, if you're interested in really understanding music theory, don't let this be your only book. It's a good start, but there are better books out there for that (or even free web sites where you can learn that stuff).
Rating:
Summary: very useful and unique for those who know a little piano
Review: This book is the most unique and pragmatic approach to learning piano I've ever seen. I had a few years of formal/classical piano lessons when I was young and forgot almost everything. But it felt like this book was written with people like me in mind. I'm still in the middle of reading the book, and it's already opened my eyes to how music in general is put together. It demystifies what I've seen a lot of classical composers do while also giving me confidence to go ahead and start making music on my own. The only criticism that I have about this book is that the music samples are really old. It was published back in the 70's and uses pieces that are copyrighted anywhere between the 1920's to 1950's. So if you want to try out some of the techniques that this book talks about, you should have some idea of what types of songs you'd like to try out on your own (unless you're familiar with the samples of music in the book). I personally was interested in learning church praise songs on piano and had my own resources of songs (w/ chords) to choose from, so this book worked out for me. Also, if you're interested in really understanding music theory, don't let this be your only book. It's a good start, but there are better books out there for that (or even free web sites where you can learn that stuff).
Rating:
Summary: A Goldmine!
Review: This book literally changed my life. I cannot keep my fingers off the piano now. As a kid, I took six years of lessons, and I continued to play a few favorite songs on occasion. This book will show you how to play any song, in any key, without undue effort. I now can master a song in about a half hour, and sound better than ever. I never could memorize songs before, but now I can play probably 20 songs without music. Don't even think about it. Just buy this book.
Rating:
Summary: Very good book
Review: This book will tell you how to play the music you like, rather than leaving you stuck in the piano lesson hell of listening to your teacher say "no" when you hit a wrong note on sheet music (and really, why do you need a teacher to say "no" for you?). With this book you can make music and won't be limited to the sheet.
Rating:
Summary: Required reading for anyone learning,interested in piano.
Review: This book won't teach you how to specifically play the piano. No book will but what it will do is give you a very wide scope of knowlege on the piano and the concept of music. There is quite a lot of text for a musical book. The songs are old but is understandable given the time it was written. I have several books about learning the piano but I must say this book is worth it. Very interesting page for page. Everyone from beginner to advanced will benefit from this read. Highly recommended. It may be an old book but a proven one. If you only have only one piano book (I have 5 in piano theory/learning) this should be it. At least read it.
Rating:
Summary: Great all-around musical theory book
Review: This is simply a wonderful book. It is marvelous instruction material no matter what instrument you intend to play (guitar in my case, not piano). Even if you have no intention of learning to play any musical instrument, it is good instruction about musical theory generally - in simple to understand terms, comprehensible to the non-cognoscenti. I am 48, with no previous musical education or experience. Decided to take up the guitar about a month ago. Realized I needed to learn something about musical theory. Noticed the comments on this book (here on Amazon) & decided to buy a copy. Doubtless the best investment in musical theory education I could have made. Now I understand the different components that go to make up music - I understand the make-up of the orchestra - and the rock band - the functional roles that the different instruments are performing in relation to the music as a whole.
This is a well written, well organized, simple to understand explanation of essential musical concepts - a book of much broader usefulness than its quirky title would suggest.
Rating:
Summary: Greatest music book ever written--buy it for your unborn kid
Review: This is without a doubt the greatest music book I
have ever read, in all seriousness. It can be understood by a 12-yr-old but is fascinating for jaded adults. It ranks as one of "DragonLord's 50 greatest books ever written". Buy this and throw out the rest of your music theory bookcase. Buy one copy for yourself and five for your unborn
children, even if you're not married yet. I have.
DragonLord
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Book
Review: This worthwhile book, while not a beginner's book (as the title tells you), is packed with detailed information not found in other books. It is excellent for gaining an overall, general understanding of how music is constructed, and thus, played. It goes beyond the other two available "how to play from fake books" books; for example, the sections on different chord progressions are unique. Granted, the musical samples may be old-fashioned (1930-1975), but that doesn't invalidate them as exercises illustrating a point.
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