Customer Rating: 
Summary: Excellent place to begin
Comment: Easy to understand - even for someone with no musical talent or experience. Great place to start.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Perfect just for beginners
Comment: This book is perfect if you want to play piano and you don't know anything about it. The book is plenty of jokes and all kind of information but nothing complex that you can't take it. This book is worthy of its title :-P I bought this one because I bought first "The piano handbook" and this one is not so good for beginners, but perfect for intermediate and advance that missed something or what to learn a different scale or style.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent despite the stale jokes
Comment: I wanted to brush up on piano playing as I haven't been near a piano for about 40 years, and for this purpose I found the book excellent, though I haven't read similar introductory books so can't compare. Other reviewers have complained about the stale jokes, but for me this was a minor irritation. Music theory can be tedious, and the typically light "Dummies" touch counteracts what could otherwise have been a ponderous read. Even bad jokes are preferable to learned tomes that take themselves oh-so-seriously.
The book contains a wealth of basic and reference information, and the various issues are explained clearly, assuming no prior music knowledge. Unlike many introductory books the chapters do not necessarily have to be read in sequence (though doing so would probably provide a better basis) - the book is well structured, with lots of references to other chapters should you need clarification of terms explained elsewhere.
Using a DIY book effectively instead of piano lessons obviously requires some effort from the reader's side, though the accompanying CD does help. I also liked the attention given to the various styles, from classical to rock, blues, pop, jazz, country and soul.
One of the first hurdles is learning to read notes, after which things become much easier. If you want to start playing real songs and tunes as soon as possible, you'll find a few in this book, including the beautiful "Aura Lee" (made famous by Elvis Presley as "Love me Tender") which is surprisingly easy to play.
On the downside, many of the other tunes serving to illustrate a point are, to my mind, not very exciting, but then having musical notation of the more modern hits would probably have increased the selling price due to royalties considerations. So, for instance, we get the traditional and rather tame version of "The House of the Rising Sun" instead of the haunting hit arrangement by The Animals, who made it famous in popular culture.
When I was a kid I had a year's piano lessons, but it just didn't work for me. Reading this book has helped me looking at music and the piano / keyboard in a new way, and I have since bought a few "Easy Piano" songbooks and enjoy mastering new tunes.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Piano for Dummies
Comment: Returned to piano after 30+ years. Bought this book & was amazed how much I'd forgotten. Recommend to all with the interest.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Awful CD
Comment: The book is an okay way to learn about the piano - but I would go with the Idiot's Guide to Music Theory or the zillion other books on music theory. The CD that comes with the book (along with the examples IN the book) are no more complex than the built-in songs that come with most low-end keyboards. IN FACT, most of the songs sound like they've been produced by some $39 Casio keyboard made in 1987. I would look for books that teach theory and back them up with longer and more complex classical pieces or at least better produced music. You'll come away with knowing more than "Little Brown Jug".
Summary: Excellent place to begin
Comment: Easy to understand - even for someone with no musical talent or experience. Great place to start.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Perfect just for beginners
Comment: This book is perfect if you want to play piano and you don't know anything about it. The book is plenty of jokes and all kind of information but nothing complex that you can't take it. This book is worthy of its title :-P I bought this one because I bought first "The piano handbook" and this one is not so good for beginners, but perfect for intermediate and advance that missed something or what to learn a different scale or style.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent despite the stale jokes
Comment: I wanted to brush up on piano playing as I haven't been near a piano for about 40 years, and for this purpose I found the book excellent, though I haven't read similar introductory books so can't compare. Other reviewers have complained about the stale jokes, but for me this was a minor irritation. Music theory can be tedious, and the typically light "Dummies" touch counteracts what could otherwise have been a ponderous read. Even bad jokes are preferable to learned tomes that take themselves oh-so-seriously.
The book contains a wealth of basic and reference information, and the various issues are explained clearly, assuming no prior music knowledge. Unlike many introductory books the chapters do not necessarily have to be read in sequence (though doing so would probably provide a better basis) - the book is well structured, with lots of references to other chapters should you need clarification of terms explained elsewhere.
Using a DIY book effectively instead of piano lessons obviously requires some effort from the reader's side, though the accompanying CD does help. I also liked the attention given to the various styles, from classical to rock, blues, pop, jazz, country and soul.
One of the first hurdles is learning to read notes, after which things become much easier. If you want to start playing real songs and tunes as soon as possible, you'll find a few in this book, including the beautiful "Aura Lee" (made famous by Elvis Presley as "Love me Tender") which is surprisingly easy to play.
On the downside, many of the other tunes serving to illustrate a point are, to my mind, not very exciting, but then having musical notation of the more modern hits would probably have increased the selling price due to royalties considerations. So, for instance, we get the traditional and rather tame version of "The House of the Rising Sun" instead of the haunting hit arrangement by The Animals, who made it famous in popular culture.
When I was a kid I had a year's piano lessons, but it just didn't work for me. Reading this book has helped me looking at music and the piano / keyboard in a new way, and I have since bought a few "Easy Piano" songbooks and enjoy mastering new tunes.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Piano for Dummies
Comment: Returned to piano after 30+ years. Bought this book & was amazed how much I'd forgotten. Recommend to all with the interest.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Awful CD
Comment: The book is an okay way to learn about the piano - but I would go with the Idiot's Guide to Music Theory or the zillion other books on music theory. The CD that comes with the book (along with the examples IN the book) are no more complex than the built-in songs that come with most low-end keyboards. IN FACT, most of the songs sound like they've been produced by some $39 Casio keyboard made in 1987. I would look for books that teach theory and back them up with longer and more complex classical pieces or at least better produced music. You'll come away with knowing more than "Little Brown Jug".