Excellent for a "Come-back" pianist!
591587
Super, I use to play many of the classics in a more advanced format, but with being absent from the piano for too many years due to multiple health conditions which restricted my playing, this book has given me the motivation to re-learn many of these old classics.  Format is clear and good - even for me with diminishing eye-sight.  And when they say, "easy" they mean "easy"  - no problem with discouragement of finding the piece too difficult for hands suffering from mock tunnel syndrome and a back condition that is often restrictive.
2095036
Received the package quickly and there was only a small scratch in the back frame of the pedal bar which I cannot see from the front.  The piano looks awesome, plays very nicely, sounds great, the action on the keys is good, the keys feel good, and the 3 pedals all work really nicely.  Even though this piano doesn't have much depth in size, I hardly notice any wobble with the slideouts extended on the bottom.  It did take some time to get used to from playing daily on a grand piano.  After a couple hours of playing and messing around with the touch response, I was able to play Chopin's Ballade no. 4 without much issue.  My only gripe is that the higher notes seem a bit too underwhelmed by the lower keys at times, as compared to a real piano (I haven't played around with all the settings yet).  Overall, the bottom line is that this is amazing for a digital piano.  I now live in a tiny NYC apt and away from my grand, but this is perfect for the meantime.
1874306
I'm 71 and have been thinking about learning the piano for a while now.  I took lessons as a child but hated practicing and eventually my parents gave up wasting their money on lessons for me.  Now, I have a different attitude.  This is a terrific keyboard.  A friend is is quite a pianist was over and played on it and loved it.  I'm enjoying it immensely and know it will accommodate my needs for years to come.  I'm so glad I decided to do this and believe (after a lot of research) that I bought a very good keyboard and all of the accessories that were included in the package have also proven to be of good quality.
4517239
Now this is what I've been looking for! These arrangements are gorgeous, but they take some serious practice. The key changes and chords will keep you on your toes, and are really fun for the advanced pianist who wants to challenge themselves with pieces that you can't sightread through on the first run.
4170074
I'm a church pianist and this is a inspirational cd for me. It has given me some ideas for pieces that I play. The pianists play beautifully. I'm planning to purchase more in the future!!!
3469940
I'm another adult who had piano lessons as a child and am now trying to relearn the piano with my own 10 year old.  As advertised this book has a lot of familiar tunes that are easy for a novice player.  I like the notes about the composer and song that preface each of the pieces.  Almost all of the pieces are written in either the key of C or F which was much appreciated by me.  Both hands are used in all pieces but in many the left hand simply plays chords while the right carries the melody.
2094894
As an adult pianist who started late in life, finding arrangements of popular music that are not too easy or conversely not so difficult that it seems hopeless to try and learn them, and which are rich and interesting has proven a challenge.  Phillip Keveren's series of solo piano arrangements, of which this book is a prime example, have solved that problem for me.  These arrangements  are accurately marked as Late Intermediate to Early Advanced.  They are thus sufficiently challenging to merit serious work and filled with interesting challenges while remaining true to the spirit of the original piece.  I have purchased many of Philip Keveren's solo piano arrangements of popular music and I have yet to find a single arrangement in these books that I did find worth the effort to learn and to play well.  I highly recommend these books to those who enjoy playing popular music standards on the piano.
566211
The "Complete Book of Hanon" is a must for all pianists desiring to develop their technique on the piano.  Generally, my piano students begin Hanon upon their "4th year" of lessons.  By this point, they know all of the major and minor scales one octave and beginning simple minuets and dances from the great masters.  The greatest benefit from Hanon is that it builds muscle endurance - something the pianist will need to have in order to play bigger pieces.

Rather than purchase Hanon in three volumes, I suggest you look into purchasing this one, which contains all three.  Not only will you spend less money in the long run, but you will also have much more material to practice all in one place.  The complete book is divided into three sections:  Exercises 1-20 work on technical finger patters; exercises 21-40 further develop the patterns; the remainder of the book hones in on specific patterns:  scales four octaves, arpeggios, trills, thirds, fourths, and octaves.

Again, I cannot stress enough that this book will be the best money spent if you practice it correctly.  My advice:  begin with #1 and don't move on until you have got a quarter note at 96 beats per minute with NO MISTAKES. It's not uncommon for the pianist to take a complete month on a single exercise.  Then you may move on to #2, same rules.  Once you have all 20 mastered, play all of them in a row - nonstop!  Be patient with yourself and except no less than your best.  If you practice it correctly, you will see it's benefits!
3603506
This book is great for pianists somewhere between beginner and expert. The arrangements are full of ear-pleasing chords and key changes that make them suitable for both public presentation and private enrichment. I've always been a fan of Tom Fettke's audio music, but now that I've seen the simplicity, yet intricacy, of his piano arrangements, I plan to order more of his books.
2749316
Very sweet arrangement - a bit simple for me, I would call it "Early Intermediate" level to "Intermediate" - playable for most casual pianists and very well done!  I would love to find an arrangement of the music from "Up" in more of a recital/concert level performance, but until then this one will do nicely.
2025311
Have been a "hobby" piano-organ player for over 65 years...and I never have been able to really understand double and triple right hand chords... this little inexpensive book has really helped!  Oh yeah, I've had lessons, paid lots for in home teaching, but now I'm on my own to learn from books and this one really helped alot!. Also be sure to get the follow -up to this.."Exploring Right Hand Chords"
Go for these books..they're great!
BG
2127761
After playing the piano for many years, and then not being able to for a while I lost the ability to play easily. So reading this book made me really want to get back on my piano and play. It will definitely make relearning everything so much simpler. And I am hoping that by using this book, the basics will be cemented back in my mind and my piano playing will go beyond what it was many years ago.
4726019
I like this piano piece because it is a beautiful piece that is easy enough for a Late Beginner/Early Intermediate pianist to handle. It does require understanding of holding tied notes through opposing melody lines, hands over skill, and changing clef signs...but I find it to be an excellent 'dessert piece' for students to show off with! The 'Simply Classics' Series is an excellent one.
3893867
I have never played piano before and I'm halfway through book 1.  I'm taking my time, but its been about 3 weeks.  The stuff coming from my fingers sounds like real music and I'm using both hands to play complex music.  I never felt overly intimidated though, each new song is a challenge, but never too much of one.  The first few songs take minutes, then a couple sessions.  I try to practice in tiny chunks (I have a 5 year old son), of about 15 minutes and the length of the songs in this book are great for that.  I can't recommend this highly enough.
3226619
fantastic! great "etudes" to practice sight-reading, work on intonation/fingerings ... loads of great ideas ... i've played through *all* of the songs multiple times and they're a blast. i feel like i can really dig in with the rhythm section. highly recommended.
20187
Love it! So far I've only seriously examined a couple of the tunes with the intent to learn them properly and the book is worth the price for these pieces alone. I've skimmed over the other tunes, some of which I've never heard and some I don't even like - but get this: even those tunes hold enough interest  to make learning them worthwhile.

The transcriptions are very accurate. I played 'You Are So Beautiful' without referring to the cd, then played the cd only to discover that it sounded just like my performance of the piece. Believe me, this is not always the case.

There are 1000s of rock ballads with nice piano parts, most of which are not transcribed and you will have to do the dirty work yourself. Learning these will condition your mind and fingers and therefore the job will be much easier.
3977558
I'm not a professional but I've played the piano for over 30 years and have spent a lot of time in music stores reading sheet music and putting it back on the shelf 99.99% of the time out of disappointment.  If you're a pianist and like George Winston's work, this is a no brainer bargain!  The transcriptions are not perfect but they're a fantastic foundation to start.  If you know the songs, the errors are immediately obvious and correctable. You defintely have to map out some fingerings.  Although, the music was pretty good off the shelf, I did make a few minor modifications and will probably make a few more once I master the pieces.  But that's normal and I"m talking minor stuff - if you have a good ear,  can read lead sheets or know chords - it's easy.  His artistic style really makes the music and these transcriptions are perfect to add your own or duplicate his exact style. I'd rank this at the same level as some of the earlier Elton John transcriptions or perhaps the Emmerson Lake and Palmer book that came out in the late 70s - both of which are not perfect but high quality transcribed material for the most part.