| | |  | Music Skills | Home » » » » » John Thompson's Modern Course for the Piano - First Grade (Book/CD Pack): First Grade - Book/CD | | | | | | | Product Promotions: | | | | | Description: | | The Modern Course series provides a clear and complete foundation in the study of the piano that enables the student to think and feel musically. It may be preceded by the Teaching Little Fingers to Play series. | | | Features: | |
• Published by Willis Music 80 Pages
• First Grade - Book/CD by John Thompson
• Author: John Thompson
| | | Product Details: | | | Author:
| John Thompson | | Paperback:
| 80 pages | | Publisher:
| Willis Music | | Publication Date:
| March 01, 2012 | | Language:
| English | | ISBN:
| 0877180598 | | Product Length:
| 11.88 inches | | Product Width:
| 8.85 inches | | Product Height:
| 0.22 inches | | Product Weight:
| 0.71 pounds | | Package Length:
| 11.8 inches | | Package Width:
| 8.9 inches | | Package Height:
| 0.3 inches | | Package Weight:
| 0.75 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 32 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 32 customer reviews )
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
58 of 58 found the following review helpful:
 One of the best elementary /intermediate bookFeb 08, 2006
By Dara May
I used this book as a student and still use it for teaching. Pieces are nice and students are challenged to think musically. It moves quicker than some other method books; it covers materials from elementary to early intermediate. Upon completion of the first grade book students can play standard repertoire in the early intermediate level. Students must have completed early elementary level before using this book because this book starts with playing two hands in C position. Emphasize phrasing from the first piece. Highly recommended.
40 of 41 found the following review helpful:
A great start for the piano.Feb 14, 2006
I'm 13 years old and I finshed this book about 1 year ago. I thought it was a great start for people that are just learning to play the piano with both hands. I didn't start off with this book when I started lessons, instead I started with a book that taught you note values and note names and other basics.(Which are very important for learning piano.) Before you buy this book, try learning about piano fundementals.
This book doesn't make piano easy, but it makes it easier to understand and fun.
I'm now going onto the third grade book soon and I think that these books are great.
25 of 25 found the following review helpful:
Excellent Beginners Piano BookDec 03, 2005
By Amy Stone
The John Thompson series is wonderful! It has been around for decades and it is easy to use either for self study or with a piano teacher. A lot of details are covered. Highly recommended!
22 of 24 found the following review helpful:
 "Even Beethoven had to start someplace"Apr 02, 2007
By K. Mahood, Ph D
"musikdok"
As a piano instructor and music educator of over 40 years, I have actively used both this specific book as well as the "Teaching Little Fingers To Play" (primer level), both originally written by Canadian born John Thompson. The entire series of the "John Thompson Modern Course for the Piano" consists of one 'pre-level' book, "Teaching Little Fingers to Play" (which is also great for adults), as well as the First through Fifth grade books. The entire series was one of the first "how to" books for learning piano and is still published by Willis in Florence, KY. The John Thompson series is valuable, and I continue to enthusiastically use the series with my students. I do believe it should always be coupled with ancillary material in the form of chord learning (if you wish to study popular or Gospel music). If you wish to study serious or "classical" music, this book can be made more valuable when taught by a qualified instructor. I would certainly recommend this series over ANY of the Bastien materials. [...]
9 of 9 found the following review helpful:
 An interesting book, the pieces are fun, the CD recordings are horribleMar 18, 2008
By TheDarkTrumpet
I purchased this book as well as "The Piano Handbook". I don't feel this book is technically "bad" (It's actually pretty decent on what is played), the book - and CD seem to try a little too hard to sell itself as being "fun" at the expense of information and accuracy.
To highlight the main problem I had with this book - the CD. I listened to the CD and the piano parts were not alone but also included bells, a metronome, and a few other sounds as well - outside just the piano. I purchased the book to learn the piano, by hearing the piano piece only being played so I could study it. What did I get? Sounded more like a small band playing the music to keep kids interested. Maybe the book is just aimed for kids more than adults.
Outside the lousy CD, the songs seem to drop the person into the middle-end of the pool right off the bat. How so? Playing with two hands at the same time. I'm pretty sure this is the beginning of the series, and if I'm wrong then I apologize, but I don't think I am.
The songs felt a little too difficult at first, with almost no instruction about how to properly play. This diminishes how well it'd work for learning on one's own.
Do I feel it's an OK buy? Quite honestly, yes I do under a few circumstances:
1. Buy another book too. Personally I got "The Piano Handbook" ([...]) which I find much more helpful for the beginning stuff.
2. Try to find a teacher - especially if #1 isn't met.
3. Be prepared to work through with little use of the CD to gauge your progress. I wish I could say more positive on the CD.
I'm a beginning piano player, only playing for a very short time. If you have some knowledge already, this book may be OK for you then.
See all 32 customer reviews on Amazon.com
| | |
|
