Alfred's Basic Piano Prep Course Lesson Book Level A (Alfred's Basic Piano Library)

Great starter books. I bought these books to teach my 8 year old how to play piano. They were very easy to follow and were at a great pace!! I'd recommend them to people learning how to play piano for the first time!

I would call myself a beginner piano teacher, as I play the piano myself but have had no instruction as to how to teach others to play. I now have four beginner students, whom I have been teaching for a little over a year.

I love the Alfred method. The four books: technic, lesson, solo/recital, and theory all seem to really work well together. The songs coordinate with each other, so for each new concept taught in the lesson books, the student has a warm-up, a solo piece, and some theory work to back it up. I find this to be very effective. It gives the students a chance to see several examples of each concept, and practice each new concept in different ways until they achieve perfection with it. It also really walks the teacher through each concept very clearly, giving definitions for musical terms and clear instructions for which songs go together. I feel like the order in which concepts are taught also makes a lot of sense.

Overall, it's a good method for a teacher who doesn't know a whole lot about HOW to teach another person to play the piano!

I currently have some of my students on this level (1B), and others on the Prep Course levels. I love how all of the different levels are interchangeable, so gifted students can advance more quickly, and students who need a little extra reinforcement can stay on the lower levels. The map for how this all works is on the back of all of the books, which you can see on the book preview. So many great things about Alfred!

Teaches bare bones music theory. Theory book is not very informative nor does it offer enough explanation, however it is better than nothing. My children don't enjoy completing the lessons, however it has helped them even with their cello and violin playing. They have a better understanding of scales because of theory.
Easy for the older child who is an independent learner, more difficult for the younger child who will be easily bored.

The Musical Concepts book Alfred offers is better, especially if you are looking for an all in one solo and a better theory book. And the cost is better since you get two books in one. The explanations of the concepts and the diagrams are better in Musical Concepts as compared to Theory Book.

Both books are written by a different team of authors.

The book is much like the others with an emphasis on scales and theory, which is why I like this series. This book for some reason is not in color. That isn't a big deal, but since the others are it seems a little bland with all black and white pictures. There is a little too much emphasis on minor and my child is getting sick of gloomy sounding songs, but hopefully that will change soon.

The book is much like the others with an emphasis on scales and theory, which is why I like this series. This book for some reason is not in color. That isn't a big deal, but since the others are it seems a little bland with all black and white pictures. There is a little too much emphasis on minor and my child is getting sick of gloomy sounding songs, but hopefully that will change soon.

Gave this book as Xmas gift to young advance beginner piano player. Her classmates enjoyed the holiday songs she played. She was excited to receive this book and practice for the 2017 Holiday class party,

My grand daughter wanted to learn how to play the piano but not really one who is ready for "real" piano lessons yet. She has my mom's electric piano (full 88 keys) and this book has been great for her to learn from.