Piano/Keyboard instruction books

Piano and keyboard instruction books

There are plenty of piano and keyboard instruction books, CDs, videos or even softwares out there today. Check them out and see if they are helpful to you, then make a decision to use them or not. Piano instruction books and the like are very useful and helpful to piano students with or without an instructor. Some of you had asked me where I learned to play the blues. I believe one can learn the most by listening to others' playing and recordings. Of course, I also learned a lot from some of the teachers at Berklee College of Music. Another good source of instruction is from piano instruction books or videos. I have personally read the books presented below. I love them and would recommend them to other piano players.

Blues piano improvisation instruction books with CDs

If you have some piano experience, played mostly classical and you would like to start learning about improvisation, I recommend the following books as reference if you like the blues. Everyone who wants to improvise should start from the blues even if it is not your intention to go into very deep and be a blues piano player. Here are 2 books, all of them are very well-written and come with play-along CDs. They are recommended for students from beginning through to advanced.

Improvising blues piano

Blues piano


Ear training and Music Theory

I have said that ear-training or developing the ear is the most important thing for a musician. In fact everyone may have different ways to "recognise" the notes and transfer them to their instruments or compositions, but to have "perfect pitch" is not necessary at all. Ear-training works hand in hand with music theory. The more you understand music theory, the "better" your ear will become. Included in the following package is the ear-training book published by Musicians Institute, I have found that this book is very easy to understand and worth recommending, and also the music theory books published by Berklee College of Music. These books and CDs are great for all musicians and singers.

Ear training


Piano instruction Book Series for Adult beginners

A lot of people have asked if it is too late to start learning to play the piano, the answer is it is never too late to start learning anything. Adults can learn a lot of concepts and methods much faster than kids actually. The following series is one of the best-selling piano instruction books for adult beginners, they are very useful to people who have little or no previous piano experience.

Adult All-In-One Course : Lesson-Theory-Technic : Level 1


* All the piano books recommended above are great books in my opinion and are written by some of the best music educators in the world. There are many other good learning resources too, find those that are suitable for you and have fun playing the piano!