WP230 - Piano for the Young Beginner - Primer A

Very good guide to teaching young children how to play piano starting with the most rudimentary basics. The book begins with how to sit correctly at the piano, moves on to hand positions and the numbering of each finger, and ends with some basic songs for the student to play using both bass and treble clef (though not yet at the same time). It teaches the notes in separate, digestible lessons, and is very helpful to someone like me, who, in trying to teach my 6-year old niece piano, was struggling in teaching her how to count out the notes in a way she understood and found engaging. The first few lessons use numbers for the fingers to introduce the notes before then moving on to teaching the notes as they appear in sheet music. It focuses on the spatial difference between the notes to introduce them instead of how they appear in sheet music, which is something I liked and think is great for someone just starting out. Every page also has great illustrations that really add to the quality of the book as a whole. They aid in teaching, such as showing children how to sit correctly; and they also help convey the feeling of the songs in the book through visual representation. Hence, the illustrations are not only nice cosmetic additions to the book, but they also add another layer of conceptual understanding. This book is a great guide to anyone who wants to teach their child how to play piano using core concepts that they can truly understand. Teaching a child how to play any instrument without any kind of guidance, regardless of how well you yourself may play the instrument, is challenging. Keeping them truly engaged while you talk to them about a sheet with lines and dots is almost impossible, and whether they truly understand what you are teaching them can be questionable. This book not only engages children with its friendly and familiar approach—large text and cartoon drawings—but also acts as a great guide to teach children how to truly understand the core musical concepts on which to build later on.

My 9 year old daughter just started taking piano lessons last year, so we purchased this Piano for the Young Beginner Primer A paperback book for her. Her piano teacher, who has been playing and teaching the piano for 20 years, highly recommends Bastein books for learning on. This is the only brand we will buy for our daughter since she is learning so easily with them. The book has pretty good illustrations too. These songs are easy for her to master and are helping her grow at a good pace. It took her a couple months to master all the songs. The levels of the book make it easy to figure out which book to buy next. Songs: - Two Black Cats - Marching Song - Rain Rain - Jumping Frogs - Clouds - Halloween - On the Swing - Mary's Lamb - Snow in Winter - Ducks on the Pond - Old MacDonald - At the Zoo - On the Merry-Go-Round - Turtles - Jack and Jill - The Bell Tower - My Pet - Seagulls - At the Circus - Stepping Up and Down - Hide and Seek - Hot Air Balloon - Pat-a-Cake - Boat Ride - Jogging Dogs - Night Owl - Pirates - Baseball Game - My Hobbyhorse - Jack Be Nimble - Yankee Doodle - Thanksgiving Holidays - Autumn Leaves - Our Snowman - Christmas Trees - Jolly Old Saint Nicholas I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have to help you figure out if this is a book that might work for you. Thank you for taking time to read my review. If it was helpful, please click on the "yes" button below. :)

We're homeschooling and using these for our children's first-grade music curriculum. We have not yet started, but my sons have flipped through the books and are so excited! The way that we are doing this is the theory book is their workbook, and the primer is their daily practice book. We will sometimes use the Theory exercises several times over, until mastered. One may want to use a sticky note method for the student's work. I mentioned k-3rd, but this could be used appropriately by any age, even into adulthood. My reason for suggesting k-3rd, is that the materials can be cycled with repetition, until mastered, in those ages, without them being bored by the exercises and repetition. Whereas older students would become quite bored with a similar method.

Good quality book for beginners. Exactly as described.

My child is currently using this book, recommended by the piano school

In my opinion, this is the best book to use for young children between the ages of 6-8 because the notes have the names of the keys on them, which makes it very easy for the kids to know which keys to play. I'm supplementing this by taping labels with the names of the notes onto the keys so that they can see both on the keyboard and in the book where to play. This process really helped me learn how to read notes, and I think it is helping my students greatly too. The songs are very fun for the kids, and they also like to learn the words to the songs. The songs are basic but fun, and very helpful in learning how to play in different patterns. The pictures are cute, and the children seem to like them. Overall, I think this is the easiest and best book for young children to learn how to play piano and read notes.

I used this book series as a kid and now I am using it with my 4 year old! The big notation, simple instructions and cute pictures makes this a winner. But a couple things I wish were different: that they used more songs that the kids would know, and I wish they put the notes on the staff right from the beginning. But overall it’s good and has kept my son engaged.

My young piano student us enjoying this book.

Excelente

Rápida entrega. Buen libro y mejor precio

Livro excelente para iniciantes.

The book arrived to us in a wet condition. Since we waited a long time for its delivery, we did not return it. We will dry it and use it.

Bastien Piano Basics: Piano for the Young Beginner is a fantastic book for children just starting their musical journey. The lessons are well-structured, engaging, and age-appropriate, with colorful illustrations that keep kids interested and motivated. It introduces musical concepts gradually, making it easy for beginners to follow, even with little to no prior experience. My child enjoys practicing with this book, and I’ve already seen great progress in both reading music and hand coordination. As a parent, I appreciate the clear layout, fun exercises, and steady progression. It’s also a great support tool for teachers. Highly recommended for any young aspiring pianist — it makes learning both effective and fun!