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Best Music Theory

This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession
• How composers produce some of the most pleasurable effects of listening to music by exploiting the way our brains make sense of the world. • Why we are so emotionally attached to the music we listened to as teenagers, whether it was Fleetwood Mac, U2, or Dr. Dre. • That practice, rather than talent, is the driving force behind musical expertise. • How those insidious little jingles (called earworms) get stuck in our head. Now imagine sitting down with someone who was there when the song was recorded and can tell you how that series of sounds was committed to tape, and who can also explain why that particular combination of rhythms, timbres and pitches has lodged in your memory, making your pulse race and your heart swell every time you hear it. Remarkably, Levitin does all this and more, interrogating the basic nature of hearing and of music making (this is likely the only book whose jacket sports blurbs from both Oliver Sacks and Stevie Wonder), without losing an affectionate appreciation for the songs he's reducing to neural impulses.
Reviews
"Found it interesting and informative, even for a non-musician like myself."
"This book taught me alot of the fundamentals that I knew, but didn't understand."
"It clearly explains the basics, and goes deeper into our neurological basis for music."
"Fantastic!"
"The first few chapters can be tough to follow if you are not familiar with most of the terms, but the book become more interesting as you read on."
"Incredible book - highly recommended!"
"I was very intrigued to not only learn this information but to pass it on to others."
"This is a simple book on the basics of music."
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Guitar: The Circle of Fifths for Guitarists: Learn and Apply Music Theory for Guitarists
The Circle of Fifths for Guitarists will teach you to build, understand and use the essential building-blocks of music theory to become a better musician, quickly and easily. Understand how key signatures work and instantly know the notes of any scale An instant trick to tell you the notes in any key, just using by looking at your guitar fretboard! The Circle of Fifths is like an ancient ‘Rosetta Stone’ of music theory that not only tells you which notes are in any key, but also contains the secret of how every scale is built and how every scale relates to each other. The Circle of Fifths for Guitarists shows how every key, scale, chord and modulation works in music.
Reviews
"It feels great to finally be opening that door, with Mr. Alexander's help, and actually beginning to understand what my fingers have been up to all these years."
"As he states in the introduction, he not only teaches how to construct and understand the Circle of Fifths, but also how to apply and use it!"
"There are a lot of charts and diagram to help you learn on the guitar and very easy to memorized."
"very good book."
"The tips for figuring out things like order of flats and sharps using the guitar neck are definitely worth the price of the book."
"Well explained in a simple way that got through to me."
"There are many books out there on the subject, this one is a home run!"
"I now not only understand this code, I am applying it to my playing."
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The Practical Guide to Modern Music Theory for Guitarists: With 2.5 hours of Audio and Over 200 Notated Examples (Guitar Technique)
'Modern Music Theory for Guitarists' combines cutting edge, up to date musical information with over 200 exercises and examples to help you internalise and master the most important concepts in modern guitar playing. The Complete Guide to Modern Music Theory begins with the formation of the Major scale and builds steadily from the concepts taught in the first few chapters to help you master, hear and apply all the essential theory used today.
Reviews
"I've found a few books worth studying, but this one, The Practical Guide to Modern Music Theory for Guitarists, is definitely the one I'd be happy to refer any guitarist looking to better his/her playing abilities. Mr. Alexander. begins the book with a fairly complete look at how music works--the major scale, minor scales, how chords are built, common chord progressions, and the like."
"I actually know music theory quite well, but I wanted to see how he connects it to the guitar, which is a new instrument for me, and he did not disappoint - there was much new knowledge here that will really help my playing."
"Great theory book, presenting theory in a logical and understandable progression."
"I have been playing guitar for well over 40 years. I am working through this book and his books on Jazz guitar; plenty of enjoyable reading and challenges to keep playing interesting."
"Now I need to learn to play the stuff I always wanted to play. I'm not in a band, so need another way of learning the deeper stuff in guitar playing - licks, chord progressions, just learning to play all over that long beautiful Stratocaster neck."
"I highly recommend this book to augment anybody's basic guitar instruction, as well as for experienced guitarists who never fully learned music theory."
"I have played guitar for 20 years, mainly learning songs with no knowledge of how or why they were constructed."
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Best Music Composition

Fretboard Theory: Complete Guitar Theory Including Scales, Chords, Progressions, Modes, Song Application and More.
If you want to take your guitar playing to the next level, compose songs like you hear on the radio, and improvise your own music, then you need Fretboard Theory. Fretboard Theory by Desi Serna teaches music theory for guitar including scales, chords, progressions, modes and more. * Learn pentatonic and major scale patterns as used to play melodies, riffs, solos, and bass lines. * Move beyond basic chords and common barre chords by playing the types of chord inversions and chord voicings used by music's most famous players. * Chart guitar chord progressions and play by numbers like the pros. * Identify correct scales to play over chords and progressions so you can improvise at will. * Create new sounds with music modes and get to know Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian and Locrian. * Add variety to your playing by using intervals such as thirds, fourths, and sixths. * Increase your chord vocabulary by using added chord tones and extensions to play chord types such as major 7, minor 7, sus2, sus4, add9, and more. * Learn how all the different aspects of music fit together to make a great song. * See how theory relates to popular styles of music and familiar songs. Hailed as a “music-theory expert” by Rolling Stone magazine, guitarist Desi Serna is the author of the very popular Fretboard Theory line of guitar instructional material as well as Guitar Theory For Dummies and Guitar Rhythm and Technique For Dummies.
Reviews
"Top notch!"
"I have learned more in 1 hour with this book as the breakdown of information in manageable chunks is ideally suited to me."
"I've never been really good but I thought I knew lots of scales and how they were put together."
"I'm not sure why the very few people who rated the book a 1, 2 or 3 star failed to find high value in Desi's materials, but the vast majority of reviewers obviously did appreciate the book and got a lot out of it. I then bought the second book in spiral bound format, both books in electronic format, and all the DVDs for both books. For those who have taken lessons for years or learned through playing with others, this study course may be too easy, but that's not my situation."
"I have been strumming guitar for almost 20 years, but never learned much beyond basic chords and the pentatonic scale. Recently I did a Google search for what I thought I was looking for, guitar theory lessons, and this book was at the top of the list."
"The spiral binding is awesome in keeping your spot so you aren't constantly flipping back to where you were or trying to hold it open and play at the same time."
"I'm still a hack player :-P ... but I've made some huge leaps in understanding about why and how certain things work the way they do ."
"All I can say is incredible book and videos!"
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Best Music Theory, Composition & Performance

The Song Machine: Inside the Hit Factory
Seabrook takes us into a strange and surprising world, full of unexpected and vivid characters, as he traces the growth of this new approach to hit-making from its obscure origins in early 1990s Sweden to its dominance of today's Billboard charts. The stories of artists like Katy Perry, Britney Spears, and Rihanna, as well as expert songsmiths like Max Martin, Stargate, Ester Dean, and Dr. Luke, The Song Machine shows what life is like in an industry that has been catastrophically disrupted—spurring innovation, competition, intense greed, and seductive new products. John Seabrook combines a love of music and an appreciation for personalities to take us on a starry journey from Stockholm and London to New York and Orlando showing how creativity gets discovered, polished, and packaged. -- Walter Isaacson, author of 'The Innovators' and 'Steve Jobs'. "In The Song Machine, John Seabrook tells of a cutthroat and fascinating industry, where readers discover the gifted musical maestros who orchestrate hit after hit but rarely get their name in print. John Seabrook has a marvelous ear for language - and perfect pitch when it comes to music journalism."
Reviews
"Fascinating insight into the production of today's hits."
"Good insight into the modern recording industry, but at the same time a little generalized and superficial."
"Great book if you want to read about today's music industry!"
"Great narration, interesting content."
"As a musician I found it vindicating knowing how pop music is really produced I actually gained a new appreciation for some of the artists mentioned, some of them are just part of the larger machine."
"Wanted more information on the actual mechanics of creating a pop song."
"While I'm not a big fan of the process it is a fascinating look into music business as it has evolved."
"Well written, fun insight into the world of pop music."
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Best Guitar Music

Hal Leonard Guitar Method, - Complete Edition: Books 1, 2 and 3
(Guitar Method).
Reviews
"Great product, very complete and effective guitar instruction book...terrific seller, very fast shipment, exactly as advertised... thanks!"
"Great product to learning guitar methods."
"If you try to learn guitar yourself, it is not an easy book, it needs more detail for beginner."
"My daughter's music teacher recommended this book and it has helped my daughter learn the basic skills she needs to get to the next level."
"Generally a good book to teach out of."
"Arrived way ahead of scheduled and was in excellent condition."
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Best Ethnic & International Music

To Selena, with Love: Commemorative Edition
Chris Perez tells the story of his relationship with music star Selena in this heartfelt tribute.
Reviews
"Chris really opens up the door and gives us a glimpse into their life as it was from before they were a couple to the aftermath of that terrible day."
"Excellent, heart warming read."
"To find beauty, grace, humility, ambition, compassion, intelligence, sweetness and superb talent in one individual is extremely rare."
"So much more insight into how Chris loves Selena."
"The timeline of the book follows a similar timeline to Selena the movie (minus her childhood and the original Los Dinos years of course), it provides a personal account of Chris' perspective as a band member of Los Dinos, what it was like to be on tour with them, including the early days and the later success, how his relationship with Selena began, the details of their elopement, and the ups and downs they went through as a newly married couple trying to juggle fame, fortunate, family and 5 dogs. It is so easy to see Selena's smile and hear her laugh the way Chris describes her, he brings her back to life in the pages of the book, making her come alive more as a human being through personal anecdotes about Selena, opposed to focusing on the dazzling performer she was and the superstar she was going to become."
"Thank you, Chris for sharing your memories and allowing me just for a few days to enjoy your heartfelt memories of our beloved Selena."
"The way Selena is portrayed is human and it makes me respect and love her even more not only as an artist but a person."
"It was bittersweet in the sense that it's amazing that his love holds strong for her till this day but sad that he can't seem to let go."
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Best Biographies of Classical Instrumentalists

Teach Yourself to Play Piano: The Fastest, Easiest, and Most Entertaining Way to Teach Yourself to Play Piano: Teach Yourself to Play Piano Top Piano Playing Hacks, Tips and Advice
Read on your PC, Mac, smart phone, tablet. or Kindle device. Furthermore, if you are an amateur, then learning to play the piano may well be the perfect beginning for your musical journey. ‘Learn to Play Piano’ covers everything from the keys, scales, reading music, chords, improvisations and how you can effectively practice your way to achieving success. The initial low price will increase shortly - the book is currently $2.99, but will next increase to $9.99 you have unlimited lifetime access at no extra costs, ever,Simply email us for updates all future additional lectures, bonuses, etc in this course are always free there's an unconditional, never any questions asked full 30 day money-back-in-full guarantee my help is always available to you if you get stuck or have a question - my support is legendary for all are how to Guides What are you waiting for?
Reviews
"In this book titled “Play Piano Fast : Teach Yourself to Play Piano Top Piano Playing Hacks, Tips and Advice”, Marcus Johnson kindly offers his readers useful lessons about playing the piano."
"That’s going to be a little harder to come by so I was thinking that I could start to teach her myself. Not only did it do that but it also has given me some excellent reference material when it comes to teaching her!"
"I believe in the beginning my practicing was pretty annoying but my family was kind enough not to mention it :) I am still far from perfect and there are still many things in this book I still have to follow up on, but now playing the piano has become a real pleasure, for me and I believe for my audience as well."
"If you're completely new to piano or music you might want to couple this with a few other basic music books as well because it does have musical terms in."
"I've never been musically inclined, so this book was so helpful in teaching me to play the piano."
"The book very simply explains the basics to help novices like me feel more comfortable."
"I’ve started to teach myself the basics of piano playing."
"The English throughout this e-book is EXCEEDINGLY awkward."
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Best Music Theory Exercises

Piano Scales, Chords & Arpeggios Lessons with Elements of Basic Music Theory: Fun, Step-By-Step Guide for Beginner to Advanced Levels (Book & Streaming Videos)
This new edition book and streaming video course is all that you will ever need for learning piano chords, scales, arpeggios, how to read music, and basic music theory! Piano Professor Damon Ferrante guides you through 140 step-by-step lessons (for beginner to advanced levels) and 30 streaming video lessons. Whether you are teaching yourself piano or learning with a music instructor, this book and streaming video course will take your piano playing to a whole new level! Have you always wanted to learn how to play piano scales, chords, and arpeggios, but did not know where to start? Would you like to expand your musical understanding and learn how to play the piano through an affordable, step-by-step book and streaming video course? The book uses clear and logical layout, teaching the beginning student to learn the piano keys and basics of musical notes and rhythms." The Baltimore Sun calls Ferrante's music "focused and colorful...with an unexpected, decidedly poetic touch" and "ebullient and full of shifts of direction." Snow Moon matters now (and does justice to the sonata tradition) for Ferrante's relentless exploration of novel strategies for creating an inhabitable soundscape." Piano Scales, Chords & Arpeggios Lessons is the product of these efforts and is designed for beginner to advanced pianostudents, either learning on their own or working with a teacher.
Reviews
"It has nice diagrams and pictures to make learning much easier."
"I learn best with written instruction, but watching a video while I practice is really helpful as well."
"I have read other how-to-play books for the piano, but none have been as effective as this one."
"I really appreciate who recommended me this because it allows me learn at my own pace and fully enjoy the experience of playing the piano and not have to worry about paying for private lessons."
"When I first opened up the book to chapter 1 I was able to get right to work. This book is for everyone!!!! I recommend this book to anyone trying to learn piano!!"
"I have never played any kind of instrument but I have always had a desire to play piano and this instructional book makes it very easy for me."
"The book will help you learn how to play piano, but it definitely would need to be paired with a book of songs so that the technique can be applied to the songs in order to actually learn to play more than just some scales. This book could help someone teach themselves how to play piano, but I personally recommend using the book, videos, and having a personal teacher."
"The lessons are easy to follow, the guides help from a variety of different perspectives - crucial for those who learn in different manners from others."
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Best Music Techniques

Stick Control: For the Snare Drummer
This indispensable book for drummers of all types includes hundreds of basic to advanced rhythms and moves through categories of single-beat combinations, triplets, short roll combinations, flam beats, flam triplets and dotted notes, and short roll progressions.
Reviews
"They don't call it the Drummer's Bible for no reason."
"A must for any drummer for developing stick control whether you play snare drum or timpani."
"My left is catching up to my right very quickly!"
"Yes, I'm begining to use it, practicing the exercises, it will be a lot of fun!!"
"Go through the Bibles of drumming, properly, like everybody else, and you too can get anywhere you want in drumming. Contact me if you want more information on how to study the drums properly."
"Good collection of snare drum exercises."
"And once you start to build up speed, the exercises actually start to sound and feel really cool!!"
"Very professional, good book."
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Best Music Songwriting

Mastering MuseScore: Make beautiful sheet music with MuseScore 2
MASTERING MUSESCORE is the definitive guide to MuseScore 2, the free and open source music notation program for Windows, Mac OS, and Linux. He is the composer of Reunion, the demo song featured with MuseScore 1.3 and earlier releases, and he has worked as an arranger and editor for a number of very popular fakebooks for jazz, blues, and rock.
Reviews
"I use Musescore almost every day to create singing version of songs - in midi format - so I can practice the piano accompaniment, I do the same with cello duets - once again so I can practice the cello accompaniment."
"Get this book, lose the inch-high printout stack you created when you tried to make sense of the original operating manual."
""Mastering MuseScore" is not an easy book to read, let alone a "fun" read."
"There is a free online guide, but having this book with its index is easier to use, at least for me."
"I've been enjoying this book."
"This manual is well written, thorough, and essential for getting the most from the excellent, but complex music notation program, MuseScore."
"First complete manual of this phantastic free open source program. to produce sheet music in an easy, comfortable and - perfect - way."
"I am an old-school guy,and really like to have the book t my side and be able to flip back and forth when i have questions about a function."
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Best Music Conducting

Beginner Piano Elements for Adults: Teach Yourself to Play Piano, Step-By-Step Guide to Get You Started, Level 1 (Book & Videos)
Designed for beginners with no music experience, this interactive book and streaming video course is all that you will need to get started having fun learning to play the piano and reading music! Piano Professor Damon Ferrante guides you through step-by-step, easy-to-follow lessons and streaming video lessons that are the perfect introduction for adults who would like to learn how to playing the piano. "As a piano teacher I can assure the reader that the Ferrante's book ["Little Piano Book"] works well with students of all ages. As a pianist and professor of piano studies for over 35 years, I was alwayslooking for a book that would teach beginner piano in a fun, useful and musical format. Beginner Piano Elements for Adults is the product of these efforts and is designed for beginner pianostudents, either learning on their own or working with a teacher.
Reviews
"It not only teaches technique but also how to read music and music terms in an easy to follow format. It is so straight to the point and so easy to follow that a person who has never taken a music class could easily follow."
"But the book comes with free video guides, to show you more in depth look. Even if you don’t have a piano you can download a piano on your smart phone and learn to play along on the phone piano with the book."
"SInce I have always wanted to learn to play piano, I was intimidated by other books that seem to leave out the basic fundamentals, This book seems like an easy and clear way to start with the basics and build confidence from there."
""The beginner book and video course follows a step-by-step lesson format for learning how to play piano." The book covers hand position and finger numbering, good posture and location of middle C, counting and measures, three notes and five notes songs."
"It is filled with inspiring language, easily understood graphics and creative, yet functional technique descriptions. Another aspect of Beginner Piano Elements that I find to be excellent is the video that goes with each lesson."
"I'm relatively inexperienced with pretty much every musical instrument that isn't a guitar and piano."
"Starting out as a complete novice, I was impressed by how clear the instructions were and how easily I was able to begin right off the bat."
"Just "put your thumb (1) on C, put your pointer finger (2) on the next note D", now play 11112222."
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Best Music Appreciation

Alfred's Basic Adult All-in-One Course, Book 1: Learn How to Play Piano with Lesson, Theory and Technic (Alfred's Basic Adult Piano Course)
Titles: * Alouette. * Alpine Melody. * Amazing Grace. * Au Claire de la Lune. * Aunt Rhody. * Auld Lang Syne. * Aura Lee. * The Bandleader. * Beautiful Brown Eyes. * Blow the Man Down! * Largo (Dvorak). * Lavender's Blue. * Lightly Row. * Little Brown Jug. * Liza Jane. * London Bridge. * Lone Star Waltz. * Love Somebody. * Lullaby. * The Marine's Hymn. * Mary Ann. * Merrily We Roll Along. * Mexican Hat Dance. * Michael, Row the Boat Ashore. * Money Can't Buy Everything. * My Fifth. * Ode to Joy. * On Top of Old Smoky. * O Sole Mio. * Raisins and Almonds. * Rock Along. * Rockets. * Rockin' Intervals.
Reviews
"It took me about 1 1/2 months to work through the book and I rate it as excellent instruction for anyone wanting to learn or re-learn the piano."
"A little background before I get into the real review: My 14 y/o trumpet player daughter has been wanting to learn the piano for years. Her trumpet teacher disagreed and recommended she start with the Suzuki method as she has and incredibly good ear and quite a bit of natural musical talent. I bought this book to help rectify that, knowing that I'll be sitting in on her weekly lessons and absorbing a lot of information there. It's pretty exciting to go from not knowing where middle C is located to playing Jingle Bells with a bit of harmony in 2 days! I do plan on adding scales and such to my practice sessions, as these are truly the things that will help you progress and give you a more fundamental understanding of how music is put together. I feel like I'm able to grasp the concepts that are introduced and will be able to help my daughter along once her lessons start in a couple of weeks."
"No CD, but Youtube is better than the CD anyway."
"So far, helping me learn the piano."
"A little bit hard if you are teaching yourself."
"I love this book!!!"
"This is a wonderful book for adult learners and my instructor agrees with me."
"This is a really great book on beginning piano playing."
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Best Music MIDI & Mixers

Music Habits - The Mental Game of Electronic Music Production: Finish Songs Fast, Beat Procrastination and Find Your Creative Flow
Music Production can be an elusive art form for many, and the challenges that face someone who is new to this can easily create overwhelm and lead to complete paralysis. The goal of this book, is to cover music production from many different angles in a way that will change your thinking on the subject and build your confidence. Music making is a very mental and psychological game, and more often than not, all the technical stuff can hold you back from achieving your goals if you don't have the right creative habits in place first. Many people new to music may dive into forums and mindlessly watch video tutorials attempting to gather more and more information until they think they have enough to get going (hint: you never feel like you know enough). This book can be read from start to finish, or as a “choose your own adventure”, going directly to what you think can help you most right now.
Reviews
"Lots of practical tips and tricks for the electronic music producer, but plenty of information for traditional music producers as well. If you've ever read the book The War of Art (which the author directly references several times) this is like the electronic music producer's natural extension of that book."
"If Seth Godin and Phil Jackson teamed up to write a book about music, it just might be something like "The Mental Game." Because here, Jason Timothy isn't talking only about music; he's also incorporated truths about human motivation, habits, and ... yes, hard work."
"Jason shows how to get loud about what you love and how to finish songs."
"The main thing which it reminded me was that music production (and probably any other art) is mainly about putting the time in actually creating, not reading or watching tutorials."
"Having this book is essential,it's almost like having an invisible mentor behind us guiding us throughout difficulties while we are perfecting our craft and successfully manifesting our imagination/inspiration into an individual,beautiful piece of new music of our own !"
"You don't have to be a music producer to get benefit from this book."
"I have been writing and producing music for a long time."
"After reading the free introduction to this book, I went on to finish about 12 songs in just a few weeks."
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Best Music Instruction & Study

Alfred's Basic Adult All-in-One Course, Book 1: Learn How to Play Piano with Lesson, Theory and Technic (Alfred's Basic Adult Piano Course)
Titles: * Alouette. * Alpine Melody. * Amazing Grace. * Au Claire de la Lune. * Aunt Rhody. * Auld Lang Syne. * Aura Lee. * The Bandleader. * Beautiful Brown Eyes. * Blow the Man Down! * Largo (Dvorak). * Lavender's Blue. * Lightly Row. * Little Brown Jug. * Liza Jane. * London Bridge. * Lone Star Waltz. * Love Somebody. * Lullaby. * The Marine's Hymn. * Mary Ann. * Merrily We Roll Along. * Mexican Hat Dance. * Michael, Row the Boat Ashore. * Money Can't Buy Everything. * My Fifth. * Ode to Joy. * On Top of Old Smoky. * O Sole Mio. * Raisins and Almonds. * Rock Along. * Rockets. * Rockin' Intervals.
Reviews
"It took me about 1 1/2 months to work through the book and I rate it as excellent instruction for anyone wanting to learn or re-learn the piano."
"A little background before I get into the real review: My 14 y/o trumpet player daughter has been wanting to learn the piano for years. Her trumpet teacher disagreed and recommended she start with the Suzuki method as she has and incredibly good ear and quite a bit of natural musical talent. I bought this book to help rectify that, knowing that I'll be sitting in on her weekly lessons and absorbing a lot of information there. It's pretty exciting to go from not knowing where middle C is located to playing Jingle Bells with a bit of harmony in 2 days! I do plan on adding scales and such to my practice sessions, as these are truly the things that will help you progress and give you a more fundamental understanding of how music is put together. I feel like I'm able to grasp the concepts that are introduced and will be able to help my daughter along once her lessons start in a couple of weeks."
"No CD, but Youtube is better than the CD anyway."
"I have looked around for the cd to buy seperately but I cant find it."
"So far, helping me learn the piano."
"Wonderfully detailed, yet gradually increasing difficulty."
"Hard to do on your own, but great for the piano student who knows some."
"Great book for beginners or for those with a little back ground."
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