Reviews

What People Are Saying About Treblemakers Piano Method

Awesome!

The Treblemakers Piano Books are my favorite method books to teach piano from. Kids love the colorful pictures and catchy lyrics that go along with each song. All of the diagrams, pictures, and explanations are very useful for the student, teacher, and student’s parents. This is the best system I’ve come across for teaching students how to read and play music, and students really enjoy playing the songs in this book. Using Suzan’s book makes teaching piano a much smoother process! The quizzes and videos on her website are also excellent resources, and they go along perfectly with the piano books. I highly recommend all of the Treblemakers books!
Janna- Musician/Teacher

Great for teaching lessons!!

I’m a piano teacher using Suzan’s book for lessons. It’s laid out in an intuitive way that allows students of all ages to make connections and see patterns that aren’t always talked about in other lesson books. Suzan’s book is very comprehensive, and music theory and harmony are incorporated very early on – you don’t just learn the notes. I’d recommend this book for anyone teaching beginning piano.
Bailey C-Piano Teacher

The songs are original and rather fun to practice

Although I consider myself of less-than-a-novice when it comes to learning music, this book has really made my attempts at playing simple. Stroud’s approach to teaching is straight-forward and not technical. Plus, the songs are original and rather fun to practice. I recommend this to anyone with very little time to practice at playing!
Roy McElroy

This was a big hit in our house!

My kids were thrilled to be able to quickly and easily play a variety of music right away, after learning just a few key notes. I am thrilled that Treblemakers has found a way to engage kids and avoid the drudgery of early piano books that I remember from my childhood. My kids really liked this book (and its successors….we own those too!) and it has really fueled their love of playing piano.
bkcat

Excellent for learning to read music and play the piano.

The Book 1 Primer through Level 1 was sent to me in return for an honest review posted on amazon.com. I began taking piano lessons as an adult and so I asked my piano teacher who has been teaching students for over four decades to also review this method of teaching young students to play the piano and I have included his evaluation of this method of teaching piano in this review. Susan Stroud’s method stresses the importance of the young student being able to read the music as well as play the songs included to illustrate the lesson. The method of teaching is well thought out and covers material that other beginning books teach later—if the young student practices as it is presented in this book, a good foundation will be established for building on both understanding music theory and playing what the student is reading. The first twelve pages at the beginning of the book are on the Middle C, D and E which allows even very young children, who may not be able to read words, master these basic C keys. The book is set up to allow the student to progress at his or her own pace and once the student understands the content being presented and demonstrates mastery by not making a mistake in playing the song, the student can move on to learning the next notes. The hand positions illustrating the correct position of the fingers is shown in each lesson and the artwork by Susan Stroud is well done, beautiful and does not look like cartoons which might turn off older students. Repetition is used as a critically important part of learning to play the piano well. The method used in this piano method would be very effective for younger children and the only draw back in using Book 1 for the teen and beginning adult would be that the repetition could become boring with the older student thinking progress is very slow working on the same notes for so long. In summary, this is an excellent book for children learning to play the piano well with a solid foundation for progressing to the next level in understanding music and being able to play the piano well. It is obvious that Susan Stroud has been teaching piano for many years and has based the content on her experience working with students. My piano teacher and I recommend this book for teaching students, especially children, to play the piano..
VickyNC

Fantastic beginner and intermediate piano books!

These books are absolutely fantastic! All three of our kids have been using Suzan’s books over the last few years, and I can’t even imagine how different their piano-learning experience would be if they weren’t using them. Before getting the Treblemakers books, we had bought a couple of different ones when our first kid was starting out, and there is no comparison. Suzan’s system leads to kids getting very fluent at sight-reading without them realizing that’s what they are working on – they are having fun playing because they start sounding good very early on. The songs are picked or specifically written to practice particular skills, but it’s done seamlessly, so kids don’t view practicing as a chore. Simply outstanding!
jkbk

Piano and music reading with no prior experience required

From opening this book, the multiple colors stand out to keep each section clear as to what is the next step. When I showed my daughter this book, she was excited from when she opened it. Both of my granddaughters (age 3 ½ and 6) have taken interest in piano. They received a keyboard for Christmas this year.
My standpoint on this from playing guitars and bass, is to learn how to play piano. The hand coordination is different from playing a fingerboard instrument. I have gone through these exercises in sequence and found the teacher/parent guidelines through the book to be very helpful. The introduction of using both hands is in a deliberate step-by-step, adding just a little bit each time.
The exercises are progressive each associated with a song, which I think will help keep attention and interest. Both granddaughters love to sing, and this will keep the 6 year olds attention and encourage her to keep going once started.
The Important Habits reminders in the beginning will help reinforce good habits from the start. This will help the learner, as well as the teacher or parent helping them to keep reinforcing learning not only how to play, but how to read music.
Having photos of hand positions over the keyboard is VERY useful, making it easy to see where to place her hands. The drawings and images that go with the songs keep the book more interesting and apt to be followed without jumping around. Everything is presented very clearly in a way that helps the student to visualize the music written on paper. For example, I’ve never seen a more clear way of explaining notes on a staff by using a marshmallow.
It doesn’t look like part of an encyclopedia, giving history of piano, followed with covering a huge chunk of music theory before touching the keyboard as another book I bought to learn piano. I never got past early in chapter two of this other book. For the Treblemakers Piano Method, I went through the first half in an evening. Keep in mind, I also sing tenor, so I’m accustomed to jumping between treble and bass clef.
My daughter took a quick look through the book and thought it was fantastic – for herself! She has never played an instrument, nor read music. If she gets excited about the book, she could easily keep her daughters excited about it as well. I will definitely recommend this series for anyone who asks me about learning to play piano with absolutely no prior experience.
Alan D.

Unique! Fun! The Illustrations are GREAT!!

Wow!! This is a one-of-a kind lesson book as well as a lovely primer for learning how to play the piano!!!!
What I love most are the illustrations and the way the book is laid out. On each page there is a photo of the hand position for each song. A lot of times children are shown the hand position but forget it. This book makes sure they know WHERE they need to start from. A lot times the hand position on the piano is an illustration but the PHOTO of the hand gives it a more human, and personal, as well as a very REAL feel!
For a beginning student this book is perfect! It gives you all the main important details to starting to learn how to play with a lot of additional side notes to aid in the beginning process. This book feels more fun and intimate than a lot of music method books and it is well done! A lot of the strategies used here come from a very sound place to help your child use their brain, understand memory, and have fun playing the Piano.
Very Well DONE!!! I work in a music school and have shown the book to all the teachers there. They love it!! Buy This BOOK!! You and your child will love it too!
Amber FLYNN
VINE VOICE

I am so pleased to be thrilled with the book

As a piano instructor, I always am on the look-out for fresh material for young students. When I stumbled upon this book, I was hopeful, but not expecting much. I am so pleased to be thrilled with the book, and will use it with many beginning students in the future. As most piano methods do, it starts out with hands sharing middle C, but quickly progresses to what I call “C Five Finger pattern”, preparing students to have their hands an octave apart.
There are colorful pictures on every page, and they aren’t too silly or immature for my older beginners.
My only dislike is that key signatures aren’t introduced in book 1 (just a personal thing).
I recommend this book for beginner students!
Renee B. Correll

Wonderful book, beautiful artwork, fun songs

These books are lovely! They are very pedagogical with wonderful methodology and the artwork is beautiful. As a teacher I would recommend these books for the slightly older beginner, 2nd grade or above, as basic understanding of reading words is required. Susan has laid out these books with a nice gradual build, but with enough familiar material being repeated that students won’t feel overwhelmed with new information. The songs are fun and relatable as well as being just challenging enough to keep students engaged.
Elsa M Nilsson

These books are the most efficient and fun primers for learning piano

These books are the most efficient and fun primers for learning piano. There is not one wasted piece or note. Each piece is working to build on a foundation. The student will quickly master fingering techniques as well as solid note reading and music theory. We are both musicians who have used other mediocre, repetitive piano primer books and can say that this is hands-down the fastest way to ensure that a student learns the fundamentals and sounds great while doing it. Both of our kids studied with Suzan and used the book starting around 6 years old and now are onto playing some pretty complicated classical and jazz pieces. I highly recommend that teachers and students give Book 1 and Book 2 a try.
The books contain some classic, well-known pieces as well as some beautiful pieces written by Suzan Stroud, the author. Our kids loved the easy beginning pieces because they had such catchy words and melodies. It’s amazing how helpful it is a for a student to have words to attach to a melody. However, when a student goes beyond learning the basic primer pieces, the next “easy” classical or pop pieces can include passages that are just too hard for a beginner. The beauty of these books (esp. Book 2) is that the author has written some beautiful pieces that stress some important technique at the exact appropriate level (e.g., arpeggios, minor vs major, scale runs, chord changes, etc.). Some of Suzan’s etudes are so impressive, it’s hard to believe a student can sound so good after a year or so – but this is all possible because they are well crafted enough to give the student just the appropriate level of new challenge on top of a strong foundation.
I hope that all piano teachers give this book a try!
reviewer1

FANTASTIC PIANO BOOK FOR BEGINNERS

This review is about the 5- star- rated (at least for me) Treblemakers book 1. This amazing piano book got me through the basics of piano. Then I could play even more complicated piano pieces. This book has so many features to help you learn easily. One feature is on page 50. This page shows the dynamics and their meanings. This page helps because the next music pieces contain these dynamics. At the beginning of the book, it shows the BASIC basics of playing the piano. This includes Middle C, D, and E. On that page, it also explains what a staff is and the 2 kinds of cleffs. Another thing in that section is where the 3 notes are on the staff. This book also makes it fun to learn in lots of different ways. Before I Get into anything else, I just want to mention a very important thing. Most of these songs are Original! Written by the one and only Suzan Stroud. But Each song has Suzan’s own artwork. Whether it’s a colorful and hand drawn illustration, or a photograph of fun, handmade, and ACTUAL poseable figure. These illustrations of fun and child-friendly people or objects will and an equal amount of fun to learning piano. One last thing to add is that the last page is a fun one. It’s a rhythm page. IT states what the notes are and the duration of the note. Just Below it is some rhythm exercises. IT also shows the rhythm count for the notes. This was really helpful to turn to when I was playing the piano -Rachel Alvarez, 9 years old
kea07

Wonderfully engaging and great learning strategies for young students

I have several differed so-called easy-to-learn music methods for both piano and organ. They are the standard fare and, in the manner of Suzan Stroud’s, have all the basic tunes we all start out with. The only problem I’ve found with some, is the fact that they aren’t particularly engaging. Nothing about anything the Suzuki piano method encouraged my son to keep going with his lessons. Some children loved it, but many like him found it to be total drudgery. He’s the type of child who needs that little something extra to make him want to continue. If it’s drawings of kitty cats stepping, skipping, or staying the same on the page, that would do it.
Not to diss any method, because there’s merit in all of them, but not all children are enthused about simple notes on a page. This book, or method, has those little extras that get young imaginations going. For example, those kitty cats on a page give a more solid idea of what is going on. Just what are those notes and how do they relate to the keyboard? Of course many adults want to either review the lessons they once took or start anew and this book would be a perfect way to do so. The introductory material, “Getting Started,” will help with review or jump start one’s way for learning the first time. There’s a large diagram of the keyboard with notes, the Musical Alphabet with the keyboard, an explanation of the black keys, the Middle C, D, E, on the piano, etc.
This material will need to be gone over thoroughly as well as other sections such as the Dynamics one that lets children (or adults) know what all those symbols mean. Each song in the “Treblemakers Piano Method” has several things, or helpers, on the page. There’s a photograph of a pair of hands on the keyboard (Middle C clearly indicated), a staff with the notes pointing to the notes, and drawings or photographs of critters or kids to spur the imagination. There are numerous informative sidebars or notations that add additional need-to-know information or reminders to the piece at hand. For example, one reminds us not to forget some “important habits” we need to have when playing.
One thing I don’t have, which will really aid with lessons, is the Treblemakers’ Piano Method Series Piano Tools set. This apparently has “Flash Cards, Rhythm Cards, Scales,Chord Dictionary, Theory concepts explained & Music Dictionary with over 150 easy to understand deifinitions.” It’s a must-have with this book as some of the lessons ask that a child work with particular flash cards. As of yet I don’t see them offered on Amazon, but as this series is relatively new, I suspect they come along quickly. I do love everything I see so far and undoubtedly it’s creative and children (and adults) will do well using it.
D. Fowler
HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWER