My First Piano Lessons - Emily Norris - ★★★★

AUTHOR: Emily Norris

ILLUSTRATOR: Malgorzata Detner

GENRE: Children's Nonfiction, Music

RATING: 4 stars.

In a Nutshell: A beginner’s guide to playing the piano. Works nicely as a first piano book because of the range of information and the variety of songs. Might get a bit overwhelming at times.

G-sharp the giraffe is our narrator on this musical journey where kids can understand the basics of piano playing. The book begins with the essentials such as correct posture and positioning, and then moves on to one new concept per chapter, thus covering quite a lot by the time they complete chapter ten.

Every chapter begins with information about a few terms and then illustrates the same with a couple of simple popular songs such as ‘Hot Cross Buns’ or ‘London Bridge is Falling Down.’ The lyrics have been modified in certain cases to avoid complicated notes. Every song in the book is played only with the white keys, thereby skipping out all mention of sharps and flats. The songs begin with three-note tunes and slowly increase in complication until the child can play notes from two staves simultaneously. This approach will work well for beginners, all the more as the initial songs do not use flagged notes.

The book offers many easy tips to remember some essentials such as the length of the notes. (The author’s explanation of time signatures is one of the simplest I have ever seen – excellent handling of this tricky concept!) There are also plenty of fun facts related to pianos (and a few connected to giraffes!) scattered throughout the book. At the end, there is a glossary of all the musical terms used in the book, and some additional resources that parents can use to continue their children’s journey on the pianoforte.

The information provided creates a slight paradox. On one hand, it is comprehensive, covering the two clefs (treble and bass), the middle C, reading the notes on the staves, finger positions and so on. It even goes into not-so-basic territory such as musical dynamics. On the other hand, it skips certain essentials. Basic facts such as there being seven notes (and hence the A-G nomenclature on the white keys) are skipped. The names of the two clefs are written but why they are also called G-Clef and F-Clef and the relevance of their positioning on the staves isn’t explained. Ledger lines are mentioned but the note gap between the two clefs isn’t clarified. Note beaming is mentioned but flags aren’t.

I feel that the range of information will be a bit overwhelming for beginners. The content worked for me as I already know how to read music. But if I were a child, such a plethora of information would have scared me away.

The book will work better if read leisurely, and under adult guidance. Maybe taking a chapter at a time, repeating it until perfected, and only then moving on to the next chapter would be more helpful than completing the ten chapters in ten days.

Recommended as an introductory guidebook to piano playing – this book will set kiddos on the right path of learning to play this delightful instrument, and will hopefully make them want to pursue it further.

Do note that the book follows the American musical notation system such as whole note, half note, and so on. (The British notation finds a little mention in one pop-out box.)

My thanks to Zeitgeist, Z Kids, and NetGalley for the DRC of “My First Piano Lessons”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.