Are method books necessary? Absolutely! Let’s go over how to select a method/lesson book for new students. At the end I’ll include a quick guide on how to pick a level appropriate book for students.
Method, or lesson, books are absolutely necessary to begin learning. From my experiences learning and teaching I know that the pieces in method books are not student’s favorite to play. These books are meant to layer the skills and knowledge a budding musician needs. During my own lessons I generally try to balance the method books out with a “For Fun” piece that matches their skill level or is a tad more difficult. If they want to play the piece I find that students are more willing to play music outside of their skill level. The biggest difference between the two is that method/lessons books can start at ground zero where as “For Fun” pieces assume that the musician has some level of music knowledge.
I’m going to reference the piano for my suggestions for a method/lesson book. As one of the most popular instruments to start learning music on it has the widest selection of method/lessons books available. I’ll also separate it out by age because child, teen, and adult learning can be very different. Even if you are not looking for a piano method/lesson book specifically hang out for a bit. The piano is just the instrument where as starting place, skills, and pacing of the books is the content that applies to every instrument.
The child learner:
For this we’ll be looking at students 5 – 8. I know for a fact that the method/lessons books series Alfred’s Basic Piano Course and Faber Piano Adventures have books for very, very young pianists that focus on rhythm and dynamics (volume) and has lots of fun games. There are also books for very, very young violinist, but for other instruments I’m not sure. Often called something along the lines of “Prep Course,” “Primer Level,” or “Little Mozarts/Musicians” are the easiest books in a method/lesson series and, as the name suggests, prepare students for the main series. These two parts in the series have many overlapping themes. Upon completing the prep course series in the Alfred’s Basic Piano Course students skip to the second book in the main series, while in the Faber Piano Adventures the primer level book is simply a prequel to the main series.
The tween learner:
We’ll say this age range is is 7 – 16. Selecting a book in this age range is really dependent on what kind of learner the student is, but most likely they will start in the normal method/lesson series. These are your books that say “Lesson one” or “Level One.” Most students that come my way in this age range I can start here.
The teen learner:
This age range will start at 14 and leave the cap open ended. I prefer working with the Faber Piano Adventures series because it has an accelerated course for older beginners where as the Alfred’s Piano Course does not. Since I don’t use Bastien’s Piano Basics, John Thompson’s Modern Piano Course, Music Tree, Hal Leonard’s Piano Library, or others I’m not sure of their accommodations to different age ranges.
The adult learner:
We’ll say the adult learner starts at 18. Both the Faber’s Piano Adventures and Alfred’s Piano Course have an adult course. Lots of method/lesson books come in a children and adult levels.
Where to start:
If a learner decided to do lessons with a teacher they should go with the teachers suggestion. Not necessarily because “teacher knows best, ” but because if a teacher has been using a particular book series they already have the tools and resources to handle the hurdles in that book. That’s if you like that teacher! (Quick tip: try putting off buying the book for the first month of lessons. Lot’s of teachers are willing to do photo copies for the first few lessons. I’ll expand more on this in a different post.)
If a learner decided to go at it on their own there are a couple of things to consider: what pacing can i handle, how much time do i have to practice? These are good questions even if there is a teacher involved. If a student is 15 for example and is a quick learner, one might think to put them in an accelerated or even an adult course. However, maybe this student is in an after school club and on a recreational sports team. On top of homework that is a lot of work and doesn’t leave a lot of room for practice, so using the regular lesson series would give them the best learning experience. On the other hand I’ve had students under the age of 15 that I have put in faster paced books because they are willing to put in a lot of practice time. Being honest students that will put in lots of practice time are rare and without good practice skills pieces can take a while to learn. Starting simpler in my opinion is the best way to go.
Picking up an instrument can be intimidating and the task can seem daunting, but it is well worth it. I tell my students that when it comes to practicing a little bit more often is better than a lotta bit every once in a while. Phillip Glass said “You practice and you get better. It’s very simple.” Go get a book!
Happy practicing and I’ll see you next time.