Enjoyable & Challenging Material
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As a teacher I use John Thompson's easiest piano course with almost all of my pupils and the majority of them enjoy using his books.
Some of the first pieces in this book are easier than the concluding ones in book two but the level of difficulty soon increases and the last pieces are in E flat major and A major (in other words there are three flats and three sharps respectively).
The pieces are generally more tuneful than many of those found in other courses. Moreover, although the left hand sometimes plays chords it often is given a more interesting role.
On the negative side, the book is less attractively presented than books one and two. The illustrations are not as colourful and there are fewer of them. Moreover, the page layout is less appealing for the notes are smaller and thus harder to read.
Most of my pupils thus prefer to use copies of the original classic 1950s edition which has more illustrations (albeit in black and white) and is easier to read. New copies of the original edition (and new copies of the other original books in the series) are available from chappellofbondstreet.co.uk
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