What's a good piano workbook for an adult whose skills have atrophied?

September 21, 2021 9:30 PM

I played the piano when I was growing up and would like to play again. I have a piano. Can you recommend a workbook or something that I can use to dust off my skills?

I know YouTube videos abound, but I’m looking for a print book I can use. (I need non-screen time!) I still read music just fine, so I don’t need an intro to theory or anything, just more a guided progression of exercises and pieces to build back up whatever I can. My current skill-level is....low. I have zero expectations and high motivations. Is there a specific title you can recommend?

posted by Charity Garfein to Education (7 answers total)

It might be useful to know more about the kind of music you want to play.

Tim Richards’ books like Improvising Blues Piano seem well-thought of if jazz/blues are up your street. I tried the blues book and while it was good the structure didn’t feel quite right for me. I’ve enjoyed Piano Groove for the past year, but that’s an online thing with videos, so doesn’t help with the understandable desire to get away from screens.

(For context, I learned as a kid, practiced very occasionally since, and wanted to learn how to play jazz piano, learn about chords and keys, learn more about improvising, rather than playing pieces directly from the piano sheet music.)
posted by fabius at 6:05 AM on September 22, 2021

Unfortunately I don't have a book recommendation, but I must recommend the subscription service PianoGenius which has completely reinvigorated my love for piano and helped me learn how to improvise.
posted by maca at 7:26 AM on September 22, 2021

Response by poster: My focus is on classical and basically cheat sheets, but open to suggestions for other disciplines.
posted by Charity Garfein at 8:45 AM on September 22, 2021

Best answer: I was you three years ago. I went out and bought a book (this one) that I played from extensively as a child. I also got a book of easy Christmas carols. This combination - relearning familiar things, plus retraining my brain to learn new songs with familiar tunes - was surprisingly effective. I tried to do scales and exercises, etc., but I just found it too boring. In the beginning I was quite frustrated at my fingers' inability to play things I could handle with ease in the 4th grade, but it does come back!
posted by something something at 8:58 AM on September 22, 2021 [1 favorite]

Best answer: When I re-started playing piano after many, many years, I worked through Burgmuller's 25 Easy Studies which I found extremely tuneful and so interesting to practice. I have linked to a free version but there are a lot of editions out there if you want to purchase it.
posted by wittgenstein at 2:13 PM on September 22, 2021 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I’m in the same boat as you, actually!

/r/piano is a goldmine of information and inspiration if you dig through it. This document I found quite helpful for recommendations.

I have enjoyed playing around with Mikrokosmos, the Anna Magdalena Notebook, and the first few pieces from Schumann’s album for the young.

Also recommend pianosyllabus.com for finding pieces that are around your level.

Enjoy!
posted by cacofonie at 8:32 PM on September 23, 2021 [1 favorite]

Best answer: The (old) gold standard for getting your fingers used to playing again would probably be Hanon's "The Virtuoso Pianist in 60 Exercises" - Free downloadable score | Amazon

I didn't like these as a kid, as they are the piano version of sit-ups and push-ups, but if I wanted to get back to playing piano more (and you mentioned high motivation) that's where I would start.
posted by pianoblack at 1:09 PM on September 30, 2021