Rating: 
Summary: How to play what?
Review: Nothing here but a load of chords. Try one of those "how to play from fake books", or the "pop piano book" to learn real ideas on rhythm and filling in. We middling pianists need some concrete ideas on how to accompany or fill in, let's say "Candle in the wind"! Waste of money
Rating: 
Summary: Good But Not Ideal - Look At The Cannell Book
Review: There seem to be two main ways of teaching the piano. In the first, one grinds along like a junior typist learning which keys to strike in response to printed music. The sheet music starts easy and gets harder. One's brain and fingers get better at working together. When one is pretty good at pounding out notes in pretty hard compositions, one is considered a pretty good piano player.The other way of teaching focuses on learning chords and music theory. The idea here seems to be that, if one has the theory, one can figure out where to place one's fingers. So, one learns a melody and then, using music theory or a fake books adds chords. After a little practice, the devotees of this method argue, one can actually make music, i.e. play tunes that you like and make them sound good, though not necessarily the way they are written on sheet music. Both approaches have problems. The first is drudgery, and if one really wants to make music, you have to engage in this drudgery for years. The second requires, but doesn't teach or encourage, a great deal of facility hitting the right keys. It's very fun to know how music is put together and how one might play it. Yet it is very frustrating not to have developed the physical coordination to actually do it. The Monath book uses the second approach. It is a delightful introduction to music theory, chords, scales, and how music is put together. Like many of the books that follow the second approach, the style verges on the messianic. Yes, one starts playing songs almost immediately. Unfortunately, without a good deal of practice, those first songs might take an hour or so to pick through. If you have some facility on the keyboard, this might be a very helpful book. If you don't, you won't instantly become adept by reading this book, though reading the book will certainly be interesting, worthwhile, and edifying. I must also say that, if you are considering this book, you might want to take a look at the Cannell and Marx book - "How To Play The Piano Despite Years of Lessons." Cannell and Marx follow the same approach, but describe some things differently and emphasize slightly different things. The Cannell book provides a much more detailed (and mechanical) pattern for actually playing songs - a big advantage.
Rating: 
Summary: This book should be called "Piano Playing for Dummies"
Review: This book is really wonderful! It is so easy to understand and very organized. You'll be playing a song within 10 minutes! Everytthing you need to know about music theory (just background information, you really don't need to know), chords and scales. Even how to play by ear! Get this book! You will not be disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: Good book but one small request to the publisher/author
Review: This book is very good for the person who knows the songs. Now I am a foreign student who wants to learn to play the piano/keyboard, because of interest in Western music. All the songs in the book are totally unfamiliar to me. I know I am in the minority, but I will certainly appreciate it if the publishers include a audio cassette/CD which has the songs in it. Like those programming books which have the source on the CD-ROM. My keyboard has some songs in-built but I don't know how "Silent night..." should sound, so I am stuck at the very first song. Otherwise the approach in the book is good.
Rating:
Summary: Great introduction to Harmony and Piano Basics
Review: This is a great book for the beginning piano player. It starts from zero ("where's middle C?") and develops to the point where you can read a melodic line and chord structures. When I first started learning piano I was mystified by how chords are formed that would "go with" a particular melody. This book has an excellent and simple explanation covering major, minor, dominant, etc. chords.Author Norman Monath has a friendly and casual writing style and he provides lots of good material for practice.While the lessons are "easy", playing piano is a skill that can only be mastered by practice ... but this book can "show you the way"
Rating:
Summary: Excellent introduction to playing chords (from fake books)
Review: This is a great book, but don't expect too much out of it. It basically teaches you the chords that you'll find in fake books. It doesn't say much at all about the right hand melody. If it had included more about which fingers to use (to avoid bad habits) and more about playing melody, I'd give it 5 stars.
Rating:
Summary: Best Beginners Book I've Found!!
Review: This was the fourth "beginners" book on piano I had tried, but it was by far the very best!! In fact, I could have skipped the first three and been much better off. Monath's style was easy to understand and he included just the right combination of examples and explanation to make it worthwhile. I liked his book so much that I just ordered his guitar book. Not bad for someone who couldn't even find middle "C" just six months ago!! I'd highly recommend this book for the true beginner. You'll be playing songs in no time and with this book you'll learn enough to quickly pick up a music book and give the songs in there a try.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Starter Book
Review: Truly easy to learn. As an adult of 27, I had never had ANY music or music theory classes. Monath taught me how to read notes and play most chords with ease. Better yet, it kept me entertained! Although I have a long way to go to become really good, I am way better than I started. Playing with both hands doesn't seem so intimidating anymore!
Rating:
Summary: alright for starters
Review: while reading the reviews for most of the more popular piano learning books i decided that this one sounded best for me. me being an amature pianist(excuse my spelling please). and when i recieved it i opened it and started looking through the book to see if it was what i wanted. though it is a good book it was not what i expected. there are a whole lot more things to read on playing. though this is not bad. there is a poor selection of titles to play. and after a while playing the limited songs over and over, gets pretty boring. but overall i think it was a worthwhile investment. and the only recomendation that i can give to anyone is "if you want a lot of easy music to play this is not the book for you"
Rating:
Summary: Fun and Easy
Review: While this title is somewhat dated (1984) it represents one of the best pop piano tutorials presently in print. The author clarifies early on the purpose of the book and delivers the rudiments of treble clef plus chord playing styles. As the author properly notes, this book will do nothing toward developing a classical repertoire but will allow the student (assuming the requisite practice) to play numerous pop/jazz standards from fakebooks or sheet music. Authors of this genre tend to avoid music theory like the plague and this book is no exception. By including just a little more information on note/finger selection Mr. Monath could have put the student in a much better position to avoid the often alluded to "bad habits" critics of these books are quick to mention. However, it's still a very good and accesible book that will have the student playing with confidence by the end of Chapter 3. I would also recommend purchasing a book such as "Total Piano" by Terry Burrows. Not only does this book fill in some of the theory/technique missing from "..Play Pop Piano in 10 Lessons..", but it does so along with easy classical pieces and historical information that is entertaining in a much more polished package. Buy both!
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