Are you looking for a great book to start learning piano? The following post covers the 5 best piano books for beginners (kids). It also includes quick links to easily find these books online for purchase.
All the suggestions below are great, but keep in mind that the best book is the one the student likes! For adults, See the best beginner piano books for adults.
1: Alfred’s Basic Piano Course Lesson Book Level 1A
This is one of the best piano lesson books to help children learn sight reading and understand basic music theory.
What is the benefit of this Book?
This book includes a step-by-step approach that makes learning piano fun and effortless. The first few exercises focus on fingering and playing on the black notes. By starting slowly, children don’t get discouraged by having to learn everything all at once.
What topics does the book cover?
The sheet music in this book includes learning about fingering, understanding simple rhythms, reading music and a progressive approach to playing hands together.
This book Includes a series of follow-up books
One of the great things about this book is that it comes with a series of other books that children can work on after this one is completed. The follow-up books are:
Alfred’s Basic Library Lesson Book 1B
Alfred’s Basic Library Lesson Book BK 2
and many more…
Looking for a keyboard?
Read our article on cost-effective piano keyboards for beginners.
2: Note-Making For Piano – A Colour-Coded Method
How do you play the piano for beginners?
Sometimes, learning how to read music as well as understanding rhythm and fingering is too much all at once.
How does it work?
The Note-Making piano book by Notasium provides coloured stickers, in the form of cute animals, that are placed on the different piano keys. For example, the cat (C) is placed on the C note of the keyboard. Students can easily recognize which notes to play without having to read music.
What is the benefit of this method?
Piano students can progress faster and learn songs much quicker than if they had to learn how to read notes. This helps to experience the joy of playing the piano, which helps to increase motivation. Reading music can come later!
*The philosophy behind this approach is that it makes more sense to first learn by ear than to read music. After-all, learning a language is done mostly by ear. Learning piano should be no different!
3: Faber’s Primer Level – Lesson Book: Piano Adventures
The Faber series is a teacher’s favourite for piano beginners. It is our 3rd choice for the best piano books for beginners.
How does it work?
One of the most comprehensive series out there and covers every important aspect of learning the piano. At the bottom of each page, you can find the reference to the associated theory, repertoire, sight reading or technique and artistry page books.
Primer Level – Theory Book: Piano Adventures
Level 1 – Popular Repertoire Book: Piano Adventures
Primer Level – Sightreading Book: Piano Adventures
Level 1 – Technique & Artistry Book: Piano Adventures
What makes this book series special?
Beyond being one of the most complete series for learning piano, kids love the nice graphics. Presentation is very important for children and adds greatly to the appeal of learning piano.
4:Music for Little Mozarts Music Workbook
Learning how to play piano requires a few complementary skills. This book by Alfred focuses on rhythm and complements the other books well. It helps the student understand rhythm, which is so important to playing music.
How does it work?
The student first learns how to identify simple rhythms (quarter notes, half notes and whole notes) and their count value. After, they must clap and count out loud the different exercises in the book.
What is the benefit of this method?
Kids often love clapping and counting rhythms. It feels like a fun game and really helps kids internalize this fundamental aspect of music. Plus, studies show it’s great for the brain!
5: Simple Songs – The Easiest Easy Piano Songs
The easiest easy piano songs series, by Hal Leonard, provides a large selection of popular songs that will be sure to delight any kid. The pieces in this book are a little more difficult than the other books, so make sure that the student has his piano basics under his belt!
Some of the songs in this book that are sure to be favourites include Star Wars (Main Theme), Happy Birthday to You, and Hey Jude.
See also:
More Simple Songs: The Easiest Easy Piano Songs
Simple Movie Songs: The Easiest Easy Piano Songs
best piano books for beginners
A few tips for teaching young piano players
Beyond buying the best piano books for beginners, a good piano teacher needs a few good tips and tricks to keep children engaged. Read 5 Tips for teaching music to children to learn how to teach piano to kids and get them excited about learning.
What is the best book to learn piano?
- Alfred Series
- Bastien Method
- Faber Series
- Hal Leonard Piano for Kids
- Hal Leonard The Easiest Easy Piano Songs
- Note-Making by Notasium
- Music for Little Mozarts by Alfred
- Royal Conservatory of Music piano edition (for more gifted students)
Can you teach yourself piano?
You don’t necessarily need a teacher to play piano. If you understand the basics and learn how to read music, you can simply work at your own pace using the various books listed in this post.
Online Video Lessons
An alternative to learning piano with books or with a teacher is online video lessons.  Many piano teachers now offer high-quality piano lessons through pre-recorded video lessons. This is a great way to learn the piano while reducing the costs of a private teacher. I recommend the Zach Evans Piano University series for beginner to advanced players.
*This blog post was made possible by interviewing Melissa Furlotte who has been teaching piano to children for 18 years in Montreal Quebec.
Musiprof
Musiprof is a Canadian Music organization that connects piano teachers to students in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.
Pingback: Best Beginner Piano Books for Adults - For Different Learning Styles