I Used to Play Piano: for Adults Returning to the Piano and MIDI

American Music Teacher, Feb-March, 2005 by Michelle Conda

I Used to Play Piano: For Adults Returning to the Piano and MIDI (w/CD), by E.L. Lancaster and Victoria McArthur. Alfred Publishing Company, Inc. (16320 Roscoe Blvd., Ste. 100, P.O. Box 10003, Van Nuys, CA 91410), 2004. 152 pp. $24.95.

We've all heard, "I wish I could play, but I quit lessons as a child. Is it too late to start again?" I Used to Play the Piano was written for these students. From the opening pages, one realizes this book is going to be unique in its exacting purpose--to help the adult student return to the world of piano playing.

The book is organized into eleven units of progressing difficulty. Each unit contains: 1) simplified or arranged "classical" masterworks; 2) original "classical" masterworks; 3) "familiar" music; 4) popular styles (for example, rock, ballad); 5) jazz, boogie, blues or ragtime; and 6) technical studies. Students choose several pieces in each unit. Practice suggestions and progress evaluation are geared to the adult. A CD accompanies the text, and a MIDI disk is available from the publisher.

The first nineteen pages review music reading. Included are four pre-tests, which help students determine their appropriate starting unit.

The authors obviously know adult taste in music; each unit contains selections that are "pupil pleasers." The authors also reduced or eliminated awkward movement between or within the hands. The authors cleverly limit prose to important concepts embedded in the music and on the page.

The more "pop" selections of the book include original compositions by the authors, arrangements made by the authors or music by other Alfred authors. Highlights include Catherine Rollin's "Prelude in Sevenths" and Martha Mier's "Don't Wanna Leave You Blues."

Although the authors do not mention it, I believe students would get the most from the book with a facilitator/teacher. This text is appropriate for both group and private lessons. The wealth of original and arranged compositions makes this book a "must buy"!

Michelle Conda, NCTM, Cincinnati, Ohio.