This is a review of Faber Accelerated Piano Adventures: for the Older Beginner. I am not generally a fan of Faber's Piano Adventures series, for a number of reasons, not least of which is length—it runs to at least five books. This series for the older beginner comprises only two books, which qualifies it to be examined seriously.
The purpose of this accelerated series is to make following the Piano Adventures series bearable for older children and young adults beginning their piano journeys. It begins with some simple instructions, like almost all such piano methods, on posture and hand position. From there we have some blob notation dealing with intervals and notes—the reasons for this are not obscure, but their justifications most definitely are. And, at length, stave notation and the notes, with some intervals, are introduced. Below you can see my review of book 1 from this series, beginning with my overall assessment.
Overall assessment
My overall assessment of the Accelerated Piano Adventures is a mixed bag. From the low bar set by the rest of Faber's offering, this two book series is superior. But there is much in this series which seems to distract from its main purpose as a piano method.
Firstly, let's see what Faber got right with the accelerated series. Right from the start, this book progresses at the normal rate for piano methods. By increasing the pace here, Faber have brought the speed of progress in line with methods like John Thompson's grade books or the Waterman/Harewood series. The instructions are clear and easy to follow, too; and extraneous exercises have mostly been eliminated. As such, the Accelerated Piano Adventures books have become highly valuable for teaching teenagers and young adults how to play. Th5e reason for this is the extreme paucity of methods aimed at this age group. The vast majority of piano tutors are aimed at children between 5-10, some few others are explicitly aimed at adults. Very very few such tutors are aimed at teenagers.
Now, we have the criticisms. This book, while useful for the reasons spelled out above, also contains a number of glaring weaknesses. These weaknesses, incidentally, could be applied to every book in the Faber Piano Adventures series. The first is the use of intervals. There are many who swear by the so-called intervallic method; yet, in this case, it is not clear what this instruction contributes beyond what any piano teacher will tell their student in the course of helping them to sight-read. We learn, for instance, of thirds and fifths, but what use are they to the tyro pianist learning his or her first notes on the piano? Indeed, if anything, on top of finger numbers, they merely suggest one more way of working out the notes without have to learn them. That is not, of course, to suggest that intervals should not be taught, only that they should be taught for the purpose of active sight-reading and theory, and after the elementary notes are fully mastered.
The next issue is the early inclusion of the sustain pedal. By early, I mean almost immediately. This makes Piano Adventures a flawed methodology for two reasons. One, the early introduction of the sustain pedal, and regardless of any other instructions, encourages sloppy technique. We have all had students who begin to play everything percussively and detached as soon as they use that pedal. It is a sensitive topic and one that needs to be taught correctly. The beginner who has only been playing for a few weeks is not in a position to get it right. Two, even the most dedicated of piano students may begin on a keyboard without a sustain pedal. After all, a piano is a major investment, even for a good second-hand one, and many parents will want to know that their child has potential before they invest money in one.
Overall, this is an excellent primer, albeit virtually the only one available, for the teenage piano learner. But with the caveat that a good teacher will be needed to offset its flaws against its advantages.
List of the pros and cons for Faber's Accelerated Piano Adventures
In the overall assessment for this review, I detailed some of the pros and cons. Here I have included a more detailed list.
Pros:
Clear, simple and precise instructions for the beginner pianist.
Faster pace for the teenage or young adult beginner.
Fewer repetitive exercises than other offerings in the Piano Adventures series.
Fewer books in this series, making it cheaper than others.
Cons:
Intervals taught as a method for understanding notes on the stave. The intervals taught are taught too early and simply add to the list of ways students can answer the question, 'what is that note?', without knowing what the note is from memory.
Blob notation, i.e., non-stave notation, is used. This is unnecessary in any case but especially in a book aimed at teenagers.
Pedal introduced too early. The pedal is relied upon in many of the earliest exercises in this book, which can make good and accurate piano technique difficult to achieve.
Piano fingering is inconsistently applied. This is just unnecessary. I can certainly understand books that encourage playing exercises in different octaves, but Piano Adventures seems to take this a step further.
Conclusion
This book, with the help of a good teacher, can be an asset for the older beginner. Anyone with a teenager wishing to learn the piano could do worse than the Accelerated Piano Adventures series. Nevertheless, those embarking on piano studies should bear in mind the warnings that I have included in this review. There are serious pitfalls in this piano method.
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