Best Piano Books For Beginners (Top 15)

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Many people around the world have a passion for piano. If you are one of them and want to know how to play the piano, let us tell you that learning the piano is not rocket science. With the right tools and dedication, you can master this excellent skill. And there comes the necessity for piano method books. Now, choosing the best piano books for beginners can be tricky, because if you choose a book that is not helpful enough, it might bulldoze your enthusiasm to begin with.

This best piano books for beginners buying guide and reviews will give you an idea of which piano book you should choose for starting the journey. We analyzed users’ opinions and conducted thorough research in making this guide.

So, without further delay, let’s begin.

In a hurry? Check the ​Best Piano Books for Beginners from Amazon. 

Product Name

Rating & Highlighted Features

Price

Piano Book for Adult Beginners

​​Gives an Easy breakdown on the chord progression

How to Play Keyboard: A Complete Guide for Absolute Beginners

Exceptionally beginner-friendly.

Beginner Piano Lessons for Kids

​Online video and Sound access

​Piano: Learn The Piano in 5 Easy Steps

​​Works as a self-guided course.

Big Book of Beginner’s Piano Classics

​Mp3 downloading Alternative for Every Song .

Alfred’s Basic Adult All-in-One Course

Simple to follow Directions.

Easy Keyboard and Piano Pieces

​The Ideal companion for Novices .

Alfred’s Self-Teaching Adult Piano Course

​Excellent book for self-teaching.

Simple Songs – The Easiest Easy Piano Songs Paperback

​Nice Tune Structures.

Piano-K. Play the Self-Teaching Piano Game for Kids. Level 1

​Does Not require previous knowledge.

Teaching Little Fingers to Play: A Book for the Earliest Beginner

​Simple to follow parent Manual.

Piano Scales, Chords & Arpeggios Lessons with Elements of Basic Music Theory

​​A great Source for piano Instructors to Instruct their Pupils.

The Best Songs Ever: E-Z Play Today Volume 200

​A Fantastic collection of favorite Tunes .

Alfred’s Teach Yourself to Play Piano

​ A Whole piano Manual.

Alfred’s Basic Adult Piano Course: Lesson Book, Level One (BK 1)

​Great for Mature beginners.

Our Review Of The Best Piano Books for Beginners In 2021

A good piano method book is a great resource for any piano learner who is just about to begin his piano lessons or have little knowledge of piano playing. Our recommendation for top 15 piano beginner books is given below:

1. Piano Book for Adult Beginners

Author: Damon Ferrante

Piano Book for Adult Beginners

Our Review:

Not every piano book available in the market is beginner-friendly. Thanks to piano professor Damon Ferrante, this excellent book will help you learn piano more easily than many other books on the market. This piano book for adult beginners is specially designed for the passionate piano lovers who need a proper guideline in their piano learning journey.

It is a very well written book and any person who doesn’t have any prior knowledge of the piano can easily follow this book. This book will help you learn the simple chord progression and all of the basic patterns and techniques of using fingers.

You will get an opportunity to learn from a vast collection of songs. Surely, there will be at least a couple of songs you always wanted to play on piano, which now you can, thanks to the musical notes and breakdown of chord progression presented in the book. From the very beginning stage, the book will help you understand musical note and composition of songs so that you can play the piano easily.

The 20 streaming video lessons that come with this book will make piano learning easier  for you. If you are a beginner, this 122-page book by Damon Ferrante could be one of the best options for you. However, on the downside, the kindle version of this book is not as effective as the fonts are too small.

Pros:

  • Provides you with step by step lessons
  • 20 streaming video lessons
  • A good collection of famous songs
  • Easy to follow
  • Gives a simple breakdown on the chord progression

Cons:

  • Fonts in the kindle version are quite small

2. How to Play Keyboard: A Complete Guide for Absolute Beginners

Author: Ben Parker

How to Play Keyboard A Complete Guide for Absolute Beginners

Our Review:

Are you unsure about how to start your piano learning journey? Please remove all of your confusion as this awesome book has got you covered. “How to Play Keyboard” by ‘Ben Parker’ is a complete guide for you to learn piano from the very beginning level.

The instructions are very easy to follow. Reading and following the instructions in this book will help you learn how to read and play music on the keyboard, even if you don’t have any kind of prior experience. The instructions and the illustrations are easy to follow and completely beginner-friendly.

If you are looking for a nice way to start learning the piano, this could be one of the best  piano-learning book for you. Besides, the spiral binding of the book will help you to open the book and as it stays flat, it will be a convenient way of learning. On the downside, the fonts used for notes might be a bit  too small to read for some people.

Pros:

  • Highly beginner-friendly
  • Easy to follow instructions
  • Spiral binding book
  • Provides step by step guide

Cons:

  • Notes are a bit too small, might be difficult to read for some people.

3. Beginner Piano Lessons for Kids

Author:Jay Wamsted

Beginner Piano Lessons for Kids

Our Review:

If you are looking for the best piano book for kids, you have come to the right place. This exclusive “Beginner Piano Lessons for Kids” by ‘Jay Wamsted’ has everything to teach a kid how to play piano. This book comes with online video and audio access that will help the beginners to learn piano easily and effortlessly.

The innovative design of the book makes it easy to learn piano even for  the elementary school students. Its step by step guide is really helpful. This beginner-friendly book is a great resource for all beginners who has a desire to learn piano effectively from the very first step.

The book starts with piano lessons for the right hand at the beginning stage. Then it slowly progresses to teach to play the piano with both hands. Additionally, the song arrangements in this book will come handy in your practice sessions.

The easy to follow instructions will surely help your kid to learn from the basics.

On the downside, this book has a poor collection of content, so your kid may get through the book very quickly.

Pros:

  • Online video and audio access
  • Easy to follow
  • Nice song arrangements
  • Highly kid-friendly

Cons:

  • Poor collection of content

4. Piano: Learn The Piano in 5 Easy Steps

Author: James Piano

Learn The Piano in 5 Easy Steps

Our Review:

Wouldn’t it be awesome if you had a book that could help you learn playing the piano by yourself? Of course, it would be awesome. “Learn the Piano in 5 Easy Steps” is a great book for beginners who want to learn playing piano on their own. 

This book is a self-guided course that will give you piano lessons in a very innovative and convenient way. The simple and fast-progressing method that is used in this book will help you out in your piano learning journey.

If you want to build up good piano playing skills, learn techniques, or to learn best piano playing practices, this book could be one of the good solutions for you. The online video tutorials from the skilled author will boost up your confidence.

The spiral binding feature of this book will allow you to use this book conveniently. However, if you are looking for the best beginner’s piano book for adults, it might not be the best book to look for due to lack of enough content. Nevertheless, for beginners, it’s a great resource for learning.

Pros:

  • Works as a self-guided course
  • Online audio and video access
  • Easy to follow
  • Simple and fast-progressing method

Cons:

  • Not enough content

5. Big Book of Beginner’s Piano Classics

Author: Bergerac and David Dutkanicz

Big Book of Beginner's Piano Classics

Our Review:

“Big Book of Beginner’s Piano Classics” by ‘Bergerac’ and ‘David Dutkanicz’ is a great resource for beginning pianists of all ages. It doesn’t matter in which age group you belong, this excellent book will teach how to play the piano in a very convenient way.

A compilation of 83 great piano classics gives you a strong base for practicing and improving. Each piece of the piano classic is selected carefully so that you can develop your piano skills. If you are a novice pianist and don’t know where to start, this book will give you the right instructions so that you can learn without worrying if you are going in the right direction or not.

Besides, you can download each tune in the mp3 version, which will make the learning process easier and more convenient. The book is very user-friendly to help the piano lovers around the world learn piano easily. However, not all the song compositions are complete. Except that this could be a great book for you.

Pros:

  • Beginner-friendly book
  • 83 great piano classics
  • Mp3 downloading option for each tune
  • Easy to follow instructions

Cons:

  • Not all song compositions are complete

6. Alfred’s Basic Adult All-in-One Course

Author:Willard A. Palmer, Morton Manus and Amanda Vick Lethco

Alfred's Basic Adult All-in-One Course Book

Our Review:

Are you an adult beginner of piano lessons and looking for an all-in-one course to learn piano effectively? If so, you have come to the right place. Alfred’s Basic Adult All-in-One Course is the best beginner piano book for adults that will give you a complete piano learning experience. It is designed in a way so you can learn on your own.

Wouldn’t it be awesome to have an opportunity to learn piano from an instructor? Without any doubt, it will give you great feelings of real piano class as it is specially designed for use with a piano instructor.

Another exciting feature of this book is it comes with a spiral binding so it fits well in the piano music sheet holder. Trust me, it makes life easy when you are learning piano. Alfred piano books always come with a wide range of music to learn from.

Whether classical, popular, jazz, or blues, this book will teach you the right type of music at the right time. The only downside of the book is it doesn’t come with any kind of CD, so you won’t be able to play any kind of audio lesson with a CD .

Pros:

  • Easy to follow instructions
  • Adult all-in-one course
  • Spiral binding book
  • Effective learning method

Cons:

  • Doesn’t come with a CD

7. Easy Keyboard and Piano Pieces

Author: John Jester

Easy Keyboard and Piano Pieces

Our Review:

When you are just starting your piano or keyboard learning journey, all you need is a good learning platform or resource. “Easy Keyboard and Piano Pieces” by ‘John Jester’ is the perfect resource that will help you start your piano journey on your own.

When you learn playing piano with simple and familiar tunes, the learning becomes easy and enjoyable. Keeping that in mind, the book comes with easy and popular tunes so that you will feel comfortable while learning the piano pieces. The large easy to read font is another noticeable feature of this book.

You’ll see all of the notes are nicely printed so that everybody can easily read and follow the musical notes. We love the blank music sheets that come with this book. Perhaps, soon you’ll start creating your own compositions on those blank music sheets.

With all these good features this excellent and easy to follow piano learning book could be one of the best options for you.

However, one drawback of the book that we found is the songs are all designed for the right-handed pianist. If you are a left-handed person, you may find it slightly challenging.

Pros:

  • The perfect companion for beginners
  • Simple, popular and familiar tunes
  • Instructions are straight forward
  • Easy to read font

Cons:

  • A left-handed pianist may find the book a little difficult to follow as it is designed for right handed pianists.

8. Alfred’s Self-Teaching Adult Piano Course

Author: Willard A. Palmer and Morton Manus

Alfred's Self-Teaching Adult Piano Course Book

Our Review:

Our next pick in this comprehensive buying guide is Alfred’s Self-Teaching Adult Piano Course. Morton Manus and Willard A. Palmer, who are the author of the book, make it a great resource in your piano learning journey. If you are an adult beginner in piano playing, this is the right choice for you.

The informative and reader-friendly style of the book will help you learn piano all by yourself. This book comes with study guide pages so that you can  easily start your piano learning  journey. This book is a complete guide just like a piano teacher, and you’ll feel like having physical piano classes from your instructor.

Because you will get all of the necessary guidelines from the book to develop your skills, you’ll be able to learn and practice playing the piano without much difficulty. This book is specially designed for beginners so that you can understand and follow all of the instructions easily.

You can consider it as the best piano books for intermediate players. However, the book comes in paperback design instead of spiral binding. It won’t lay flat in the holder, and that could be irritating at times.

Pros:

  • Easy to follow
  • Excellent book for self-teaching
  • Detailed instructions
  • A complete guide for adult beginners

Cons:

  • Doesn’t come in spiral binding

9. Simple Songs – The Easiest Easy Piano Songs Paperback

Author: Hal Leonard Corp.

Simple Songs - The Easiest Easy Piano Songs Paperback

Our Review:

Simple Songs-The Easiest Easy Piano Songs Paperback is our next product in this comprehensive buying guide. If you are looking for the best piano lessons for beginners, it is the right book for you. This book has a collection of 50 of your favorite piano songs. With this book at your home, you can easily practice playing pop hits, Broadway showstoppers, jazz standards, movie themes, and other kinds of songs on your piano.

There is no doubt that this book has something for everyone. Beginner level pianist always struggles when there are frequent sharps and flats in the piano note. If you are a beginner in piano playing, this book will be perfect for you. It’s full of easy and popular songs so that you can practice them at your home easily.

However, the kindle edition of this book has an issue with page formation. If you turn pages in the kindle, half of the page will mention the credits for the music of the previous page. So, you may face problems as the song is broken.

Pros:

  • 50 popular songs
  • Nice song arrangements
  • So much beginner-friendly
  • Great selection of tunes

Cons:

  • Kindle version has some issues with page formation

10. Piano-K. Play the Self-Teaching Piano Game for Kids. Level 1

Author: Victoria Mandly

Piano-K. Play the Self-Teaching Piano Game for Kids. Level 1

Our Review:

Do you want your beloved kid to learn piano? Are you looking for a great piano learning resource for the kid? If so, you have come to the right place. Piano-K. Play the self-Teaching Piano Game for Kids level 1 is a great learning platform for your kids.

The self-teaching piano game book is designed innovatively so that your kids can play piano effortlessly even if they don’t have any previous knowledge of the piano. This book is the perfect example of how learning could be made fun. Thanks to this book, your kids will enjoy learning piano playing.

It comes with many colorful stickers which will help the kids to learn keyboard notes through an enjoyable game. The book series comes with a total of three levels of proficiency. The first level of the book uses only one hand and makes your kid proficient gradually.

The large fonts and eye-catchy pictures of the book will attract the kids easily. Of course, on the downside, the instructions are not adequate and some kids may struggle to understand them properly unless an adult helps them.

Pros:

  • Large book format
  • Excellent self-teaching game book
  • Eye-catchy colorful animal stickers
  • Doesn’t require previous knowledge

Cons:

  • Inadequate instructions

11. Teaching Little Fingers to Play: A Book for the Earliest Beginner

Author: John Thompson

Teaching Little Fingers to Play A Book for the Earliest Beginner

Our Review:

Our next pick in this buying guide is Teaching Little Fingers to Play by ‘John Thompson’. This is truly a book for the early beginner that follows the rote and note approach. This awesome book comes with the melodies which are written simply so that you can learn piano with maximum comfort.

The book is highly kid-friendly. If you are wondering how to teach your kid piano, don’t look anywhere else, this book has got you covered.

All the music included in this book is written easily and the book is specially designed for kids to give them maximum comfort in the piano-playing journey. Being the best seller around the world, this book could be a great resource for your kid. Each page of this book features innovative ideas and methods to learn and practice.

With engaging and colorful pictures, your kid will surely love the book and learn the piano eventually. However, the kindle version of this book may not be as helpful as the paper version due to the limited page view options.

Pros:

  • A perfect little book for starters
  • Engaging and colorful pictures
  • Encasing format
  • Easy to follow parent guide

Cons:

  • Kindle version has page view issues

12. Piano Scales, Chords & Arpeggios Lessons with Elements of Basic Music Theory

Author: Damon Ferrante

Piano Scales, Chords and Arpeggios Lessons with Elements of Basic Music Theory

Our Review:

If you are looking for a complete package to learn piano from the beginning level and rise to the advanced level eventually, this is the perfect book for you. This unique book comes with a streaming video course which is a complete package that you need for learning piano.

This package will help you learn piano chords, arpeggios, and all basic music theory. The 140 step-by-step lessons of this book are specially designed by the famous piano professor Mr. Damon Ferrante to allow you to develop your piano skill from beginner level to the advanced level.

The method specified in the book is easy to follow, interactive, and engaging which is already used by thousands of piano students and teachers around the world. Even, if you are a piano teacher, it will be a great resource for you to teach your students.

On the downside, the book doesn’t come in a spiral binding format, so it won’t sit easily in the music stand.

Pros:

  • A great resource for piano teachers to teach their students
  • Clear, comprehensive and engaging
  • A great guide for learning piano
  • Nice diagrams and pictures

Cons:

  • Book doesn’t come in a spiral binding format

13. The Best Songs Ever: E-Z Play Today Volume 200

Author:Hal Leonard Corp

The Best Songs Ever E-Z Play Today Volume 200

Our Review:

The best songs ever: E-Z play today volume 200 is our next pick in this review guide. Wouldn’t it be awesome to get a great collection of all world-famous notations in one place? This book includes musical notations of 71 great favorites and all-time famous music . Don’t be surprised to find the notations of the songs you always wanted to play on piano.

All of the songs in this book are easy to play. So, it will allow you to gradually improve your skills. If you are a right-handed person and a beginner level pianist, this book is a perfect resource for you. All of the chords in this book are designed for right-handed people.

This might be a big drawback of this book. Because, if you are a left-handed person, you may not find it as easy while practicing songs from this book.

Pros:

  • A great beginner-friendly book
  • A good collection of all favorite songs
  • Easy to follow
  • Beautiful book design

Cons:

  • Chords are designed only for a right-handed person

14. Alfred’s Teach Yourself to Play Piano

Author: Morton Manus, Willard A. Palmer and Thomas Palmer

Alfred's Teach Yourself to Play Piano

Our Review:

Alfred’s method is one of the popular piano teaching methods around the world. Alfred’s Teach Yourself to Play Piano is a great resource for any beginner level pianist.

If you are new to the world of piano and have a passion for learning the instrument, this book will give you an optimum solution, period. The most wonderful feature of this book is, it will give you a complete guide to learn piano beginning from the very basic step and gradually you’ll see the progress as it takes you to the more advanced level.

From the basic fingering skill and knowledge of keyboard layout to playing different notes, scales, chords, and lessons step by step, this book will help you in the entire journey.

Besides, you’ll learn to play different musical styles which will include pop, blues, folk, etc.. However, to get the full user experience you should buy the book that comes with a recorded CD which is sold separately. Otherwise, you may not get the full benefit from the book.

Pros:

  • A complete piano guide
  • Innovative book design
  • Good for beginners of all ages
  • Easy to follow

Cons:

  • The audio CD is sold separately

15. Alfred’s Basic Adult Piano Course: Lesson Book, Level One (BK 1)

Author:Willard A. Palmer, Morton Manus and Amanda Vick Lethco 

Alfred's Basic Adult Piano Course Lesson Book, Level One (BK 1)

Our Review:

If you are an adult and want to start your journey in piano playing, you most probably need a good resource or platform to start the journey. Alfred’s Basic Adult Piano Course for adults could be the best option for you.

This book prefers the chord approach and will teach you a great way to learn chords. Most of the chords in this book are for both hands so you can play beyond the single-note melodies. The best way for using this book is to practice the notes under the supervision of a piano teacher or musician.

However, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you can’t use this book for self-study purposes. This book is a perfect resource for you and you’ll get a great opportunity to learn piano sitting right at your home. However, on the downside, this package doesn’t include any CD with the book.

Pros:

  • Easy to follow
  • Clear instructions
  • Innovative book design
  • Good for adult beginners

Cons:

  • Package doesn’t include CD

Why Should You Buy A Piano Method Book?

When it comes to learning piano, one thing  is certain that at one point or another every beginner level pianist struggles as they are at loss as to how to start the journey and where. From our point of view, a piano method book can be a great guide at the beginning stage.

Whether you are a kid or adult beginner, the best piano books for beginners will always help you out. Because, in most of cases, the books are specially designed as such that you can learn playing piano by following step by step guide.

Besides, you will also get chords and tunes of all of your favorite songs in one place. Isn’t it a great opportunity for you? Of course, it is. Most importantly, your piano learning skill will improve gradually by practicing your favorite songs.

Also, playing familiar songs will give you more comfort in your piano journey. On top of that, most of the piano method books come with online audio courses or CD to give you more convenience in your learning process. We believe getting a piano method book would be very useful.

Best Piano Books For Beginners

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Is a book helpful when learning the piano?

Of course, a book will help you when learning the piano. A piano method book will allow you to learn playing the piano spending less time and less effort. As you can learn the piano at your own place, it will give you more flexibility. Besides, a piano method book will surely save your time and money.

How difficult is it to learn the piano?

In a general sense, surely it’s not an easy task. However, if you are passionate about it, you must put the right amount of dedication into it. With proper practice, motivation, and dedication, you can gradually improve your piano skill. You have to know how to read piano pieces and practicing by both hands will develop your skill even faster.

What is the best book to teach yourself piano?

A piano method book can most certainly come handy in learning piano playing all by yourself. If you want to teach yourself piano, you should buy the best piano books for beginners. In this comprehensive guide, we reviewed all of the top-rated piano books for you.

However, if you want our recommendation for a piano learning self-study book, you can always go for Alfred’s Basic Adult All-in-One Course, as it is a complete learning package for you.

How can I teach myself to play the piano?

Playing the piano is always considered as a great skill. Being passionate about the piano is a great thing. If you want to learn the piano, there are many ways to that. First of all, you can learn the piano by playing by ear . To do that, get a piano and try to practice and improve yourself through playing by ear.

The other method is gaining basic knowledge about it. You can do that by getting a piano method book. Always try to get the top-rated book for you. And finally, you can hire an instructor which is also a great method to improve your piano skill.

Final Words

You should always get the best piano method book so that you can learn the piano without any trouble. Teaching method, the orientation of the chords, and the presentation of the book, they all matter when it comes to selecting a book. We reviewed 15 of the most popular piano books for beginners in this article. We hope this comprehensive guide helps you in your decision-making process to get the best product.

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