Classic Themes By the Masters
By James Bastien

This is an anthology so each piece would by necessity have to be brief. However, "The Funeral March of a Marionette" was far too brief. The first theme had hardly begun before it ended. Perhaps the compiler should have expanded this piece to the maximum of two pages. Apparently, the...

fans of this best known piece by Charles Gounod would have to look elsewhere for a longer version - which had provided sufficient space to develop the first theme and introduce the second and subsequent themes.It might be of interest to know that the British director Alfred Hitchcock liked this theme so much so that he used it to introduce his TV series "Alfred Hitchcock Presents."Apart from this issue, overall this book served the purpose of a useful anthology to introduce the public to some of the favourite staples in Western classical music. A recommended buy.

The arrangements are accessible for the beginner adult and older student. The harmonies and arrangement are true to the original theme. One of the best if not the best condensed classical theme books I have ever used for my piano students.

I have been a piano teacher for many years, and when one of my students brought this book in from a previous teacher, she brought me a super gift! I now have all my students play from it.The pieces are varied in level. As soon as my students finish...

Teaching Little Fingers to Play, they are given Ode to Joy. There are a number of beginning level pieces, all in the key of C, and the pieces progress from there into about the early second year of most students. In other words, you can work continuously from this book for well over a year to year and a half.Also important is that almost all of these melodies are so well known that many students say things like, "Hey, I've heard that before," or "My mom hums that when she's doing dishes". The titles may not be familiar to you, but the melodies will be.All in all, I give this book five out of five stars. It is standard in my teaching and will remain there.

I love this book! I am a beginner (less than 6 months of real practice) and yet this book enabled me to play some lovely classics I recognize right away. Makes me feel like I am getting somewhere. I started with the level 1 book in this series in a...

group piano class and was able to play this book with no problems. (Just as a reference, I am 40.)

I got this book for an early beginner at piano, a 13 year old young man, who literally just started "Teaching Little Fingers to Play." He likes "Ode to Joy" and this version, although more difficult than his level of study would indicate, motivated him to make that extra effort...

. After two weeks, he can play it from the book and by memory and is starting to add extra accompaniment notes to fill out the sound. I'd recommend this book for beginners or for those just learning to improvise.