Mikrokosmos - Volume 1 (Pink)
New Definitive Edition
By Bela Bartok

This was great for my teenage son, who is a quite proficient woodwind player and has plenty of music theory under his belt. He wants to get some keyboard experience and likes this course much better than an adult beginner course that I also bought for him, which spends too...

much time covering music theory at a level that is far too elementary for him. The songs in this book are musically interesting and let him focus on his two main tasks, which are getting his fingers in the right places and getting up to speed with bass clef. Although the course is progressive, there is no explanation of the music theory, which is perfect since my son doesn't need to learn what a quarter note is; he already knows the fundamentals. He is using the book for self-study with a little guidance from me on proper hand position. I cut my own musical teeth on Bartok's 44 violin duos back in the day, and I much prefer listening to these delightful pieces than to yet another rendition of "Hot Cross Buns."

A fine body of music suitable for the training of a 9-and-up aged pianist from beginning to advanced levels. Marked by strong melodic lines and hand independence, the songs throughout all the volumes range in sound from familiar to exotic and explore tonalities of pentatonic folk music, chromatics...

, modes and layering of two different key signatures between left and right hands. Musical forms include canons, inventions, theme and variations and more while time signatures range from simple 4/4 time to 6/4 and 3/2. When supplemented with a good theory book and another beginning book such as Suzuki volume 1, students of Mikrokosmos will become intelligent, thoughtful piano players with a mature sense of musical line and direction and advanced hand independence. I love Mikrokosmos!

This is a wonderful beginner's series for the adult student and can also be used for children who are studying the piano seriously. However, I would recommend a prep series and a note speller before assigning this volume to children.

Everty piece in these volumes is a tiny masterpiece. What an act of love Bartok this was for his young son. Amazing what the child can learn here, even when his hand is quite small.

I love this book: it guided me through my first steps on the piano and that was a very good experience. Contrary to other beginner methods, this one makes you play in all kind of key and modes, not only in C-major. The tunes are surpring and interesting. The...

only thing that can be frustrating for beginners is the metronome numbers given; I never got to that speed. Now after two years of practice, I use the summer vacation to start all over and play them at the mentioned speed.