No Nonsense Piano Method

Exhorting viewers to “Learn How to Play Piano in Just 5 Easy Steps!”, No Nonsense Piano attempts to teach a few acceptable shortcuts in the lifelong quest to artfully play those 88 ebony and ivory keys. Five easy steps? More or less, but it may take a few months or more for a beginning student to put it together into a reasonably competent sound. Using a cool old Wurlitzer electric piano hooked to a big light board called a “Visualizer” (a graphical representation of the piano keyboard, depicting which keys and corresponding notes the teacher is playing), instructor Ira Shore shows budding keyboardists how to read the chords, notated at the top of the staff on most popular sheet music, in place of playing the bass clef notes--providing an effective (and acceptable) method for working on rhythm while the right hand concentrates on the intricacies of melody. Other vital elements, such as posture, pedal technique, and (of course) reading music are covered as well, and the oversize video package includes a helpful poster-sized map of the keyboard, a chord chart, and sheet music (which might give some catalogers pause). Recommended. Aud: H, P. (C. Block)