5 comments about The Piano Tuner: A Novel.

1. Feels like Apocolypse Now in some ways. A good book with vivid imagery and character descriptions...it drew me in and I wanted to see where the story went.



2. In October 1886, Edgar Drake receives an odd telegram from the British War Offices. The telegram contains a request that he leave his wife in London to travel the jungles of Burma, where he'd find an Erard grand piano that is in need of repairing. The piano belongs to an army surgeon major by the name of Anthony Carroll, whose eccentric peacemaking techniques include music, poetry, and medicine. As Drake travels through Europe, the Red Sea, India, and into Burma, Drake meets all sorts of people and learns of their stories.
   
   The Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason is a wonderful novel. Although slow to get through in the beginning, it starts to pick up when the journey begins. Each new cultural experience Drake encounters draws in the reader with the desire to know more. If you are looking for a book that you can't put down, one that is adventurous and touching at the same time, The Piano Turner is an excellent choice.



3. You know, I'm not sure what to say about this book. The premise intriqued me--a London piano tuner who specializes in Erard pianos is summoned by the army to go to Burma to tune and fix a piano belonging to a key soldier/doctor in England's army.
   
   The author has done his research--he just as easily talks about tuning techniques and the history of the Erard piano as he does the history of Burma.
   
   Of course, he lived in Burma.
   
   The book takes a while to get into. It has long histories of Burma disguised as letters and preparation papers for the piano tuner. And the piano tuner responds to these by writing his own letter of the history of the Erard.
   
   To be honest, I never figured out why those were necessary.
   
   The language at times his initimate with the piano tuner and other times distant. I think it begins distant and moves closer and closer to him.
   
   Once the tuner gets to Burma (which takes a while and is full of extraneous but at times beautiful stories), the story picks up. That's when I got into it. The piano tuner is swept up by the beauty of Burma--the country and the culture--and by the politics. Unknowingly he becomes involved in espionage? salvation? council? with the eccentric soldier/doctor who has managed peace with the locals through medicine and music, much to the chagrin of officers who wish to use the war for their own ambitions.
   
   The book shows the confusion of war, the messiness not in the blood shed but in the policies.
   
   But that is not its main point.
   
   I don't think. It's about the piano tuner's journey, what he learns about himself in the process. He's completely in love with his wife, who encourages him to go on this journey, but he falls in love with a local beauty. I never understood this.
   
   While we're at it: another thing I didn't understand--he seems perfectly content, but there are a couple of places when he has this attitude of "get the hell outta Dodge." I know better than anyone these contradicting feelings, but Mason never pulled it off, I didn't feel. I didn't get why he really left.
   
   There are moments of beauty, and, as I said, once the tuner gets to Burma, you get more into his head, but I don't think I'd recommend this book. I enjoyed it for the most part. Nothing really new--the old romantic books (not as in love romance but as in sentimentality).



4. "Let me tell you a story" the old man said. "What is the story about?" replied the boy, his eyes bright with anticipation. "A book" said the old man as he settled into his favorite chair. "Is it a good book?" asked the boy. "Listen to the story, then you can decide yourself." And so he began, "There was a writer who loved words, and he loved to put them together into beautiful sentences. His words made the world of old Burma come alive. Spice scents fill the air, flowers glow like beacons, insects sing in the humid, fertile wet-lands. He decided in order to describe this hypnotic place someone from far away would have to view it for the first time. The traveler's reactions would give him an opportunity to write in rich detail about it. This made the man very happy." "So far I quite like this book" smiled the boy. But the old man held up his hand and continued,"And because the feeling of the place was so magical to the writer, he wove fantasies, strange tales, and many dreams into his book." "I like those things" said the boy, "but baba, what is the book about?" "Here is where the problems lie", sighed the man. "The writer made up a very strange circumstance to allow his traveler to reach Burma. It is a circumstance that would never happen, and even as you read his beautiful sentences, you know this." "Well then, what of the traveler?" asked the boy, "will I love him, or hate him, or find him an interesting human being?" "I'm afraid not" sighed the man, "He is almost bloodless in his interaction with the world. As an observer, he is first rate, but that is all. He is a tool to allow the writer to express his lovely words. One thing the traveler does very well though, is he falls into deep reverie, almost a trance, often. Other times he dozes, even in the midst of historical meetings. And when he is in either of these half-waking states, wonderful things happen. Candles glow golden against crimson silks, chopped peppers the color of ox-blood sit pungently in bowls, and bright water courses down beautiful tanned arms of Burmese women" "Well then, is the book well put together?" the youngster asked. "There are many strange things in the make-up of this book" the man replied, "A piano is carried on a journey, by six strong men who find it arduous. Yet, a man and 3 young boys are able to easily lift the piano off a raft while it floats on a river. Quotation marks come and go. Often entire conversations take place without them. I wondered if this was done on purpose to catch the reader off guard, to make one feel off-kilter." "Hmmmm" pondered the boy, "so far you have told me many things about this book, but you did not tell me if you enjoyed it." "I suspended the need for a believable plot or deep characterizations, so yes, I enjoyed reading it" replied the man "but not as much, I suspect, as the author enjoyed writing it."



5. Oh how worthy an enterprise and how promising a beginning! Yet, how many worthy enterprises have begun well only to run out of ideas and, ultimately, steam? If the preposterousness of the initial premise doesn't put you off - the British Army sending a piano tuner to the far reaches of empire - in this case, the road to Mandalay - just to comply with the eccentric caprice of a supposedly indispensable martinet - then you do get some enjoyment from the first hundred or so pages. However, suspicions begin to set in when, for example, our hero tuner meets, during one stage of his mammoth journey, a bizarre `native' who relates to him, what the reader supposes to be a portentous tale only for this to prove to have been something of a `red herring'! So the first signs of irritation become apparent and as our Marlow-like hero penetrates further into the unknown, along the Irrawaddy, a la, Heart of Darkness, he eventually meets his Kurtz who turns out to be something of a bore! The one hope the reader has is that the enigmatic guide, a beautiful Burmese woman, for whom Drake, the tuner, develops an infatuation, actually becomes his lover, simply to make the story more interesting.
   
   Ultimately nothing of any interest does develop, not even the dreary Drake and the prose, initially, quite commanding and sure, becomes, along with the `story', merely turgid and ultimately, extremely irritating.
   
   Apparently, it's to be turned into a film to be directed by, wait for it....yes, so, so predictably by Werner Herzog!

5 comments about The Perfect Wrong Note: Learning to Trust Your Musical Self.

1. This is my favorite book about music-making (classical piano, in my case). Westney very convincingly makes the case for an overhaul of the way we approach music practice and performance. The 'juicy wrong note' idea promotes a wholistic, passionate attitude. It is NOT the idea of treating mistakes lightly...more, it's the attitude of making the mistake whole-heartedly and then learning what it has to tell you about your level of preparedness,an unsuspected weak point, etc. Westney does not cover specific how-to's (the best book on that for piano in my opinion is Berman's) but more the philosophy to bring to the practice room and to the performance. I'd give more stars if it were possible



2. Not really being part of the culture to which the author is reacting, I found this book to be captivating, if a bit strident. The unfortunate tendency towards perfectionism taints a great deal more than music instruction. The expectations of deference and respect on the basis of position weaken bishops and U.S. presidents as well as maestros and music teachers. Still, the control freak element runs deep. As an adult beginner taking piano lessons, I just see it from a different perspective. Take humor in the strutting of the popinjay, no need to be alarmed by it.
   
   Also, the man either knows nothing about golf, or else cheats on his scorecard. I suspect the former rather than the latter. But, a recorded lousy golf swing is just a lousy golf swing, while one left off the scorecard is, well, a reflection of character.
   
   However, on his home ground, the practice room and the recital stage, the author is very strong. Texas Tech is lucky to have him. Go, Red Raiders!



3. If you want to truly refresh your thinking about teaching music, this is the book. Explore with the author ways to bring enthusiasm and joy into the learning process... how to use 'honest mistakes" as tools. Be prepared to learn why traditional methods can sometimes harness creativity. This book described for me a way to help my students relax and welcome the journey into music. Whether teaching by traditional methods or not, this book is a must. Thanks, Mr. Westney, for the great read and the inspiring words.



4. This book is absolutely enjoyable to read. I just couldn't stop reading it...I did not want to continue practicing without hearing all that William Westney had to say about practicing techniques (for any instrument, though mainly piano) and musicality. He uses great resources if you want to learn more about what he writes. His focus is getting in touch with the innate musician within you...a very positive and motivating book...highly recommended.



5. This book is impressively well written with a dry, concise and insightful tone. This book is not against perfectionism, but against the idea that mistakes should be always avoided, even during practice. The author suggests that music should be performed with a strong body awareness, and that this should be cultivated during practice in a way that is a sort of dialogue between ourselves and our bodies; in this dialogue, errors are a way for our bodies to communicate with us, so we should be able to make them boldly and then recover from them as much information as we can. This, in the end, makes the correction of the error deeper, and our performances more confident.
   
   The book is not a step-by-step guide to practicing using this method; it's more a pedagogic book detailing the philosophy behind this approach. Still, it's very though provoking even for non teachers and for amateurs musicians, especially adults returning to music after previous bitter experiences.

2 comments about Alfred's Basic Piano Library Lesson Book: Level 2 (Alfred's Basic Piano Library).

1. The Alfred Basic Piano Library is a wonderful series of books for beginning students. I have taught piano for 11 years, and this series has been very successful with many students! Some favorites of students in Level 2: Alouette, Kumbayah, Ode to Joy, Oh Susannah.



2. I think this is an excellent series for beginners. It includes a song people will actually know about every three songs. The only draw back to the series is the difficulty in getting them. Thank you Amazon for making them available online. All the local music stores have stopped carrying them.

5 comments about The Disney Collection (Easy Piano Series).

1. GRREEEAATT!!! If you love disney songs like I do, you should definitely get this book. All the songs have vocal and piano parts. I for one only use the voice. This book is definitely the best disney classics book.



2. my girls use this over and over! they love to play the songs from Disney, and I saved alot buying it on Amazon!



3. This book contains a huge variety of disney songs, however, they are a bit too easy. I think that the over simplified versions of the songs lose the melody that you would expect from a more advanced version.



4. We love the book, my children are in books 2 of Faber, and these songs are challenging for them, but they are motivated by the fun songs!



5. I purchased this book like 2 months ago. The music is great, however, it seems too easy for me to play with... no challenge actually. The left hand barely move any, so... you know the idea.. well, I have an advise. If you have just known how to play piano for like 2 or 3 months. Then, this is your book.

No comments about Piano Adventures Lesson Book, Level 3A (Piano Adventures).

5 comments about Jumbo Easy Piano Songbook: 200 Songs for All Occasions.

1. I'm an adult who just returned to the piano last year after buying one for my family. Anyway I love this book. It really is easy to play with most of the songs having the melody in the right hand and often the left hand is just accompanying chords. Lots of old standards here like "Old Mill Stream" as well as some classics such as "Fur Elise" and many other songs you know you've heard before but just never knew the title. Plenty of well known folk songs from all cultures too. With 200 songs many as long as four pages you won't get bored easily and lyrics are included (if applicable) so you can sing along.



2. I'm using this book for times when I don't want a hard workout on the piano, just for enjoyment. It is full of entertaining tunes!



3. I teach piano to elementary and middle school kids. I bought this book as a Graduation/Christmas present for my graduating 8th graders. The two boys and the one girl really enjoy this book a lot! It's inspired them to sit down to the piano not just to practice but to noodle around too. Most of the arrangments in this book are better than other collections I've looked at. It's not a perfect book but it gives so much variety that all 3 of my 8th grade students are playing more between lessons.



4. While some of the songs are not completely true to the original score, this book provides an excellent variety of music for the beginner to learn to play. The songs vary from popular music to popular hymns to just plain classic songs. If you're looking for a little something to play and practice with, this book is great!



5. Love this book. It has so many songs I do know and like. It is a bit hard for me to figure out to play these songs, because I am a late beginner. A intermediate player will have much more fun with this.

5 comments about Popular Sheet Music Hits: Easy Piano (Sheet Music Hits).

1. This music provides a great variety of songs. It is easy piano for those who know how to play, but would provide a challenge for beginners. The price is amazing for this many popular songs in one collection. I would highly recommend any of this author's music collections.



2. I play a Clavinova and I could arrange this music with the sounds from the clavinova I needed for a "amateur" pianist. I usually play chords and this allowed me to do so easily.



3. The music isn't too difficult and is good for beginners.



4. Like the songs in many other piano books Dan Coates has arranged and edited the pieces included here are easy to play. The book has twenty-five compositions all with complete lyrics which makes it a good book for a beginning voice student as well. Some of my favorite standards are in this book including THE WIND BENEATH MY WINGS, SOMEWHERE OUT THERE, THE ROSE, THEME FROM NEW YORK, NEW YORK and MY WAY. Country hits like GOD BLESS THE USA are here as well as Elton John's 70's hit YOUR SONG plus many other well loved songs to make a total of twenty-five selections. Great collection that is fun to play and not too difficult.



5. I read all the reviews about how easy this music was. Obviously, it's very hard to quantify how easy or hard based on experience. I was looking for something I could just sit down and play without having to practice at it, and it's perfect for that. There's nothing more than two flats or sharps, but you definitely need to have been playing for a few years to really enjoy the music. The only thing I don't like about it is that it is almost too simple. You lose something in some of the songs when it is simplified too much, but that's the price I had to pay to get something at the level I wanted. It's also very hard to sing along with, because he uses lots of high notes without puting in any lower notes you could shoot for instead. That said, however, it's perfect for what I wanted.

5 comments about 150 of the Most Beautiful Songs Ever.

1. This is in no way and "Easy" book. Has nearly full score sheet music style writing for the advanced intermediate player. Key signatures with as many as six flats in some songs. Original intros and lyrics are nice but anyone who buys this needs to be an experienced player. Good selections and I am disappointed that I can only play a small number of them in spite of having had a couple of years of lessons and several years of playing for my own enjoyment.



2. I've been away from the piano for over 15 years. 150 of the Most Beautiful Songs Ever allows me to get back into playing, without frustration.



3. Easy songs, pleasant to the ears, very enjoyable. Loved every moment. Great book.



4. An amazing selection of music from many era's. I have enjoyed revisting much of the music in this selection. Nicely arranged and, as I am playing again after many years, not too difficult for me to easily relearn.



5. I only enjoy playing about 5 of the "150" songs in this book, including Moon River, Close To You and a few other well known songs. There are way too many songs from old American musicals, most of which I either don't know or don't find particularly "beautiful". Also, the songs are so over-simplified that the joy of being able to perform a complete song on the piano / keyboard is completely taken away, since to really make these songs sound complete, you'd need guitar accompaniment or something else to fill them out. The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face is included but is one of those that is too over-simplified and just doesn't sound as good as it could do.
   The music is definitely "Easy" but in making the music this easy, a lot has been lost. I should have returned this book.
   I would recommend it to the older generation, or people who reeeeally love American musicals and those who are real beginners on the piano and can only cope with playing one note at a time with each hand.

1 comments about Piano Adventures: Performance Book, Level 2A.

1. This is the right level for my two children who have been playing for about 3 years. It challenges them but with material they have seen before.

5 comments about Player Piano.

1. This book is a 5-star book for engineers and technologists, particularly those working for big corporations, but probably only a 3-star book for anybody else. (You can guess from my rating what I do.) Vonnegut creates hybrid eu/dystopia brought about by the ultimate success of American ingenuity and capitalism. Dr. Proteus is brilliantly and complexly written as a successful technologist desperately aware of his relationship to his corporation and of the corporate's relationship to the world. Feels more like Terry Gilliam's "Brazil" than Orwell's "1984," but is more humane and sad and beautiful both in its hope and despair in humanity than either of them.



2. Very funny. Not quite as good as Cat's Cradle or Slaughterhouse-Five but hilarious just the same.



3. I had the pleasure of reading this book while I was studying Computer Science at Rensselaer Polytechnic. This book is very well written and the story is fantastic. One of my favorite parts of the book is when the engineer engineers himself out of his own job. Classic! kind of remind me of my last IT project.



4. Vonnegut's debut novel, published in 1952, is a little constrained. There are hints of Vonnegut's sardonic wit, wild imagination, and unconventional writing style, but only hints. Unlike virtually all of Vonnegut's other novels, Player Piano tells its story in a linier fashion. It starts at the beginning and ends at the end. There's nothing really wrong with that, but for fans of the author, accustomed to Vonnegut's eccentric voice, it feels a little too conventional.
   
   Vonnegut is a humanitarian and the message of Player Piano is that people need to have a sense of purpose, and that if you take that away from them - their lives will be empty. Throughout the novel, a leader from another country tours the cities of the United States and having no similar word in his own language, confuses `civilians' for `slaves'. The message of course, is that the civilians, in this machine dominated world, are in-fact slaves.
   
   Similarities between this novel and Brave New World are inevitable, as both novels explore the relationship between technology and happiness, and the role class structure plays in our society. In both Player Piano and Brave New World, the protagonist is unfulfilled by the trappings of the privileged class and longs for something `real'. Player Piano is arguably more hopeful than Brave New World (and certainly 1984) suggesting that people will band together to fight for their freedom, however futile, even if it means that they are doomed to repeat the same mistakes again.
   
   Player Piano is admittedly dated. It is evident from this novel, and others of the era, that people were wary of the advent of computers and the proliferation of machines and technology. As for predicting the future, neither Brave New World nor Player Piano (nor 1984 for that matter) proved to be a reliable crystal ball. These novels are far more reflective of the times they were written and the author's commentary on those times, than of any actual or likely future.
   
   Player Piano is far from Vonnegut's best. Cat's Cradle and Slaughter House Five are two of the best novels ever written and there are close to a half dozen other Vonnegut novels (he wrote 14) I would recommend before Player Piano, but it's still worth reading.
   
   3 ½ stars (almost four).



5. The great Kurt Vonnegut's first novel is, well, great.
   
   This was nothing short of excellent; a strong cast of characters and a vividly imagined world, yes, but where Player Piano really shines is in its rich social commentary. In this world, America has established a sort of minor utopia of ease within which regular, everyday people don't have to do much of anything. Everything is done for them.
   
   And boy does that make people miserable.
   
   At times funny, at times heavy with satire, and at times straight and serious, Vonnegut manages to keep all the plates spinning at once. Dr. Paul Proteus is a near perfect protagonist, even though he doesn't DO much of anything really. He's just along for the ride, observing the modern world in which he lives and realizing that a life of ease and convenience has a down side. And what an ending!
   
   Player Piano makes it clear that Vonnegut was mining gold from the very start.