Not Just Another Scale Book: 10 Innovative Piano Solos Using Major and Minor Scales (Book & CD) (Not Just Another, Bk 1)

I bought this for my son. I think his piano teacher thought I was nuts, until he started playing the C scale song and she realized this is THE way to learn scales. Lots more fun for my son, and instead of having fingering correct for scales only, it's solidified by having it used in a song. Highly recommend for students, especially those who argue about practicing scales.

Wow! I wish I had found this book before. The pieces are so musical and don’t sound like scale practice. Excited for my students to start this in the new year.It is suited to students who already know the scales quite well rather than those who are just starting to learn them.

This book definitely helped me with my scales. Playing the corresponding songs with that scale really "sealed" the lesson. It was better than a really, REALLY lousy teacher that tried to teach me scales using WWH-WWWH.Thanks

I like that this book introduces the relative major and minor scales back to back, and then immediately incorporates them into a piece of music. This is helpful for students to see the application of scales.

I am not sure how great the book is. I bought a different piano course online. What made me lose interest in this purchase- is that I didn't receive my whole purchase- (There was No-CD with the book) and I didn't want to waste my time on the rest of the book. So I just went with online piano study.

The scales were a good review for my student with fun,creative music. The music was appropriate for an intermediate student with great accompaniment using the CD.

Exactly what it says: not just another scale book! This is a wonderful resource for intermediate students who need to work on their scales but also need to see them incorporated into repertoire pieces.

Great accompaniments and very engaging literature for intermediate students. A fun way to work on scales, especially with the correct fingering.

I am a piano teacher and bought this book as a teaching tool. Having played through most of the pieces, I think that this book is odd in that it begins with the most basic of scales, and yet the pieces are probably grade 2-4, and sometimes have rhythms that are very awkward. The pieces are certainly not for beginners.. They are nice enough, though, and modern-sounding for pupils who enjoy a variety of styles. Along with the CD this will be invaluable for some students..One irritation is that I find that several of the pieces do not sit comfortably beneath my fingers, but this can often be due to a different style of playing that the writer has, and doesn't necessarily mean other people will have the same issue. I am perfectly at ease with scales and scalic pieces, e.g. Mozart, but these do not come half as easily to me, which is a little bit strange. Some pieces are better than others in this respect.I think people who will get the most out of this book are learners who are fairly proficient but want more practice at scales without more of the same plodding through actual scales - i.e. it gives more learning tools/variety.I bought this book after reading favourable reviews from teachers who use it for that very reason.One thing I do not like is that I have found at least one place where the thumb is used very clumsily on a black note - the scale referenced in the piece in question is D major, and a completely unnatural sequence of fingers is instructed in an ascending melody in the left hand (E with finger 5, G with 3, A with 2 and C# with the THUMB) - this doesn't cover any standard fingering of the D maj scale by the major exam boards, nor does it make for easier playing, or for example follow onto another phrase higher up. The idea of the book is to teach good fingering and knowledge of scales, but if there is more clumsy writing like this (I have also bought books 2 and 3 but not played through them yet) then I shall be disappointed.Nice clear print and not too small. Overall a good buy and value for money.

Scales aren't the most interested things to practice but this did encourage my son to practice his scales for this exam which has been an improvement on other scale books.