What a nightmare beginner piano lesson books can potentially be! It's hard enough following the instructions of a second rate teacher that is attempting to communicate on a one to one basis with you. Now imagine a second rate manual or e-book, recently downloaded for piano assistance. Imagine the following instructions within the confusing purchase:

“Play legato while remembering your accentuation within this simple triple time.”

“Make sure that the sixteenth note syncopation is accented in the animato section.”

“Assume the triplets with a non-legato touch, while providing a sustained, rich sound in the allegro ma non troppo section of the final movement.”

What? Legato, simple triple, non troppo and syncopation are hard terms for a beginner pianist to grasp. If you know nothing about music, then the terms just mentioned are a recipe for a fairly substantial migraine, possibly accompanied with abdominal aches and pains.

In a world of online promises, much can be said about the sheer amount of information that one can attain. One of the tricks in buying the right type of beginner's piano guide is to read carefully through the materials offered for free on the product's author's website. It's a good bet that if you are not following the information on the actual site, then you are not going to enjoy the product being offered.

Websites are a bit like sampling food. The last thing that you'd do in a super-store is buy a sampled food product that has you doubled over in pain in aisle four, two minutes after having taste-tested it.

From an author's standpoint, putting yourself in the shoes of your potential target customer or client is essential. In writing a manual for a beginner instrumentalist, assume that no knowledge is known about the instrument. All aspects, no matter how preliminary, should be covered. In the case of piano playing, clefs, notes, timing, rhythm, and all other essentials should be clearly demonstrated with both words and charts (possibly videos and mp3s as well).

Authors should also watch their vocabulary, as music is filled with many terms and phrases, in a variety of languages, which cannot be assumed knowledge for your potential client.

Experience comes into play when writing. If, for example, you have had a vast amount of teaching experience, then knowing how you dealt with your most challenging of students plays a key roll in writing effectively as an author. That having been said, potential buyers should weigh the author's experience into the equation when purchasing a beginner's guide.

However, experience is most certainly not a substitute for enthusiasm, style of writing, and effective communication of intelligent content. If, as a potential purchaser, you feel a connection with an author's website, then that is most likely your best bet in calibrating whether or not you will enjoy the product being offered. Experience and references provide, of course, a nice auxiliary in making your final decision.

So what do you do the next time you come across a beginner piano website that has statements such as:

“Assuming the weight of your forearm in calibrating a bright martellato effect, don't forget a sudden diminuendo to accommodate the string pizzicatos and legato oboe line that provide your accompaniment.”

I'll tell you what you do. Run! Or better yet, click your mouse and move on. Beginner piano lesson books don't have to be that complicated.