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DIGITAL PIANOS

When purchasing a digital piano, be sure to look for:
1. At least 61 full sized keys (73, 76 or 88 is better)
2. Weighted or semi-weighted keys (There should be some resistance when pressing the keys)
3. Touch sensitive (The keys should sound louder with increased pressure)
4. Sustain pedal (Might need to be purchased separately)
(Some keyboards also have options to buy a stand if you need one)

Here are some inexpensive digital pianos that my students like:

Here are some higher sound quality digital pianos that my students like:

What To Play During and After the Upper Hands Piano series

While you are playing your way through the Upper Hands Piano series, and after you have completed it,

you might like playing songs and pieces from these wonderful books. Descriptions of the books are below the links:. 

Fake Books
If you love playing popular songs from the 1940s-1970s these books are great to start with.
Upper Hands Piano BOOKS 1-3 have prepared you to play every chord in all of these fake books.
Click on Titles to View:


1.Your First Fake Book: Over 100 Songs in the Key of "C" for Keyboard, Vocal, Guitar and all "C" Instruments: An entry-level fake book featuring larger notation, and all songs are in the key of C. Includes: Ain't Misbehavin' * All the Things You Are * America the Beautiful * Beauty and the Beast * Bewitched * Blueberry Hill * Can you feel the love tonight * Can't Help Falling in Love * Don't Get Around Much Anymore * Edelweiss * Getting to Know You * Heart and Soul * It Only Takes a Moment * Leaving on a Jet Plane * Let It Be * Love Me Tender *  Mood Indigo * Satin Doll * Somewhere Out There * Try to Remember * When the Saints Go Marching In * Young at Heart * and more.
2. The Easy Fake Book: This follow-up to the popular Your First Fake Book includes over 100 more great songs that even beginning-level musicians can enjoy playing! All songs are in the key of C, and it features introductions for each song, to add a more finished sound to the arrangements. Includes: Alfie * All I Ask of You * All My Loving * Always on My Mind * Autumn in New York * Blue Skies * Cabaret * Crazy * Fields of Gold * God Bless' the Child * Great Balls of Fire * Hey, Good Lookin' * How Deep Is Your Love * I'll Be There * If * Imagine * Jailhouse Rock * Kansas City * Memory * Michelle * Misty * My Girl * My Heart Will Go On * People * Stand by Me * Star Dust * Tangerine * Tears in Heaven * Tennessee Waltz * Unchained Melody * What a Wonderful World * What'll I Do? * You've Got a Friend * and more.
3. The Easy Forties Fake Book: 100 memorable songs, all in the key of C. Easy-to-read larger music notation includes: Ac-cent-tchu-ate the Positive * The Anniversary Waltz * Bésame Mucho (Kiss Me Much) * Bewitched * Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy * Come Rain or Come Shine * Don't Get Around Much Anymore * Deep In The Heart of Texas * Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye * Harlem Nocturne * Have I Told You Lately That I Love You * How High the Moon * I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good * I'll Remember April * I'm Beginning to See the Light * It Could Happen to You * Java Jive * Love Letters * Moonlight in Vermont * A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square * Sentimental Journey * Stella by Starlight * The Surrey with the Fringe on Top * Tangerine * You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To * You're Nobody 'til Somebody Loves You * and many more.
4. The Easy Fifties Fake Book: 100 memorable songs, all in the key of C. Easy-to-read, large music notation. Includes: Autumn Leaves * Chantilly Lace * Do You Know The Way To San Jose Don't Be Cruel * Great Balls of Fire * Have I Told You Lately That I Love You * Kansas City * La Bamba * Love and Marriage * Love Me Tender * Magic Moments * Mister Sandman * Mona Lisa * Only You * Peggy Sue  * Smoke Gets in Your Eyes * Stagger Lee * Tennessee Waltz * That'll Be The Day * True Love * Unchained Melody * Your Cheatin' Heart * and dozens more.
5. The Easy Sixties Fake Book: 100 memorable songs, all in the key of C. Easy-to-read, large music notation. Includes * Baby Love * Born To Be Wild * Brown Eyed Girl * California Girls * Dancing in the Street * For Once In My Life * The Girl from Ipanema * Good Vibrations * A Groovy Kind Of Love * Happy Together * Help Me Rhonda * Hey Jude * I Get Around * I Heard It Through the Grapevine * Leaving on a Jet Plane * Let It Be Me * Respect * Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay * Soul Man * Sweet Caroline * Those Were The Days * and many more.
6. The Easy Seventies Fake Book: 100 memorable songs, all in the key of C. Easy-to-read, large music notation. Includes: All By Myself * American Pie * Baby, I Love Your Way * The Boys Are Back In Town * Crocodile Rock * Drift Away * Free Bird * How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You * I Will Survive * I'll Take You There * Joy to the World * Let It Be * Lay Down Sally​ * My Way * Stayin' Alive * We Are The Champions * We've Only Just Begun * Wonderful Tonight * When Will I Be Loved * Y.M.C.A. * You Are The Sunshine Of My Life * and more.

Classical Collections
Upper Hands Piano BOOKS 1- 4 have prepared you to play the pieces in these books.
Feel free to write letters next to the note heads of any notes you don't yet know.
Click on Titles to View: 

1. Easy Classics to Moderns: (Not so "easy" but they are short)142 late elementary pieces by the masters of piano literature date from the 2nd half of the17th century to contemporary. Includes short pieces composed by Mozart, Purcell, Schubert, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Hayden, Heller, Turk, Kabalevsky, Kullak, Bach, Volkmar, Rebikoff, Rameau, Clementi, Handel, Gretchaninoff, Schumann, Franck, Czerney, Prokofiev, Schmitt and more. 

2. More Easy Classics to Moderns: (Not so "easy" but they are short) 148 late elementary pieces by masters from the Baroque to the Modern period. Includes Clarke, Scarlatti, De Lublin, Pachelbel, Duncombe, Sweelinck, De Neufville, Couperin, Daquin, Kirnberger, Neefe, Hook, Stravinsky, Bartok, Von Weber and more. 

3. First Lessons in Bach Complete: Books I and II have been combined in an affordable new volume. An excellent resource for Late Elementary to Early Intermediate pianists. Contents: Minuet in G Major, Polonaise in G minor, March in D Major, Bourree in E minor from Lute Suite No. 1, Musette in D Major, Gavotte in G minor, Gavotte in G minor from English Suite No. 3, Gavotte in G Major from French Suite No. 5, and more.

4. Burgmuller - 25 Progressive Pieces Op. 100: Burgmuller's most famous work, the 25 Progressive Pieces, are short compositions from early to late intermediate levels, with descriptive titles.Each selection exposes students to a different technical challenge with the main emphasis on the phrasing, articulation, and dynamics often found in Romantic piano music. The collection includes "Arabesque," and "Ballade," both popular with many early-intermediate pianists. "Ave Maria" and "Pastorale" are beloved intermediate pieces. 

5. Piano Pieces For The Adult Student: One of the great collections of popular pieces for the piano, graded for elementary, intermediate, and advanced students. Piano works by Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Chopin, Schumann, as well as some folk songs and light classics. Includes: Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata and Für Elise, Handel's Largo, Offenbach's Barcarole, Chopin's Prelude and Nocturne, Schubert's Moment Musicale, Tchaikovsky's June and Waltz of the Flowers, Massenet's Elegie, Schumann's Traumerai, Brahms' Hungarian Dance #5, Mendelssohn's Spring Song, Lehar's Merry Widow Waltz, Rubinstein's Romance and Melody in F, De Yradier's La Paloma; Songs such as Londonderry Air, and Dark Eyes, and much more.

6. Classics to Moderns Intermediate: (These pieces are more advanced and can be played after the Easy Classics to Modern Collection above.) Contains standard works of repertoire and composers rarely encountered within other collections. From the Baroque through the Modern periods, with each piece in its original form for piano solo. Includes many fine works by the greatest composers in history. (Click the title to view the contents page.)

Songs of the Seasons

Of course we also suggest our series Upper Hands Piano: Songs of the Seasons, SPRING, SUMMER, AUTUMN and WINTER

Songs of the Seasons are fun, easy-to-intermediate arrangements of some of the best and beloved holiday and seasonal songs and pieces to play for yourself, or for friends and family at holiday gatherings. You can begin to use these books along with Upper Hands Piano: A Method for Adults 50+ BOOK 2. 

Click on Titles to View: 

 

1. Songs of the Seasons, SPRING: Songs of the Seasons: SPRING is a collection of fun and easy popular songs and classical pieces to enjoy playing throughout the spring. Classical selections include Vivaldi's Spring, Bach's Sleepers Wake, and Mendelssohn's Spring Song. Popular pieces include April Showers, Glow Worm and The Flowers That Bloom in the Spring. Holiday songs include Dayenu and Eliyahu Hanavi (Passover), And Her Mother Came Too! (Mother's Day), No One Could Do It Like My Father (Father's Day), Battle Hymn of the Republic (Memorial Day), De Colores (Cinco De Mayo), You're A Grand Old Flag (Flag Day), and A Tisket A Tasket plus BONUS download, I Know That My Redeemer Liveth (Easter). Larger text and notes make this music easy to read and play for children and adults of any age.

2. Songs of the Seasons, SUMMER: Songs of The Seasons, SUMMER, is a collection of fun and easy popular songs and classical pieces to enjoy playing throughout the summer. Classical selections include Vivaldi's Summer, Tchaikovsky’s June, Wagner’s Bridal Chorus, and Ponchielli's Dance of the Hours. Popular pieces include Carolina In The Morning, Avalon, By The Beautiful Sea, Aloha Oe, Down Among The Sheltering Palms, and Irving Berlin’s Some Sunny Day. Holiday songs include Yankee Doodle Dandy (Independence Day), Carrie Marry Harry (weddings) and Papa Don’t Allow (Labor Day), plus BONUS downloads available for Pachelbel’s Canon (weddings), and Haul Away Joe (Labor Day). 

3. Songs of the Seasons, AUTUMN: Songs of the Seasons: AUTUMN is a collection of fun and easy popular songs and classical pieces to enjoy playing throughout the fall season. Classical selections include Vivaldi's Autumn, Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, Chopin's spooky Funeral March, Erik Satie's Gnossienne No. 1, and Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag. Popular standards include Shine On Harvest Moon, School Days, My Melancholy Baby, Over The River and Through The Woods, We Gather Together, Irving Berlin's We Have Much to be Thankful For, and Jerome Kern's Till the Clouds Roll By. Plus online downloadable BONUS SONG: Ida, Sweet As Apple Cider.

4. Songs of the Seasons, WINTER: Here is a collection of fun and easy popular songs and classical pieces to enjoy playing throughout the winter season. Classical selections include Vivaldi's Winter, Beethoven's Joyful Joyful, Chopin's Raindrop Prelude, Bach's Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, and Clementi's Rondo (the inspiration for the song, Groovy Kind of Love). Popular holiday standards include Deck The Halls, Oh Chanukah, Silent Night, Sevivon, Jingle Bells, Auld Lang Syne, I'll Overcome Someday, Plaisir D'Amour, Danny Boy and When Irish Eyes Are Smiling. (Plus online downloadable BONUS SONGS: You Made Me Love You, and Hail To The Chief.) 

The Music Remedy

We also suggest our series The Music Remedy

The Music Remedy is a collection of beautiful, melodic songs and pieces for intermediate to Advanced Piano/Guitar/Vocals that use the healing power of music to help restore your emotional balance. Because playing music can be the best medicine.

Click on Titles to View: 

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The Music Remedy: No. 1 - 12 Passionate Pieces to Move You from Loss to Love

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The Music Remedy: No. 2 - 12 Passionate Pieces to Move You from Anxiety to Calm

 

The Music Remedy: No. 3 - 12 Passionate Pieces to Move You from Discouraged to Hopeful

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MOVING FORWARD

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Here are some ways to keep growing as a musician (from Upper Hands Piano, BOOK 4):

  1. Play with other musicians; friends who sing or play the flute, violin, guitar, ukulele, banjo, bass, or oboe can easily read from your music. Try to meet regularly by putting it in your calendar.

  2. Participate in groups such as meet-ups or recitals where the goal of performing will keep you practicing! You might even want to host soirées in which you gather people together to play a piece, sing a song, recite a poem, or tell a story. Wine and cheese tastings are fun, as well as potlucks and themed parties (such as 19th century culture or jazz-age night). Play for your family. Teach your grandchild a song. Play a piece at a party. Play for yourself by candlelight.

  3. Review! Review! Review! There may be terms or skills you studied in Upper Hands Piano books 1-4 that you have forgotten, or never fully understood in the first place. If so, you’re in good company, this is true for everyone! Sometimes the tenth time we read something is the time it finally makes sense. Review five songs and pieces that you love, to keep them current. Memorize a song such as Happy Birthday (Book 4), Auld Lang Syne (Book 2), or Ode To Joy (Book 1).   

  4. Go to our website UpperHandsPiano.com and click on the RESOURCES link to find sheet music books you might enjoy using, or visit a sheet music store to find something fun to play.

  5. Subscribe to our BLOG! I have made reference to my blog several times in Book 4, and that’s because I really want you to take advantage of all the research and FREE SHEET MUSIC I offer to my subscribers. Though I do announce my new books, the Upper Hands Piano BLOG is not about trying to sell you anything. I write about topics that I believe will benefit my students (I consider all who use Upper Hands Piano books my students!) I give you tips about how to practice (“The Best Ways To Practice Using The Latest Brain Research”), how to prepare for a performance (“Performance Anxiety”), how to take your music to the next level (“The Art of Balance At The Piano”) and many other relevant issues, in addition to offering FREE sheet music every month. I welcome your comments and hope you will join our discussions and events such as our annual Pledge To Play, 10 Minutes A Day challenge. The blog is at blog.UpperHandsPiano.com. 

  6. Most importantly, try to keep practicing at least 4 times per week. Set musical goals, keep track of your progress and journal about your observations. Keep it light, fun and positive. Playing the piano is a wonderful way to dig deep into the soul of music. 

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