Best Piano Books For Beginner Adults – A Fun Way To Learn

Piano books for beginner adults are very popular for new pianists. When I started taking piano lessons at the age of 9, I did not enjoy the kid’s books. I found the song selection to be very boring and it made me want to learn outside of piano lessons.

A lot of piano instructors will recommend a certain series of piano books and sometimes these books just aren’t the most exciting.

My personal opinion is that the best books for adults who want to learn the piano are books that have familiar songs while at the same time having technique and music theory knowledge. There are a lot of piano books out there that don’t do both well. Sometimes books will have awesome technique drills and poor song choices and vice versa.

Quick Glance At My Favorites

A big thing I look for in a book for adults is that the wording is not aimed towards kids. I have highlighted the books below that do a good job at everything I have mentioned.

Best Piano Books For Adult Beginners

Adult-All-In-One-Course

This is one of my favorite books for adults as it is geared towards an older student. A lot of times you will have to buy separate books for technique and songs, this is a great look at an all-in-one book. I like that music theory is highlighted in a nice and fun way. The book is also spiral bound and lays nice against your sheet music holder.

This book is meant to be an introductory course that hooks the musician in early. It is a fun read that builds throughout the entire book. There are a lot of videos on youtube of people playing the songs as well. This helps if you’re having trouble learning a song and want to hear what it should sound like.

I think this book breaks down music theory for beginners in a really nice way. It is rare that a book breaks down theory and has a great selection of songs and is worded for adults and not kids.

If you are looking for books geared more towards kids, check out my favorite piano books for kids 5 & under.

Adult Piano Adventures All-In-One

The first books that I learned from when I was a kid were the Faber Piano Adventures books. These books progress fast, but well. I remember a lot of teachers thought that this series was hard for kids to follow because it develops fairly quickly. The adult books that they make are similar, but I really enjoy them.

They do a good job at mixing theory in with songs as well. This series also comes with online quizzes you can take online to test your knowledge. I like this because you can go at your own pace. When you mix in the quizzes, the theory, and a good selection of songs, you get a good book. There are different levels in the Piano Adventures books and once you finish level one you progress to level two.

Piano Professor Piano Book For Adult Beginners

Damon Ferrante does a great job at creating a book here for beginners. I don’t personally find this book as exciting as some of the other books, however, it has some of the classic famous songs in here to keep it fun for you. This book is geared to hook you in early by learning famous pop songs that adults will like.

A lot of adults have said that this book is very clear and to the point. If you want something that just gets right down to the point and might not be the most fun, this is a great choice.

This book does a good job at explaining everything for adults to the point where you can use this to learn on your own. You don’t absolutely need a teacher when using this bool, however, a good teacher always helps.

Damon Ferrante has been teaching for over 25 years in guitar, piano, and music theory. It’s important to note that he’s not just a performer, he’s also a teacher.

What To Look For In Adult Piano Books

You want to find books that are entertaining to adults and not kids. There are a lot of piano instructor books that are heavily aimed towards entertaining kids. All of the options that I have listed are good all-in-one looks. This means you won’t have to find multiple books to learn.

I do recommend finding a good book on scales though. I know that these books will talk about scales, but there are great books that are dedicated to teaching you good rhythm and scale exercises that will just jump-start your learning.

The more you can learn, the better, especially when you’re just starting out. There is so much knowledge out there, especially on youtube, so just try to stay busy learning.

Does The Book Have Music Theory Lessons? Try to find books that aren’t just songbooks as you need to have concrete lessons when you’re starting out and not just songs.

Many books will just be songbooks and they won’t have great insight outside of that. You don’t want a songbook if you’re looking to learn on your own, you want an all-in-one book for adults.

Another type of book that you may be interested in reading would be a synthesizer book for beginners. If you have a love for synths, it’s great to start out early.

Conclusion

I began lessons when I was 9 years old and I thought books really helped me learn. I have been playing for over 20 years now and I have spent the last 5-6 years touring in a band playing keyboards. It was my goal to break down the best piano book for adults in a way that shows what beginners should be looking for in a book.

If you are a beginner I would recommend looking into a metronome as they will really help with your rhythm skills in the beginning.