04 Aug 2017

A question about : Keyboard music book recommendations

My husband has just got a keyboard and I am looking to get him a book with rock type/pop music in but have no idea what I am looking for so any help or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Best answers:

  • You can get 'easy keyboard' books for practically any rock/pop artist these days. Can you be more specific? You can get 'Easy Adele' (Oo-er, missus..), but that's of little use if he wants to play Billy Joel's repertoire, say .....
    What does he WANT to play?
  • He likes AC/DC, metalica, guns and roses, Bruno mars, cold play. He plays guitar and learns all sorts from AC/DC to Jessie J depending on how he feels.
    I hadn't thought of looking for specific artists but then again I have limited knowledge on these things and didn't want to ask him as I wanted to get them for Christmas.
    ETA: I know when he was talking to my nan he mentioned that he can read tab music but not chord symbols. I have no idea if he will need to learn to read them if he wants to play the keyboard.
  • I suggest googling "easy keyboard nnnnnnn" where nnnnnnn is the artist name (or using the same approach in an eBay or Amazon search box)
    The first few artists you name are primarily guitar-based bands, so I'd be surprised if they were transcribed for keyboard - you're more likely to find guitar transcriptions of those (AC/DC, metalica, guns and roses), but the others may bring forth results.
    Has he mentioned what he wants to do with the keyboard to any extent, perhaps before he bought it?
  • Take him to your local library, who have a section for sheet music. And an interlibrary loan system. (And often a photocopier, ahem.) While trying out different things, it's easier and cheaper to borrow than buy.
    The following tables give approximate Dewey Decimal Classification call numbers for printed music. Classification of music changed significantly in 1989; consequently there will be at least two numbers for most material. The last number listed in each category is for more recently acquired materials.
    Collected Works of Individual Composers 780.81
    Collections, Monuments, Anthologies 780.9, 780.09
    Instrumental Music 785-789, 784-788
    Solos Keyboard 786
    Organ 786.8, 786.5
    Piano 786.3-786.4, 786.2
    Sonatas 786.41, 786.2183
    Piano Trios 785.28193
    Piano Quartets 785.28194
    Piano Quintets 785.28195
    Sextets 785.76, 785.16
    Septets 785.77, 785.17
    Octets 785.78, 785.18
    Piano concertos 784.262
    Symphonic poems 785.3, 785.32, 785.34, 784.184
    Ballets 782.95, 784.21556
    Band Music 784.8-784.9
    Have fun! (And earplugs?)
  • He will need to learn to read music rather than guitar tabs if he wants to play keyboard.
    Rather than starting with sheet music, maybe an online tutorial site like this might be good?
    https://www.onlinepianist.com/
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