Review of Faber and Faber Piano Adventures Basic Piano

Method

The books by Nancy and Randall Faber are a popular and heavily promoted piano
"method" with many adherents. They constitute a good starting point for a
beginning teacher who has not had much in the way of piano pedagogy
instruction or teaching experience. While the books have a number of strengths,
they also have a disturbing weakness in the introduction of "position playing"
early on. Moreover, from the standpoint of substance, the Faber and Faber
"method" offers little that is fundamentally pedagogically new over methods that
have been in existence for many years - like the Francis Clark, Louise Robyn and
Suzuki methods. These other method books cost less and do more for the
students than the Faber and Faber books.
For some valuable insights on piano teaching and piano methods, read our
Artist/Educator Interview of Randall Scott Faber, co-author of the Faber and
Faber method series.

For this review, we bought and examined books from the Primer Level (Theory
Book, Technique and Artistry Book, Performance Book, Lesson Book), Level One
(Theory Book, Technique and Artistry Book, Performance Book, and Lesson Book)
and Level 2A (Lesson Book). The Faber and Faber books are cross-referenced to
each other along the outer edge of almost every page. For example, in the
Primer lesson book, page 9 the following cross-reference information is given:
Performance Page 2, Theory, Page 4, Technique, Page 4,5.
Concepts covered in the Primer Lesson Book include: Introduction to Playing with
detail about sitting at the piano, hand positions, finger numbers, the directions of
up and down on the piano, black and white keys; Basic Rhythms - such as
quarter notes, half notes, whole notes, repeat sign, and basic dynamic concepts
of forte and piano; and Key Names - ABCDEFG. Unfortunately, Middle C position

is also introduced here. We think it would have been far better for the students to
have kept the whole concept of position playing totally out of these books and,
instead, stressed intervalic and individual note reading. Each page of all the
books embodies delightful graphics, although my students found them to take up
too much space on the page and to be largely unnecessary. There are good
practice suggestions given for most of the materials such as counting aloud and
holding the hands in a rounded position on the piano.
A very good chapter is spent on Orientation to the Staff including the treble and
bass clef, the grand staff, Middle C , Treble G, and Bass F. Middle CDEFG notes
are introduced as steps on the staff, with pieces reinforcing new note names and
earlier ideas. It includes Middle CBAGF notes in the bass clef, and 3/4 time
signature, with pieces reinforcing new notes names and earlier concepts. The
next unit deals with skips on the staff using pieces of music which incorporated
skips of line to line or space to space, with more reinforcement of earlier ideas.
The following unit deals with the concept of tied notes. The last section in this
Primer lesson book deals with quarter rests and rhythm drills and uses pieces
employing the quarter rest.
The Technique and Artistry book for the Primer level enhances the concepts in
the lesson book. We liked the child-friendly discussion about technique and the
importance of having a good strong technique. This discussion was followed by a
sound initial approach to piano technique - termed "Five Secrets of Piano
Technique" including good posture (called the "Karate Pose"), rounded hand
shape (termed "blooming flowers"), firm fingertips ("making o's"), art weight
("heavy wet ropes"), and correct thumb position. Each selection in the technique
book incorporates the applicable technique secret and explains concisely and
accurately how to incorporate the secret into each piece in the technique book
The Performance book for the Primer level also, unfortunately, incorporated the
position-playing approach. The students that did a test run of all of the pieces in
this book enjoyed them, and found the duet part (that the teacher plays) to be
delightful to perform with. The Theory book for the Primer level is concerned not
only with sight reading skills but also with developing the listening and aural
skills of the students. The same concepts from the lesson book are enforced in
the theory book.
Level One books cover concepts such as legato and staccato, the treble clef
space notes, notes in treble c position (more position playing), intervals of 2nds,
3rd, 4ths, and 5ths (bravo), the half and whole rests, sharps and flats, tonic and
dominant, the C chord, the V7 chord and finally G position. Also included are
terms such as ritard, mezzoforte and mezzopiano. The technique book in Level
One incorporates four more technique secrets, such as rounded hand shape
(exemplified by hand cups), relaxed wrists (called "wrist float off" - done from a
closed piano lid), light hand bounce ("woodpecker taps") and, finally, finger
independence ("finger talk" - also done on a closed piano lid). Each piece in the
technique and artistry book does exemplifies one or more of the secrets.

Lesson Book, level 2A starts with a review of material covered in the previous
books by having students take a review test and play a review piece of music.
The seven units in Lesson Book eighth notes, transposition, the concept of the
phrase, half steps and whole steps, D position, A position, and finally the minor
-5 finger positions. Also covered in these units are the natural sign, crescendo
and diminuendo, fermata, use of the damper pedal, and tempo markings such as
allegro, moderato, and andante. As in the previous books there are practice
suggestions and discovery items. While the concepts are presented in a manner
that is pedagogically sound, Lesson Book Level 2A took about twice as long to
get a concept across as other method books and relies more heavily than we
would like on position playing, just as with the lower level books.
All in all, the Faber and Faber beginning books can serve a teacher well who
needs a pre-programmed series of books to follow as a starter for their teaching.
The main pedagogical weakness of the Faber and Faber beginning books is their
insistence on introducing position playing. Far too many transfer students who
were previously taught position playing concepts cannot read music well and
have to go back through the basics of note reading and recognition of intervals.
This is not only frustrating for the teacher, but horribly frustrating for the student
as well.
Other methods exist that teach the same materials in 1 or 2 books, rather than
requiring the student to purchase 4 or more books for each level to get all the
concepts. For example, methods like the Clark cover the same material in one or
two books that the Primer Level and the Level 1 in this method take 8 or more
books to do. This ends up prolonging instruction needlessly for the student and
teacher. Similarly, we would like to see students exposed to unvarnished
beginning classical repertoire earlier than they are in these books. Although the
design of the Faber and Faber series allows the teacher to "mix and match"
books from the series with other piano method books or to use only selected
volumes of the Faber and Faber books, doing so would be self-defeating in that
the advantages of the integration of the books would be lost. We hope that
future updates of this method will depend less heavily on position playing and
consolidate the information in such a way as to make it more cost-effective.
http://www.pianoeducation.org/pnofaber.html

Artist/Educator Archive Interview - Randall Scott Faber

We regularly feature the personal experiences and insights of a noteworthy

artist/educator on various aspects of piano performance and education. You may
not always agree with the opinions expressed, but we think you will find them
interesting and informative. The opinions offered here are those of the
interviewee and do not necessarily represent those of the West Mesa Music
Teachers Association, its officers, or members. (We have attorneys, too!). At the

end of the interview, you'll find hypertext links to the interviewee's e-mail and
Web sites (where available), so you can learn more if you're interested. Except
where otherwise noted, the interviewer is Dr. John Zeigler.

The December 1999 artist/educator:

Randall Scott Faber, Pianist, Author and Piano Pedagogy Clinician,
Nashville, TN USA
Randall Scott Faber enjoys a versatile career as piano soloist, chamber musician,
accompanist, scholar, and author. He holds three degrees with high distinction
from The University of Michigan with advanced degrees in both piano
performance and educational psychology. Performance teachers have included
Charles Fisher, Benning Dexter, and Russian pianist Nina Lelchuk. His chamber
music studies were with Eugene Bossart.

Mr. Faber has been Artist-in-Residence at Bard College in New York State and
guest faculty at the National Piano Teachers Institute at Southern Methodist
University in Dallas. He has recorded on Dovetree Records and has performed
live on radio and television broadcasts. Randall also has served as member of
the Research Advisory Group for the Leonard Bernstein Center for Education and
the Arts.
Randall Faber and his wife Nancy have authored over a hundred publications for
piano including the Piano Adventures method, the PreTime to BigTime Piano
Supplementary Library, the Developing Artist sonatina and literature collections,
and other editions of the piano repertoire. He is a sought-after clinician and has
given workshops for piano teachers in over 70 cities throughout North America.

What made you go into music?

I was intrigued by the challenge. As a child, I loved being able to conquer piece
after piece. In making a career decision, I chose music because it offers a lifetime
of artistic and intellectual challenge.

Who was the most influential person in your years as a student of the piano and
why?
I had one teacher for the first ten years of study, which is quite atypical. Her
name was Lucille Dinsmore. Though I didnt recognize it in my youth, I owe much
of my motivation and discipline to her influence. Musically, the artistic and
aesthetic sensitivities of Charles Fisher and Eugene Bossart at The University of
Michigan School of Music transformed my playing.

What do you enjoy most about making and teaching music?

I am in love with sound in relation to the feel of the keyboard. I become absorbed
with the subtleties of musical color and nuance. The most satisfying part of
teaching is helping the student to perceive and to communicate these expressive
possibilities.

What criteria and processes should students and teachers use in choosing a
piano "method" for the student?
The goal is a good fit between the needs and attributes of the student and the
characteristics of the method. Much has been said about a magic triangle
consisting of student, parent, and teacher. One could argue a case, however, for
the important triangle of student, teacher and method! After all, the student is
there to learn music, so the music being played is of tremendous importance.
Here are a few tips:

* For young students (ages 5-11), look at the "tone" of the method. Is it playful
or too serious? Does it promote happy pianists or dull lessons? Young students
are motivated by exploration, adventure, fantasy, and discovery.
* Older students (ages 12 and up) can handle a more serious tone. The older
student must feel rewarded by the accomplishment, so be careful about a
method that moves too fast. The student is likely to attribute any snag to a lag of
personal ability, when it may just be a problem in the teaching material. The key
is sophistication of material; not rate of advancement.
* Let the student participate in the choice. The student feels more ownership
and connection with a book when he/she is involved in the decision. This is
especially true of supplementary books. The choice between 2 or 3 teacherselected books can help ensure a "right fit."
* The music should be "pianistic." It should elicit graceful motions that lead to
musical shape. If the hands are always fixed, bad technical habits and unmusical
playing will follow.
* Some teachers use the method that they had as a child. The logic employed
is that "it worked for me." This is not a valid criterion. Be bold. A lot has changed.
Take advantage of the progress in the field of piano teaching.

As a co-author of the "Faber and Faber" piano method, what motivated you to
write these books? Why did you feel that another piano method was desirable?

The dropout rate for second and third years of piano study was untenable, even
embarrassing for our profession. Students were attracted to the music of their
peers, but did not relate to pieces in the prevailing methods. Nancy and I,
together with our publisher, addressed this problem by writing the PreTime to
BigTime Piano Library, which offers students fun, recognizable pieces at the
appropriate level of difficulty. Meanwhile, we continued to test the pieces in Piano
Adventures for broad student appeal. While the issues of motivation were
paramount, we were also concerned that many piano students failed to become
confident readers. We wanted students to have the theory skills and creative
opportunities of a multi-key approach, but without compromising reading skill.
The available methods typically espoused a single approach to reading. We took
a composite approach to ensure multiple skills were brought to bear on the
reading process.

What are the trade-offs for students who choose to teach themselves?
In many ways, all students are self-taught in that real progress at the piano
comes during the practice session, through the students perception and
reflection. On the other hand, it would be cavalier and perhaps a bit foolish not to
avail oneself of anothers experience and expertise. It is inefficient to learn solely
on ones own. As an adolescent, I was a self-taught pop musician. If I had found a
teacher of this style, I would have saved hundreds of hours of rather useless
repetition. To exemplify how one can "dead-end" on ones own, Ill share a story
from my experience. At age fifteen I attempted to read several college music
theory texts in order to improve my pop playing. You can imagine my frustration
in trying to apply the rules of 18th century counterpoint to the pop styles of the
1960s and 70s! A teacher can prevent this sort of confusion and quickly move
one out of a rut.

What deficiency in training or technique do you most often find in students of the
piano? How can this best be remedied?
A most common problem is the tense or locked wrist. A pianist must use the
wrist to shape the musical phrase. Technical gesture for the purpose of musical
expression is good policy and good prevention.

What kinds of things would you tell students of the piano and their teachers to
try to avoid?
Avoid practicing on an out-of-tune piano. This is just as important for the
beginning student. Avoid tackling major pieces from the repertoire too soon.
Stretch the runway a bit for technical development, musical maturing, and for
continued reading skill.

What advice would you give to students of the piano?

Learn your music theory well and work to understand its application in the pieces
you play.

What advice would you give to teachers of piano or music generally?

Put the student first. Build competence and self esteem; not competence at the
expense of self-esteem. We dont know what role music will play in the students
life. Lets not assume professional goals, and yet, lets not rule out the possibility.

What additional advice would you give to those teachers and educators who
would like to get their own teaching materials and methods published?
Test your material in your own studio. If it doesnt work with your own students,
no publisher will want it. If your students love the material and it fills a need, it
deserves to be published.

How should teachers who have developed and tested their own teaching
materials proceed in order to get those materials published?
1. Find out about the various music publishers by browsing the racks at your
local music store. Which publishing company publishes the type of material you
are writing? Make a list of several in order of your preference.
2. Call the publishing company at the top of your list to find the name of the
keyboard editor and the submission procedure.
3. Write a letter to the editor describing your publication and asking permission
to send it for his/her review. Now your work will stand out from the many
unsolicited manuscripts that editors wade through. Also, you won't waste your
time on a company that isn't currently accepting manuscripts of your type.
4. Send your work to the editor. Always include a typed cover letter with your
address and phone clearly noted.
5. Next, be patient. Realize that the editor has many high priorities. You may be
one of them in the future, but not quite yet.
6. If you are rejected, take any feedback given and then, without emotion,
move to the next publisher on your list. Don't be discouraged. I dare say ALL
successful composers, authors, songwriters, etc. have experienced rejection
letters. (A publisher can have works slated for years in advance of release, so a

rejection may simply mean there is no room in the publisher's agenda.) Be

persistent; but also be willing to adapt to a publisher's needs.

Can you give us your reflections upon music as a career?

American society places too much importance on the word professional and an
unfortunate connotation for the word amateur. A professional practices art for
money; the amateur out of love (amour). Isnt the latter more admirable? Lets
learn to respect the amateur. However, if you are really good and you cannot live
without making music, then consider becoming a professional musician. This was
the advice composer Ross Lee Finney gave Nancy.

How would you define a "successful" musician or music educator and what does
it take to get there?
A successful musician is one who can play the style of music he or she desires,
and can do so for the enjoyment of others. A successful music educator is one
who helps another get there. Once this basic success is achieved, new goals are
always set regardless of ones level of advancement.

What are your views on competitions and what should teachers and students
expect from that experience?
We live in a world of competitioncompetition for ideas, customers, and
attention. It is no wonder that the arts are also highly competitive. Nonetheless, I
personally feel competitions are over-emphasized. They certainly have
motivational value for some students. Unfortunately, they are motivational
primarily for the winners. That leaves a majority feeling left behind or left out. We
have to keep in mind that students differ in personality. Some thrive in a
competitive arena; others abhor even the concept. I had a very talented student
quit lessons when I recommended that she compete. She didnt want to "beat"
anyone. Another student with exceptional pianistic skill could never take a prize
because he was always entering high-profile competitions. The competitions
demoralized him and he stopped working hard. For those who wish to compete,
an appropriate and well-timed competition can provide an incentive for hard
work, acknowledgement for achievement, and a selection process for an arena
that offers little job opportunity.

What were your best and worst teaching experiences?

I treasure a beautifully played moment in the cadenza of Beethovens 1st Piano
Concerto, when the student performer completely captured the essence and
pacing of a soft transitional passage. When the student replicated it in

competition and then on stage, I felt fully rewarded. My worst teaching

experience was hearing the mayors daughter tell me in her lesson that I didnt
have to be mean just because she was slow. That was a turning point for me in
understanding the purpose of the piano lesson, and the importance of the
teacher-student interaction.

What were your best and worst performing experiences?

I once played a recital in which I felt I had transcended time during a Mozart
Sonata. It was as if I could slow or speed time itself, thus allowing complete
control of every articulated passage. It was a unique metaphysical and artistic
experience that I only had once. My worst performing experience was getting
caught in a memory loop in the final movement of the Chopin B Minor Sonata.
The fourth movement has a relentless, perpetual-motion character. It was
terrifying to be falling into literal perpetual motion. I was slightly comforted to
learn years later that the esteemed pianist and teacher Adele Marcus suffered
the same experience with the same piece.

What kinds of things can the teacher do to maintain the interest of children in
piano in the face of all the distractions modern society provides?
I think we will see a large-scale surge of interest in acoustic musical instruments
in the next few decades as a retreat from ever-present technology. Teachers can
share with students their enthusiasm for the enveloping sound of vibrating
strings. By providing a quality grand piano at the lesson, the teacher draws the
student toward such appreciation. My hometown of Grand Rapids has a
wonderful old performance hall with Steinway grand pianos in the ballrooms and
auditorium. The opportunity to play frequently on these beautiful instruments in
these grand halls had a strong influence on me in my formative years. A student
needs to experience the sense of power, control of sound, and beauty that the
piano possesses. My advice to teachers is to build strong local music
organizations and take your students to piano concerts and recitals. Also, use
any student interest in popular music to increase motivation to play. Most
students will want to move into more complex music as their skill develops.

Do you have a favorite pianist and, if so, what attracts you to that persons
performances?
I like different pianists for different repertoire. I appreciate Paul Badura Skoda
and Andreas Schiff for Bach because of their clarity of line and reserved
interpretations. Mitsuko Akidas Mozart is magical with her subtle treatment of
the small phrases. Murray Perahia plays Schubert with such clarity of tone that
one senses perfection. I like the emotional temperament of Ashkenazy on
Beethoven over the oft-favored intellectual interpretations. On the other hand, I

prefer Pollini on Chopin to the early 20th century romantic stylists like Artur
Rubenstein. That, of course, is just personal taste, and many may disagree.

What can we do as musicians to interest more people, children in particular, in

good music?
We need to give more live performances that children can easily attend. Bringing
students to live classical performances is crucial. The concert hall experience
produces an emotional response that a recording alone cannot. I am moved
when young students visit backstage after a recital with a glow of enthusiasm on
their face.

What general tips do you have for new teachers starting private teaching
studios?
Teach 45-minute lessons instead of 30-minute lessons. Youll get better results
and you will need the time to do a good job. Dont push to produce music majors
and dont treat your students as if all will become music majors. Respect the
uniqueness of the individuals life, interests, and abilities. Work hard to build the
individuals competence, and do so without comparisons. Your music majors will
emerge, but more importantly, hundreds of your students will be enriched by
music and the learning skills that develop.

What are your greatest joys and greatest frustrations teaching in a private piano
studio?
I always love seeing the students joy in receiving a new book and moving to the
next level. The greatest frustration is the difficulty of maintaining enthusiasm
when facing long hours of teaching.

Do you find membership in music teacher organizations valuable? What could

such organizations do to help teachers more?
Studio teaching is a lonely activity. Teacher organizations can be a big help in
providing a social forum with peers. I feel it is important that membership not be
exclusionary. Teachers who have not had opportunity for advanced training
should be welcomed and mentored by those more experienced. If you are,
nonetheless, faced with an exclusionary situation, ask for provisional
membership and work steadily at a program of continued education. Never be
intimidated. Regardless of training level, you are likely to have unique qualities in
your teaching that are critical for the success of certain students. Use the
organizational contacts to pass along students that need a more advanced

teacher. Ask for and accept referrals for those students who need your unique
teaching style.

What would you personally like to say to students, parents, and teachers of the
piano?
The benefits of piano lessons extend well beyond the skills of piano playing. The
student learns discipline, learning strategies, aesthetic perception, coordination,
patience, perseverance, and an array of other intangible benefits. These positive
attributes come not all at once, but over the years and years of consistent
lessons in a supportive environment. The teacher should focus on nurturing a
love of music, the student on building a disciplined routine, and the parent on
providing a foundation of long-term commitment.
You can ask your own questions of Mr. Faber by e-mail to faberran@comcast.net
and learn more about their studio and teaching at their Web site:
http://www.pianoteaching.com. Also read our review of the Faber and Faber
Piano Adventures Basic Piano Method.
http://www.pianoeducation.org/pnorsfab.html