Skyhorse Publishing is proud to revive Playing Piano for Pleasure. With the wonderful writing one would expect from a longtime New Yorker reporter, Piano aficionado Charles Cooke, offers concrete routines for improving your piano performance. A pleasant and constant cheerleader, Cooke asks readers to practice every day, suggesting that they work through just that section time and again until it is perfect. In addition to his own thoughts, Cooke includes material from his interviews with master pianists, artists, and writers. The result is a book that should be cherished for years to come.
Cooke tells you how to practice, what to practice, and why. The book is aimed at the serious amateur, perhaps an adult returning to the piano after some years' absence. Cooke's suggestions have led me to the best reference on scale fingerings (by James Cooke, no relation to this author), Brahms's wonderful exercises (not for beginners), and various bits of repertory to play with. I've structured my practice sessions on Cooke's model for years. If you want to be a professional pianist this is still worth reading, but it's not really for you; find a teacher you trust and stick with that. If on the other hand you've got a day job and are playing the piano as a hobby, with perhaps occasional performances or whatever, this book actually is all you need, with or without taking formal lessons. Highly, highly recommended.
