What People Are Saying . . .
'In her two-volume Treasures from the Piano Bench, Ms. Cacioppo makes intelligent repertoire choices which show a deep understanding of the literature. Many selections are not found in other compilation books, which makes her contribution stand out. I have used these volumes with many students over the past semester and have been very pleased. I would recommend them to any piano teacher looking for a fresh addition to their teaching library."
Chad R. Bowles
Chair, Piano Department
Peabody Preparatory
Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins Univ.
chadrbowles.com
"Christine Cacioppo has developed an outstanding teaching method for the adult beginner, something that is urgently needed in college piano courses and private instruction. I was especially impressed with the introductory section on getting acquainted with the keyboard; instructions are clear and specific, and there are excellent segments on notation, rhythmic patterns, meter, key signatures,hand position, in other words, everything the student should know about getting started. The pieces are carefully edited from very simple items to the intermediate level with more challenging tasks for the student to move forward. The historical section on composers and suggested recordings is also well done and provides a great overall perspective on music from each era. I highly recommend this new edition!"
Althea Waites
International Steinway artist
Professor of Piano
Cole Conservatory of Music
California State University
altheawaites.com
"Of the three books, Treasures from the Piano Bench Vol. II is both my favorite and the book I'll use most often in my teaching. The repertoire in Book II is beautifully arranged and formatted. Some of the IMSLP scans, Dover publications, and even other teaching arrangements we're stuck with can be completely baffling, font-wise, to my students and I think it intimidates them a lot. Seeing Chopin, Bartok and Debussy written with space and clarity makes them leaps and bounds easier to read and takes some of the "jitters" out of the learning process. Other volumes/collections of repertoire like this are riddled with poor fingerings, strange phrasing, and errors everywhere - but I didn't find anything of the sort in here".
Michael Stambaugh, Composer, Pianist
and Instructor
Settlement Music School
Philadelphia, PA
As an experienced horn player, basic musical information was already known to me. But I had never learned how to play the piano and hence bought Christine Cacioppo’s Classic Piano for the Adult Beginner. Even though I am now only a modest piano player, her book had true advantages for my learning. Worksheets Ia and 1b allowed me to quickly learn very high treble and low bass clef notes not used for horns. The chord worksheets, for instance Worksheet 8, present common and important chords, also something the horn, with only single tones, does not play. And the constantly increasing difficulty of the generally short musical pieces in this book has been so efficiently determined by Ms. Cacioppo. The discussions and photos of the famous composers are fascinating. With a M.A. from New York University, Chris Cacioppo is a skilled pianist and has been a most competent teacher for two highly-praised colleges near Philadelphia. Classic Piano for the Adult Beginner will increase the ability of any dedicated person devoted to the piano quickly and skillfully. A most useful and desirable presentation!
Dr. Friedrich Thiel, Horn Player
Düsseldorf, Germany
“Classic Piano for the Adult Beginner is a compendium that covers everything, right from the beginning pupil to the intermediate student, including technic, hand position, etc. A great collection of well-chosen repertoire, expertly arranged and edited. It also provides a valuable history of keyboard instruments and explanation of their mechanics, which most pianists know very little of, but should. [...] The dual volumes of Treasures from the Piano Bench are two wonders!! Terrific (topped off with Rameau)! I hope teachers will purchase and recommend these – they have a lot to offer.”
Robert Palmieri
Professor of Piano (ret.)
Contributor to Clavier Companion
Editor, The Piano: An Encyclopedia (Routledge)
Author, 20 Piano Exercises (Oxford)
Bellingham, WA
"Christine Cacioppo’s Classic Piano for the Adult Beginner is an outstanding addition to the pedagogical literature. I am quite impressed with the enormous amount of information packed into this volume. Along with a clear presentation of pedagogical necessities for the student, there is a useful survey of composers and their style. A bonus is the compact yet thorough discussion concerning the development of keyboard instruments. The rapid yet logical progression of difficulties in the chosen repertoire will serve the adult student quite well. I would definitely recommend this volume to any teacher of adult students."
Dr. Charles Abramovic, Professor
Department of Keyboard Studies
Boyer College of Music and Dance
Temple University
Philadelphia, PA
"The Treasures from the Piano Bench volumes offer excellent pedagogical resources for the teacher and outstanding economic value for the student with their increasing level of difficulty and breadth of musical materials. The editing, fingering and notated ornaments are well thought out, conserving lesson time and facilitating the student’s reading and understanding of the music."
Nadine E. Shank, Professor of Piano
Director of Piano Studies and Collab. Piano
Dept. of Music and Dance, Fine Arts Center
University of Massachusetts
Amherst, MA
"I introduced your music in my Piano Pedagogy class this past semester. I thought both books, Treasures from the Piano Bench and Classic Piano for the Adult Beginner, are good for both private and group class settings. I like everything about them - great choice of repertoire (both well known and unfamiliar), the spiral binding with easy page turns, clean & big notation, helpful information, etc. It is attractive and user-friendly."
Dr. Janice Park, DMA, Instructor of Music
& Coordinator of Secondary Piano
Hall-Musco Conservatory of Music
Chapman University
Orange, CA
Christine Carlson Cacioppo has been teaching piano to students of all ages for many years and out of this experience come self-published collections that all teachers can benefit from. How many times do you say “I really should put together my own repertoire anthology”? I stopped counting. While there are tons of collections out there very few have all of the requirements that I insist on like standard repertoire, good fingering, editing, and nice layout on the page as well as a binding that will stay on the piano. Christine has accomplished this in her two volumes of Treasures from the Piano Bench, a collection of original piano compositions that children love to play, and now a new title to help the older beginner: Classic Piano for the Adult Beginner.
Julia Chukinas, Piano Instructor
Owner of Calliope Music
Ardmore, PA