Junior Hanon (Alfred Masterwork Edition)

These exercises are great. I recommend using a metronome to see how fast you or your child can do them! Then you dial down the speed and it's amazing how easy they seem. Each exercise builds a slightly different skill. They are a great warmup exercise, too.

A must for every young pianist. Use it with all of my students

This book is on the left in the picture; the virtuoso book is on the right. For someone just starting out or even a little into it, looking at all those 16th notes is overwhelming. When I was learning, back before there was fire :) , these two books were somewhat wrapped into one in that there were simpler exercises (not necessarily easier, but not as much of "you have to be kidding me ... no way am I doing that") on page 1. As "boring" as these books are in many ways, they really are good for someone serious about playing the piano. The hand strength and fingering practice that one gets from these exercises are very beneficial. I never thought I'd say that when I was learning, but it's all but impossible to deny as a still-playing adult. After this book is mastered and the "rank" of intermediate is achieved, the other will be very useful, as well, but not for a beginner. It's the beginner/advanced beginner which will be helped enormously by this book.

good

When we first started working on technique, I wanted something structured but not overwhelming. This book turned out to be a good balance—familiar exercises but in a way that felt suited for younger hands. The layout was clear, and the exercises were shortened just enough to avoid fatigue while still keeping the essential finger patterns. The book's integration into everyday practice was another aspect I found appealing. It became second nature to us when we used it as a warm-up. Because the exercises were brief, they could be completed in a few minutes without feeling like a significant undertaking. However, even in that brief period, coordination was improving and the fingers were growing stronger. What I also liked was how this book encouraged control over speed. Instead of rushing through, my student learned to focus on steady playing and accuracy. That approach made a difference in overall playing—it showed up in scales, in pieces, and even in sight-reading. Having that extra bit of control made everything else a little smoother. These workouts were doable even on days when motivation was low. It didn't feel like much work to sit down and go through them because they weren't very long. Additionally, the development felt consistent because they built on one another. Naturally, there were times when I was frustrated, but they passed quickly because the exercises weren't really taxing at once.

my piano teacher made me buy this because I have no clue about theories or such, and I don’t even have a warm up ritual 💔. Anyways she recommended me to get this and so I did, I think the warm ups are great to get your fingers moving and I really like how it includes scales! I really like it so far because it’s not too hard but also not too easy!

This is gold, a definite must have.

Perfect for your piano beginner