Product Description

Piano Lessons is Noah Adams's delightful and moving chronicle of his fifty-second year--a year already filled with long, fast workdays and too little spare time--as he answers at last a lifelong call: to learn to play the piano. The twelve monthly chapters span from January--when after decades of growing affection for keyboard artists and artisans he finally plunges in and buys a piano--through December, when as a surprise Christmas present for his wife he dresses in a tuxedo and, in flickering candlelight, snow falling outside the windows, he attempts their favorite piece of music, a difficult third-year composition he's been struggling with in secret to get to this very moment.

Among the up-tempo triumphs and unexpected setbacks, Noah Adams interweaves the rich history and folklore that surround the piano. And along the way, set between the ragtime rhythms and boogie-woogie beats, there are encounters with--and insights from--masters of the keyboard, from Glenn Gould and Leon Fleisher ("I was a bit embarrassed," he writes; "telling Leon Fleisher about my ambitions for piano lessons is like telling Julia Child about plans to make toast in the morning") to Dr. John and Tori Amos.

As a storyteller, Noah Adams has perfect pitch. In the foreground here, like a familiar melody, are the challenges of learning a complex new skill as an adult, when enthusiasm meets the necessary repetition of tedious scales at the end of a twelve-hour workday. Lingering in the background, like a subtle bass line, are the quiet concerns of how we spend our time and how our priorities shift as we proceed through life. For Piano Lessons is really an adventure story filled with obstacles to overcome and grand leaps forward, eccentric geniuses and quiet moments of pre-dawn practice, as Noah Adams travels across country and keyboard, pursuing his dream and keeping the rhythm.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #61614 in Books
• Published on: 1997-03-10
• Released on: 1997-03-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Amazon.com Review
The difference between the piano lessons Noah Adams took and the ones most of us took was that he was 51, not 7, and -- lucky Noah -- his mother didn't make him practice. This is not only a delightful account of his twelve-month nose-to-the-grindstone attempt to learn to play the $11,000 Steinway he bought on a whim, but also the story of his many-year process of falling in love with music and its history.

From Publishers Weekly
"It is my dream, when I touch the keys, to release the notes. It is music waiting there," writes Adams in this delightful recreation of the year he recently spent trying to learn to play the piano and, most specifically, trying to master Robert Schumann's Traumerei. The experience may have been frustrating for the author, but he is such an unself-conscious raconteur that he catches the reader's sympathy and amusement at his befuddlement as to why he, a 51-year-old, would be so foolhardy as to suddenly spend $11,375 for an instrument he neither knows how to play nor, given the pressures of his job as host of NPR's All Things Considered, has time to practice. Figuring that he has only 20 minutes a day to devote to activities unrelated to his work, he sets out to become a pianist, first studying with a computer program, then a sight-reading system on tapes and finally, in the most captivating episode here, at a 10-day adult music school in Vermont run by the family of the saleswoman who sold him his Steinway. Adams interrupts his practice sessions throughout the book to reminisce about pianists he admires, educate us about keyboard instruments, tell us about his domestic life with his wife, Neenah, and about his job and related travels. At year's end he feels confident enough to play the Schumann for his wife as a Christmas present. A piece Horowitz could play in two minutes and 32 seconds Adams needs 20 minutes to complete. No matter, for his performance brings his audience of readers to its feet with shouts of "Bravo!"
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
There must be thousands of adults who have always wanted to play piano but just never got around to it. This book is by one who did. It's part autobiography, and, since the author is host of National Public Radio's All Things Considered, the result is a look into an interesting life. It's also part journal of Adams's first year with the piano?buying it, practicing and not practicing it, and various attempts at learning to play it, ranging from the solitude of the Miracle computer system to the companionship of a stint at the ten-day Autumn Sonata workshop in Bennington. This thoughtful book is sprinkled with history of the piano and pianists, and there are also excerpts from on-air interviews with pianists ranging from Lew Fleisher to Tori Amos, from Dr. John to Lorie Line. An absorbing book for anyone who's ever played piano or just wanted to; highly recommended.
-?Michael Colby, Univ. of California, Davis
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

A musical journey
I am confused and disappointed by other reviews of this book that claim Noah Adams went about learning the piano all wrong. Readers who were hoping for hints about practice and technique have missed out on a thoroughly good read, all because of their misguided approach to this wonderful story of one man's musical quest. This is not a "how to" book, and nor should it be.

What makes this book such a treasure is the exact same thing as what one reviewer callously calls "banal fluff": talking about his wife, his love for a piece of music that he longs to play but fears he can't, his experiences of meeting and talking with other musicians, his knowledge of pianos and of music in general, and his passion and appreciation for music of many styles. The process of learning a musical instrument is a journey, and Noah tells us of his. From the first chapter, when he talks of the secret desire he has held for years to buy a piano, to the last chord of Schumann's `Träumerei' which he plays as a Christmas present for his wife, this book entranced me with the joys and the struggles of learning to play an instrument. Yes, he may have got there faster if he'd spent more time practicing and less time procrastinating, but chances are the results would have been far less rewarding, and the book would certainly have been far less interesting.

Ultimately, if you genuinely have a passion for music, there is no right or wrong way to go about learning. Noah did it this way, and he got there in the end. Who are we to criticise?

Piano Lessons
After reading most of the reviews, it seems that people had different expectations of the book and sometimes read it for the wrong purpose. I don't believe Mr. Adams wrote the book as a guide for people on how to buy a piano and learn to play it. It was more of an account of his love of music, his family, his career, and how he managed to juggle all three at once. I totally agree that if you're looking for a book that will show you how to seriously learn to play the piano, this is not it.

This book is--to me--inspiring and delightful in every way. I didn't run across any boring passages, nor did I ever want to skip any of it. It was beautifully written and I loved every word.

Goldsheld
I think it is misleading that some have written very poor reviews of "Piano Lessons" by Noah Adams. They say the book does not have enough material about how to play the piano, or that he does not have enough patience to learn to play, and the book minimizes how much hard work it takes to play.

But the goal of this book is not to teach one to play piano. It is to trace an adult's foray into piano playing. Mr. Adams chose to begin by using a book rather than hiring a teacher. Though hiring a teacher would be a far better way to begin, by reading his story one can learn a great deal. Because he didn't just hire a teacher, we learn about all his travels through piano educational techniques and materials. We learn of Denise Kahn who teaches adults on the upper west side of Manhattan- this in fact is how I found Denise, through this book- and she is a superb teacher. We read of the Van Der Lindes piano camp for adults. Mistakenly I tried to locate them in NY rather than Vermont, so I was not successful. But I did learn of Bruce Potterton's Summerkeys program in Maine, from Denise, and spent a very valuable week there. The progress one can make in an intensive week in the summer is powerful, and will reinforce your desire to continue studying. Finally, the material with Ned Phoenix makes clear how good used instruments can be, often superior to new ones, even if they need a rebuild. I in fact, bought a used Kranich and Bach for $400. The tone is wonderful and it holds a tuning real well. It is worth around $2,000.

If you want to learn HOW to play piano i.e. technique, buy other books. If you want to read about lots of ways adults can learn piano and supplement their private lessons, and read a book with feeling that will encourage you to practice and truly learn to play well, then I highly recommend Piano Lessons.