If you walk into a music store and browse piano books for beginners, you will discover that there is lots of choice. Obviously there are many books targeting children who are learning, but believe it or not, there is quite a few that are geared towards the adult learner.
So are these piano books for adults any good? Well the answer is both yes and no.
After recently going to my local music store to actually have a look at what was available, it was nice to see that there was real choice, not just one or two books. I found that all of these books were accurate in the information that was given (believe me when I say that I have come across piano books for kids that don’t give entirely correct information). I also found that these adult piano tutor books were well laid out and the information was sequential, going from the more simple basics, to more complex techniques. I also thought that the variety of tunes would be appealing to the adult learner while building skills. Obviously the language used was geared towards adults, rather than sometimes (appropriately) using more childish language.
The only problem I had with the handful of piano books that I looked at was that they all seemed to introduce a couple of new concepts at the same time and then give a few pieces for the adult student to practice and master. I have a problem with this simply because I like introducing just one new concept or technique at a time. I’m sure that there would be many people that could handle learning two or even three new things at a time, but I believe that no matter whether you are immensely gifted or not , it is important to learn new skills and techniques one at a time because it facilitates a quicker mastery of each concept. I also think that it is important to get the foundational techniques right because you are going to need the good foundation for more complex techniques later on. Think of the commonly used analogy of building a house – if the foundation is not done correctly, everything else will be sub-standard.
So my conclusion is that if you have learned to play the piano years, or even decades ago and remember quite a lot then I would encourage you to work your way through one of these adult piano course series because it will make sure that you remember correctly what you had previously learned. It will also fill in any gaps you have in your knowledge or technique.
If you are looking to learn to play the piano for the very first time, I would encourage you to find a piano teacher that you feel comfortable with and hopefully they will recommend a piano book that is actually designed for kids. I get that having cartoon type images scattered throughout the pages can perhaps be a little off putting but the many excellent books that are designed specifically for kids take you one step at a time. In my experience of teaching adults, no-one has really cared that they are using a book designed for kids because it is teaching them, one step at a time, one concept at a time and one technique at a time, the knowledge and the skills they need in order to be able to play the piano.
In conclusion, if you learned to play the piano a long time ago and think you can remember quite a bit, then do use the piano books designed for adults – they are an excellent revision. If however you are a beginner (and well done for trying something new!), then a piano book designed for kids will give you the best start.