I’m about 25% of Hal Leonard piano method Book 2 and glad to use Mikrokosmos for additional sight reading. It’s challenging enough for adult student but interesting enough with nice melodies. Also like to work both hands together as I realize how slow my left hand is. Very suitable for my needs at the moment.
Even though I don't use Mikrokosmos for sight reading, I bet it is excellent for that because it's so strange and unpredictable. I highly recommend counting it out loud to maximize the benefit!
I'm on no. 24 from book one. Definitely a great piano method but the lack of instructions means a teacher and additional piano instruction is necessary (as Bartok says in the introduction!).
Awesome! These exercises start to get challenging right around where you are at. Teacher support or some sort of support like my membership program is definitely helpful, if not necessary. Agreed!
I started with Czerny's 100 Progressive recreations, and I found Bartok Mikrokosmos Vol.1 book at a music academy for $1 and I'm loving it. I got stuck at Czerny's No.20
The Czerny is great too, it just helps you with different skills. Czerny exercises are more technically focused as where Mikrokosmos is more musical and focused on coordination. Also, I feel like the Mikrokosmos is useful earlier on. I actually have many of my students finish Mikrokosmos 1 and then switch over to Czerny afterwards. Thanks for the comment!
The first Mikrokosmos book is a great starting point. However, many students really don't like it. I suggest using it as the "etude" category of practice and give them other pieces to work on. You might consider using a repertoire series called Masterwork Classics as well (this is the series that I use). This repertoire series includes things like AMB pieces and Little Preludes at a good time in a student's progression.
hi i liked the free essentials lesson & would like to buy the mikrokomos vol lessons 1but can't afford full membership .will you be offering it at any time soon?
Bartok exercises may be helpful to improve technique. But I don't understand classical music because it is considered the best for certain instruments. It is mostly a very harmonic music but very little melodic. Many works seem like technical exercises. The current solo piano music is a more colorful music, it expresses much more in my opinion
The Bartok exercises consist of many different types. Some help with coordination, some with musicality, some are of a technical nature, and so on. They fit along with solo music to help one develop.
I don't think Bela Bartok's Mikrokosmos is a good advice to use as a method book for learning piano for beginners. The music in this book sounds weird and advance even the notes are simpler but it sounds atonal which beginner pianists cannot understand. No.25 piece sounds and looks really weird (wtf! C# as a signature). This is in the key of B Minor but the fifth degree of the scale is natural though out the piece. The piece no.25 doesnt teach you to play music but to play press notes that are in the sheet music. Even though the pieces in this book teaches you to play modes but that concept is a very advance concept for a beginner pianist to grasp. They end up just playing notes on the piano through what is written in the sheet music without undertanding the concepts behind it. I think czerny op.599 is way more practical but the most practical to study piano is through modern method books such as Alfreds or Faber piano adventures By the way, I respect your opinion on it. I somewhat agree that Bartoks Mikrokosmos has some advantages too on beginner pianists like it teaches you to become a good sight reader and explore the possibilities of music through playing weird tonalities. I will admit that some of the pieces here are boring but this is highly subjective. Some people enjoy the sound of the pieces and I honestly enjoy the No.25 weird piece but I think this is due to my musical maturity in the sense that even atonal music I can appreciate. That is why I recommend this for advance and experience pianist.
It might help you to know that I don't actually use it as a method but as an additional study. I actually follow this up with Czerny op. 599! I like to think of Mikrokosmos as something that can enrich a student's potential. It exposes them to simple contrapuntal writing, and of course modal tonality. There is also a distinct focus on phrasing. In fact, the more unattractive one of these exercises might be, the more satisfying of a challenge it is to learn to make it musical. While students might not be able to gasp the concept of a mode, they can tell that these pieces sound different. The use of the mode forces them to trust their reading skills because their ear and intuition can't help so much. I actually like this aspect. With that said, I don't continue to push folks through the Mikrokosmos levels, because there is so much other stuff to work on. Thanks for your very thoughtful comment!
@@FlexLessons Thank You also for your positive feedback I really appreciate it. I really also agree that somewhat Bartok's Mikrokosmos can enrich a student's potential that is why piano teachers include this in their piano lessons. Even though some of the music is weird, it is fun also to explore. Using this book to boost sight reading abilities can be helpful but listening to the recordings is way more helpful and it will make students appreciate Bartok's musical masterpiece.
I’m about 25% of Hal Leonard piano method Book 2 and glad to use Mikrokosmos for additional sight reading. It’s challenging enough for adult student but interesting enough with nice melodies. Also like to work both hands together as I realize how slow my left hand is. Very suitable for my needs at the moment.
Even though I don't use Mikrokosmos for sight reading, I bet it is excellent for that because it's so strange and unpredictable. I highly recommend counting it out loud to maximize the benefit!
I'm on no. 24 from book one. Definitely a great piano method but the lack of instructions means a teacher and additional piano instruction is necessary (as Bartok says in the introduction!).
Awesome! These exercises start to get challenging right around where you are at. Teacher support or some sort of support like my membership program is definitely helpful, if not necessary. Agreed!
I started with Czerny's 100 Progressive recreations, and I found Bartok Mikrokosmos Vol.1 book at a music academy for $1 and I'm loving it. I got stuck at Czerny's No.20
The Czerny is great too, it just helps you with different skills. Czerny exercises are more technically focused as where Mikrokosmos is more musical and focused on coordination. Also, I feel like the Mikrokosmos is useful earlier on. I actually have many of my students finish Mikrokosmos 1 and then switch over to Czerny afterwards. Thanks for the comment!
Im thinking of using the two first volumes for starting teaching piano,y after that going to the notebook of bach,y some little preludes
The first Mikrokosmos book is a great starting point. However, many students really don't like it. I suggest using it as the "etude" category of practice and give them other pieces to work on. You might consider using a repertoire series called Masterwork Classics as well (this is the series that I use). This repertoire series includes things like AMB pieces and Little Preludes at a good time in a student's progression.
hi i liked the free essentials lesson & would like to buy the mikrokomos vol lessons 1but can't afford full membership .will you be offering it at any time soon?
I am so glad you liked it! Would you send me a message on Flexlessons? I am happy to chat with you about it.
Bartok exercises may be helpful to improve technique. But I don't understand classical music because it is considered the best for certain instruments. It is mostly a very harmonic music but very little melodic. Many works seem like technical exercises. The current solo piano music is a more colorful music, it expresses much more in my opinion
The Bartok exercises consist of many different types. Some help with coordination, some with musicality, some are of a technical nature, and so on. They fit along with solo music to help one develop.
I don't think Bela Bartok's Mikrokosmos is a good advice to use as a method book for learning piano for beginners.
The music in this book sounds weird and advance even the notes are simpler but it sounds atonal which beginner pianists cannot understand. No.25 piece sounds and looks really weird (wtf! C# as a signature). This is in the key of B Minor but the fifth degree of the scale is natural though out the piece. The piece no.25 doesnt teach you to play music but to play press notes that are in the sheet music. Even though the pieces in this book teaches you to play modes but that concept is a very advance concept for a beginner pianist to grasp. They end up just playing notes on the piano through what is written in the sheet music without undertanding the concepts behind it.
I think czerny op.599 is way more practical but the most practical to study piano is through modern method books such as Alfreds or Faber piano adventures
By the way, I respect your opinion on it. I somewhat agree that Bartoks Mikrokosmos has some advantages too on beginner pianists like it teaches you to become a good sight reader and explore the possibilities of music through playing weird tonalities. I will admit that some of the pieces here are boring but this is highly subjective. Some people enjoy the sound of the pieces and I honestly enjoy the No.25 weird piece but I think this is due to my musical maturity in the sense that even atonal music I can appreciate. That is why I recommend this for advance and experience pianist.
It might help you to know that I don't actually use it as a method but as an additional study. I actually follow this up with Czerny op. 599!
I like to think of Mikrokosmos as something that can enrich a student's potential. It exposes them to simple contrapuntal writing, and of course modal tonality. There is also a distinct focus on phrasing. In fact, the more unattractive one of these exercises might be, the more satisfying of a challenge it is to learn to make it musical.
While students might not be able to gasp the concept of a mode, they can tell that these pieces sound different. The use of the mode forces them to trust their reading skills because their ear and intuition can't help so much. I actually like this aspect. With that said, I don't continue to push folks through the Mikrokosmos levels, because there is so much other stuff to work on.
Thanks for your very thoughtful comment!
@@FlexLessons Thank You also for your positive feedback I really appreciate it. I really also agree that somewhat Bartok's Mikrokosmos can enrich a student's potential that is why piano teachers include this in their piano lessons. Even though some of the music is weird, it is fun also to explore. Using this book to boost sight reading abilities can be helpful but listening to the recordings is way more helpful and it will make students appreciate Bartok's musical masterpiece.