Piano for Life by Mark Almond is an ideal follow-up to Piano for Quitters. Piano for Life is also a first-rate program for advanced beginners/early intermediate pianists. What Piano for Life is not is a beginning piano program. The first lesson in Piano for Life assumes knowledge of basic piano skills, such as chord structure and music theory terms.

I have not progressed beyond beginning piano, so I was somewhat overwhelmed by the first lesson. When I contacted Piano for Life, they explained to me that a beginning pianist would need to go through their program Piano for Quitters, or take lessons before proceeding on with Piano for Life.

Since the material was beyond my level of playing, I asked an 18-year-old homeschool graduate with 9 years of piano experience to give me her input and she wrote, "This DVD is more appropriate for advanced beginner/intermediate pianists. The concepts and musical terms were not well explained for beginners. I was able to follow the instructor and even learn some new and helpful concepts. I think this DVD set is great for people with piano/music background who are visual learners and self motivated."

I like the approach of Mr. Almond's presentations. His voice is pleasant and easy to listen to. A visual learner will benefit from the keyboard shots, while the auditory learner will benefit the spoken directions. The 21 lessons contained on three DVD's have a total running time of 4 ½ hours. If you think of each lesson as equivalent to one session with a piano teacher (that you can review over and over again), you will realize how affordable Piano for Life is. For less than the price of one month of piano lessons, you can own your own set of lessons! I think Piano For Life will benefit most older piano students, especially those who like/need to be able to review lessons. I can't wait until I am at a level to really benefit from Mark Almond's material!



--Product Review by: Tina Rice and Karica Stafford, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine