|
|
If you have any questions that are not answered on this Questions and Answers page, please call us on 800.799.4637 or 818.887.8870.
|
|
Q)
|
Do you offer a money-back guarantee on your products?
|
|
A)
|
Yes, if you decide you do not want the products you can return them to us within 30 days for a full refund, less the original shipping costs. Please note that the products need to be returned in good condition, or re-stocking charges may apply. We regret that we are unable to accept returns of CD products with the outer packaging opened. We're happy to say that we hardly ever get returns of our products (about one or two per year on average)!
|
|
Q)
|
What if I don't want to give my credit card over the Internet?
|
|
A)
|
That's fine, simply continue through the ordering process until it asks you for a credit card number, then simply choose "check" or "phone" as a payment option and we will receive your order electronically. You can then give us your credit card number over the phone, or write us a check, and as soon as we receive payment, we'll ship your order. While we welcome your payment by check, we reserve the right to allow five working days for the check to clear, prior to shipping your merchandise.
|
|
Q)
|
Can I buy your books and CDs at my local music store?
|
|
A)
|
Your local music store may have our books in stock, in which case you can of course go ahead and buy them! Be careful however, if the store says "we can order them for you"...unfortunately this can result in considerable delays (we do not supply the stores ourselves). In this case we would advise ordering directly from us...it's quicker and easier, and we always have stock of our products. Also, we are the only source for all of the CD-packs and Midi files accompanying our books, so your local store would not be able to supply these at all.
|
|
Q)
|
Where are you located? How long have you been in business?
|
|
A)
|
Our main office and teaching studio is in West Hills, California. Our fulfillment warehouse (where we ship the orders) is in Valencia, California. We have been supplying our music education products to customers worldwide since 1994.
|
|
Q)
|
Will I be able to speak directly to Mark Harrison if I have questions about the materials?
|
|
A)
|
Yes, you are welcome to call at any time. If Mark is available when you call, he'll speak with you right away. If not, he'll call you back as soon as possible. All calls and emails are normally returned within 24 hours.
|
|
Q)
|
Are your materials suitable for self-study?
|
|
A)
|
Yes, most of our customers use the material on a self-study basis.
|
|
Q)
|
You have several different piano instruction books:
– The Pop Piano Book
– Keyboard Style Series (volumes on blues, country, R&B, smooth jazz, jazz-blues, and gospel)
– All About Piano
– Stuff! Good Piano Players Should Know
I am not sure which book(s) to buy. What is the relationship between these different books? Is there any material duplicated between the books? What are the differences in approach between the books?
|
|
A)
|
The Pop Piano Book remains the central 'core' of our piano curriculum, and is recommended for all serious students and musicians working in contemporary piano styles. This book gives you a lot of keyboard harmony and voicings, and then shows you in great detail how to use these to create the different rhythmic styles over chord progressions, as well as showing the relationships between the styles. To get the best out of The Pop Piano Book, you need to have some familiarity with the keyboard and with music notation.
The Keyboard Style Series books directly focus on an individual style, with music examples of relevant sub-styles and genres, as well as the techniques used by noted players in each style. These books are great as 'add-ons' to the Pop Piano Book, or as stand-alone methods for different keyboard styles. This series is suitable for 'advanced beginner' to intermediate level students. There is no material duplicated between the Pop Piano Book and the Keyboard Style Series books, except:
– a few "walkup" exercises in the Country Piano book were borrowed from The Pop Piano Book
– the Gospel Keyboard Styles book is wholly derived from the gospel chapters in The Pop Piano Book. You will NOT need the Gospel book if you have (or are planning to buy) The Pop Piano Book.
The All About Piano book is a very beginner-friendly introduction to the piano, and is great for beginners and hobbyists who might find The Pop Piano Book a bit 'too intense' to start with. Complete beginners sometimes start off with the All About Piano book, and then progress to The Pop Piano Book when they're ready for more serious study.
The Stuff! Good Piano Players Should Know book has a different format to all of our other books, in that it is an A – Z list of topics, rather than a 'linear method'. Although some of the Style topics are covered in the other books, all of the music examples are different, and there are some very cool play-along tracks on the CD. This book is great as an 'add-on' to The Pop Piano Book, or as a quick (yet thorough) stand-alone introduction to many topics that are important for today's piano players. This book is suitable for 'advanced beginner' to intermediate level students.
|
|
Q)
|
Several of your books have audio CD packs available with them: The Pop Piano Book, Contemporary Eartraining Levels One and Two, and Contemporary Music Theory Level Three. Do I need to buy the CDs along with the book(s), or are they optional?
|
|
A)
|
If you are buying (or already own) our Contemporary Eartraining Level One and/or Level Two books, we strongly recommend that you also purchase the accompanying CD pack(s). These will enable you to do the vocal drills and homework exercises (recognition, dictation etc) which are very beneficial. Almost all of our Eartraining book customers have also purchased the CD packs.
The CD packs available with The Pop Piano Book and the Contemporary Music Theory Level Three book are not essential, but you are likely to find them valuable. They contain audio recordings of all the music examples in these books, and can therefore really speed up your learning process (particularly for the more challenging/advanced examples).
Around 70% of our Pop Piano Book and Contemporary Music Theory Level Three book customers have also purchased the respective CD packs.
|
|
Q)
|
Do you offer discounts for multiple-item orders?
|
|
A)
|
Yes, your discounts kick in as soon as you have five or more products in the shopping cart. The more you order, the more you'll save! For more details on discounts, click
here.
|
|
Q)
|
I teach in a school or college and we're interested in using your book(s) as a teaching text for our classes. Can we order the materials from you?
|
|
A)
|
Yes, absolutely. We directly supply our books and CDs to various schools and colleges in the U.S. and overseas. Although we are not wholesalers, we do offer discounts for multiple-item orders - for more details, click
here.
|
|
|
