John Thompson vs John Schaum Piano Course | Book Comparison Review

This was very informative and helpful. Thank you very much.

Extremely helpful! Thanks much for this review.

John Thompson is the best ever!

I teach piano..use these books. Thompson is the best. I like it bc of the thing you said about moving on faster. But I use both. I like teaching my kids new old tunes and the skill of singing while playing is a wonderful added skill to incorporate. They will thank you later

Thanks for those tips regarding JT. Actually, I taught my son with the other JT method 'Easiest Piano Course'. After 5Y we completed the 8 volumes. But now I have no idea which methode to switch to continue learning. Thanks in advance for any advices.

I took lessons using the Thompson books back in the 1960s.

There were plenty of kids then who had other activities - even other music, such as grade-school band (I played clarinet). There was also Little League baseball, church activities, Cub Scouts ...

You call these “old school.” Do you have any “new school” level 2 book recommendations?

They are old because I used these when I was a kid 😂😂

Sir I'm about to complete John Thompson grade 2, and I'm thinking to switch to other book so what book would you recommend me or should i continue with John Thompson book, please suggest your opinion thank you Sir.

Thanks for the video. I am an adult returning to piano. I learned with all the oldie books (Schaum and Thompson as well as Michael Aaron). I recently bought some vintage Schaum books to use for sight reading. I would definitely agree with you that they follow a more linear progression of difficulty than John Thompson. I am looking forward to seeing your video on the contrast between European and American systems of teaching piano. As an American I am perplexed by the exam system. I'm sure it has merit. Maybe I wouldn't have stage fright if I had learned to play for others through the exam process? When I returned to the piano last year, I had never heard of ABRSM or RCM and had to look them up. I don't get it. Seems expensive to me unless the student plans on a career in music. I think it would suck all the joy out of playing. Are the exams done in other European countries or just the UK? Again, I appreciate your videos. They help with my piano mojo.

I'm definitely NOT interested pop music. I'm strictly interested in classical and this has been helpful. Even though I'm probably going to go the self-taught route, the Schaum books interest me rather strongly

Thanks very much, Stefan, for taking the time to review these teaching materials. I'm an older adult beginning self-learner taking up piano for the sheer joy of learning to play songs I like. I've nearly finished Alfred's All-in-one but am supplementing it with Schaum's A, Faber and even some of John Thompson's material. I find that exposure to different styles & content keep the journey from becoming boring. I appreciate your videos very much.
All the best from across the "pond".

Interesting video - I have a few of the Schaum books but never seen the Thompsons ones - Even though these books are out of print you can find plenty of them on Abebooks (a portal for used booksellers).

I love the vintage graphics it the JT book, my son loves colouring them in. Thanks for your review, I may look up Schaum if JT gets too hard.

Thank you for the reviews! I grew up using these books. I’m a piano teacher now and look back at these books and found that wow, these went way too fast! And I don’t think any of my students now are good fit for these.

Thank you so much Stephan for detailed comparison.
It would be helpful if you can also do Michael Aaron vs Schaum as well, and maybe aaron/thompson.
Great video, thanks again!

A blast from the past. Actually two blasts.
I have Piano Adventures, and luckily it's the British version so I can follow your videos. But I also have La Méthode Rose, bilingual since I have to talk music with French speakers. So I have to be tri-lingual, French, British and American.
I appreciate the enthousiasm and knowledge you bring to these videos. Merci.