One of our family pandemic purchases was an electronic piano, a Yamaha P-121. My son was showing interest in music and we thought we’d be good parents and nurture that. His interest waned fast (read: in minutes), but I still play it! I grew up with a piano in the house so I’ve always been able to noodle, and I took a class in college, but I’ve never been able to fluently read sheet music enough to enjoy playing the piano. That is until I found E-Z Play Today music books¹.

E-Z Play Today music books are beginner level books that take the mystery out of musical notation. Each note gets its corresponding letter inside it, no stacked notes, and bass chords written in a boxes above the staff. It’s guitar tabs but for piano and I love it.

• Are they the exact notes? No.
• Are the melodies just single notes? Yes.
• Does it help me learn musical notation? Maybe.
• Are almost all the songs transposed to the Key of C so they’re easier to play? Yes.

E-Z Play Today meets me where I am. It’s almost exactly what I want out of a song book; “Here’s the minimum viable version of this well-known song.” I have no dreams of becoming a concert pianist, I just want to enjoy playing the piano without feeling illiterate and uncoordinated. My left hand is playing a melody and my right hand is holding down a chord. Easy.

As dumbed down as this may be, I’m enjoying the approach and there’s a wide variety of genres and artists in their collection. I’m sure I’ll buy more. I broke out the Christmas song book in November and it’s been a small bit of joy to fill the house with some holiday spirit.

1. Never change this website please. ↩