Testimonials & reviews
Review from the magazine Music Forum, published by the Music Council of Australia
"I have read through Listen to your Hands! and found it to be a very practical and sensible method to approach the problem of teaching keyboard harmony and to associate hand patterns with recognition of harmony. It should provide a strong aid to sight reading skills for young players, which they can build upon for more advanced playing."
Prof Dr Larry Sitsky
Composition, School of Music, ANU
"William Coyle's Listen to Your Hands! has potential value for both young and mature-age students. Uniquely, it appears, the method escapes the 'tyranny of C major' from the outset and, instead, begins by introducing the student to the cycle of fifths. In doing this, it treats all harmonic keys as equal from the first lesson. Students are introduced to the triad - the basis of harmony - and are lead through simple keyboard exercises in functional harmony.
While the value of Listen to Your Hands! for young students of intermediate level is clear, the book also has attractions for older students who may wish to gain a basic understanding of the piano and harmony, or those who wish to find a more structured background for improvisation. William Coyle's method promotes intelligent musicianship through an avoidance of potentially tiresome repetition of pieces and, instead, encourages the student to look further into the language of the music they are studying."
Scott Davie
Lecturer of Harmony, Sydney Conservatorium of Music
Pianist, Sydney Dance Company
"William Coyle has developed a mentally stimulating learning process that enables piano students to hear internally what it is they are playing or are about to play...this makes music 'alive' and meaningful...extremely useful for fast learning and for developing confidence."
Eric Mitchell
Co-founder of Suzuki Piano Teaching in Australia.
Diplome de L'ecole Normale de Musique de Paris
Diploma of Music (Performers) Melb.Univ.Con
Past Vice President of ASME (1975/76)
"As a music teacher with over 30 years experience of teaching piano, from beginners to diploma level, I have continually encountered resistance from students in acquiring an understanding of how progressions function in their pieces.
Recently however, I have been intrigued by a new publication Listen to Your Hands! by William Coyle. The book is innovative and original in its concept of playing and simultaneously reciting progressions in all keys. Well worth investigating and highly recommended."
Trevor Noffke
Assoc Dip Mus. (UTAS)
Performing Cert, T.C.L.