Review and Giveaway of Nathan Holder’s Why is My Piano Black and White? The Ultimate Fun Facts Guide

You may recognize Nathan’s name from our review of his first book, I Wish I Didn’t Quit: Music Lessons. His latest book, Why Is My Piano Black and White? The Ultimate Fun Facts Guide, (due out on September 1!) is one that students and teachers alike will enjoy perusing.

A very brief introduction to the piano (5 pages with a somewhat random selection of information, including a description of a toy piano, but omitting any reference to spinet or console pianos in the overview of different piano types) is followed by 100+ pages of biographical sketches of pianists. These are organized by genre, beginning with “Classical,” and ending with “Musicals,” and including such entries as “Ragtime,” “Hard Bop,” “Film & TV,” and many others. Unfortunately for us classical pianists, the “Classical” genre seems relegated to a previous era of history while genres like “Pop” and “Musicals” get the designation of current music. I think some of this segregation may be the result of intertwining historical eras of music with whole genres of music, thus resulting in the impression that classical music is no longer being written.

Interspersed among the biographies are a variety of musical jokes and fun facts along the lines of: [joke] “Did you hear about the stupid pianist who kept banging his head against the keys?” “He was playing by ear.” and [fun fact] “Did you know that John Legend is the first black man to win an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and a Tony in his career?”

This is a one-of-a-kind resource and will be handy to have at my fingertips for looking up newer artists that my students mention that I may not be aware of. An extensive index in the back makes it easy to find information about each person. And 19 listening guides in the appendix tout a QR code that you can scan and go directly to a Spotify Playlist that Nathan has compiled for your listening pleasure. Might be the perfect way to explore a new genre or discover a piano piece you’d like to learn.

Now, for the best part! Nathan has kindly agreed to giveaway one copy of his book to a Music Matters Blog reader. Just leave a comment below to be entered in a drawing to win your own copy of “Why Is My Piano Black and White?” One winner will be chosen using a random number generator at noon (CST) on Friday, September 4, 2020. This will make a great addition to any studio library!

Please note: Some links above are affiliate links that enable us to receive a small commission from purchases made through them. We only recommend those that we find valuable for teaching and studio use. We are so grateful for the support of teachers and musicians who use our affiliate links to help offset the costs of running Music Matters Blog and providing free resources for music teachers!