Roses in the Springtime – a Primer Level Solo

Roses in the Springtime

I’ve had a few teachers ask me if I would re-post Roses in the Springtime, a primer level solo with the philosophy that money can’t buy everything. One of my students took my poem very literally, and was upset that I would give all my money away! She didn’t quite understand poetic license!

Anyway, there are some skips in this melody, and I put the right hand in middle D position. If that bothers you, change the fingering. This song is very pretty with an improvised broken chord teacher duet. It is pentatonic, with no half steps, so Kodaly teachers can sing it with hand signs.

I would like to thank everyone for your heartwarming response to my newly published books on Sheet Music Plus. I had no idea I would sell so many books so quickly! Please let me know if your students enjoy them.

More Sunny Solos-the Sequel

Well, I have to admit publishing my books on Sheet Music Plus has been quite an adventure. After I found out my first book, Sunny Solos, was printing all squished up, I stayed up all night reformatting it in portrait orientation. Like most primer level books, my original Sunny Solos was made in landscape orientation, but that did not work with Sheet Music Plus’ software, and no one noticed it until I started getting email from my readers.

Fortunately, the sequel to the first book, which my students happily and quite originally named More Sunny Solos, was already in portrait orientation, and as of today, it is available at Sheet Music Plus. [This time I actually bought my OWN book and printed it, just to make sure it was printing correctly. I used a PC, running Windows 7 and Google Chrome.]

Here is a little information about More Sunny Solos. It takes up where the first Sunny Solos leaves off. It has original color art drawn exclusively for this book. There are 19 eight-measure pieces with teacher duets, as well as a certificate, table of contents, and cover page. The focus of this book is to practice, in a fun way, the concepts students will need to be successful in their next method book. Here is the first piece in the book.

The piece, Where is My Soccer Ball, reviews a tie over a bar line. 

Do you ever have a student who finishes their primer method book, but you just don’t think they are ready to move on to the level? This is a good book for them to have fun and grow a little before they go into their next book. I also use it to evaluate transfer students, as a supplementary book, and as a sight-reading book.

Here is a link where you can see both books. Thank you SO very much for your heartwarming support and encouragement! If you have a printing problem, please use the contact number on the Sheet Music Plus website and I’m sure they will help you resolve it. If you previously bought Sunny Solos, be on the lookout for an email from them with a coupon code to buy the new version.

Sunny Solos Is Now Listed on Sheet Music Plus

[New Update, April 11: I am happy to report that the new version of Sunny Solos is now available. I did an extreme make-over on the book! It is now in portrait orientation! This will make it a lot easier to put in your student's binder. I was able to keep the staff and notes the same large size as before, and the duets are still on the page, as well as the color art. If you have purchased a copy of the first version, Sheet Music Plus will be sending you an email with how you can download a copy of the new book! I would like to thank everyone for their patience with this matter!]

[Update, Friday, April 5 PM: I am very sorry to announce that Sheet Music Plus was not able to post my book in landscape orientation. The program they use put it in a very squished portrait format. I am working with them to get it resolved with a new version of Sunny Solos that will work with their software. It should be up after Wednesday, when they update their website. If you have already purchased Sunny Solos, they will be sending you a coupon for another copy. Sheet Music Plus asked me to relay how sorry they are about not being able to offer my book in landscape. They are going to do everything to make it right for all the teachers who ordered it.  When you try something new, there are bumps along the way. We will get it fixed as soon as possible!]

I am so excited that my piano book Sunny Solos is now available for immediate purchase on Sheet Music Plus as a digital download! This book covers the first half of most primer level method books and contains 21 eight-measure pieces with lyrics and teacher duets. These are pieces for students who are just learning to read on the staff.

I use this book with all of my young beginner students, and I think it fills a void for the younger student who needs some beginning, on the staff, supplementary music. I also use it for transfer students who have finished their primer level method book, but are not quite ready to go on, and really need a review of the first half of the primer level.  For example, Car Pool uses only two notes, and students are so excited they can play it right away.

If you have a transfer student who can only play in C-position and you want to move them into one of the newer level one method books, Sunny Solos helps with that transition. Many of the pieces gently introduce them to music with their thumbs in other positions, in an easy-to-play way. For example, in the following example, their right thumb is on D, and students hardly even notice. 

I purposely left off a lot of finger numbers, and when I need them, we write them in. I find I never need to write in too many, but a few finger numbers helps the insecure student. I do not want any student to get frustrated while using this book!

If you purchase Sunny Solos, be sure to print it in landscape orientation.

More Sunny Solos is coming soon!

Some Valentine Games, Music, and Activities

Here are some Valentine’s Day music and activities that I’ve posted over the years. First I list 7 elementary piano solos, and then some worksheets and games. Click on the link below the picture to download this Valentine’s Day Material.

Roses Are Red- for the first few weeks of lessons

Chocolate Valentines pre-reading

Chocolate Valentines on-the-staff

Love Somebody Pre-reading

Love Somebody Primer (on-the-staff)

Love Somebody Level 2 (8th notes and some hands together)

There’s a Little Wheel a-Turning in my Heart (late elementary)

Write a Valentine’s Song (a composing activity)

Valentine Notes (a worksheet to write notes on a grand staff)

Valentine Note  worksheet  (draw lines to connect notes to the staff)

Rhythm Heart Beats (for dictation) You can put this one on your IPad and save paper!

More Rhythm Heart Beats

Valentine Note Hunt – a student favorite!

Hearts and Clubs – Notes

Hearts and Clubs – Intervals

Hearts and Clubs – Keyboard Flash Cards (use these instead of note flash cards with the Hearts and Clubs Notes board game.

Steal a Heart – a board game for group lessons. This is good for reviewing ledger lines with your older students. My middle school students love this game in group lessons.

Cards for Steal a Heart – the PDF contains many ledger line cards.

If you want to keep up with other Valentine’s Day material I may post, you can subscribe to this Word Press blog at the top. It is completely private and you can unsubscribe any time.

Father We Thank Thee and Other Thanksgiving Hymns

Father We Thank Thee For the Night

Have you ever noticed the lack of Thanksgiving music for elementary piano students? Today I am posting an arrangement of one of my favorite hymns for children. I even wrote a teacher duet! I remember as a child singing this in elementary school and in Sunday school, where all the children would get together in a large group and sing before we gathered into our age groups. I think this hymn makes a wonderful Thanksgiving song for your students. Maybe they can sing along while they play! Let me know if you see any mistakes. I usually try to get another teacher to check out my duets for errors, but I was not able to do that for this one.

If you are looking for other Thanksgiving music for beginners, check out my website. All of these are Primer level and written on the staff, unless noted. Some of these use clip art rather than my own art.

All Things Bright and Beautiful

American the Beautiful

All Creatures of Our God and King

Bless Us O Lord, and These Thy Gifts That We Receive  Also, check out the easy duet part for this that can be played by a family member. Click here for a pre-reading version for beginners.

Hurray, Thanksgiving Day – Pre -Reading was written for a beginner who really wanted a Thanksgiving piece. I had many teachers ask me for the same 8 measure song but on-the-staff, so here is the staff version. Hurray, Thanksgiving Day – on the staff

There are also several Thanksgiving seasonal games posted on my website, so check them out if you’re interested.

Do you have a favorite public domain Thanksgiving him you want arranged for Primer level? List it in a comment here and depending on the hymn melody, I’ll work on it for next year.

 

Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater – On the Staff

Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater

Question of the Week

Dear Susan,

Will you be posting a version of Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater with notes on a staff? I would like to teach it to my daughter. 

–Anxiously Waiting

Dear Anxious,

Oh my goodness, I totally forgot to post this, even though I have a student working on it! So wait no longer, here it is! Click on the link below the picture of the music, and be sure to print it in landscape orientation.

–Susan

Easter Bunny – An On the Staff Version

Easter Bunny

I promise I will not post anymore versions of Easter Bunny! Fortunately my students aren’t getting tired of it!

This version is really good for a student in Primer or Level 1 who has just learned staccato notes and wants to try them out. And if they can play it right away, that’s even more fun for them. There are skips in this piece, so if your student needs a little help with that, let her find and circle them and practice in the air and on the piano cover.

There are 2 pages to this version and a duet that is very simple. An older sibling or parent can play along. I hope your student will have a hoppy time playing this!

Don’t forget that I have posed an Easter bunny composing printable for beginners that you can do this week, as well as many Easter worksheets. Also, here is a Passover worksheet to learn notes.  PassoverEggNotes

Hurray, Thanksgiving Day on-the-staff

Hurray, Thanksgiving Day

If you used the pre-reading version of this song last year, you might be interested in my new version. I updated the art, changed the words a little, and added a very easy teacher duet that a family member can play. I wanted a Thanksgiving song that was fun to play, yet was more about the meaning of Thanksgiving.

The following are some hints for new teachers or parents who may want to try it with a beginning student or a student with some reading problems.

Teach the song by singing it to the child while you and the child tap the beat on the piano cover. Use a key higher than F because this song is not written in a child’s vocal range. When the child can sing the song, he or she is ready to learn it on the piano.

Discuss the time signature and point out the upbeat (incomplete measure) before the first measure. Simply show that the last beat from the end of the song is added to the beginning. Students accept that, and usually think it’s rather clever. If they are curious, I *sadly* tell them it can only be done at the beginning. As the child learns the notes, you can work on playing the upbeat softer than the downbeat. This concept can be explained in more detail when the student reaches that part of their method book, so a simple explanation is fine.

Help the child discover that the right hand moves by steps. This is a good piece to get experience starting on a note other than middle C.  They can have some fun by wiggling the thumb and pretending they are dropping it into some mashed potatoes. Parents, resist the temptation to write in all the notes or finger numbers.

They might feel more comfortable with the left hand because the thumb is on middle C. The LH notes are a little more difficult because there are some skips and leaps, so let the child find those places and circle them.  Spot practice difficult spots with fingers in the air, and then on the piano cover. I wonder what food the LH thumb can drop into!

Some young beginners have trouble alternating from right to left hand. I’ve found that a different colored highlighter for each hand can make a big difference. Use a pointer to help students’ eyes track the notes.

While this might seem like a lot to do for a simple 8 measure piece, remember I’m giving instructions for a beginner or a student who has trouble reading new pieces, not for a more experienced student. Taking time in the beginning helps the student become a good reader later down the road.

Speeding Underground – Level One

Speeding Underground

I asked one of my students if he would like me to write a piece for him. He was excited and quickly game me a title, Speeding Underground.

I don’t know exactly what he was thinking, but in my head I thought of an underground space ship zipping through all the levels of the earth. I think it was because I had just visited the fantastic Carnegie museum in Pittsburgh where I saw very interesting exhibits  of the geology of the ground underneath Pittsburgh.

This paragraph is for new teachers.  The non-staccato notes should be played legato. For example, the student should connect the right and left hand broken chords such as the ones in the first and second measures.  I didn’t mark it, but that’s the way we play it. Let your student draw the legato slurs and they will remember them better.

I decided to write this in C minor because my young student was playing the C minor 5-finger scale at the time. It can easily be transposed to another key. All my students who have finished their Primer level book and have moved on the next book (Level 1 in most method books, but Level 2 in Hal Leonard) have  enjoyed this because it sounds harder than it is, and who can resist C minor?

See the Scarecrow – Primer Level

See the Scarecrow

It’s time for my yearly Halloween post,  where I post a new a Halloween song as well as remind new readers of my old Halloween material.

I wrote See the Scarecrow last year for a beginning student who was just starting to read on the staff.  The only thing that might be a little tricky is the RH thumb on D. This is a good piece to read something simple that is not in middle C position.

I had never drawn a scarecrow before and  it took forever, but it was fun and my students were happy with the way it turned out. There are a lot of noisy crows around the house this time of year, and  that’s what inspired me to jot down the song. It was interesting that some of my students did not know the purpose of a  scarecrow!

If you are looking for more beginning Halloween music, check out some of the pieces I have posted over the years. Most of them are written in both pre-reading and on-the-staff notation, so they are perfect for beginning  students. The last one is 2 pages and a little more difficult.

It’s October (finger numbers only for the first week of lessons)

Hey Mr. Mummy  (on staff with teacher duet)

Halloween is Almost Here (pre-reading)

Halloween is Almost Here (on  staff)

Halloween, Halloween (pre-reading)

(Halloween Halloween on the staff)

Once A year On Halloween (pre-reading)

Once a Year On Halloween (on staff)

Spooky Spiders (on the staff)

Five Little Pumpkins (pre-reading, but long for a young beginner)

Five Little Pumpkins (on the staff)

Sneaky Sneakers (Level 1)

 

 

Tangy Tango – a Spicy Elementary Piece by Wendy Stevens

Wendy Stevens from ComposeCreate, has a new solo published by Hal Leonard. I already know it is going to be a big hit in my studio because it so appealing. Tangy Tango is a spicy sounding early elementary solo with a fun-to-play teacher duet. It is perfect for a first recital or festival piece for beginning students.

 The staves are wide spaced and it uses only quarter and half notes and rests.

It is in the key of A minor but the hands stay in middle C position and it moves mostly by steps with a few easy skips. Except for a few dynamic signs, there are not any articulation and expression marks to concern your beginners. I remember one time giving a beginner a very easy piece, but it was full of marks he had never seen and the staves were tiny, so he would not give it a try.

The rhythm is syncopated, like a tango should be. It is written in 4/4 so beginning students can read the rhythms. However, it should be played in duple meter (cut time) so the syncopation will really pop out.  

 Because there is no text and the front cover is not child-like, this is a great piece to use for every age student.  Sometimes it can be hard to find a recital piece for an older beginner that does not have a cover or text that is too childish for them. If you have such a student, this piece will be just what you need. It is also fun and appealing for young children, especially if they can play the syncopations with flair and energy. Children love pieces with interesting rhythms. Time and again they will pick this kind of piece as their favorite.

 You know what the hardest part of this fun and appealing piece is? How am I going to decide who gets to play it at the recital! 

Chocolate Valentines and other Valentine Piano Music

Chocolate Valentines pre-reading

Here is a little Valentine’s piece for your beginning students who have learned how to use all 5 fingers. It’s very easy because there are no skipping notes. It is good for sight-reading because the second line is a little harder for them.

I have several students who are beginning readers and I wanted to re-use my graphic, so I made an on-the staff version.

 Chocolate Valentines on-the-staff

If you are looking for more Valentine’s Day material, a few years ago I posted several arrangements of folk songs we sang when I taught school, as well as some Valentine themed activities. The links are below:

Love Somebody Pre-reading

Love Somebody Primer (on-the-staff)

Love Somebody Level 2 (8th notes and some hands together)

There’s a Little Wheel a-Turning in my Heart (late elementary)

Write a Valentine’s Song (a composing activity)

Valentine Notes (a worksheet to write notes on a grand staff)

Valentine Note  worksheet  (draw lines to connect notes to the staff)

Rhythm Heart Beats (for dictation)

More Rhythm Heart Beats

If you want to keep up with other Valentine’s Day material I may post, you can subscribe to this Word Press blog at the top. It is completely private and you can unsubscribe any time.

Enjoy!

Hey, Mr. Mummy

Hey, Mr. Mummy

I don’t know how these little ditties come in my head, but my students like them and I hope some of yours will, too. If so, let me know. All I have to go by are your emails and comments, and I really appreciate those! Some of you have sent pictures, and that is so much fun for me!

This one was especially challenging because I had never attempted to draw a mummy before. I’ve done frogs, ducks, pumpkins, turkeys, but never a mummy. Except for a few older things still on my website that I keep forgetting to update, I don’t use clip art because I want a consistent look, and also I’m not quite sure about the copyright issues.

I  added a real simple teacher duet to this piece, so you will not have to improvise one.

Last year a student performed this,  and we made it longer by repeating it an octave higher. If you are having a Halloween recital, you might want to try that with this one or some of the pieces I posted earlier.

Ode to Joy

Ode to Joy

I have a student in My First Piano Adventures who learned the first 8 measures to Ode to Joy and really loved it. Now that he has progressed, he asked to play the rest of the melody, so I wrote it out for him. There are skips in the third line that are sometimes a challenge, but he was up to it. We circled the skips and practiced them in the air and on the piano cover. His Mom played the symphony for him and now he is a  5 year old Beethoven fan!

Poor Fuzzy Wuzzy

Poor Fuzzy Wuzzy

I used to have a lot of the pieces from my book Sunny Solos up on my website, but I took them down to make room for other things. I’ve had a request to re-post Poor Fuzzy Wuzzy, so here it is.

This is a RH only piece in D minor.  My students are quite used to the thumb on middle D, but if your students are not and you are branching out of middle C position, have them read by intervals. This piece only has steps and repeats, which is easy.

Here is a hint for new (and newish) teachers. I’ve found that students usually don’t have reading problems until they start playing skips. So if you want to try music out of middle C position, start with the ones that only move by steps. If you do, your students will  do so much better later on when they get to skipping notes out of middle C position. 

There are no expression suggestions on this, except to start “sadly”.   Instead,  I ask the students to write them in the music. After singing the words and tapping the rhythm, I ask the students if there is a place in the music they would like to add another expression and maybe speed up, and of course they love to speed up in the 7th measure. If the student can write fairly well, they can write the word “happily” above the 7th measure. All the children understand that Fuzzy isn’t really sad, but he’s just “happy to be Me.” This is part of the message I try to promote in my studio that we are all different, but special in our own way. If you ask your young student how he is special, you may get to know your student a little better.

This piece is good for the kindergarten and 1st grade set. My daughter is the artist on this one!

Irish Celebration

 

Irish Celebration is the latest piece by Wendy Stevens, published by Hal Leonard. It is a “Showcase Solo” which means that it is leveled with the Hal Leonard Student Piano Library, which is a piano method popular with many teachers. This series starts with Level One, not a Primer level, so Level One on the front means it is an Early Elementary Piece. It is written on-the-staff in the key of C, with 3 pages including a teacher duet. 

Irish Celebration is a jig with very large notes that will make your youngest students feel very comfortable. As we know, large notes make it look easy, and when we show a piece to our students, we want them to feel like they can do it. At the top of the page there is a keyboard diagram to show students where to put their hands. This is a very handy thing to have because, while the right hand is in middle C position, the left hand pinkie will sit on E, not F as it does in a true middle C position piece. But this is not a problem because the left hand only plays 2 notes the entire piece. If your student can only play in middle C position, this is a good piece to start branching out.  I’ve said many times on this blog that middle C position is very awkward for the hand, and it is so much better if the thumbs are on different keys. I have personally arranged many pieces for my beginning students with the thumbs touching, but not on the same key.

Sometimes I look at a piece with just 7 notes  and wonder how the composer managed to make such appealing music out of so little. Irish Celebration  is one of those pieces. Wendy, my hat goes off to you, because you have written another winner. This piece is a jig, written in 3/4 time, but like all Irish jigs it has a  6/8 feel. It is written  in 3/4 time to be accessible to the beginning student. That means the piece should be played fast with one beat in a measure. Students will love this tempo. Just the other day one of my students told me he didn’t want any more “boring” pieces. I asked what made a piece fun and not boring, and he said “a fast song!” I guarantee that Irish Celebration is a fun piece. The teacher duet is appealing and also helps the student get the feel of the rhythm.

Before you start to teach this music to your young ones, work some on feeling 6/8 rhythm. Sit on the floor and chant or sing some 6/8 songs. There are so many: Hickory Dickory Dock,  Mulberry Bush, Jack and Jill, the list is endless. That’s because spoken English falls naturally into a 6/8 meter. Take a look at any nursery rhyme book and you will see what I mean. As you say the rhyme, you and your student should keep the large beat on your lap or the floor. Be sure you are beating the dotted quarter note in 6/8 meter, not the “small beat” eighth note.  Then change quickly to you singing the melody to The Irish Washer Woman while also beating the dotted quarter note. I don’t know the words to that tune, but I can sing it with fa, la, la, la.  Have fun with it by starting slow and then singing (and beating) faster and faster. This will really get the child to feel the rhythm of a jig.

Then go back to the piano and tap the rhythm of Irish Celebration (using whatever counting method works for you) on the piano lid. Now you are ready to teach Irish Celebration! The notes are not difficult, mostly steps, so it is a very good beginning reading piece.

More Music For St. Patrick’s Day

If you are looking for more music for St. Patrick’s Day, Melody Bober (FJH Publications) has written a level 1 solo that my student’s love, The Leprechaun’s Jig. Here are some more:

 Schaum Publications: Jolly Leprechaun by Schaum, E

Hal Leonard: Jazz Jig by Keveren, EE 

Willis: Jaunty Jig by Hudelson, Elementary

Kjos: Dublin Irish Jig by Bastien, Level 4

Willis: Irish Suite by Melody Bober, Intermediate

FJH: Farewell to Ireland by Timothy Brown, Intermediate

These are not particularly St. Patrick’s Day, but I like them

FJH: Three Wishes by Kevin Olson, Pre Reading

FJH: The Troubadour by Kevin Olson, Intermediate (My student and I liked this so much when it first came out, I wrote Kevin and told him how great we thought it was. Later it became at NFMC choice piece! This is a great piece for teens who like Celtic sounding music)

There are many, many more pieces that can be used for St. Patrick’s Day. I did a search of all the publishers and came up with many songs about rainbows, pixies, castles, ponies, and jigs. I have also posted on my website a few games with shamrocks and a composing piece for beginners with a St. Patrick’s Day theme. If you have a favorite St. Patrick’s Day piece you can recommend, please send me an email. Éire go Brách!

Jolly Old St. Nicholas — Elementary

Jolly Old Saint Nicholas

I arranged this a few years ago for a student who was in-between levels 1 and 2. We wanteds something a little more fancy than just the melody. I am posting it here to share with you. Over the summer I spruced it up a little. I added some color, put Santa on a diet,  and wrote the words to the second verse.

I have a set of jingle bells that I like to play during the introduction and coda while the student plays the song. They won’t miss the rhythm if they think “Jin-gle Bells -rest” as they play the first 3 measures. When the bass has the melody in measure 9, sometimes I’ll sing it as written, and sometimes up an octave with a funny voice. We get really silly and have lots of fun. You can also use it as a learning experience and discuss singing up and down octaves. While it’s old hat to us, it can be a new concept for our young students.

I was on vacation for a while and haven’t posted some of the things I worked on before I left. I have a few more Christmas solos that I hope to get up soon.

I hope everyone had a wonderful and thankful Thanksgiving! I am thankful for all the teachers who have emailed me with comments and suggestions. It means a lot to me to hear from all of you!

Mother’s Day on staff

Mother’s Day on the staff

I wanted a Mother’s Day activity for my students in Level 1,  so I modified the my pre-reading  Mother’s Day activity.  While it may look similar to the one I posted a few days ago,  because I reused  my flowers and graphics,  I wrote a new tune especially for this activity. This time I used steps and skips and two measures of hands together playing that is often a challenge at this level.

I call these measures the “tricky bits” and we learn them first,  hands separate. Then we play measure 3 and 4 hands together, but not on the keys. We play them in  the air, on the fall board, on our arm or leg, and any other way that strikes our fancy. By the time we finally get around to playing it on the piano, it is so firmly in the student’s muscle memory that the tricky bits become the “easy bits”. If they need a little more practice hands together, we start at the bottom of the keyboard and play going up or down in all the octaves. This takes a while, but it pays off when they get home. Students are more likely to practice if they have already worked out the “tricky bits.”

Roses in the Springtime

Roses in the Springtime

A teacher asked me to re-post this springtime  song that was on my web site last year.

This song comes from a one of the piano books I wrote for my students in level 1 to work on sight reading. First I have the student circle the thirds and then look for the 4th in the LH, which is usually hard to find. It should be played legato, but I left off all the markings so the student can concentrate on reading intervals.

I always improvise a teacher accompaniment for this, in a flowing style.

For the record, you can probably tell I did not do the art for this piece. I’m not sure where I got the picture because it was several years ago.  I thought it was so pretty I couldn’t resist using it.

Kitty at the Keyboard and Puppy at the Piano

 

Puppy at the Piano and Kitty at the Keyboard  is a set  of 2 “Mini Finger Suites”  written for  elementary students by Elizabeth Gutierrez and published by the well regarded Carl Fischer music publishing company.  Elizabeth Gutierrez has shown in her other piano solos that she knows what elementary students like and how to write for them. Your students will really enjoy these pieces,  especially if they like dogs or cats.

The first thing you notice about these 2 sheet music suites is the adorable, vibrant,  color covers with student-appealing artwork by Yuru Martinez.  What young child is going to be able to resist the cute kitty playing the piano with his feet on a stool,  or the puppy playing a black grand piano on stage? I want to frame them and put them on my studio wall!  

Each mini-suite includes 4 short pieces with clever titles such as Puppy-Paw Prelude, Wagtime,   Meow-Meow Minuet, and Tabby Tango.  ”Puppy Pointers” and “Kitty Klues” at the end of each piece will help the student develop artistic playing,  which seems to be the goal in these pieces.   There is also a “Kitty Dictionary” and “Doggie Dictionary” on the inside cover of each suite explaining the musical terms used.  I love the definition of a two-note slur: “Drop into the 1st note and lift from the wrist on the 2nd note. The 2nd note should be softer than the 1st. ” This is the kind of definition that is simple and easy to understand. Is there a better way to say it?

The mini-pieces in the suites are fun to play, full of musical elements and opportunities for artistic playing.  There are slurs, staccatos, simple crossovers, dynamic contrasts, some hands together,  and, of course  two note slurs.  Some of the pieces are in middle C position, while about half of them are in different positions that are easy to read by intervals. There are a few accidentals. Each piece has a nice teacher duet that is easy to read while you watch your student play.  The melodies are very pretty and just invite artistic playing.

At the end of each suite there is a cleverly drawn  activity page that I wish I had thought of.  The “kitty” suite has  a puzzle and a fill in the blanks section. The “puppy” suite has a “Doggie Notespeller” for the student to name notes to spell  popular dog breeds.

These suites are labeled Early Elementary, most likely because they contain no eighth notes. Each publishing company has its own leveling system.  Often pieces at this level are labeled “Elementary”  by other publishers,  so be careful about giving these to early level students.   You can also use these suites to introduce new concepts,  especially if you don’t want to wait until you encounter them in a method book.  I suggest this might be a good set of music to give to a transfer student to work on while you decide exactly what level you want to place the child. At a reasonable $3.95,  parents will not complain. And if you have a student who is not quite ready to go on to the next level, try using these pieces as a review.

Carl Fischer has a long history as a music publishing company, but in the recent past it seemed like they weren’t adding to their educational piano music catalog. With these publications and the recent new editions of some of their previously published pieces, I am excited to see the new face of Carl Fischer’s teaching music. It’s not too late to add these to your spring recital.