I have subscribed to a lot of piano teaching related emails for the past 20 years, but one that brings me the most value and joy is Teach Piano Today blog by Trevor and Andrea Dow. They have so many free games and song samplers that my students love to learn with. Clicking this free song sampler for the Stolen Roses led me to dive in and buy the book.
But their teen piano library is what has recently captured my interest. I previously shared thoughts about their Performance Pop 2 Book that my intermediate students are enjoying more than their method books.
Very Useful Intermediate Piano Books
I love the cinematic calm and dramatic blend of pieces in the teen Very Useful piano books series that includes music meant to match the plots of fairy tales like Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Robin Hood, etc.
It's a nice supplement to the method books and sometimes really stretches my students to increase their skill level quickly, because they love the sound of the pieces so much, they are willing to tackle things beyond what they would encounter in their method books. The majority of my intermediate-level students chose at least one piece from these books to play for the festival because they all find them so appealing.
I love how the pieces help them become really comfortable in playing in various keys and facilitate expressive playing with a variety of patterns and rhythms.
The Cinderella Solos (in C and a minor)
The Stolen Roses Wunderkeys Pop Intermediate Solos
The repetitive left hand patterns, broad use of the keyboard, rubato, and memorable melodies are engaging for not just my teen students, but also for me to play for enjoyment. I love how the entire playlist is available on YouTube. Below I highlight each piece from the Stolen Roses, a Beauty and the Beast playlist with a few teaching elements or tips.
The Left Hand 1-5-8-5 patterns are similar to 1 octave arpeggios, just omit the third of the arpeggio and play with a gentle rocking motion.
Align your arm behind the fingers playing and elevate left hand wrist slightly for a lighter thumb touch on beats 2/3/4 to create a delicate left hand accompaniment instead of a "heavy thumping thumb."
Color the first note of the measure in the left hand when the left hand pattern changes to more easily anticipate the patterns and hand shifts.
This minor key piece includes both calm and stormy elements with many dynamic changes. The intro "interrupting thumb" rhythm in the right hand looks deceptively tricky on the page, but is more easily played if you tap it on your lap first and think of the words "beetle beetle slug." Then play with sticky holding fingers in the right hand.
Drive towards the destination (usually high points) of phrases.
This piece a great variety of moods with different technique skills needed.
For measures 1-8, play robust fortissimo chords applying the video tips by Kate Boyd about how to play loud chords.
- Strong Core= Strong Chords
- Quick Arm "Jabs"
- Quickly release finger weight with wrist floats and allow sustain pedal to hold the sound
- Voice Top note
For measures 9-15 use flexible wrist circles with varying weight to create the ebb and flow dynamics. For which other measures in this piece would wrist circles be appropriate to use?
Additional Pieces in Stolen Roses
Glimmers delicate waltz down up
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