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If you have a favorite piano method book for teaching beginners, you might be wondering if you need supplementary piano music.
Regardless of the method book that you use with students, it’s important to have supplementary music from the beginning.
Reading music with different sizes and formatting enhances students’ reading skills.
Also, having a piece of sheet music makes it feel like “REAL” music for students.
Students should play through lots of manageable pieces each year, so it’s good to start this habit from the beginning.
Here are some of my favorite piano pieces for beginners. These pieces can be used in the first year of lessons.
Gillock – Accent on Solos, Level 1 – This classic book is great for beginners! Pieces like Puppy Dog and Halloween Witch still appeal to students. There are several pieces with only seconds and thirds.
Glover – Sugar Cookies – This piece is in middle C position and uses only seconds and thirds. It is great for teaching staccato and legato.
Faber, N – Zoom, Zoom, Witch’s Broom – This piece has only thirds and has a very appealing sound to students. It includes one pattern moving up the piano that can be easily taught by rote. This piece uses the full range of piano, making it even more appealing to students.
Faber – Piano Adventures, Gold Star Performance Book – Pieces like I Found a Penny, A Rainbow Is a Smile, and Pony Express use mostly seconds and thirds. Zoom, Zoom, Witch’s Broom is also found is the book. There are some pieces with harmonic fifths and thirds. A Particularly Pleasing Piano Piece is easy for students and uses the full range of the piano. This is a really nice book to use with beginners.
Greenleaf – My World in Motion, Book 1– Includes some pieces with only seconds. This book would also work for adult beginning students – it doesn’t look childish!
Bober – All Creatures Great… But Small – This is one of my favorite beginning books. It has pieces about different animals with all really nice teacher duets. Students enjoy this book.
Bober – Grand Solos for Piano Book 1 – This book has really nice teacher duets that make the music even more appealing for students.
What’s your favorite piece for beginners? Leave a comment below!
Lauren teaches piano to students of all ages in New Orleans, LA. Teaching is her passion. She enjoys creating resources for her students and is the author of Ready for Theory®.
