I recently received a shipment of new products to review from FJH Music Company. Included in the shipment were two Christmas books that coordinate with Helen Marlais’ method, The All-In-One Approach to Succeeding at the Piano.
The Preparatory A Merry Christmas book includes pieces at a variety of levels. Jolly Old Saint Nicholas and Up on the Housetop are arranged in pre-staff notation and played on the black keys. Jingle Bells, He Is Born (Il est ne), and Good King Wenceslas are also arranged in pre-staff notation, but they are played on the white keys. The remaining pieces (We Three Kings and Deck the Halls) are notated on the staff with both hands on or near middle C. I don’t think I would use this whole book with one student around Christmas time since the pieces are at different levels. It will be great to have around though if I need one piece for a student at a particular level. The book also includes some cute, Christmas-themed writing pages.
All of the pieces in the Preparatory B Merry Christmas book are notated on the staff. About half of the pieces are played in middle C position. It includes some familiar Christmas tunes (Deck the Halls, Up On the Housetop, Jingle Bells, Away in a Manger) that I find most young students know. The other pieces in the book (Bring a Torch, Jeannette, Isabella, I Saw Three Ships, and Go, Tell it on the Mountain) may not be quite as familiar to students. This Christmas book would work well for any first year student who has started reading on the staff. It also includes a few writing pages for students.
All of the pieces in both Christmas books include a teacher duet.
More about Marlais’ method can be found here.
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®.
