Are you searching for a mummy, or is a mummy sneaking after you? This late elementary piano solo is filled with unraveling chromatic passages that are perfect for a spooky Halloween mystery.
Notes, Rhythms, and Symbols included:
This original piano solo cleverly combines a simple staccato walking bass line with a running melody to set the tone for a spooky Halloween encounter. The melody is filled with turns and scale passages offset by simple harmonies and chords. Easy octave changes make it accessible for elementary level pianists, and scale passages worked into the melody teach harmonic minor (while sneaking technique into repertoire!). The finale with a glissando down the keys is always a hit. This is a great piano solo for late elementary to early intermediate students any time of year, and especially during Halloween.
When a giant passes by, the ground shakes, the earth quakes, and we all lose our footing! This original piano piece in A minor mimics the thunderous stomping of a giant’s feet with heavy bass tones offset by high treble tones. Between the Fee, Fi, Fo, Fums, the step-based melody uses soft staccato scales and smooth slurred turns to represent the feeling of trying to run away while slipping and falling. Tons of fun for elementary pianists!
Notes, Rhythms, and Symbols included:
In the dark of the night, the clock strikes: it’s Witching Hour! This spooky, ghostly original piano solo sets the perfect tone for the spookiest holiday of the year. In the music you’ll hear the call from beyond the veil, the casting of magical spells to awaken the dead, the mysteriously eerie movements of supernatural beings, and progressively faster tempo changes until the end, when the dead fall back into their quiet slumber before first light. Set in the challenging key of G-sharp minor with frequent double sharps and transitions between minor and diminished passages, advancing pianists will love the spellbinding twists and turns. “Witching Hour” is an excellent choice for a Halloween performance piece.
The quiet solace of a peaceful night can be felt throughout this intermediate piano solo. Nocturne in G features LH melody and bass tones, with gentle and steady RH mid-range tones. Frequent LH crossovers and clef changes offer an excellent study in reading, keyboard awareness, and the dynamic balance between melody and accompaniment. A contemporary composition with classical influence, this is a beautiful performance piece for pianists of any age.
BONUS: This piece can easily be played by individuals with small hands, as the largest interval is only a Melodic Perfect 5th.
Among the Coral is an original contemporary piano solo for elementary pianists. With graceful melodic lines, octave changes, and pedal throughout, this music takes you on a journey swimming among the fishes of the reef. You can easily hear the ocean waves and feel the water flowing by as the melody floats up and down the keys. Clef changes and octave changes help to build reading skills and keyboard awareness while pedal lifts strengthen coordination. Perfect for a performance or musical artistry learning experience!
Springtime Daisies is an original piano solo for one-hand piano: it can be played entirely by Left Hand or Right Hand! Pedal and careful fingering strategies make it sound like a traditional two-hand piece, but with all the impressive showmanship of playing it one-handed. This beautiful, graceful intermediate piano solo was originally composed for a student who broke a finger and needed a new piece for a piano recital. It’s an excellent learning challenge and a fantastic performance number.
Go out for a night-time strut, and feel like you own the world! This easy jazz piano piece was written for late beginner to early intermediate level. With syncopation, staccato, a walking bass line, and blues scales, it’s a lot of fun to play (especially during Halloween season) and makes a great choice for a jazz piano recital piece!
This ghostly waltz calls forth an otherworldly chill from your piano keys. Mysterious and slightly sad, this waltz in A minor makes a fine Halloween piece but can easily be enjoyed any time of year. LH melody with RH pulses on beats 2 and 3 of each measure create a beautiful contemporary 2-hand waltz in classical style, supported by expressive dynamics and strategic pedal. Perfect for late beginner to early intermediate level.
Tarantula Tango is a dramatic tango intermediate piano solo in E minor. Classic tango LH rhythms and moving RH passages, harmonies, and chords combine to create a fun and memorable piece. Intermediate pianists will love the triplets and chromatic passages. Great for a Halloween performance or recital piece.
“Hooting Owl” is a quick and mysterious beginner piece with lyrics about a lone owl that continues to hoot, call, and screech at you all night. Due to its minor key and frequent use of D sharps (double harmonic minor), it has a Halloweeny vibe that kids will love!
“Hooting Owl” teaches lifts (slur-staccatos) and minimal LH movement across a short range of keys (RH remains in familiar 5-finger C position so that beginners need only concentrate on moving one hand). Some finger numbers are included to assist with LH movement. RH and LH take turns with the melody so that both develop a balanced sense of musicality. Contains no eighth notes.
A song all about Groundhog Day! This fun holiday piece teaches mid to late beginner pianists all about Punxsutawney Phil and February 2nd. While learning about the holiday, students will also learn cut time, F Major chords, repeating minor 2nds, and slur-staccato lifts to strengthen their playing skills.
Ready to sit back and enjoy the ride? This rollercoaster-inspired piano solo takes you on twists, turns, loops, and more. Scales in both parallel and contrary motion, LH and RH melodic passages, and skips, jumps, and accents all recreate the feeling of riding a rollercoaster at an amusement park. Descriptions are included throughout the music to help pianists visualize the experience as they learn. Great for mid-to-late beginner pianists and an excellent tool for teaching intervals, scales, and tempo changes.
Splattering Paint is a fun, original contemporary piano solo for elementary pianists. Quick tempo and filled with splashes of staccatos, slurs, and lifts, this quirky piano solo is perfect for the musical artist! Unique intervals and mini chromatic passages make it sound like you are splashing paint on a canvas, and rhythmic changes between the hands develop excellent hand coordination. This is a great mid to late beginner recital piece.
Taran-Tango is a flashy showpiece piano solo for late intermediate to early advanced level. It smoothly blends together Tarantella and Tango rhythms into an exciting dance filled with polyrhythms. Played allegro con fuoco, this original composition is a fantastically energetic performance piece.
For big cat lovers! “Panther on the Hunt!” captures the stealthy, tracking movements of a panther stalking its prey. The music builds tension throughout until the final dramatic pounce! With C as the tonal center, the music is based primarily on the double harmonic minor scale with an oft-flatted third for a unique and interesting sound. Cat lovers and animals lovers will love the excitement of Panther on the Hunt!
“Rainbow Sherbet” is a studio-licensed original composition for late beginner pianists. The back-and-forth movement of the hands is a fun swinging sensation that piano students will love. It is also highly educational as it switches back and forth between parallel and contrary motion every 2 beats. Rainbow Sherbet was composed with strong pedagogy principles in mind and is a wonderful little summer piece for piano studios.
COMES WITH A STUDIO LICENSE and includes 2 versions: Version 1 has the RH written where played, and Version 2 has the RH written one octave lower and marked 8va (perfect for students who need more experience reading notes in the lower/mid Treble range). Both versions sound the same when played.
For penguin lovers! “Mister Emperor Penguin” is a cute song that any penguin fan will love. Written for elementary pianists, it teaches flats, dynamics, and cut time. The catchy rhythm of the melody makes it easy to learn, and the lyrics teach about the role of “Mister Emperor Penguin” for additional educational value. This is a fun piece for animal lovers.
Floating is an original contemporary piano solo for beginner pianists. Written in F lydian mode with continual pedal resonance and gentle, graceful lifts, this music feels just like floating up in the sky. This modal composition paints beautiful imagery and serves as a lovely beginner recital piece.
“An apple a day keeps the doctor away” — how many sayings do you know about apples? And how often do kids hear these sayings and have no idea what they mean?
This late beginner number describes a handful of popular “apple idioms”, and the singer is just trying to make sense of what they mean! The playful RH melody includes one-octave arpeggios to help the hands learn to open up and stretch, with easy-to-read harmonic 2nds and 3rds in the LH accompaniment. It’s a great piece for fruit-lovers, idiom-lovers, and late beginner students of all ages.
Like the mysterious autumn wind, this music whirls and gusts with rubato, sending the colorful fall leaves blowing through the air. It changes directions constantly as it modulates between minor, dorian, lydian, major, and various other keys and modes. Autumn Wind is a uniquely beautiful and expressive fall piano solo for advanced level.
Trick-or-Treating captures the playful spirit of Halloween. Staccato passages feel like mischievous children in costume tiptoeing from house to house (will they play a trick or get a treat?!), followed by dramatic unisons, octaves, and full four-note chords that absolutely scream, “THIS IS HALLOWEEN!” This late intermediate to early advanced Halloween piano solo is perfect for a Halloween recital piece or and will get everyone in the mood for something delightfully spooky!
After a hard day’s work collecting dying souls, the Grim Reaper goes dancing to liven things up! This fast and fun groove has a repeating bass line featuring G minor blues and fast, swinging treble rhythms and chords. Groovin’ with the Grim Reaper is a lot of fun for early intermediate students (especially during Halloween season) and makes a great choice for a jazz piano recital piece!
“Come, listen closely to the secret I will tell about a sorceress who’s casting magic spells…”
Enjoy this spellbinding witchy tale for beginner piano! Beginners will love the lyrics and learn to extend beyond 5-finger position with this bewitching melody that will make any listener fall under the sorceress’s spell.