Brazilian Carnival is a huge festival celebration filled with rhythm, dancing, costumes, and music. Mama Paquita is a well-loved Brazilian folk song that celebrates this song and dance. This arrangement is perfect for helping beginners feel rhythm and beat and learn how to navigate around the piano. Right Hand melody is supported by percussive Left Hand octave jumps that keep the fingers dancing! A great choice for a beginner piano recital piece.
Cuckoo, cuckoo! This popular German folk song is arranged here for beginner pianists and advances in difficulty over the course of the piece. The melody initially switches from hand to hand (call and response), then comes together in unison, and concludes with treble melody supported by basic chords and harmonies in the bass. The German Cuckoo song has an appealing melody and feel and is found in many piano method books; however, most arrangements are too simple or short for a performance. This arrangement transforms the melody into an interesting and engaging performance-worthy piece without being overly complicated for beginner students.
This fun traditional Christmas song is one of the oldest known secular carols. This arrangement for mid to late beginner is delightfully bouncy, filled with swing rhythms and staccato. The accompaniment is mostly made up of primary chords and inversions so that it isn’t too challenging while retaining a full and satisfying sound. The final line repeated 8va and 8vb gives a whimsical ending that is perfectly charming for a Christmas piano recital or other holiday performance.
This Australian bush ballad is the most well-known Australian folk song and Australia’s unofficial national anthem. This early beginner arrangement in C is for single-note melody with both hands. The verse begins in Middle C Position, and some Right Hand movement is required for the chorus before returning to the original hand position. Finger numbers are excluded to challenge new note readers. This well-liked melody definitely gets beginner pianists’ fingers to “go a-waltzing, Matilda, with me!”
Weigh anchor, me hearties! Set sail for the open sea! This original composition embodies the spirit of adventure, exploration, and of course, pirates! With a sailing 6/8 time signature reminiscent of old sea shanties and a melody that alternates between treble and bass, let’s hope you have your sea legs as this piece is sure to keep you on your toes. Sailing the Seven Seas is a catchy, lively piece that performs well at recitals and is especially written for early intermediate pianists who enjoy adventures and pirate music for piano.
Quietude is the essence of calm and peacefulness. This original contemporary piece brings quiet calm amid the stresses of life.
The steady stepwise RH melody is embellished by LH alternating bass and treble tones, and the challenge of the LH crossovers is balanced by a slower tempo and simple chord structure. Quietude is pattern based for ease in learning for late beginner to early intermediate pianists of all ages.
This dramatic piano solo is surprisingly easy to play! Especially written for teens and preteens, this original contemporary piece has a dark and foreboding feel reminiscent of fantasy, video games, adventure, war — you name it! Heavily pattern based, Downfall’s form is easy to follow with repeated moving RH eighth note passages supported by deep, long octave tones in the LH. It can be quickly and easily learned even by beginner pianists. This composition is sure to impress and is fulfilling as either a performance piece or for personal enjoyment.
Any late beginner or early intermediate pianist itching to play ragtime will love the Cheerio Rag! This original piece combines easy LH stride accompaniment and rhythmic RH melody sprinkled with accidentals and subdivision offbeats to capture that quintessential playful ragtime sound.
The memorable Carol of the Bells is arranged here for beginner pianists. Even earlier beginners can thrive learning this arrangement of Carol of the Bells due its repetitive four-note motif and simple LH accompaniment that stays mostly in a 5-finger position. Minimal pedal adds a rewarding fullness of sound at key transition points throughout the piece. This arrangement of the Ukrainian Bell Carol is a holiday favorite among new pianists of all ages.
This lesser known French carol has a beautiful melody line written in Dorian mode for a minor feel with a raised sixth that creates a feeling of light and hope in dark times. It is arranged for LH melody in bass clef with rolled RH treble chords as a delicate ringing accompaniment. With many valuable teaching elements for late beginner/early intermediate level pianists, this arrangement is also a beautiful Christmas performance piece.
This beloved holiday carol “Carol of the Bells” is arranged here as a late intermediate to early advanced piano solo. The main 4-note motif is supported by a continually moving accompaniment that begins softly in 4/4 meter and transitions to 3/4 with increasing energy. You can hear the ringing bell tones throughout with changing octaves, crossovers, increasingly broader harmonies, chord modulations, and urgent rhythms that ultimately swell to a climax before returning to 4/4 meter once again for a softer, calming finish. Without question, the Ukrainian Bell Carol is a sure favorite for holiday performances and recitals.
Save $40 and get this and 11 other Christmas piano solos in “A Classic Piano Christmas, Vol. 1”.
At the clang of a mysterious ringing bell, spooky spectres slowly rise from the ground… Before long, the tones of their ghoulish delight can be heard in cacophonous chords and swinging staccato singsong, which gradually compounds and accelerates to supernatural speeds until, with a final clang, the bell calls the spectres back to their resting places.
Spooky Spectres is a delightful Halloween piece that explores a wide range of musicality for the intermediate pianist, including meter changes, tempo changes, LH melody, precise articulations, and more. It combines the best of a full, advanced musical sound with the spooky fun of the Halloween season. A real crowd pleaser, Spooky Spectres is a great piece to perform, teach, and play just for fun!
Lament is a deeply emotional piano solo written for the early advanced pianist. Broad rolled chords develop into a pained, heartfelt melody with arpeggiated accompaniment, which ultimately progresses into quick and fluid arpeggiation in the Left Hand and large, full chords in the Right Hand. Written as rubato with lots of room for interpretation, this piece is a wonderful opportunity to explore the depth of your musical expression. Lends itself well to a beautiful and emotional performance piece.
* Both Licenses come with 2 versions: 1 with suggested fingerings and 1 with no fingerings if you prefer to write in your own.
What goes on in the pumpkin patch on Halloween night? All the pumpkins with their fierce jack-o-lantern faces come to life, grinning and cackling gleefully as they dance the Pumpkin Polka! This catchy, bouncy tune features a staccato melody with classic polka accompaniment in energetic cut time. It’s a great, jaunty choice for an early intermediate student at a Halloween music recital.
This fun, fast, foot-stomping boogie is perfect for a pianist looking to liven up the party. Written in F melodic minor, Banshee Boogie tells the story of an individual who comes across a banshee late a night when suddenly, she starts to dance…and before you know it, you’re joining in! Syncopated rhythms, upbeat stomps, tricky key signature, and tone clusters are sure to make this piece a fun challenge for early intermediate students during Halloween season. Great choice for a lively fall recital piece!
Full moon tonight… look out! This delightfully spooky Halloween waltz warns unsuspecting souls to beware the bite of the werewolf! The beginner-friendly melody line is accompanied by waltz style minor chord patterns and is a great way to get into the Halloween spirit while teaching minor chords and notation. Performs well as a recital piece or can be used as a fun seasonal supplemental piece.
This Swedish folk song is often sung as a game while dancing around a Christmas tree or Maypole. Arranged for late beginner level, the cheerful melody is supported by lyrics that, when translated, paint an image of a bunch of schoolchildren pressuring their teacher for some sodawater punch. This lively, bouncy piece is filled with staccatos and lifts and is perfect for any late beginner pianist who likes to play FAST!
An approximate English translation is included for your enjoyment.
This traditional Welsh lullaby arrangement for late beginner pianists is filled with gently rocking broken chords and a sweetly singing treble melody. The continually moving broken chord patterns of the LH make it easier to line up the rhythm of the RH melody. Step and skip reading with ledger lines, as well as D.S. al Coda, improve reading skills. Legato and cantabile markings encourage musical expression. This calming lullaby makes a beautiful recital piece.
This lovely Chinese melody based on the pentatonic scale is arranged here as an easy piano solo for the late beginner/early intermediate pianist. The damper pedal is held throughout so that the tones continue to resonate for a full, ringing sound. The arrangement encourages familiarity with piano geography as the hands travel back and forth. A great choice for a recital piece.
A Korean folk melody based on the pentatonic scale, Arirang is quite beautiful. The melody in this beginner arrangement sails high over a simple repeating LH pattern that is easy to learn. It teaches counting in an unusual time signature and how to lightly extend the RH beyond 5-finger position. Arirang is a great choice for a recital performance piece.
Even a new beginner pianist can appreciate the beautiful complexity of Rachmaninoff’s music. This duet is a medley of two of Rachmaninoff’s most popular Preludes (C# minor and G minor) and is written for an early beginner (Primo) and teacher or intermediate level pianist (Secondo). Strategically transposed to A minor for ease in learning, the Secondo pianist plays the deep accompaniment tones while the Primo pianist plays the main melody for a balanced taste of the original full, resonant pieces. Perfect for a new pianist’s recital performance.
This product comes with a Studio License that allows you as a Teacher to share this copy with any number of your own students. (May not be shared with other teachers or non-students.)
This beautiful Egyptian melody is arranged here in Middle C Position for early pianists. It introduces new pianists to the arresting feel of music based on the Phrygian dominant scale, commonly heard in both Arabic and Egyptian music. Accidentals, slurs, lifts, and harmony at the end add musical complexity to this otherwise simple single-note melody arrangement.
This joyful Christmas carol is arranged here as a late intermediate to early advanced piano solo. It begins with a recurring theme of treble chords tinkling like ringing bells while the melismatic “Gloria” passage sings beneath. The traditional energetic verse and refrain are repeated several times and carried through melodic variations, unique chord progressions, and modulations before coming to a jubilant conclusion. This arrangement is perfect as a showy, yet time-sensitive Christmas performance piece. (Performance length: less than 3 minutes.)
Save $40 and get this and 11 other Christmas piano solos in “A Classic Piano Christmas, Vol. 1”.
A Christmas favorite arranged with jazzy flair! First- or second-year students with a solid grasp of rhythm and note reading will love learning this performance-ready rendition filled with syncopation, staccatos, and mini chromatic passages. Jingle Bell Jazz is an excellent choice for beginner students performing at a Christmas recital or for their families during the holiday season.