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.
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!
Li’l Liza Jane is a music standard that has been adapted in a variety of genres, including jazz, bluegrass, folk, and rock. This rendition for late beginner to early intermediate students is fast and lively! It may be played in a quick 4/4 meter or even an energetic cut time feel. Rests on the downbeats in the chorus light a fire under the fingers and make it feel like a dance number.
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.
