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.
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.
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.
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!
It was a dark and stormy night — lightning flashes, thunder crashes, pouring rain, pounding hail. Late elementary to early intermediate pianists will love how Stormy Night captures this moody, dark scene, perfect for Halloween music. In this original composition, RH takes on the role of the rain and hail while LH controls the thundering melody. Octave changes and harmonic intervals help with keyboard awareness and reading skills, while the quick tempo and dynamics develop musical expression.
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!
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!
Soft, broken chords and a sad refrain paint a picture of lonesome beauty in this 3-page piano solo. The melody passes from treble to bass with continual flowing accompaniment and develops a progressively deeper tone over the course of the piece before ultimately dying away.
By the soft light of a moonlit night, a melancholy strain resonates through a quiet cemetery as a lonely soul caresses the black and white keys. This technical composition is filled with broken chords led primarily by the Left Hand with cross-staff slurs for a more fluid movement.
Every Halloween, all the monsters, skeletons, hags, and more come together for the Spooky Shuffle. This addictively swinging original (a Halloween favorite!) will have your fingers dancing and feet tapping right along with them.
