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.
Deck the Halls is a popular Christmas carol even among young pianists. The familiar tune is a great tool for teaching dotted quarter note rhythms. Written in C Major position (with some RH movement), this arrangement is perfect for a beginner playing at their first Christmas recital.
“Gwine to Run All Night, or De Camptown Races” is a minstrel song by Stephen Foster. This arrangement captures the excitement of old-time horse races and teaches dotted quarter note rhythms, arpeggio fingering (RH), and LH/RH coordination while playing different articulations and rhythms. (Lyrics have been adapted slightly.)
The Cradle Song melody by William Kirkpatrick celebrates the arrival of the baby Jesus in the stable at Bethlehem. This arrangement is perfect for a beginner student’s first Christmas performance, with a single-note melody, an 8va repeat, and a few harmonies at the finish.
The catchy melody of this western American folk ballad adds levity to the sad tale of a young Clementine drowning and her lonely miner father joining her. Their story lives on, and poor Clementine is not forgotten! Each verse of this arrangement builds in complexity with added accompaniment and stronger dynamics until the final, softly echoed refrain.
This traditional English nursery rhyme dates back at least to the 1600s. Each verse suggests a new way to “fix London Bridge”, although nothing seems to work! This arrangement teaches I/V7 chords and helps beginner students recognize parallel motion versus contrary motion.
A playful-sounding French Canadian children’s song arranged in swinging sing-song style for beginner piano. The melody in this arrangement occasionally hops back and forth from right hand to left hand, just like the subject of the song (the morning lark). For non-French speakers, the lyrics speak of revenging oneself against the lark, who interrupts sleep and represents gossip, mistrust, and bad news!
This arrangement comes in two different versions: one in C Major and one transposed to G Major. The Single-User License is available in either key. The Studio License comes with both versions.
In this traditional arrangement, the heavenly hosts can be heard in joyous salute heralding the first Christmas. Perfect for a first-year student as a solo recital piece or simply to celebrate the season.
This crackerjack Tin Pan Alley song is all about the great American game of baseball. This beginner arrangement will get you into the spirit for the next baseball season so that you’re ready to root, root, root for the home team!
This American spiritual has been arranged in many different ways over the years. This particular arrangement maintains a march-like religious feel in keeping with one of the song’s most popular styles.
One of the most well-known Christmas carols in the modern world, Jingle Bells is played at almost every Christmas piano recital anywhere. With the verse in Middle C Position and the chorus in C Major Position, this classic take on Jingle Bells is ideal for beginners learning to navigate their way around the keys.
This arrangement of Marche Slave introduces Serbo-Russian and minor sounds to new pianists. The bold, patriotic main theme is featured prominently with compelling dynamics and a climactic finish.
Worried that others wouldn’t take him seriously, Saint-Saëns requested this entire humorous suite be published only after his death. This arrangement of the suite’s finale gives early beginner pianists a taste of how dramatic, crazy, and fun classical music really can be.
There’s no good morning greeting quite like “Morning Mood” from Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite I. This arrangement includes an uncluttered melody with soft thirds and chords in the accompaniment to ease listeners into wakefulness, just like the morning rays.
Very few people haven’t heard this classical Beethoven theme (incredibly, composed after he had lost his hearing). This arrangement combines the marvelously simple stepwise melody with dynamics, a black key crossover, and triumphant harmonic thirds to allow beginner pianists to experience the grandeur of this masterful composer’s music.
Pianists of any age can fall in love with this beautiful American folk song. This arrangement for beginner piano flows just like the wide Missouri and is written with ties to help beginner pianists identify their mid-beat entrances. Because the right hand melody travels, the left hand accompaniment remains in a familiar 5-finger hand position for stability.
This early level baroque piece is filled with stately call-and-response and lends itself well to interpretation with phrasing, dynamics, and articulations. I have included these interpretations in this edition and frequently use this piece to teach students how to transpose using various pentascales.
* Music is in its original form with minor editorial changes.
This traditional Japanese folk song highlights the fragrant pink cherry blossoms that cover the landscape of Japan in spring. This beginner arrangement emphasizes the unique melody with simple accompaniment. Hand movement, dynamics, and other music symbols give it an element of complexity to make it look and sound impressive for recitals and performances.
Even beginners can entertain! This melody-only arrangement of Joplin’s most well-known rag keeps the performer feeling fun and loose and is just the thing for a first recital piece.
This traditional English carol tells the story of that first Christmas night long ago. This arrangement performs well as a lovely piano solo for a late beginner pianist and helps with pedaling, different rhythms in the left/right hands, and right hand scale fingering.
This arrangement comes in two different versions: one in D Major and one transposed to C Major. The Single-User License is available in either key. The Studio License comes with both versions.
From the California Coast to the harbors of Maine, America the Beautiful stands as a symbol of American patriotism. Perfect for the 4th of July (or any day of the year!), this arrangement embodies the patriotic spirit with bold dynamics and full four-note chords that inspire a bright future of freedom and brotherhood.
Few religious pieces touch the Christian heart as deeply as Amazing Grace. This simple, hymn-like arrangement illustrates the peace of feeling God’s grace amid the dangers, toils, and snares of life.
The march-like melody reigns supreme in this beginner arrangement that’s great for a first recital. Even young beginners who can just barely reach an F Major chord triad can perform this rendition of Beethoven’s bombastic Turkish March.
This famous farewell song is a classic representation of Hawaiian cultural music. It was written by Princess Liliʻuokalani (later Queen Liliʻuokalani) after a tender farewell with Colonel James Harbottle Boyd, who served her family as a military official under the Kingdom of Hawaii.