When I first began teaching piano over 20 years ago, one of the first books that landed on my shelf of must-have piano teaching reference material was Jane Magrath’s Pianist’s Guide to Standard Teaching and Performance Literature. It was my go-to as students moved into intermediate level playing and I wanted to be sure to […]
Repertoire Suggestions
New Site for Free Piano Music
For years, IMSLP has been my go-to for free piano music in the public domain. But when I was compiling my Rote Repertoire for Piano notebook recently, I came across another source loaded with free piano music: Michael Kravchuk is a pianist, violinist, teacher, composer, music director, and book publisher currently living in Sacramento, California. […]
Favorite Rote Repertoire Pieces for Piano
As I mentioned earlier this week, I’ve been compiling a notebook of Favorite Rote Repertoire pieces for piano. A while back, Nathalie Herres, a Music Matters Blog reader and piano teacher from South Germany, contacted me with a suggestion for a couple of classical piano pieces that she recommends teaching by rote for various reasons. […]
Organizing Rote Repertoire for Piano
Many years ago I taught a young boy who loved music, but struggled learning to read it at even a basic level and often didn’t practice much during the week. I came across the piece Poet’s Lament by Jon George (in Kaleidoscope Solos, Book 3) and played it for him at one of his lessons. […]
Stream Over 20,000 Pieces of Piano Sheet Music!
Just think of it as Spotify for sheet music. For less than $10 a month you can have access to over 20,000 arrangements of piano sheet music. OKTAV Music (founded in 2017 by a group of passionate piano players who “decided to create the sheet music library we have always wanted”) gave me a one […]
Free Covid Blessing Piano Sheet Music
Composer Lynette Sawatsky has written a lovely intermediate piano solo based on a creative Covid-themed motif and it’s available for free in her store at the Top Music Marketplace. I have a student who is especially into coming up with chord progressions for her own improvising and composing, so I’m excited for her to explore […]
