Beginning Piano Repertoire by Keith Snell

I read about  a new method by Keith Snell and it sounded different and interesting. When I checked at a music store for Beginning Piano Repertoire, Progressive Pieces for the Elementary Pianist,  they didn’t have it, but ordered it for me.

I’ve checked out the method,  and I found it very good to prepare instrumentalists and voice  majors for piano proficiency exams. Sometimes piano teachers are asked to help out a student who is going to major in an orchestra instrument or voice, and the student has  no piano training. They come to us to get a head start on their piano proficiency exams and they need to learn piano as quickly as possible.

Or maybe you are going to start an older student who tells you right away they want to learn how to play  classical music and do not want  any silly pictures or songs about soccer or unicorns. (Personally I love silly pictures and songs about soccer and unicorns, but, believe it or not, I can teach without them).

 There is no pre-reading in this method; it starts right on middle C. It stays in 5-finger positions, with an extension to a 6th. Each piece is short, one to four lines, and there are no words.  There is a  theory book,  a technique book,  and a repertoire book, which is the main lesson book and includes a CD with duet accompaniments by Diane Hidy.   The technique book has exercises for phrasing, articulation, and moving around the keyboard.  There is only one level, and the objective is to learn quickly enough to move into the easiest  classical literature, such as  the  Prep level of the Snell Piano Repertoire books (which has only classical music from each period),  as soon as they finish the book.

Beginning Piano Repertoire is printed in black and white with  no pictures (except illustrations in the theory book) and is very business-like. There is no commentary on the page for the student, just the music.  For this reason,  a teacher can adapt the book to fit the needs of the student or use it as a supplement.

You might also be interested in these books if you have been looking for a beginning book that doesn’t have a lot of pictures and explanations, and moves quickly.  Another reason to use these books would be with a student who needs to review beginning piano, but doesn’t need to go back to the pre-reading stage. Since this book doesn’t have a level on it, you could use this with a transfer student who needs to start over. The series is very affordable.

If you are looking for a method book for children by Keith Snell and Diane Hidy,  try Piano Town, also published by Kjos.