This is the collection of classical piano repertoire I created for work with my own students, most of whom were not primarily interested in "classical" music.

In my experience, every elementary piano student should be given the opportunity to successfully play:
Spinning Song (even if you leave out the middle section at first)
Minuet in G (page one)
Fur Elise (page one)

Eventually, they should experience (if not master--that's ultimately up to them) each piece in this collection.

All hand positions and finger numbers are presented so that students can spend their time preparing successfully--not "figuring out" with endless frustration and incorrect solutions.

"Minuet in G" from the Bach notebook is a great example. Let's consider just the first page. Many (most) elementary students would love to play this piece. The RH by itself is easy. The LH is also "not difficult", but it's not self-evident, either. The notes are easy enough, and the fingering choices seem inconsequential. You could play it with several different fingering solutions.

Hands Together: Humans can pay attention to only one thing at a time: in this case, the RH or the LH. Whichever hand is receiving the attention, the other must be on "automatic pilot". You can switch focus rapidly to give the appearance that you are paying attention to two things equally, but that is not what is happening.

So... both hands need to be rehearsed (better word than "practiced") until the correct execution is the "default" behavior.

If that (sufficient correct repetetition) has not happened, then consistent successful performance with both hands is never achieved. Students complain that they wish they could be more "consistent". They don't have a chance, sadly.

"Practice Makes... "

If you said "Perfect" then you've fallen into a sinister trap.

"Practice makes Permanent." When a student actually does what has been assigned, in many cases that is the beginning of the end of their piano career.

Here's the process in general:
Students "write in their own fingering" and then, and then practice (repeat) their incorrect solutions. They are unable to perform the desired piece consistently and don't know why. How long can a student tolerate this ineffective approach?

That's something for us professionals to consider.


Perfect for introducing classical repertoire (similar to Suzuki, Bastien Piano Literature, etc). The advantage here is that all fingering is included so that students play more!

Contents

Minuet in G from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach
Minuet in G from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach
Minuet in G minor from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach
Musette in D from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach
Minuet in F Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Ecossaise in G Ludwig van Beethoven
Sonatina in G Ludwig van Beethoven
I Allegretto
II Romanze
Sonatina (In the Antique Style) Op. 157, No. 4 Fritz Spindler
I Allegro
The Wild Horseman, Op. 68, No. 8 Robert Schumann
Fur Elise (Famous Page 1) Ludwig van Beethoven
Spinning Song, Op. 14, No. 4 Albert Elmenreich
Arabesque, Op. 100, No. 2 Friedrich Burgmüller
Ballade, Op. 100, No. 15 Friedrich Burgmüller
Solfeggietto Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
Toccatina, Op. 27, No. 12 Dmitri Kabalevsky
Fur Elise (Complete) Ludwig van Beethoven
Sonatina, Op. 55, No. 1 Friedrich Kuhlau
I Allegro
Sonatina, Op. 36, No. 3 Muzio Clementi
I Spiritoso
La Vélocité, Op. 109, No. 10 Friedrich Burgmüller


These are the documents that I have used to introduce classical music to my piano students. No note is presented without its corresponding proper fundamental technique (fingering). In other words, there is no such thing as a note separate from its hand position and fingering.

The hand position notation is used to better communicate what exactly is being demanded of the student. Students? repertoire is no longer limited by their music staff reading ability. Nor do they suffer from their own painful inability to solve technical issues. This approach restores ?playing music on the piano? to primacy and supports ?helping a student play music on the piano? as the central activity of the piano lesson.

Weak students are able to play real (not simplified) music and not feel penalized. Strong students complete their preparation even more efficiently. In all cases, spending less time on fingering means more time for higher levels of musicianship: coordination, pedaling, physical technique, control, tone, dynamics, tempo, rhythm, articulation, phrasing, expression, emotion, drama, compositional analysis, and historical context.

Good luck!
Scott Camp
scottcampislandpiano@gmail.com

Your audience?s memory of this Eighties rock anthem by Journey will be playing along in their head?from the original album, a live performance, The Sopranos, Glee, karaoke, or all of the above. But they?ve never heard it before on a harp.

This arrangement makes good use of the double-strung by using both sides for repeated notes and letting the accompaniment hand overlap the melody. The result is beautiful but still ballsy.

Range and key: F major (one flat). 23x2 strings. C below middle C through D.
Lever changes: None.

Good for: Weddings, parties, performance, therapeutic settings.

Double-strung effects: The LH accompaniment frequently overlaps the RH melody range. Finger placements are suggested for playing echoed notes with alternating hands to work around or emphasize ringing strings. Since the alternate-hand echoing is not required, it?s a great piece to learn this technique on.

Characteristics: Arpeggios and a syncopated melody. The RH never places more than an octave spread; the LH places 1-9 twice. There are a few four-note chords (LH 1-3-5-8); the rest of the chords are three notes, usually not inversions. The RH has almost no chords. There are two bars of sixteenth notes that can easily be substituted for eighths. The LH has two long-run patterns (1-5-8-9-10 and 1-5-8-9) which can be played with cross-unders or a wandering thumb. The RH has only two cross-overs.

Finger placement: Finger number suggestions are provided for key phrases. Numbers above the notes are suggestions for the RH (marked with ?R? or ?R#? when they occur in the bottom staff). Numbers below the notes are suggestions for the LH (marked with ?L? or ?L#? when they occur in the top staff). To see what I mean, view the PDF of finger placement examples in ?Don?t Stop Believin?: www.EnjoyTheHarp.com/s/dont-stop-believin-notes-enjoy-the-harp.pdf

Notation: Chord symbols and lyrics are provided. Treble clef in both staves. To avoid switching between bass clef and treble in the accompaniment, 8vb lines are used for the low Cs, Ds, and Es (which means that you play an octave below what?s written). Low Fs use 8vb sometimes, so if you see a lot of low ledger lines, don?t worry: it?s that F below middle C. Instead of counting the lines, you can look at the chord symbols to confirm.

Length: 6 pages. 106 measures. 4:00?5:00 minutes, depending on tempo.

Page turns: If you are printing, double-side pages 2-3 and 4-5 to minimize page turns. Line breaks have been made with printed or single-page-tablet turns in mind; you can pick up some accompaniment notes in the RH to turn with the LH.

Analysis and performance notes at www.EnjoyTheHarp.com/dont-stop-believin

ISBN 9781619113848. Killer Technique: Electric Guitar provides concepts and daily routines to help players gain more control over their instrument by improving technique and avoiding injury. The book includes comprehensive workouts and exercises: finger workouts for the left hand and picking exercises for the right. The exercises in this book are not written in standard notation or tablature. The patterns that make up the exercises are written with string numbers, fret numbers and/or a fretboard diagram. This will allow guitarists of any background to benefit from the material.