Classics - Playtime Style

The Fabers continue to do a great job with their classics series.  I blogged about their Pretime Classics book last month.  This Playtime Classics book corresponds to the Level 1 piano student.

Inside this book you'll find:
(I've linked those I could find to a video.)
Turkish March - played alone
Romance - played alone
The Trout - played with the duet
Lullaby - played with the duet
La Cinquantaine - played with the duet
Country Dance - with duet
Finale (from Symphony No 1 by Brahms) - with duet
Finale (from Carnival of the Animals)
The Elephant - note, it says "Finale by Saint-Saens" but it is actually the Elephant.
Sleeping Beauty Waltz - with duet
Finale (from the New World Symphony) - with duet
March Slav - with duet

This book strives to have some recognizable melodies, but more than that, famous music that is fun to play, generally with a 5-finger position (not necessarily C, to aid in reading notes) and fun rhythm.

The back cover is a Music Dictionary which includes all the concepts a student will encounter in the book.

p, mp, mf, f, crescendo, diminuendo
accent, D.C.al Fine, Fine, ritardando, slur, staccato, tie, triplet, flat, sharp, natural.

The book assumes that students are familiar with whole, dotted half, half, quarter and eighth notes  as well as quarter rests and does not define these.

These pieces also include techniques such as crossing 2 over 1, splitting a pair of eighth notes over 2 hands, 1st and 2nd ending, and moving the hand by 1 key.

I should mention that PianoAdventures.com/videos  has many wonderful helpful videos.  Here's one of Randall Faber giving instruction to teachers about teaching the Sleeping Beauty Waltz.  Please check them out for more helpful information.


This book is available on Sheet Music Plus for $5.50.

I find these Playtime books correspond rather well to the Level 1 books my students are working on.  These are well-written enough that someone playing a little above that would still enjoy playing.  These songs are such that there is often one or two things I have to explain to my students.  However, explaining accents, or sharps, or first and second endings is more fun, and sometimes sticks with the student better, when I explain it in the context of a fun piece.