Easiest, yet great, piano piece ever written

[pianostring]

I use the Classics to design my own rote pieces, and some of them we split between teacher and student.  The youngest beginner can do the D octaves from Bach's Musette while you play the melody, and grade school children will immediately steal the melody from you.  

I teach the oom-pa-pa  from Schubert's Valse Sentimentale (Thompson 4th grade) to beginners, a little simpler than written, but it gives them experience with the primary chords.  I play the melody above it.  

Ode to Joy is extremely popular, and if you don't teach it, they'll find it anyway.  The melody of Fur Elise can be taught almost immediately, in pieces, another one they'll find on their own.

A popular piece my kids like is the chorus of "the Addams Family", very musical, and incidentally a tetrachord.  

And yes, anything with Indian drum sounds, accented on the first beat.  

One of the very first to teach is the melodic kernel for Beethoven's fifth symphony.  

Want more?  I have a whole book of them.   You can email me at juelle@merr.com

[squiggly_girl]

Thanks for this thread Bernhard, there are lots of wonderful suggestions in here, if only the suggested pieces were more freely available!

I've been learning for about 6 months. Still class myself as a beginner. The first piece that I really GOT, was Lavender's Blue. Or a 16 bar version of it, anyway, using block bass chords. Sure, it's one of those "dismal" things that comes out of beginners' books - but the fact that a) I could play it, b) it was a tune I knew already and liked and c) it was a tune my friends knew and could say aahh! really gave me the motivation to continue on once I had cracked it. It was the first tune I ever played in front of anyone else, and when I did it gave me a great feeling of confidence. It does sound nice, it uses both hands, and it would certainly impress me if a newbie were able to learn it in one or two sittings.

Yes, I’ve worked up through various versions of “Ode to Joy” also, Shagdac, and I agree it’s wonderful to play. The common denominator here is that I knew both tunes. I think an absolute beginner will generally respond more warmly to a melody they know already.

[ahmedito]

Terry Riley's in C.

A beginer can enter a huge ensamble... if he knows how to read music, he can play parts ranging from dead easy to hard, if he doesnt, he can always play the high C obstinato and still join in the fun.

[bachmaninov]

Have you ever heard of Ernesto Lecuona... Most of his works are breathtaking, and yet not that hard.

"Malaguena"

[LudwigVanB]

I am really surprised no one has even mentioned Bartok's Microkosmos. For a classical music introduction, it seems to me the best. He composed these gems for his son to learn piano from the first. They are short in the beginning, easy but teach many tricky skills. They progress logically to more mature pieces. I wish my first teacher had introduced Microkosmos to me. There seems to be nothing better if one wants to concentrate on classical music.

[bernhard]

Have you ever heard of Ernesto Lecuona... Most of his works are breathtaking, and yet not that hard.

"Malaguena"

Thank you for the suggestion.  

Yes I have heard of Lecuona (I particularly like his “Danzas Afro-cubanas”). However I don’t think this is really “first lesson” material. I would guess that Malaguena would be around grade 5/6.

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[bernhard]

I am really surprised no one has even mentioned Bartok's Microkosmos.

Er…

Actually I did. Have a look at replies 38 and 40 on the previous page. I am afraid I am no big fan of Bartok…

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[alvaro_galvez]

I dont know how you feel about non-classical music but I consider that maybe you could take a loook at video game music.
This "genre" is very rarely exploited and has some extremely easy and but very musical pieces pieces, like Wind Scene from Chrono Trigger or Frog´s theme from the same game.
Check em out cause they are dead easy and very musical!

https://mywebpages.comcast.net/mankow84/ct.html

[surendipity]

THAT'S A FANTASTIC IDEA
I LOVE IT
I LOVE IT

THEN MAYBE I WON'T GET SO MUCH FLACK FROM PARENTS WHO SAY THE KIDS ARE PLAYING TO MANY VIDEO GAMES AND NOT ENOUGH PIANO.

THANKS

IT'S A WIN WIN

SURENDIPITY

[Spatula]

THAT'S A FANTASTIC IDEA
I LOVE IT
I LOVE IT

THEN MAYBE I WON'T GET SO MUCH FLACK FROM PARENTS WHO SAY THE KIDS ARE PLAYING TO MANY VIDEO GAMES AND NOT ENOUGH PIANO.

THANKS

IT'S A WIN WIN

SURENDIPITY

okay that's nice....settle down first and first start with familiar ones...  like the CT or FF series... like what you've suggested.  And I suppose that a majority here haven't heard composer Harry Gregson Williams who did the scores for the movie "the Rock" and Hans Zimmer for gladiator and last samurai.  
Well there's one very profound piano jazz or blues piece called "Can't say goodbye to yesterday" composed for Metal Gear solid 2.  It's fun to learn and perfect to be played during a dinner party or to show something to your friends.

Give it a try...lemme find the score then I'll post the link up

[Spatula]

okay that's nice....settle down first and first start with familiar ones...  like the CT or FF series... like what you've suggested.  And I suppose that a majority here haven't heard composer Harry Gregson Williams who did the scores for the movie "the Rock" and Hans Zimmer for gladiator and last samurai.  
Well there's one very profound piano jazz or blues piece called "Can't say goodbye to yesterday" composed for Metal Gear solid 2.  It's fun to learn and perfect to be played during a dinner party or to show something to your friends.

Give it a try...lemme find the score then I'll post the link up

Bernhard, I'm very sorry to be placing this post off it's original intention of the easiest yet greatest pieces, however I do wish to post some sheet music (or a link to it, more correctly) to this thread.  I appreciate your understanding.  

Thank you,

Best Wishes  
Spatula

PS If you want the sheet music, create a username and PW...duh

https://www.gamingforce.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=435

[surendipity]

thank you spatula, thanks huge

[stee]

Hi Bernhard

Do you know the Prelude in b minor by Morovsky?  It really fits the bill:  easy and extremely beautiful.  It's a haunting piece with a left hand melody--right hand broken chords.  It is an amazing piece for being so simple.  The only place I've seen it is in a collection of easy classics published by Alfred.   My students all love it.

I have searched high and low for more music by Morovsky, with no success.  If anyone out there knows of some, please, please forward the information!

At a little harder level (about the level of Mier's Baroque Expressions, another great student piece), I would recommend the Vandall Prelude in g minor.  Again a very simple piece, but incredibly beautiful--reminiscent of Rachmaninoff.  I think it is in the third volume of his preludes.

Don't overlook the prodigious works of Rollin--especially the Lyric Expressions, Impressionism Style and Romantic Style.   Her works are beautiful -- students and audiences love them.

Back in the 60's, Margaret Fairlie wrote "Images."   To me, they are masterpieces for the beginner--especially the Dripping Faucet and Misty Night.  Unfortunately I believe they are long out of print.

I have always wanted to compile a comprehensive list of successful, easy and beautiful teaching pieces.   So far I have concentrated on late beginner, intermediate, and early advanced repertoire--which constitutes the bulk of my students.   The music is pianistic, easy to learn, fun to perform, and impressive for its beauty or brilliance.

Perhaps we can produce a list via the Forum?

[Swan]

They may not be beautiful or trully great, but I find nursery rhymes are HUGELY beneficial in teaching young children.

They're already familiar, so I sing the nursery rhyme a few times with them, and then show them on the piano.  We then try and play and sing together!  

I don't have anything written just work them out by ear.  I ask the child, what is your favourite nursery rhyme, or what's a song you're learning at school?

I usually know it, so away we go.  I think it works pretty well, and it's something they can play to their parents and their friends who can say "Hey, you can play Twinkle Little Star!" - Mozart at his best!  

[athio]

Just wanted to add my 4-cents worth.

I have had success with two particular pieces with 8 teens, and 2 adults - each of them mastering either or both of the pieces with the span of 2 - 4 weeks.

Every portion of these pieces have been taught by rote - slowly, and logically. KEY WORD - LOGICALLY. Both of these pieces speak well of the composers - each work has symmetry and patterns; and both contribute to what are simply impressive pieces.

And here they are:
Carolyn Miller: Etude in C minor
(Besides the tricky ending of crosshand chromatic passages, it's a WAY COOL piece)

Melody Bober: Raging Storm (key: C minor)
(A monstrous introduction based on chords; main technical aspect of this piece: RH triplets)

Both pieces might be leveled at Intermediate to Late Intermediate. TRY THEM OUT!

[Poland]

Joe Gargiulo – Cory’s Space (Atmospheric and very easy to memorise and play. Fits well under the fingers and sounds difficult – even though it is ridiculously easy. Big hit with adult students). You can listen to Joe Gargiulo’ music at https://www.jozart.com/


Bergerac – Marshmallow Sundae (nice and simple chord progression – looks difficult since there are jumps all over the keyboard – fun to play. I teach this one to three years old!)

Vladimir Rebikov – The Bear (Scary piece with an ostinato left hand at the lowest register of the piano. Not much of a melody, but it really sounds like a heavy bear walking in the forest).

Ivone Adair – The wild Swans (Very nice arpeggiated piece. Adults like this one too. Ivonne Adair has some real gems.)

Ivone Adair – Thumbelina (Another very nice little piece with a good catchy melody, that alternates between hands – and yet it is below grade zero. Great hit with the little ones).

Jon George – Reflets dans l’eau. (Beautiful impressionist style piece, fitting small hands and yet a big hit with adults).


I am going to teach a five-year-old next week. Is it possible that someone tell me where I can find scores of these pieces???
thx~~~

[bernhard]

Joe Gargiulo – Cory’s Space. You can listen and order Joe Gargiulo’ music at https://www.jozart.com/ . Or you can write to him at “Joe Gargiulo Music Studio – 1203 South 20th Ave, Yakima, Washington 98902 – Phone/Fax (509) 4534672. He publishes his own music.
 
Bergerac – Marshmallow Sundae – is one of the pieces in “The Delicious Book”, (Schoreder & Gunther).

Vladimir Rebikov – The Bear  - Can be found in several collections. Try “Essential Keyboard repertory” Vol. 1, Ed. Lynn Freeman Olson (Alfred).
 
Ivone Adair – The wild Swans.
 
Ivone Adair – Thumbelina.

Both pieces are part of a collection called “Marchenbilder nach Hans Christian Andersen”. (“Sketches from Hans Christian Andersen - Oxford University Press).
 
Jon George – Reflets dans l’eau. – See reply # 35



I hope this helps.

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[Nana_Ama]

I know this thread was started awhile ago, but there is a piece: "In May" by Franz Behr.  It's only written in treble clef, and it's a nice piece. (It was my first piece)  

[bernhard]

I know this thread was started awhile ago, but there is a piece: "In May" by Franz Behr.  It's only written in treble clef, and it's a nice piece. (It was my first piece)  

Thanks for the suggestion. Do you know the publisher/collection?

[Rob47]

Schumann - The Happy Farmer! (sorry if this has already been mentioned)

This is my first memory of playing the piano.  I was 4 I believe, and I still play it today at 20!  Such a lyrical melody.  I rememeber to help me memorize it my mom wrote lyrics to the melody about a happy farmer planting his crops.  Whenever I play it I can't help but think of a cheerful farmer. I think until much later on in life I always thought of Schumann as a farmer foremost, and then a composer.   :-/  In my opinion the greatest beginner's piece ever.  Much better then that darn "frere jacques" by that composer Anonymous.  I hate Anonymous and all his works!  

your friend
Rob

[Nana_Ama]

Thanks for the suggestion. Do you know the publisher/collection?

eh... I'm not sure, but I'll be sure to let you know when I find it!

[Medtner]

Bernhard,

How do you get your students to sign up for classes everyday? That's amazing. You must have very few but very devoted students. Do you charge them a discounted price of weekly lessons, or how does that work?

Just wondering how some of us who live in far-flung small island countries that have limited music imports can get a hold of some of this music...
I'd like the Rebikov Bear, if anybody has a PDF of it. And any other piece that can be taught at the first lesson... After reading your statements I think I'm much too serious of a teacher even in the first lesson and I ought to make it more fun...

Well, these are some pieces for students who have already studied a few months and gotten past the basics. I learned these as a student while in Germany and published by G. Henle:

MARKO TAJČEVIĆ (Croatian composer): Lieder von der Mur-Insel, Kleine Stücke für Klavier
These are good (every piece only 1 page long) and introduces students to modals. For example #1 is C Mixolydian, consisting only of quarter and eighth notes, legato and some staccato, some three-note chords. #2 is in D mixolydian and G Dorian, there are some accidentals, tenuto, staccato, alberti bass. And so on. 13 pieces in all.

I also use a simplified version of "Ode to Joy". Most students can start it after a couple months.

Leichte Klavierstücke (Erster Band): The beginning has 11 one-liners by Türk (Elf Handstücke für angehende Klavierspieler--11 pieces for beginners) but to play them still needs a couple months of introduction. They get progressively difficult towards the end, but my first year students have played all of them. They do build good technique. From there the book progresses into standard repertoire: 3 Menuetts of Mozart, an Allegro, 2 Sonatinas of Clementi, and then 9 short 2-liners by Hässler Op.38 (Neun Stücke zum Gebrauch für Anfänger--9 pieces for beginners).
That's the first volume. The pieces progress and in the second volume there's Für Elise, and several pieces by Schubert and Schumann.

I've also had some 1st year students work on Beethoven:
WoO 8 No. 9 (German Dance)
WoO 13 No. 9 (German Dance)
WoO 11 Nos. 1 & 5 (Country Dance)
WoO 14 No. 7 (Contradanza)
WoO 15 No. 4 (Country Dance)
WoO 42 No. 1 (German Dance)
WoO 84 (Waltz)
WoO 85 (Waltz)
WoO 86 (Ecossaise)
Ländler in c minor
--not necessarily in that order, check them for what's appropriate for your students. Ive found students are actually happier to play something by Beethoven or Mozart rather than Türk or Hässler...

-Кол�

-hmm, upon previewing my post, you might want to set your browser to UTF-8 / Unicode to view it properly...SORRY!

[reinvent]

How about Fascination?
Well, maybe not a week - but not too long
and it is a pleasant reward for the sound, I think

[bernhard]

Bernhard,

How do you get your students to sign up for classes everyday? That's amazing. You must have very few but very devoted students. Do you charge them a discounted price of weekly lessons, or how does that work?

Bernhard,

How do you get your students to sign up for classes everyday? That's amazing. You must have very few but very devoted students. Do you charge them a discounted price of weekly lessons, or how does that work?

Er… I have no idea.

All I can say is that it is a (sort of) free country, so people can sign up with me or not as they wish.

The results are spectacular, so I get a lot of enquiries from people who see my students play. However, as I said, once I send information about the way I teach, a lot of people paddle back as fast as they can. I estimate that about 10% of the people that enquire about my courses actually proceed to enrol. But that is fine with me, since I can only take so many students (right now there is a 2 year waiting list).

I charge per month (never per class) all months of the year (just like a school or a gym), and there are no discounts of any kind. I am also expensive compared to other teachers in the area. I believe I discussed these issues in these threads, have a look:

https://www.pianoforum.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=teac;action=display;num=1076294560

https://www.pianoforum.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=misc;action=display;num=1087623544

Thanks for the repertory suggestions.

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[faulty_damper]

Schumann - The Happy Farmer! (sorry if this has already been mentioned)

This is my first memory of playing the piano.  I was 4 I believe, and I still play it today at 20!  Such a lyrical melody.  I rememeber to help me memorize it my mom wrote lyrics to the melody about a happy farmer planting his crops.  Whenever I play it I can't help but think of a cheerful farmer. I think until much later on in life I always thought of Schumann as a farmer foremost, and then a composer.   :-/  In my opinion the greatest beginner's piece ever.  Much better then that darn "frere jacques" by that composer Anonymous.  I hate Anonymous and all his works!  

your friend
Rob

Darn right this is a great piece!  I just found it in a children's book and it really struck me.  It's musically great and one very easy to play.  It's in the key of F dur but I'm not sure if this version is as Schumann wrote it.  This will be my encore piece!

[fnork]

Some bartok pieces are quite easy. "Abend auf dem lande" (or something similar to that) for example, simple piece... And beautiful!

[mhf]

Bernhard -- this was asked much further up in the thread but I think you may have missed it, as I didn't see a reply. Someone listed several tunes from the Alfred study book and asked what grade level they are at.

I'm expecially curious about your take on Brahms Lullabye. I'm a 45 year old now in my 7th week of study. I'm become piano crazy and I'm quite addicted in a very short time. I love this piece and play it incessantly.

I suspect its a bit tougher than what you are looking for, no way a child would be able to play it in a day or likely even a week, but its pretty simple once you get the hang of it. Of course, its like you said earlier, its either easy or impossible ....

Marc

[Spatula]

Bach's jesu, joy of mans desiring.

[fnork]

I've found that Villa-lobos "The three maries", a suite with three short pieces, is quite easy to learn. The first one has some technical difficulties though, but the second one is really easy to learn. Check them out! If you go to www.gamingforce.com and search for "brazilian sheet music", you'll find the score posted, with some other villa-lobos stuff. You need to be a member though in order to download the sheet music.

[Nightscape]

What about the Mikrocosmos by Bartok?  Isn't that supposed to have some really easy pieces in it?

[Nightscape]

Or Stravinsky's "Les Cinq Doigts"? 

These are a set of 8 short pieces which are REALLY easy.... yet have a disinct Stravinkish white note sound.  I taught my friend who knows no piano the first one in one day.

[BoliverAllmon]

shostakovich;s children notebook.

[mound]

How about "(Somewhere) Over the Rainbow" - the first melody.

[dorfmouse]

The Godfather Waltz by Nino Rota
(arrangement 1994 by Famous Music Corporation)
Feel the sun, taste the cordite!

[claudio]

when looking for easy piano literature for sight reading i stumbled over
this erik satie collection. he has written a charming little study called
"la balancoire" (in a swing) in the "sports et divertissements" collection.

s.th. for you?

[claudio]

must correct myself here. "la balancoire" is awfully difficult.  found that
out yesterday when i actually sat down to play it. was fooled by a master.

however, if you fake the left-hand rhythm by playing octaves rather than
double octave jumps it can still be an easy piece.

i am always fascinated by satie. he is so clever.

[Spatula]

Btw Bernhard, what standard or institution do you mean by grade 8?  

ABRSM

Grade 8 is the highest grade, and it probably compares with your grade 10.

Grade 8 ABRSM does not even begin to include the easier virtuoso repertory. All but two of the Chopin etudes are considered well beyond grade 8.

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

So ABRSM Grade 8 does not include the easy virtuoso repertore, meaning that it starts with harder repertore, or that it stops short of the easy virtouso repertore.

[Brian Healey]

One of my favorite pieces is "Siciliana" by Alfredo Casella, and it's also extremely easy. I don't know anything about grading, since I don't really follow that with my teaching. This piece really is very easy though, but it's also very beautiful. I have a friend who has had absolutely no piano playing experience whatsoever, and I taught her this piece within a half hour. That's how easy it is.

Another very easy piece that I enjoy immensely is "The Bell-Flower" by Cuban composer Ernesto Lecouna. Another very beautiful piece.

Some pieces from Dallapicola's "Quaderno Musicale di Annalibra" are also pretty darn easy (Numbers 4 and 8 particularly). I really enjoy these pieces also, but some may not find them as pleasing to the ears as the previous two. They're particularly good if you have a beginning student who wants to play crazy twelve-tone stuff but doesn't quite have the technique for someone like Schoernberg. A good introduction to tone-rows and such.

Oh yeah, I thought of another one too. "Nuages Gris" by Liszt is also extremely easy, and it's by Liszt of all people! Whoever thought Liszt would write an easy piece? Well, he did, and it's also a very cool sounding piece.

[Daniel_piano]

Hey Bernhard
I've a good beginner book called Anthologie Pianistique pour la jeunesse
There are many good pieces that sounds extremely good
There are also pieces from Schumann Album for the young that you know well
There are good piece from Mozart, not very dull, Diabelli, Clementi, Hummel, Muller, Bertini, Rinald. Playel and other

If you want I can scan the whole book for you (jpg files of 150K circa)
Just let me know

Also, by the same editors, there are also beginner pieces from famous composers
Mind you, they're not semplified piece but original easy pieces
The books are called "my first..."
And there's Albeniz, Chopin, clementi, Debussy, Grieg, Haendel, Haydn, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Scarlatti and Schubert

I've also a book called "Dreams" that while sort of kiddy, I think contains several good pieces in different mood according to the titles
I can scan some pages for you if you're interested

Daniel

[Daniel_piano]

This a biased suggestion as I am a Disney lover, having studied drawing and animation at Arts Accademy
From Bambi, Fantasia to Lion King, all the shorts from 1927 to 1955 and the War Time shorts... I love all of them
One thigs I love about Disney is music
To me Wallace is a great composer who deserve the same popularity of many famous romantic and impressionistic composers
I love all the Soundtracks he creates as they're so original and rich
But the scores creates by Burn and Menken are good as well
I like the fact that many of these scores have a leifmotif for each characters (ala Peter and the Wolf) and in each track with a different mood you can recognize the character leifmotif variated according to the mood of the piece, if the character were present in the scene

I think getting a book with some good Disney music would be a good way for the first approach of a young kid with the piano
These are not kiddy pieces and interest adults a lot as well
A piece I love from Little Mermaid is Jig
It's a good fanciful piece written in victorian style and I don't kow of any "normal" (whithout socio-relation problems) person who doesn't like this one
Pink Elephant on Parade is another of my favorite and Little April Shower too
I think that immortal, universal Animated Features music may be even more attractive to kids than video games and its music

And if the kid is a not a Disney lover you may find a lot of good thing on Bluth animation too
The Secret Of Nihm by the late Jerry Goldsmith and Land Before Time (with the wonderful song "If we hold on together") by James Horner are some of the best soudtracks I've ever heard
They were well known in the late 80s but a new DVD edition that sold well show that these are still lover and known by today kids and non

My only complaint is that these books usually contain only, and I have to write to myself those fantastic piece from the score, those that are only music without words

Of course, Disney Globalized Corporation made of cheap sequels and marketing sucks a lot as well as McDonald, but I can't throw the baby with the bathwater forgetting the Artistic Value of the company just because it became a global trademark of the consumistic and capitalistic society

Daniel

[Daniel_piano]

Another idea Bernhard
Do you know Rondo Veneziano?
They're an Italian group of the 80s that created music using both classical vivaldi style and modern style to create nice fanciful songs that had a lot of success in Europe and are still loved today by many fans
Some of them are really nice and easy enough to be learned in a week
A teacher of mines used them with beginners (both adults and kids) and I remember they all loved them, especially the kids
They're good to approach someone new to music and they usually are liked by the whole family and are kind of show off
Carish published two books of them

Here are some pieces:
Scaramuccie
Sinfonia per un Addio
Arlecchino
Rondo

Daniel

[rohansahai]

Kabalevsky- Clowns ( i really used to love this one!)
Tchaikovsky- Sweet Dreams
Diabell- Landler
Air from La Somnambula (Don't remember the composer) !!!!!!

[dmk]

As an Australian music teacher here are some pieces I have given my students which they really love and are unbelievably simple (ie they sound much more impressive than they really are!)

-  Gnomes Marching by Miriam Hyde, this piece is a real winner it is incredibly simple, easy to memorise and it has the two  things that young students love: crossing hands and it uses the whole keyboard (it also has good pedagogical value). Miriam Hyde is an Australian composer and has written a lot of good works for younger students.

-  Travel Diaries by Malcolm Williamson: Williamson is another Australian composer (recently deceased) who wrote some fabulous works there are four sets of Travel Diaries Sydney, Paris, London and New York with Sydney being the easiest.  There are some great little works in these sets although they were difficult to find.

-  Little Peppers by Elissa Milne: she is another young Australian composer who has a series of books called Little Peppers.  These are great jazz miniatures which range from very simple to much more difficult in the PepperBox jazz series.

-  Works by Dulcie Holland, Alfred Hill and Mirrie Hill.  These are earlier twentieth century Australian composers but wrote some great works.

- Scenes of Childhood, T-Rex set, Bogus Boogies by Sonny Chua: this another young Australian composer. 

- Climbing by Macfarlane: this piece is gold!! It has crossing hands the whole way and just plays different chords up and down the piano.  It is simple, sounds good and is great for teaching students keyboard geometry and simple chords.

I am showing my bias with a bunch of works by Australian composers...if they are unavailable from your local music store true Zephyr Music in Crows Nest, Sydney Australia.  They ship music across the globe (to my knowledge) and have a very good print music department.

[halfstone]

Ok, I got a piece I use a lot.

I written it myself, so I wouldn't call it the single most beautiful piece in the world.

The weak point derived from that fact is that no student knows the piece, but it got lots of stronger points, when I wrote it I wanted it to sound beautiful, yet easy and I wanted to form some good habits.

The title is the ratcatcher and the melody sets up a dreamlike mode, which I tell my students is part of the mood which I think is best when it comes to practicing. I want them to listen to all parts of their body when they practice. Listen to their movements and how it feels. The piece reflects that mood. When the piece is finished it leaves a impression, to the player and to an audience. It's also long enough to build up a story. I find most beginner pieces to be over before they've begun. To short to build up emotion.

The piece has a very clear structure. Lots of repetition within and motiivic repetition and variation.  It's very easy to divide the pieces up in manageable chunks with overlaps. I use circle and color, and I only use circles for new parts. It becomes clear to the student that it is manageable.

It learns the student a lot about rhythm and how it is notated.
There's lots of repetion of single notes. In my experience that is essential to wrist movementt from an early stage.

It got a musical citation. I've used Orff, Carmina Burana. Almost, it's not 100 percent correct.

It got a fading long chord in the end in the left hand which I use to pratice a diminuendo in the right hand.

The student has to move out of a fixed hand position two times in the piece. He has to reach a black note and is forced to slide closer to the fallboard to play it confortably.

Feel free to use it

https://home.broadpark.no/~hlunde/ratcatcher.pdf

[Daniel_piano]

-  Gnomes Marching by Miriam Hyde, this piece is a real winner it is incredibly simple, easy to memorise and it has the two  things that young students love: crossing hands and it uses the whole keyboard (it also has good pedagogical value). Miriam Hyde is an Australian composer and has written a lot of good works for younger students.

Uhmm, now... doesn't this Austrial composer know that everything dealing with dwarfs, elves and gnomes has been copyrighted by Grieg 

Daniel

[Daniel_piano]

Ok, I got a piece I use a lot.

I written it myself...

Feel free to use it

https://home.broadpark.no/~hlunde/ratcatcher.pdf

Cool, thanks
What speed the piece is?
Largo, Andante, Allegreto, Allegro, Presto?
Any metronome notation speed?

Daniel

[halfstone]

Ok, I got a piece I use a lot.

I written it myself...

Feel free to use it

https://home.broadpark.no/~hlunde/ratcatcher.pdf

Cool, thanks
What speed the piece is?
Largo, Andante, Allegreto, Allegro, Presto?
Any metronome notation speed?

Daniel

M.M about 60. But feel free...

Hallstein

[galonia]

-  Gnomes Marching by Miriam Hyde, this piece is a real winner it is incredibly simple, easy to memorise and it has the two  things that young students love: crossing hands and it uses the whole keyboard (it also has good pedagogical value). Miriam Hyde is an Australian composer and has written a lot of good works for younger students.

This is one of the best pieces ever written - it was one of the first pieces I played, and I still play it twenty years later.  If it weren't for the fact that at my level, people expect us to perform sonatas, I would perform it all the time.

[bernhard]

M.M about 60. But feel free...

Hallstein

Hi, Hallstein.

Thank you for the piece, it is exactly the sort of piece/level I am looking for. I think it works just as well at MM=120 (the rats are running! ).

I liked the variety of rhythms (and yet very simple) in both hands, and the easiness of the LH. Lots of food for thought for a complete beginner. A very good teaching piece.

Again, thank you and keep up the good work!

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[dmk]

This is one of the best pieces ever written - it was one of the first pieces I played, and I still play it twenty years later. If it weren't for the fact that at my level, people expect us to perform sonatas, I would perform it all the time.

Could not agree with you more,  do you think audiences would appreciate this as an encore 

All jokes aside, this is a great piece and really motivational for students, it makes them feel that they can really play something 'impressive'

Uhmm, now... doesn't this Austrial composer know that everything dealing with dwarfs, elves and gnomes has been copyrighted by Grieg

Daniel

Ha ha daniel.....Lucky for us Grieg hasn't got a valid trademark on all pieces with Gnomes in its title or this piece would lose the bonus value of its catchy title!!!