beginners pieces

[mousemat]

Hi All,

I was wondering if anyone could recommend some "classical" piano pieces for a beginner.  I am new to the piano and am playing around a grade 1 - 2 level but am a post grade 8 guitar player so I can read music well.

Thanks in advance,
mousemat

[eldergeek]

Hi Mouse,

I was in pretty much the same situation a few years ago, and for me the greatest frustrations were with (a) reading the bass clef and (b) not being able to have two hands on the same keyboard doing essentially the same job, but having one hand play legato and the other staccato (or one loud and one soft).

Anyway, with regard to your question, I found that Bartok was my way into the whole thing: initially the Bartok-Reshovsky piano method (which does a great job of laying a solid foundation for further progress) and the Mikrokosmos books. After book 1, they have some really interesting music and are definitely aimed at acquiring many of the basic (and vital) piano techniques.

After (or along with) Bartok, I found the easiest Bach really useful: the Anna Magdalena book and the easiest preludes.

Currently working through the first 12-15 pieces in Schumann's Album for the Young, which has some good stuff for someone who knows about music, but is still struggling with the mechanics of making it work on an instrument that is new to them.

Probably also worth looking into Kabalevsky and Tschaikovsky, who also wrote small collections fo piano music for kids.

Good luck!

[mousemat]

Hi eldergeek

Thanks for the advice.  I will check it out as it sounds a very good place to start.

Thanks,
mousemat

[chechig]

Tchaikovsky is fantastic, but if you are talking about his Album pour la jeneusse op 39 it's quite difficult for a beginner.
You have plenty of stuff for that level. You could have a look at some syllabus, where you can find the pieces by composer and by level.
Burgmuller's op 100, lot of fun
A. Gretchaninov, interesting miniatures for children
C. Gurlitt, Heller, Streabogg also wrote lots of pieces for beginners
A. Tansman wrote several books from 1 to more advanced levels, short nice pieces.
William Gillock, who was a teacher, wrote lots of pieces for his students, really nice stuff.
Walter Carroll also a teacher, wrote some miniatures for piano.
A very interesting web to look for pieces, is this by the university of Iowa. They've have hundreds of pieces sorted by difficulty
https://www.youtube.com/user/UIPianoPed

[mousemat]

Thanks chechig,

I will check them out too

Mousemat

[visitor]

https://en.schott-music.com/shop/piano-piccolo.html
Piano piccolo
111 Little and Very Easy Original Cassical Piano Pieces
his collection of 111 very easy original classical piano pieces includes popular repertoire pieces as well as many rarer finds that are not widely known. Works by over sixty composers from the Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Modern eras here offer a rich treasure trove for and are a valuable addition to imaginative and varied tuition for beginners.
Piano Piccolo offers excellent opportunities for introducing beginners, returning students and amateur musicians to classical music with pieces suitable for auditions at music schools and playing to family and friends.

[worov]

I think these are very beautiful.

[mousemat]

Thank you all for your advice and recommendations.  I will look into all of them.

mousemat