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Piano Teaching for Advanced Instrumentalists and A-level students

If you are an A-level (or prospective A-level student), who needs to improve their keyboard skills, then here is a possible syllabus that I would suggest, with resources for the first year of lessons. The main things are usually
  • familiarity with the bass clef;
  • playing with two hands;
  • learning scale and chord patterns;
  • reading ahead.

I don't believe in a narrow technical syllabus (although it is important that what you do at the keyboard is technically securely grounded), and I also include a wide range of other musical skills, theory, strategies for learning pieces, scales patterns, chord recognition and harmony. So, apart from technical improvement and a repertoire of new pieces, you will also see :
  • improved recognition and understanding of scales, chords and harmony;
  • familiarily with alto and tenor clefs;
  • general musical knowledge.

I've divided the suggestions into
  • Technical (plus exercises and warmups)
  • Theory
  • Pieces
  • Learning Strategies
  • and into Stages - each stage may be one week, or longer.

Stage 1
Technical: How fingers are numbered (Resources: Dozen A Day Book 1)
Technical: Hand position (as if you are holding a small orange)
Technical: Posture
Theory: Learn Bass Clef notes as thoroughly as Treble. I'm assuming here that you play a treble line instrument - (Resources: Douze petits, various games)
Learning Pieces: (Clare’s Air and Amy’s Disco from Jamie’s Cactus Stomp)
Learning Strategies: Learn pieces separately at first, then together

Stage 2
Technical: legato for the pianist means joining the bottoms of the notes together.
Technical: Using the thumb as pivot: (Scales of CDEGA, major and minor, all have standard fingering.)
Learning Strategies: Playing rhythmically (for this I use books of duets)
Theory: Structure of major scales TTSTTTS (Jolly Game (Piano Bk1))
Chords: Figured Harmony (RO Morris pp1-4)

Stage 3
Technical: Feel octaves ( D-A-D-No.1)
Technical: In scales think in 4s, not each note separately (D-A-D-No.4)
Pieces: Handel (in Classic Piano Course - Barratt)
Warming Up: Play DAD groups as a warm-up every day
Learning Strategies: Don't play as fast as you know it goes!

Stage 4
Theory: Movements of a baroque suite (Arnold Gigue and Gavotte)
Technical: Grade 1 broken chords (by rote, not from a scale book)
Transposition: Play Figured Harmony in D major
Transposition: Play DAD in D E and F

Stage 5
More technical exercises: Nos. 2, 10 and 11 from Stepping Stones
Score Reading: Alto Clef Score Reading p.1
Figured Harmony Sequences

Stage 6
Keyboard Harmony Sequence No.1 in D or c min Ask yourself what the chords are - number and name
Score Reading: Alto clef No.2
Technical: Scales, hands together. Standard fingering is:
  • 3rd fingers together
  • thumb on middle tonic
  • LH 4, after middle tonic on way up
  • RH 4 after middle tonic on way down
  • Play scales over 2 octaves (Use Grade 2 scale book - not F major or b minor)

Stage 7
Chords: in chord sequences, see which notes change and which remain the same from chord to chord (using Top Tune from Stepping Stones)
Simple pieces together
  • Piano Playtime - more of a challenge
  • Easiest Tune Book
  • First Concert
Learning Strategies: try to look ahead and anticipate
Learning Strategies: play 'Air Piano'

Stage 8
Technical: Arpeggios (white note start)
  • RH fingering 1231235
  • LH fingering 5421421
Pieces: Unversagt by Gedike
Chords Sight reading for fun Grade 4 and Grad 5
Learning Strategies: try and think more of LH
Pieces Greek song (Last one in Piano - Trinity)

Resources

Dozen A Day Book 1 by Edna Mae Burnham (Wills Music)
Jamie’s Cactus Stomp by Richard Jones (Spartan)
The first two pieces, Claire;s Waltz and Amy’s Disco can be played after one lesson, more or less

The Lake

Jolly Game (Piano Bk1)

Barratt book

RO Morris pp1-4

Little Hedghog

Arnold - Gigue and Gavotte

Swans and Ducks

Stepping Stones by Carol Barratt (published by Chester, OOP)

Score Reading p.1

Schumann Album für die Jugend - Melodie (edited Howard Ferguson, published ABRSM)

Grade 2 scale book (published ABRSM)

Piano Playtime

Easiest Tune Book

First Concert

Unversagt Op 197 No.7 Gedike

Last one in Piano - Trinity

Sight reading for fun Grade 4 by Peter Lawson (published by Stainer and Bell)
Sight reading for fun Grade 5 by Peter Lawson (published by Stainer and Bell)

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