Last week I did a quick overview of some of the mainstream beginning piano method books. Keep in mind that I just covered the beginner books for approximately ages 6-9. There are other beginner books for the younger beginner, the older beginners (10-12), teenage and adult beginners. (This may be covered in another post.)

I have had the opportunity to use almost all of these method books at some time or another. I’ve also been intrigued to try the couple I have not during the creation of these posts. A lot of teachers have a method they lean towards, myself included, but that doesn’t mean the other methods can’t be taught effectively. It’s just a matter of preference and success with usage. If you were to ask me how I go about choosing a method, I would say it depends on the student. If a student has taken lessons previously, and comes to me with a particular book, I try to keep that student in whatever method book they are using unless that method proves unsuitable for the student.

I want to do a quick over view of the beginner book for each method series. This can help you as a teacher decide which method to use. An introductory lesson is preferential in deciding the maturity and overall readiness of a student, after which the teacher can decide which method is appropriate. A particular method may be more satisfactory for a student than another depending upon how quickly the method progresses.

The criteria that I am going to assess for each method includes;

Pre-staff reading

What range of the piano is primarily used

Rhythm

Staff Introduction

Note Reading/Rate of notes introduced

Hand Position vs Multi finger

Dynamics

Articulation

The easiest way for me to do this was in excel sheet format. Otherwise this post would be very lengthy. Hopefully the breakdown will help access how each method approaches learning. I highly recommend if you are studying this to set down with a hard copy of each of these method books.

https://1drv.ms/x/c/7b59a112d75bce0f/EeujHUCuOXZKmQHfgqq3WBwBmEoIXBccT4pBty8ERPc9Zw?e=sbM5RH