Piano Partners – Complete Set

In this unique approach student, parent and teacher work together in:

• learning new pieces
• playing duets
• developing technique
• establishing basic rhythm patterns
• inventing musical ideas
• playing musical games
• developing a discerning ear
• organizing practice procedures

This series is designed for students who are attracted to the sounds of music and want to play the piano immediately.

Read a review of Piano Partners by Sandy Lunderberg – I Will Not Teach Piano Without These Books: A Review of Piano Partners

Piano Partners Book 1 has been tried, tested, enjoyed and appreciated by thousands of students and their teachers for many years. It is a classic in its approach! When the beginning piano student can play all six variations of I Love Coffee it is an important event…. basic rhythm patterns, such as Jingle bells, Colorado Mountains and Hippity Hop are fun to play and they establish a fundamentally firm hand position. In addition, they make it possible to perform rhythms not easily read until months later…. Bass patterns for improvisation provide the platform the student needs to develop his/her own creative ideas. Duets are an important part of the collection, such as Skip to My Lou and French Folk Song, designed to encourage family participation in the early music education process. The beginnings of technical exercises are illustrated in exercises called simply Chords and Legato. Pieces such as Frere Jacques and Row Row Row can be played as a duet at first and then as a solo, illustrating the extraordinary capacity of the piano – to make melody and harmony simultaneously.

Piano Partners Book 2 continues, in perfect order, the philosophy of Piano Partners Book 1. The first piece , Romanian Dance, is presented in F Major. Then in staggered spots throughout the book it is transposed to all 12 possible keys – showing the student, as no other way can, the amazing possibilities of the piano via touch, sight and hearing…. Other songs follow with accompaniments with different styles of accompaniments. Another brilliant concept is presented on page 17 –Major Chords (Circle of Fifths) with speed games developing from this exercise. Flexibility is available in songs such as Wayfaring Stranger where the student can play the melody part, the accompaniment part or both, depending on  ability and choice. Some of the most popular duets have been Silly Dilly, Glee Reigns, Camptown Races, Oh Susannah and Oh When the Saints Go Marching In. Accompaniment styles range from block chords, broken chords, jump bass, Alberti bass, off beat accompaniments, vamp bass patterns and Indian style 5ths. Every page is “a winner” in this book – essential in developing the student technically and musically.

Piano Partners Book 3 features transposition, duets, technical patterns /exercises and music of many different cultures, as did PP 1 and PP 2. New to this third book is an original duet arrangement of The New River Train; the chromatic scale in an exercise form; chord jumps; a trill exercise and the first and second inversions of chords. Contrapuntal styles are found in Frere Jacques, Winter Goodbye and Minstrels. An ever- wider variety of accompaniment styles are used in this book; the designated transposition piece Tarantella is in a minor key. One of the many charms of this book is the wide variety of musical cultures represented: Swedish, French, German, Flemish, Italian, English, Brazilian, Austrian, Irish, Israeli, Latin American, Gypsy and, of course, American. Little wonder that the budding pianist has obtained a background for further exploration of the vast piano repertoire.