Accelerated Piano Adventures:
Book 2 For the Older Beginner – Things to know

10ThingsKnow3

Top 10 things to know

Book 2 Concepts

  1. A reading system of intervals, scale patterns, and I, IV, V7 chords.
  2. 5-finger major scales: C, G, F, D, A, and E
  3. 5-finger minor scales: Cm, Gm, Fm, Dm, Am, and Em
  4. The rhythm pattern
  5. One-octave scales: C, G, F Tonic, dominant, leading tone
  6. Cross-hand arpeggios
  7. Connected pedaling
  8. Transposing, harmonizing, improvising, composing
  9. Eight Technique Secrets
    Part 1
    – Firm Fingertips
    – Light Thumb
    – Wrist Float-off
    – Fast Fingers
    Part 2
    – Arm Weight
    – Slur Gesture
    – Light Thumb on Scales
    – Connected Pedaling
  10. For play-along Audio fun: pianoadventures.com/audio
5ThingsDo3

Top 5 things to do

Book 2 Teaching Actions

  1. As a lesson warm-up, ask the student to play the major (or minor) 5-finger scale or the one-octave major scale to match the key for each piece.
  2. Consider three types of pieces to assign for weekly practice: New, Review, and Just for fun. Let students choose the piece(s) for the last category.
  3. Memorize one piece from each unit.
  4. Demonstrate Accelerated Book 2 pieces to give a model for artistry. Then ask questions about the piece. What is the key? The mood? Tempo? Time signature? etc.
  5. Keep students learning new musical patterns constantly to build facile reading. Consider the Accelerated Sightreading Book in tandem with the Sightreading Coach.
TheBestAdvice2

The best advice

For the older beginner, perhaps the best advice is to closely follow the interest of the progressing student. The intrinsic interest of the student is a powerful motivator for practice. And practice always yields good results!