Educational Resources
Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
It can be overwhelming keeping track of all the latest and best resources, and I have found that my annual roundup of my favourite new releases and returning classics can be just as helpful to me as it is for other teachers reading this.
As we begin another academic year, here’s my selection of standout piano education publications from the last few months, evergreen classics that are still at the heart of my teaching, and must-have music collections with an educational focus.
To read my in-depth evaluations of any of the publications shared below, and for a better understanding of which might suit your and your students’ particular needs, simply click on the titles to open the full reviews, or right-click to open them in a new tab.
NEW RESOURCES 2026
The following resources have all appeared and/or been reviewed here for the first time in the last 12 months:
ABRSM Piano Syllabus 2027/8
As ABRSM publish their 2027-28 Piano Syllabus, the big question is whether the latest pieces will live up to the board’s high standards. That’s the question I hope to answer in the Pianodao review…
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LCME Piano Syllabus 2026
LCME’s 2026 syllabus is out today, and I’ll not hesitate to declare this one of the most educationally rewarding and musically inspiring piano syllabuses I’ve seen, which is high praise indeed. Find out more here…
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Paul Harris: Play with Rhythm!
Paul Harris has an uncanny knack of producing game-changing publications which immediately impact the quality of instrumental teaching and learning for the better. ‘Play with Rhythm!’ is undoubtedly one of his most important yet…
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First 50 Left-Hand Patterns
Alistair Watson’s “First 50 Left-Hand Patterns” is a must-have guide for mastering essential left-hand techniques across musical styles.
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Classics for Ten Fingers
‘Classics for Ten Fingers’ is an important publication which could not only change a child’s learning, but set them on a lifetime journey of discovery, enjoyment, and deep enrichment.
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The Piano Scale Book
Ben Andrew’s ‘Piano Scale Book’ applies a unique visual approach to learning scales and arpeggios across every major and minor key (up to six sharps and flats). It is an easy recommendation to piano teachers, and deserves a place in every inclusive piano teaching studio…
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Peter and the Wolf
Here’s a delight! Featuring Prokofiev’s masterpiece of musical storytelling in a ‘simple arrangement for piano’ (by Hans-Günter Heumann) and with vivid colour illustrations throughout, this is very special…
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ABRSM Jazz Piano Solos
As an addition to ABRSM’s existing jazz piano resources, their ‘Jazz Piano Solo Pieces’ for Grades 6-8 provide the sense of completion that has been lacking for so long… Rejoice!
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Bluey: First Ever Piano Book
Here’s one of the most impressive educational resources I have seen. The imaginative marriage between musical learning and an established animated sensation is undeniably innovative, and it works brilliantly!
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Essential Piano Technique: Levels 2-3
With the latest two additions to her growing series, Penelope Roskell provides a significant resource for helping players progressing through Late Elementary to Intermediate level, (Grades 1-4) develop a healthy technique.
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Tunes for Ten Fingers
The Tunes For Ten Fingers series remains one of the top-selling methods for young beginners with good reason. With these new editions, OUP Music have given this evergreen resource a fresh, more diverse, contemporary look, audio, and many other tweaks…
Keep readingEXPANDING THE REPERTOIRE
The last year has seen a run of stunning sheet music publications, and I feel we can plan ahead with a richer repertoire available, past and present, than at any previous time in my teaching. Here are a few highlights from the past 12 months:
ABRSM • Encore Plus
In a year that has seen some excellent, focussed educational publications, ABRSM’s new ‘Encore Plus” books are another must-have success, offering a range of pieces primed for the exam room which I cannot imagine teachers will want to be without a set
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The Easiest Gillock Pieces
‘The Easiest Gillock Pieces’ offers 31 charming tunes for pre-Grade 1 pianists, complete with optional duet parts for added fun. I think it will make a brilliant addition in any piano teaching studio…
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Kristina Arakelyan’s ‘Musical Vegetable Patch’
Kristina Arakelyan’s ‘Musical Vegetable Patch’ is fresh, original, and really quite brilliant. I can neither fault it, nor think of any comparable publication for young, elementary pianists.
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First Steps Piano
Darragh Gilleece is an Irish pianist, composer and educator, whose pieces in these collections are traditional with a modern twist, imaginative, highly appealing, and packed with valuable learning content.
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The Beatles • Graded Pieces
Here’s an easy publication to recommend, combining classic hit songs, solid progressive arrangements at five levels (Grade 1-5), with educational insight and helpful practice tips.
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Pianoworks • Meditations
Pianoworks Meditations is a brilliant collection of gentle and reflective pieces for the older beginner. Written with a focus on playing for enjoyment, these 24 original pieces guide the player through a range of styles, while aiding in relaxation and mindfulness.
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Piano Tales for Winnie-the-Pooh
‘Piano Tales for Winnie-the-Pooh’ is the latest title from best-selling jazz composer Nikki Iles, brought to us in a superbly presented publication from EVC Music. And it is sure to be treasured by players of all ages.
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Piano Player • Anime
Anyone for Anime? These accessible solo piano arrangements are fundamentally true to the originals, presented in full, and in key. They can even be played along to the original soundtracks…
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Piano Music of Latin American Composers
Here’s a series which can be highly recommended, and which brings an important body of little-known piano education repertoire to a wider global audience.
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Naoko Ikeda • Kanade
Of the many gifted composers of intermediate piano music today, Naoko Ikeda remains a favourite, and it’s great to welcome this new collection of solo pieces, particularly as it is one of her most consistent and enjoyable yet.
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Jason Sifford • Here Be Dragons
Here be Dragons is undoubtedly one of the piano education highlights of the year so far, and deserves a place in the music collection of all late intermediate players (and of course their teachers). These are pieces which not only take flight, but which will elevate performers, and enchant their audiences.
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Arise and Shine
‘Arise and Shine’ offers 28 piano solos by Black composers suitable for intermediate to early advanced players. With such a beautiful addition to the piano pedagogy library, there’s no doubt that this music’s time has come…
Keep readingThe Pianodao Music Library brings together the repertoire and resources which have been reviewed, shared or otherwise featured on the site. As such, it offers a varied, extensive, inclusive, and ever expanding body of carefully curated music.
MY RESOURCES
The following educational publications and music anthologies from Hal Leonard carry my name, and needless to say, they play a very large role in my own teaching studio!
How to Practise Music
Accessible and authoritative, HOW TO PRACTISE MUSIC is Andrew’s highly acclaimed book of tips for anyone who wants to get more out of their practice.
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The Joy of Graded Piano
These five inspiring collections bring together essential repertoire for players of all ages. The “greatest hits” of the Baroque, Classical and Romantic piano literature appear alongside brilliant newer pieces composed by women and men from all around the world, right up to the present day. Grades 1-5.
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Willis Student Recital Collection
Add a sprinkling of STARDUST to your student performances! These 40 stunning piano recital pieces are sure to steal the show! Suitable from Grades 1-6
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Graded Gillock • Three Essential Collections
William Gillock’ music continues to inspire piano students around the world with its catchy tunes and imaginative content. My three collections deliver 41 of his very best pieces, sorted by level and including my playing tips.
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Naoko Ikeda Graded Collection
For this publication I have selected and edited 24 of Naoko Ikeda’s best solo works, presenting her pieces in approximate order of difficulty, grouped from Grade 2 to Grade 5 level.
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Music We Might Have Played
Written in partnership with musician and broadcaster Jack Pepper, and with a foreword by Jeneba Kanneh-Mason, ‘Music We Might Have Played’ brings together nineteen stunning piano solos suitable for early advanced players.
Keep readingSTUDIO ESSENTIALS
Here are some of the resources which I keep on using, year after year, and which I recommend you check out if you haven’t already:
The Piano Trainer Scales Workbook
A couple of years ago I suggested to author Karen Marshall and publishers Faber Music that it would be really useful to have an all-in-one scales manual within the popular Piano Trainer series. And here it is…
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Paul Harris: A Piece A Week
Paul Harris’s series of A Piece a Week books have been appearing at regular intervals over the last three years.
As Faber Music now bring us the Grade 6 book, it seems appropriate to consolidate my thoughts into a single review.
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Penelope Roskell • Essential Piano Technique
I cannot overstate how highly I recommend these three volumes. Beautifully presented, but modestly priced, they establish a new benchmark for teaching children the foundations for a healthy piano technique.
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Rediscovering Piano Time
With brand new illustrations throughout, a host of fresh new pieces, freely downloadable audio recordings, and gentle tweaks to further facilitate smooth progression, the brand new editions of PIANO TIME offer a very significant update.
Keep readingESSENTIAL READING
From business advice to teaching technique and supporting neurodiverse learners, here’s some significant publications to support your career:
Music & Neurodiversity
Karen Marshall’s Music & Neurodiversity delivers an extraordinary wealth of material, including many road-tested teaching approaches that readers can immediately put into practice, and an abundance of personal insight and human interest.
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The Piano Teacher’s Survival Guide
Once in a while a book appears which must be considered essential, an instant classic, and this is one such publication. The Piano Teacher’s Survival Guide instantly establishes itself as the very best practical manual available for today’s piano teachers.
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The Complete Pianist
Penelope Roskell’s ‘The Complete Pianist’ is a monumental achievement, with 560 large format pages, 250 newly-devised exercises and more than 300 supporting online videos. I can well believe that it’s the most comprehensive, and essential book ever written on piano playing!
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Musicians Who Teach
I have no hesitation in recommending this book as an essential primer that should be required reading for all who teach singing or a musical instrument in the UK. Buy it, absorb it, and you will certainly have no regrets!
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Paul Harris • How to Sight Read
Paul Harris’ sight-reading resources have played an important role in my teaching for years. How wonderful to now have this book, which brings us a deeper understanding of this important aspect of musical learning.
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Music Teaching for Special Educational Needs
This is an excellent and much needed book, which goes a considerable way towards addressing an obvious and significant gap in the training and understanding of many instrumental teachers.
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Instrumental Music Education
For those interested in academic insight into instrumental teaching trends, this is a wide-ranging and thought-provoking book sporting 19 chapters, each a distinct article covering an area of special interest. I highly recommend it…
Keep readingFOCUS ON ADHD
Pianodao promotes a particular focus on supporting pianists with ADHD, and includes a series of in-depth articles cowritten with Louise Eales, who has three decades clinical experience:
ADHD • Insights for Pianists
This page is the gateway to Pianodao’s acclaimed ADHD series of articles, which bring together expert clinical insight and piano education advice to support learners, performers, and teachers.
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ADHD • A Pianist’s Guide
Discover how ADHD can impact piano practice, lessons, and performance events. This authoritative article offers expert clinical advice and effective educational strategies that can help.
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ADHD and piano competitions
In this article we explore the unique challenges ADHD pianists face in competitions, and consider ways in which we might foster a healthier, more inclusive performance culture.
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ADHD and ‘micro-breaks’
Molly Gebrian’s best-selling book ‘Learn Faster, Perform Better’ is a great read, based on valuable research. But players with ADHD will need to recalibrate some of her advice to leverage the benefits. Here’s how we can adapt her ‘micro-breaks’ idea, and why we need to.
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Who really needs mnemonics?
Are note-naming rhymes useful, and if so for whom? Many piano teachers suggest they aren’t, but multiple studies say otherwise. Perhaps a balanced reassessment of the topic, grounded in neuroscience, cognitive psychology, and academic research, is overdue…
Keep readingFURTHER SUPPORT
I hope you have found these recommendations helpful, and that you have a great year. For further advice or support with your teaching, check out Pianodao’s free piano education articles, or book a personal session:
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