Elementary music is suitable for players at around UK Initial to Grade 2 level or equivalent.
There are more than 400 titles in the full archive, from which selected highlights are showcased below. You can also explore the full archive, and check out the most recent reviews here:
The following selections showcase publications that my regular students have enjoyed and that I frequently recommend. The selections offer a core program of classical, contemporary, and jazz music suitable for each level.
My Publications
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.
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.
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.
Willis Student Recital Collection
‘The Willis Student Recital Collection’ offers a selection of 40 enjoyable performance pieces for elementary to late intermediate players, written by some of the world’s most acclaimed piano education composers.
Early Elementary (Initial to Grade 1)
Rendezvous at the Zoo
Given Jennifer Linn’s popularity in the US this collection will surely be another best-seller there, while here in the UK, I would also certainly encourage teachers to take a look at “Rendezvous at the Zoo” for some fresh, imaginative and highly useful repertoire at this level…
ABRSM Piano Star
ABRSM Publishing’s colourful Piano Star series of books for elementary players has been one of their most brilliant and popular successes of recent years, and I was happy to be a contributor, my original compositions featuring in all of the four core music books.
Ben Crosland’s Magic Beans
Ben Crosland’s ‘Beans’ series is outstanding, and ‘Magic Beans’ easily lives up to the very high standards set by its predecessors…
June Armstrong: Safari
Aimed at “beginner to pre-grade 1 standard”, the most striking aspect of this collection is the brilliant and vivid portrayal of the subject matter…
Kerstin Strecke • Little Moods
I am genuinely excited by this beautifully presented and keenly priced collection, and think it could prove to be a real winner. Kirsten Strecke has delivered an inspiring collection of 15 easy pieces which offer a springboard for a truly creative education…
Celtic Piano Music • Elementary
Donald Thomson’s Celtic Piano Music: Initial to Grade 2 offers an outstanding and varied selection of excellent pieces in a beautifully produced publication that players can treasure and dip into over a period of a couple of years…
Piano Grades Are Go!
Victoria Proudler’s brilliantly catchy pieces are going to be a real hit, motivating young players while also raising the quality of their musicianship. This first collection is suitable at Initial to Grade 1 level…
Later Elementary (Grades 1-2)
Jazzin’ About the Year
It might just be the perfect book of pieces for children learning the piano who are around UK Grade 1-2 level… Let’s take a look!
The Gradebusters Series
“Gradebusters” from Hal Leonard, now encompasses five solo piano books, for Grades 1 to 5, each delivering “15 awesome solos”, and together serving up a rich feast of 75 universally popular and neatly arranged songs that piano players everywhere will be keen to play…
ABRSM: Pop Performer!
The inclusion of excellent pop song arrangements within the traditional graded piano syllabus has arrived in style!
Find out all about ABSRSM’s Pop Performer books in the full Pianodao review here:
Jason Sifford’s KEYBOP
Not another set of jazzy books for young pianists, I hear you say. But stay with me, because these ones are really worth a look…
Piano Grades Are Go! 2-3
Victoria Proudler has done it again! This second collection in her series is packed with melodic music in a variety of exciting contemporary styles, all carefully graded to support and enthuse developing players.
Ghostly Piano Tales
Composing a collection of elementary piano pieces which stand out from the crowd is no easy task, but Melanie Spanswick has certainly succeeded with Ghostly Piano Tales. Definitely weird, often wonderful, this is without doubt one of the most distinctive, creative, and scarily good music books out there…
David Önaç • Spirituals
Rooted in universally beloved melodies, nourished by the distinctive harmonies of the Gospel tradition, and expertly crafted to suit elementary to intermediate piano players of all ages, David Önaç has delivered a gem of a collection that is sure to be treasured by pianists throughout the early years of their playing…
Recent Additions
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.
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.
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.
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.
Mélanie Bonis • Children’s Albums
The superb ‘Schott Student Edition’ series has recently grown to include two very welcome volumes of music for children by the Late Romantic French composer Mélanie Bonis, edited by Melanie Spanswick…
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.
Pianoworks Christmas
Within my teaching practice, Pianoworks Christmas has proven to be a perennial chestnut, and my top, most tasty recommendation for a basic no-frills Christmas songbook.
Ben Crosland’s Jazz Beans!
From beginner to proficient jazzer, the Jazz Beans series offers a delicious mix of styles and catchy melodies which will surely bring much enjoyment, and inspire players of all ages (and especially teenagers) to develop their groove!
The Gradebusters Mixtape
For those looking for a compendium of great pop song arrangements ranging from elementary to intermediate level, UK Grades 1-5, this collection is as good as it gets, and is an easy recommendation.
Pooches at the Piano
If you are in the market for something fresh, fun, and engaging for elementary players of all ages, Anna Robinson’s beautifully presented ‘Pooches at the Piano’ really is well worth a look!
More Animal Jazz
In a crowded market, Barbara Snow’s Animal Jazz collections have a personal charm that is unique, and I have no doubt that this new, slightly harder collection will delight as much, even more, than its predecessor.
Narcisa Freixas • Elementary Piano Pieces
Previous titles in Schott Music’s Student Edition series have impressed, so with the arrival of the latest title, Elementary Pieces by Spanish painter, sculptor and composer Narcisa Freixas (1859-1926), hopes for another worthwhile addition to the repertoire ride high…
Angeline Bell’s Garden Notebook
Angeline Bell’s Lyrical and Quirky Notebooks were a highlight of 2023.
Now she’s back with ‘My Garden Notebook’, which confirms that she really is a superb composer of appealing educational piano music…
Celebrating Disney
As the Disney centenary draws to a close, I don’t want to miss the opportunity to highlight some of the recent publications from Hal Leonard celebrating the studio’s unrivalled catalogue of hit songs, spanning the decades…
The Pam Wedgwood Christmas Collection
Pam Wedgwood has created some excellent Christmas music over the years, and this well-priced anthology offers a progressively arranged and nicely balanced selection of some of her very best seasonal music for elementary and intermediate players.
Piano Music of Black Composers
Leah Claiborne’s two collections ‘Expanding the Repertoire: Piano Music of Black Composers’ offer an indispensable addition to the piano pedagogic literature.
Paul Harris’s Purple Piano House
Paul Harris’s PURPLE PIANO HOUSE, subtitled “A Musical Adventure for Pianists”, is a delightful story-with-music book which is sure to charm younger players, and offers several intriguing pedagogic possibilities…
Krystyna Gowik: Fives for Piano
Krystyna Gowik has a deft ability to spot a gap in the piano literature for young players and fill it with appealing and educationally rich music. “Fives for piano” is perhaps her most pedagogically unique and valuable yet…
The Jazzin’ About Anthology
‘The Jazzin’ About Piano Anthology’ brings together 41 of Pam Wedgwood’s favourite pieces from across the series, presented progressively in one volume from early elementary to intermediate level (UK Initial to Grade 5)…
Petits Morceaux pour piano
For those looking to expand their knowledge of piano repertoire, and indeed of didactic traditions, these collections from Durand Edition offer a feast of genuinely rewarding material…
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