The 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.
Elementary music is suitable for players at around UK Initial to Grade 2 level or equivalent. 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
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
Early Elementary (Initial to Grade 1)
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…
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.
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…
Later Elementary (Grades 1-2)
Jazzin’ About the Year
This might just be the perfect book of pieces for children learning the piano who are around UK Grade 1-2 level. Variety, excellence, and grounded in the player’s life and the changing seasons…
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…
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…
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…
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.
Recent Additions
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.
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…
Christmas for Ten Fingers
OUP Music’s evergreen ‘Piano Time Carols’ book now has a contemporary redesign, with added audio, and they have also published the excellent ‘Christmas for Ten Fingers’ for younger learners.
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.
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…
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!
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…
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…
Musicroom has recently joined Sheet Music Plus.
Retail links are being updated. Thank you for your patience.
Readers outside the EU should check for local availability.
Pianodao offers over 700 articles and reviews, all FREE to access.
If you appreciate this content, please support and follow the site: