Alfred's Premier Piano Course is a fun, inspiring, and pedagogically sound piano method for children. Besides the well-paced lessons, tasteful and colorful artwork, and wide variety of instruction (playing, writing, sight-reading, technique), it offers a unique combination of guidance and support for the student, teacher and parent. Instruction in Lesson 1A begins with rhythm and offers a short piece consisting of all quarter notes for the student to tap with hands on the closed keyboard cover. The first half of Lesson Book 1A consists of short, eight measure pre-staff pieces on black key and then white key groups. The early elementary-level pieces starting in the middle of the book are in C Major and highlight landmark notes, and refreshingly, are not locked into specific hand positions. A teacher duet is offered to all the student pieces. A performance of each solo with the teacher duet is also provided on the enclosed CD or MIDI Disk at two tempos: "practice" (slow) and "performance" (faster). Performances on each CD are recorded on an acoustic piano. The unique At-Home Book educates and specifies how the parent can be an active participant in their child's piano studies, whether they have prior musical knowledge or not. The Success Kit includes all the components of Level 1A (except MIDI Disks) in a handy zipper portfolio: Lesson Book & CD; Performance Book & CD; Theory Book; At-Home Book and Flash Cards.
Lesson 1B picks up where 1A left off. It begins with an elementary level review of Level 1A by way of a two-page writing assignment and three new pieces. The new concepts presented in Level 1B include ties, legato, staccato, intervals up to fifths, half steps, incomplete measures, sharps and flats. As with Level 1A, new concepts are presented in a clear, well-paced fashion and all involved (student, teacher and parent) are given a lot of support and nurturing throughout. The Success Kit includes all the Level 1B components in a handy zipper portfolio: Lesson Book & CD, Performance Book & CD, Theory Book, At-Home Book and Flash Cards.
The Lesson Book to Level 2A begins with a comprehensive review of level 1B in the form of a two page quiz. The first piece, On with the Show! reiterates ties as well as the sharps and flats that were learned in Level 1B. Level 2A introduces new concepts including dynamics, tempo marks, accents, tonic and dominant chords, and even a little pedal. It also delves into some basic theory. Other components of this level are the Performance Book, the At-Home Book and a set of flashcards. The At-Home Book is especially helpful because it gives parents the chance to get involved with their child's lessons. It is a way for the teacher to communicate first hand with the parents and help guide the child's practice habits.
The Level 2B Lesson Book expands even more on the concepts that were learned in Levels 1A, 1B, and 2A. This level utilizes more octave jumps and helps promote and give students the ability to move freely along the entire keyboard. In terms of rhythmic patterns, the dotted quarter and eighth note pattern is added to maintain and increase rhythmic complexity. In terms of theory, the C and G Major scales are introduced along with dominant seventh chords in both C and G Major.
With Alfred's Premier Piano Course, Level 3, students will be playing syncopated, dotted and swing rhythms with ease. Up-tempo, original pieces with clever twists smoothly incorporate new concepts including: pass-under and cross-over scale fingerings; the chromatic scale; IV chords in C, G, F, D; 1st and 2nd endings; and ledger lines above and below the staff.
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