The Music Tree series supports the development of complete musicianship by providing the beginner with delightful and varied repertoire. The pupil learns a variety of idioms encompassing folk, jazz, and pop. The creativity of the student is emphasized since they are given musical segments to rearrange, transpose, complete or to use as the basis for a new composition. Technical aspects are also addressed including greater facility, blocked intervals and chords, and more hands-together playing. Guided training steps are used to encourage intelligent practice skills.The CD and General MIDI Disk features electronic renditions of the music: the accompaniment alone, or the student and teacher parts together. The Teacher's Handbook is an invaluable tool and an essential guide to this unique and highly respected method. It contains essays regarding how students learn, technic, and how rhythm is presented. Aspects of teaching are explained and suggestions are offered for each unit of the book. Newly revised in 2000. Features new and exclusive music. Time to Begin, the cornerstone of The Music Tree series, is a unique and highly effective approach to beginning piano instruction. It offers a carefully crafted approach to reading, stressing an intervallic approach. Rhythm and musicality are given top priority. Time to Begin starts with off-staff notation. The child simply plays on either a group of 2 black keys or a group of 3, one finger and note per hand. This allows the student to make music and focus on early elementary concepts such as high and low, quarter and half notes, soft and loud, or repeated notes. Then, the student is gradually introduced to the five-line staff, first with notes on a single two-line staff, then a three line staff, then a four line staff, finally leading to the discovery of clefs and the five line staff. The grand staff is introduced towards the end of the book. Also included is a carefully designed program of rhythm, technic and creative work.

Part I consists of ten units introducing such concepts as landmarks F, middle C, and G; intervals of 2nds, 5ths, 3rds and 4ths; form; rests; and accidentals. All concepts are reinforced by child-focused songs and pieces.

Part 2A of The Music Tree introduces eighth notes and rests, half and whole steps, major and minor 5-finger patterns and triads, transposition, the perfect 5th, and dotted quarter notes. The original and arranged compositions allow for highly musical playing.

Part 2B introduces the late-elementary level student to an orientation, exercises and pieces in the keys of C, G, D, F and Bb. The interval of a 6th, triplets, and compound meters are also presented.

Part 3 takes the student to the early intermediate level with charming and child-focused exercises and pieces to support the understanding of sixteenth notes, inversions of triads, relative major and minor keys and scales, the subdominant and dominant seventh chords, chromatic and whole tone scales, syncopation, and use of the damper pedal.

The student is playing fully at the intermediate level in Part 4. Part 4 elaborates on materials presented in previous books and focuses more heavily on style, composition and improvisation. It ends with Sam Holland's fabulous arrangement of the theme to The Pink Panther by Henry Mancini and David Kraehenbuehl's exciting arrangement of In the Hall of the Mountain King by Edvard Grieg.