Repertoire choice is always important. But, with that said, it grows in importance as your students get older. Young piano students may cut you a bit of slack with a less-than-thrilling piano piece, but teens won’t cut you any slack at all.
During the teenage years, the need for individuality is at its height, and the desire for relevancy is strong. Which is why your repertoire choices for teen students are crucial.
To stick with piano lessons, teens need to be playing music they love, and they need music that they can make their own. Piano teachers know this… which is why we all spend so many out-of-studio hours searching for inspiring repertoire.
But, with February’s Book of the Month from PianoBookClub we’re making your teen piano repertoire hunt easy! Read on to listen to learn about this month’s book, listen to full samples of four of the pieces AND check out a flip-through visual preview.
A correctly-selected piano piece that includes opportunities for improvisation will inspire your students to practice with intensity. Using self-expression as a motivator, you can then hone in on the specific pedagogical concepts your teens need to progress as pianists.
But where do you find inspiring teen repertoire with opportunities for improvisation?
Enter With Celtic Courage.
The 7 thrilling, celtic-themed piano pieces in this book will strengthen your students’ comfort levels in 6/8 time while giving them measures of opportunity to make creative melodic decisions.
Each 2-page piece in this book includes several carefully-placed, rhythm-only lines in the treble clef where your teens are given the freedom to improvise their own melodies (using notes from the 5- finger scale of each piece to match the given rhythm). Providing just enough structure to make improvisation approachable and successful for teen students, this book is the “introduction to improv” that your teens have been waiting for.
With simple left-hand accompaniments, repeating patterns, accessible key signatures, and predictable formats, these pieces will encourage your teen piano students to escape into improvisation and make each piece their own.
In the book preview below look for those “rhythm-only” lines that make this book so wonderfully unique and powerful.
A Visual Preview of With Celtic Courage
With Celtic Courage was February 2017’s Book of the Month from PianoBookClub. To see this month’s book visit PianoBookClub.com.
Did you enjoy the music from our most recent PianoBookClub release, With Celtic Courage? Check out Teach Piano Today’s PianoBookClub to get your hands on the most exciting piano studio repertoire for just $8 a month. With Celtic Courage is available until February 28, 2017.
Listen To More Music From With Celtic Courage
If you enjoyed our musical samples from With Celtic Courage, visit PianoBookClub to learn more about our monthly music resource from Teach Piano Today.
Dianne Chrestopoulos says
I absolutely LOVE these pieces, a huge hit to be sure! The best thing I ever did was to subscribe to the monthly Piano Book Club, there are pieces for every level throughout the year. These pieces catch the early and mid teen ear and heart and to have the opportunity to improvise, only makes them better! Thank you Andrea and Trevor.
Andrea says
Hi Diane – so glad to hear you are loving PianoBookClub and that your teens are having fun with this month’s book 🙂 Yippee for fun with improv!
Susanne says
I have started five of my teens off on the first piece and gosh i have to admit I was a teeny bit worried about improvising!, It is something I keep saying I need to do more of in my studio and this book is just the thing. The pieces are appealing and sound fantastic so the motivation to fill in those missing lines is there. We are having a blast. Each month your books become more awesome!! A huge thanks for making me look like a fun and interesting piano teacher!
Andrea says
Hi Susanne – Thrilled to hear you’re having a blast with this book and that your teens are getting the chance to learn how to improvise! Thanks so much for your kind words – they mean a lot to us 🙂
Laura says
My students have been loving these pieces! For the first time ever I received an email halfway through the week from one student asking if she could have another piece like “Fearless at Finntown” at her next lesson. I was pretty happy to tell her that she absolutely could!
Living in eastern Canada, this kind of music that I grew up with and many of my students parents have said that their houses now sound like a proper céilidh! Bravo Andrea, we are loving it out here!
Andrea says
Hi Laura – this means so much to me! We traveled to the East Coast about 6 years ago (mainly for the music!) and we attended a few céilidhs while we were there. Absolutely LOVED it! Thanks for your kind words – happy to bring some celtic flavour to your students’ February!
Beth says
JOIN TODAY if you have teens/tweens that want to make great music but hate reading notes. If they can master patterns but tend to forget to read the music after figuring them out. If you also want a sneaky way to insert teaching basics stuff: chords, scales and the like, this will provide the platform. I’m speaking out of successful experience using just the first song!Opens doors of curiosity and satisfies need to make music that sounds good.
Elaine Bovender says
Wow, I can’t wait for this one. I have a teen student that I think will love this!
Esther says
Hi Andrea, do you have any favorite methods to use with teens and adults who want to get to playing right away and just want basic keyboard skills? I’m thinking like teaching lead sheets, chords, that kind of thing. Would you just use traditional teaching methods and supplement?
Andrea says
Hi Esther – We have a great podcast with Dr. Pete Jutras on this topic – here’s the link: https://www.teachpianotoday.com/2014/07/11/how-to-teach-piano-to-adult-students-with-pete-jutras/
His take on teaching adults (and really, teens) is exactly what you are describing 🙂
Esther says
Thanks Andrea! Also, for the celtic improvs, what kind of existing skills would the student need? My teen is still in C position and just learning sharps in the Alfred book 1. Would I be able to use this with him or does he need to make some more progress first?
Andrea says
Hi Esther – these pieces are fairly simple so that improv is accessible. Two are in C position – none are in “difficult” key signatures (no more than 2 flats). You could probably “pick and choose” and find ones that worked as there are 7 different pieces. The LH is purposely meant to be simple and so you might find that your student “stretches their horizons a bit in order to play music they love. A challenge is always a great way to bump up skill acquisition when motivation is there to do so!
Jan Gray says
Another great book! Thank you!
Andrea says
Hi Jan! You’re welcome! Thank YOU for the support of our resources 🙂
Nancy says
Hi all!
Andrea, I am so very tempted to sign up PianoBook Club, I think I better get on it! I have two teens that have enjoyed Into the Woods and Dragon Claw Arpeggio.
A small note for any teachers wanting to make improvisation a regular part of their studio (and for the teacher who needs a good method book for adults/teen beginners)… I love the American Popular Piano series by Christopher Norton & Scott McBride. Very catchy pieces, awesome accompaniments, and they systematically work on improvisation. For anyone who is a fan of Christopher Norton, you know his work is extremely impressive.
Thanks Andrea & Trevor another well-designed and clever tool for our teens and studios. Forgive me for mentioning another book besides yours! However, I couldn’t keep silent, I just love the APP books, and they are small enough that many teachers don’t know about them.
Andrea says
No apology needed Nancy! Anything that makes a student’s heart beat a bit faster is worth sharing! 🙂
patsy clark says
Thank you so much for these new solos. Can’t wait to use them! They just might show up at recital in the spring.
Andrea says
That’s fantastic Patsy! 🙂 We’d love to hear how your students like them!
Mary says
With Celtic Courage is fun and exciting. I have a couple of students who play by ear so these songs give them a chance to make it their own! Fantastic! I’m sure a couple of the selections will be on the recital program this year.
Andrea says
So happy to hear it Mary!