Featured Item (April 24, 2017)

"My New Boogie Book": A Note to Piano Teachers

Many popular piano methods teach in 5-finger positions, beginning with C, F, and G.  Level 2 in the My Boogie Books series, My New Boogie Book, builds on that experience; so you can add it to your students’ repertoire as soon as they are moving around the keyboard.  I don’t use the “position” books very often for my own students – which has led to the discovery that position training is not a requirement to use this book.  Once your students are playing in a few different keys, you’ll know they’re ready to take on these boogies.

The first four songs are short, simple visits to the three keys.  Then come slightly longer songs, some with classic L.H. boogie patterns, some in a slow blues style.  You can sneak in slightly advanced lessons while playing from the “fun” book – things like how to navigate first and second endings, how to distinguish voices by stem direction, and more subtleties of dynamics.  The last two songs move to all three positions throughout the song, providing lessons in making smooth fingering transitions. 

Lyrics and drawings of the boogie kids accompany each of the 11 songs.  A few of the topics:  springtime (“Robin’s Song”), life lessons (“Wake Up, Shake Up” and “That’s What the Old Folks Say”), and companionship (“Trouble Tonight” – a minor song that ends well with a Picardy third!) “Choo-Choo Boogie” is the finale of the book, a three-pager that has many times been an enthusiastic choice for recitals.

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