When I started Aula Megustaelpiano last year, one of my goals was to create a space to share ideas with other teachers. This led to the creation of the Piano Teachers’ Meetups. This September, we held the third meetup, which focused on exploring repertoire for piano for 4 or more hands for students in their early years of training, from elementary and intermediate levels, roughly up to ABRSM Grade 5.
Since these meetups are held in person, many people from other cities or countries wrote to me asking if these meetings would be offered online. For now, they will remain in-person, although I don’t rule out holding an online session in the future. However, to reach a wider audience, I’ve decided to share the ideas discussed in these meetups on the blog.
Benefits of Playing in a Group
We began the meeting by briefly creating a list of the benefits for both students and teachers of playing in a group.
- Encourages musical fluency: When playing together, students learn to maintain a continuous flow of music without stopping for mistakes or difficulties. This teaches them to focus more on continuity than on immediate perfection.
- Develops a sense of rhythm: Group performance requires students to follow a shared rhythm, helping them strengthen their ability to keep time and develop a stronger sense of rhythm.
- Enhances active listening: Students must listen to both their own performance and that of their peers, fostering more attentive and detailed listening. They learn to balance dynamics and listen to the different voices to create a harmonious group performance.
- Reduces stage fright: Playing with others reduces individual pressure, allowing students to share the responsibility of the performance. This helps reduce stage fright and makes them feel more comfortable performing in front of an audience.
- Improves sight-reading: Group playing is an excellent tool for practicing sight-reading in class. It also teaches students not to stop and to read more fluidly while staying aware of not only their part but also those of their peers.
- Promotes collaboration and teamwork: Playing in a group is an exercise in cooperation. Students must communicate, respect timing, and make adjustments to ensure a smooth performance. This reinforces teamwork skills, which are fundamental in many musical activities. They learn to take responsibility for preparing their part to support the group.
- Increases motivation: The shared experience and collective achievement are often very motivating for students. The enjoyment of playing together and the mutual support create a positive environment that encourages practice and progress.
- Wider use of the keyboard registers: In piano for four (or more) hands, the pianists cover a wider range of the keyboard, from the lowest to the highest registers. This allows students to explore all of the instrument sound ranges and become familiar with registers they don’t usually use when playing solo.
- Downplays mistakes: Playing in a group teaches students to keep going even if they make mistakes. In a group setting, small errors are less noticeable, and it’s crucial not to stop since the continuity of the piece depends on teamwork. This helps them develop a more relaxed attitude toward mistakes, learning that they are part of the musical process and that the important thing is to maintain the flow of the performance.
- Allows students of different levels to play together: Having a large repertoire of group pieces helps teachers use the same piece for students at different stages of their training or at various skill levels to perform together.
- More appealing pieces: In piano repertoire for four or more hands, pieces can sound more challenging and have richer textures than they actually are, giving the impression of playing more complex music. This is highly motivating for students.
Suggested Repertoire
After exploring the benefits of working on pieces in a group, the different attendees at the meetup proposed various books that we use in our classes. We were fortunate to be able to play and listen to several examples from the presented books and pieces. Below, I will share some of these ideas with you.
Melodic Explorations by Giulio Pietropaolo consists of two books, each containing eight pieces for elementary-level students accompanied by a teacher. The pieces are progressive, with increasing difficulty. The third book will be released soon. The students’ parts are based on pentascale positions, so these duets allow for practice in reading as well as musical expression, featuring a very appealing modern and contemporary sound for students.
Christmas Songs by Natalia Jareño consists of 10 arrangements for four hands of the most popular Christmas carols: Deck the Halls, The First Noel, O Christmas Tree, Jingle Bells, and Silent Night, among others. These are well-known pieces that the students love. The book includes separate scores for the accompanying part (secondo) and the main part (primo), and they are composed so that two pianists with a basic level can play them. All the arrangements are in C Major, which makes it much easier for beginners. You can watch a video of one of the pieces at this Instagram link.
Crossing Borders by Remo Vinciguerra is a progressive series of 6 volumes designed to introduce developing pianists to a wide range of popular music, including jazz, blues, rock, and pop. Most of the pieces are original compositions. During the gathering, we played pieces from books 1 and 3 of the series: Memories, Moonlight, Looking Back, Floating, and Cabaret.
Two at the Piano contains 50 duets for beginner pianists composed by Josef Gruber, with accompaniment for the teacher. The pieces are progressive and range from elementary to intermediate levels. During the gathering, we played the following pieces: Two at the Piano, Waltz, Flirting, and The Huntsmen.
The series Celebrated Christmas Duets by Robert Vandall features arrangements of Christmas carols for duets at the same student level. During the gathering, we played some pieces from book 2.
Double Agent Duets by Jeremy Siskind features Primo and Secondo parts with the same level of difficulty, making them perfect for intermediate-level students. Some of the pieces included in the book are: Inspector Gadget, James Bond Theme, Mission Impossible Theme, and The Pink Panther.
10 Folk and Rhythmical Dances by Gerard Hengeveld contains 10 dances for piano for four hands, including titles such as Hungarian Dance, Spanish Dance, Norwegian Dance, Rumba, Irish Jig, and Foxtrot. They are written for a student and teacher, with the student’s part in a fixed position.
Jazz for Three by Robert Vandall combines elements of jazz and blues for piano for three hands. The three parts are of similar level and intermediate difficulty. The book contains two pieces: Blue Threesome and In the Groove.
Celebrated Piano Duets by Robert Vandall is a series of several books for four hands with progressive difficulty, designed for students at the same level. During the gathering, we played a piece from book 4, Joyous Sound.
Chopsticks Infinity by Philip Johnston contains over 100 parts that can be combined like Lego pieces, offering thousands of possible combinations. All parts work well together, allowing for students of different levels to play together, with variable group sizes ranging from 2 to 6 students or more. During the meetup, we noted that the printed format is out of print, but it is available for purchase in PDF format.
4 Pieces for 6 Hands at 1 Piano by Mike Cornick consists of pieces for 3 students at the same level, intermediate level, with a modern style. The four pieces can be performed separately or as a suite. During the gathering, we played Encore and Sempre Legato.
Microjazz Duets Collection consists of 3 books of pieces in popular styles such as jazz, blues, rock ‘n’ roll, and reggae. They are written for two students at the same level and have progressive difficulty.
8 Duets for Beginners by Jessie Blake contains eight pieces for four hands designed for elementary-level students and a teacher. The accompaniment for the teacher is quite simple, so it can easily be played by an intermediate-level student.
The Four Handed Keyboard Crocodile features 16 pieces for four hands in various styles to be played by two students. During the gathering, we played Five Aunt’s Boogie, which incorporates some percussive effects.
The Piano Lude method, although it is not a collection repertoire book but a method, does contain interesting pieces for 4 and 6 hands.
I Love Coffee by Piano Safari is a piece for a teacher and an elementary-level student. We worked on this piece with rhythmic games, a song, and a small choreography. With imagination, enthusiasm, and effort, pieces can always be adapted to accommodate the number of people needed. The way we worked on this piece during the gathering was a perfect example of this. You can also find very interesting pieces for ensembles by Laura Silva in Piano Safari.
And you, do you have any books or pieces for four or more hands that you would like to share with the blog readers? If so, feel free to write your suggestions in the comments.
If you are interested in attending future gatherings for piano teachers, please email me for more details. They are free and take place in Madrid in Spanish at Aula Megustaelpiano.
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