Piano Textbooks & Resources

Teachers rely on Complete Color-Coded Flash Cards for early elementary drilling and Alfred's Basic Lesson Assignment & Daily Practice Record by Willard A. Palmer for structured lesson planning. Top 50 Praise & Worship by Carol Tornquist remains a standard for Easy Piano students, while The Faber Music Mindful Piano Anthology by Craig Armstrong offers a different pedagogical angle for contemporary practice.

Three Studies by Christian Wolff, The Piano Player: Anime by Kenichi Nagahashi, and The Faber Music Mindful Piano Anthology by Craig Armstrong all arrived in spring 2026. Büsra Kayikçi's Eskizler and Salvatore Martirano's Stuck on Stella round out recent piano solo additions.

E. L. Lancaster served as Executive Editor of Piano at Alfred Music and taught piano pedagogy at the University of Oklahoma for nearly two decades before moving to California State University, Northridge as adjunct faculty. His work on Alfred's Kid's Piano Course reflects deep experience with group piano instruction and teacher training. Gayle Kowalchyk holds formal credentials in both piano performance and pedagogy from Northwestern and Columbia, and currently directs piano programs at California State University, Northridge. Her contributions to Alfred's Kid's Piano Course bring classroom-tested expertise in class piano coordination.

Carol Tornquist began playing piano by ear at age four and studied at the Warren Conservatory before earning her music education degree from SUNY Fredonia. She taught vocal music while working with Yamaha Music School internationally before settling in Nashville, where her songwriting and arranging became the foundation for Top 50 Praise & Worship. Melody Bober graduated summa cum laude from the University of Illinois in music education and holds a Master's degree in piano performance from Minnesota State University, Moorhead. She creates motivational pieces specifically designed to deepen her students' musicianship and engagement.