30 Notespelling Lessons, Primer: Piano

These 30 lessons function as the perfect companion workbook for students progressing through early Glover repertoire. Rather than generic theory worksheets, each lesson targets the specific concepts students encounter in their pieces, making the connection between what they learn and what they play immediate and tangible.

Structured and purposeful. These lessons invite students into systematic thinking about music without feeling like punishment or busywork. There's a quiet confidence in how each page builds on the last, never overloading but consistently deepening understanding.

Early elementary piano students working through the David Carr Glover Piano Library, particularly those who benefit from written reinforcement of what they're learning at the keyboard. Teachers seeking comprehensive, scaffolded theory support that aligns perfectly with their method book will find this essential.

• Assign lessons in tandem with the corresponding level of the Glover method book, not ahead of it. Students solidify concepts most effectively when they encounter them in both the lesson and their repertoire simultaneously.
• Work through one lesson per week during lessons or as homework, allowing time for students to write, erase, and revise without rushing through the material.
• Use the chord note spelling exercises as preparation before introducing chord inversions or broken chord patterns in actual pieces.

Integrate these lessons as the theory and notation component of your early piano curriculum. They work best assigned consistently throughout the year alongside repertoire study, rather than bundled into a single review unit.

• Reading notes on the grand staff and leger lines
• Identifying chord tones and spelling triads in various positions
• Constructing whole steps, half steps, tetrachords, and major scales
• Reading and writing note values and rests in 4/4, 3/4, 2/4, and 6/8 time signatures
• Translating notation symbols into keyboard understanding