Alfred's Great Music & Musicians, Book 2: Music History Book and Online Audio

This book connects the music students play to the composers and eras that shaped keyboard literature. Rather than treating history as separate from technique, Bachus and Gerou weave cultural context, keyboard development, and listening examples throughout, so students understand why the music sounds and feels the way it does. The included MP3 recordings let students hear the pieces before or after learning about them, making history tangible rather than textbook-bound.

Opening this book feels like stepping into a gallery where music, history, and visual art meet. The combination of keyboard composer profiles, period-specific cultural details, and guided listening invites curiosity rather than passive memorization, making each era feel alive and connected to the student's own musical learning.

Intermediate and early intermediate piano students using Premier Piano Course or other piano methods who benefit from understanding the historical and cultural roots of the music they play. The book works equally well in private lessons and group piano classes, serving students ready to think beyond the page about why composers wrote what they did.

• Listen to the recordings alongside the Listening Guide for each unit before discussing the historical period with your student. This anchors abstract concepts in actual sound.
• Use the art and cultural examples in the book as conversation starters. Ask your student which visual elements they notice and how those might relate to the keyboard music they're learning.
• Work through the unit summaries and review activities together to check understanding, then return to a piece your student is currently learning to hear how historical context deepens their interpretation.
• Pair the listening examples with repertoire from your student's Premier Piano Course or other method. Point out stylistic features introduced in this book as they appear in the pieces they practice.

Introduce one unit per month or term alongside the student's active repertoire, using the listening examples to contextualize pieces they're performing or learning. In group lessons, assign units as supplementary reading and use the review activities as discussion starters. The MP3 downloads work seamlessly for homework or studio listening, deepening students' understanding of style and form without requiring additional materials.

• Understanding major keyboard composers and their stylistic characteristics across historical periods
• Connecting musical style to cultural and social context
• Analyzing keyboard literature through period-specific harmonic and compositional techniques
• Listening actively to identify period characteristics in recorded performances
• Recognizing the evolution of the piano and its impact on keyboard repertoire